Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Frozen

Ladies, gentlemen and alternatively gendered individuals, we have finally made it. This film may very well be Disney’s biggest hit of the entire twenty-first century. A movie that more or less took over the world around the time of release and has left an impact on popular culture that is still being felt today. This, Is, Frozen. One of the most popular films in Disney’s immense library. Needless to say, tackling a movie that has such a massive and devoted fan base and such as well as a permanent spot in pop culture is a pretty intimidating task, but I have been doing this a while at this point and I’ve fried me some much bigger fish. Literally, I opened my Little Mermaid article with “This Movie Sucks” and then proceeded to call Ariel an airheaded twat in that article and many that have come after. This is a movie I actually like, what do I have to worry about? Though speaking of Ariel, much like The Little Mermaid, Frozen was loosely adapted from a story by Hans Christian Andersen, in this case, The Snow Queen. I admittedly don’t know a whole lot about the original story but I really don’t think that’s going to matter since Frozen, as I’ve been given to understand, only takes the beginnings of the story that inspired it and then sort of did its own thing. Here’s our story. In the vaguely Scandinavian kingdom of Arendelle there were two princesses, Elsa and her younger sister Anna. Elsa, for reasons that will not be revealed until the sequel, was born with the ability to control ice and snow, often utilizing it for childish games with her sister like building a snowman indoors and such. However, during playtime, one of Elsa’s icy blasts accidently hits Anna and would have proved fatal had their father, King Agnar, not known of some magical trolls who specialize in healing such afflictions. Fearing that Elsa’s power will only grow stronger and must be controlled and hidden from the world, including Anna, the troll chieftain wiping any memory of Elsa’s powers from Anna’s mind, though leaving the memories of their sisterly bond. Elsa, traumatized by the experience, shuts herself out from all human contact save for her parents who encourage Elsa to conceal and suppress her powers. When the king and queen die in a shipwreck, Elsa is driven further into her self-imposed isolation much to the dismay of Anna. Three years after the death of their parents, Elsa has come of age and is set to officially be crowned Queen of Arendelle. Anna is elated that Arendelle castle is opening its gates for the first time in years, even falling in love with a visiting prince named Hans. It would seem that Hans is smitten as well since he proposes to Anna after knowing her for maybe twelve hours at most. When Elsa doesn’t approve of her little sister’s reckless decision, Anna finally snaps and confronts her about why she’s shut her out all these years. The emotional stress of the argument causes Elsa to accidently reveal her powers. Since everyone assumes that Elsa is some kind of evil sorceress, the newly coronated queen flees for her life. However, once she’s outside the kingdom, Elsa finds that she’s overjoyed that she no longer has to hide who she is. Unfortunately, the residual effects of her powers create a snowstorm that threatens to freeze Arendelle if she’s not stopped. Now, it’s up to Anna, along with her new friends, an ice salesman who talks to Reindeer named Kristof and a magical talking Snowman accidentally brought to life by Elsa named Olaf, to talk to Elsa and hopefully save their kingdom. In my opinion, this is a very good movie, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t without its flaws. Let’s start exploring the film that put Disney back on top and kept it there as we dive into, Frozen.

Main Character:

Yup, it’s another one of those where two or more characters share the title of main character in equal measure. I’d like to start with Anna, since I actually have less to say about her than you might think. Don’t get me wrong, I like Anna just fine. She’s got all the hallmarks of a Disney Princess, like being kind, energetic, brave and even naïve. She represents these qualities well but they also kind of work against her. Often times, Anna can come across like a more subdued version of Rapunzel from the then still recent film, Tangled. That’s not a bad thing per se since Rapunzel is a great character, but it does make it more difficult for Anna to stand out. Anna is voiced by Kristen Bell, known for many roles in film and television, my personal favorite being Eleanor Shellstrop in The Good Place. She actually does have some pretty great chemistry with the rest of the cast and she handles the heavy and emotional moments very well. Not the strongest of main characters, but we could have done a hell of a lot worse.

Now let’s talk about Elsa, who, despite seemingly getting less screen time and development than her sister, is infinitely more interesting to me. Elsa is voiced by the always incredible Idina Menzel, known for multiple screen and stage roles, most of you probably knowing her as The eponymous witch from Wicked, but to me, she’ll always be Maureen Johnson from Rent. While we’re on the subject, fuck you John Travolta for mispronouncing Idina Menzel’s name at the Oscars that year. Idina is worth twenty of you ya scientologist ass! That’s why her Disney movie is one of the most successful of all time and yours was fucking Bolt! In any case, when I first watched the film, I initially wasn’t quite sure what to make of Elsa, thinking that her character seems somewhat inconsistent. However, it was in subsequent viewings that I really started to get a handle on what Elsa was all about. Clearly, this is someone who has a lot of trauma and really isn’t going about dealing with it in the best way, especially once she loses the only people she was ever able to share things with. . Obviously, almost killing her sister took an emotional toll. Elsa loves her sister more than anything in the world, and the second that she realizes that she’s a danger to her, especially at such a young age, frightens her to her very core, and instead of confronting that fear, she hides from it. One of the most telling scenes is when Anna finally confronts her about how she shuts people out, and Elsa tells her to leave if she can’t live like this anymore. At first, this may sound cruel, but think about it. Elsa probably has been wanting Anna to leave for a long time. Knowing that her sister is in pain because of what she must do to protect her must multiply the torture that Elsa is already feeling tenfold. Sure, she is forced to live this way because of her powers, but it’s not too late for Anna to go out into the world and live her life, preferably somewhere Elsa can’t hurt her. Now let’s look at what happens once Elsa is finally exposed. Sure, at first it feels like Elsa’s worst nightmare come true, but once she gets away from the palace, the realization that she no longer has to hide anymore sets in, and you feel the rush of joy that washes over her. Years of isolation have left Elsa emotionally repressed so now, even though she’s lost everything, the fact of her newfound freedom causes all that pent up emotion to come out in one big burst, kind of like what happens when you step on a garden hose. However, this proves to be little more than a band aid solution since what Elsa really wants is to finally reconcile with her sister, probably why the storm keeps raging once she comes to her realization. She’s actually a surprisingly nuanced character and her struggle is something relatable for just about anyone.

Villain:

Oh Hans, what are we going to do with you? While far from our first twist villain, Hans is definitely the one who started the current trend and frankly, in my opinion, he’s kind of the most egregious offender. I get what Disney was going for. They were trying to subvert tropes and by having the handsome prince type turn out to be the big bad. The problem there is that Disney already had a character like this, his name was Gaston. Gaston, was awesome and still managed to subvert the tropes without having this big twist in the third act. As a result, Hans as a villain comes across as a smarter and more subtle version of Gaston. That’s all well and good, but it also causes him to lose a lot of what made that character fun. Also, what’s worse is that Hans doesn’t really get to be a villain until the very end of the film and doesn’t really hint at his true nature before then. Sure, the big reveal of his villainous nature, you know, the whole “If Only There Was Someone Out There Who Loved You” bit, was very memorable, but because of the way the character has been shown up until this point, the big twist comes right the hell out of nowhere. And here’s the real reason Hans doesn’t work, he’s really not the primary source of conflict in this film. That is derived from the friction between Elsa and Anna, Hans is just an opportunist who takes advantage of the situation. What I’m trying to say is, much like how A Goofy Movie didn’t need a villain since the relationship between Goofy and Max was more interesting than any villain could ever be, in Frozen, the relationship between Elsa and Anna is enough to carry the film so when Hans has his big heel turn in the third act, it feels forced. While he certainly left an impression on audiences, in my opinion, Hans just isn’t one of the stronger aspects of the film.

Side Characters:

Flynn Rider and Rapunzel actually have a blink and you miss it cameo early on in the film, the couple being seen entering Arendelle as guests for Elsa’s coronation. This has led to a popular theory Rapunzel is actually related to Anna and Elsa. While that’s a fun little theory, it’s more likely that Eugene and Rapunzel are there simply as representatives of a visiting allied kingdom.

The Duke of Weaselton is mostly just there to serve as a red herring before Hans is revealed as the villain and set up a few lame running gags. Not a great character by any stretch, but I’m always happy to hear Alan Tudyk in one of these movies.

King Agnar and Queen Iduna don’t really get a whole lot of screen time or development, although I would like to point out that Agnar is voiced by The Brain himself, Maurice Lamarche. I think we need to come together at some point and acknowledge that while they may have meant well, they just weren’t very good parents. Like seriously, what parent thinks it’s a good idea to wipe their daughter’s memory and force their other daughter into isolation ensuring that she’ll grow up emotionally stunted. Did they really not think about the possibility of long-term mental scarring? I guess everything worked out in the end, but still.

With the exception of Grand Pabbie, their wise and sagely leader, I found the rock troll to be nearly insufferable. They don’t do much, I just really don’t like them.

Moving on to the more important characters, let’s discuss Kristoff. While not quite as charming as Flynn Rider, he still carries on the tradition of likable, sarcastic love interests. He’s likable enough and you do see the chemistry between him and Anna form over time. He has a deep appreciation for ice in all its forms, was raised by trolls and has a weird habit of talking to his reindeer, Sven. That last one wouldn’t be half as strange if he didn’t actually talk for Sven, complete with goofy voice. I get that he has his reasons for doing so, but like, he’s got to know he looks like a crazy person, right?

And finally, there’s arguably the most divisive character in the franchise, Olaf the Snowman. This is a character who people either love or hate. Me, I’m proud to say, I absolutely love Olaf. What can I say? Josh Gad has some great comedic timing and Olaf’s seemingly unflappable optimism and good nature is something to be admired. He goes on and on about how much he loves the idea of summer, blissfully unaware that snow melts. He also reacts with a smile to even the most perilous situations such as being chased by a bigger, nastier snow creature or being straight up impaled. How can you not just want to give this cute little snow ball a big warm hug.

Songs:

Look, we all know what movie this is and we all know what song you all want me to talk about, but before we let it go, we may as well pay lip service to the rest of the soundtrack, even though, truth be told, a lot of the songs outside of the big show stopping number don’t really stand out to me that much. For example, while it’s arguably the second most popular song in the film, I didn’t really like Do You Want to Build a Snowman all that much. It’s okay, it just doesn’t really do much for me and feels a bit repetitive. I actually really enjoyed For The First Time In Forever, and loved seeing Anna overjoyed that her long isolation has ended. Other songs I found to be fun, if not particular memorable like Love is an Open Door or Kristof’s little ditty about how reindeers are better than people. Other songs I make a point to fast forward through like In Summer and Fixer Upper, the latter being so insufferable it gave A Guy Like You from Hunchback a run for its money.

One song I’d like to single out is the opening number, Frozen Heart. It stands out simply by being so different in tone from the rest of the soundtrack. I love how it makes the idea of ice and snow sound ominous and the beat is pretty catchy. It’s a song that needs a lot more love.

But, let’s get to the main event and talk about the song that drove everyone crazy for the next three years, Let It Go. Now first let me say this, this song was overplayed to shit and there’s a reason everyone got so sick of it after it got played on every damn radio station five times a day. All that having been said, I absolutely love this song. Idina Menzel has an absolutely beautiful voice and I love how the song is all about being your true self, a message that means a great deal to yours truly. Plus, the power with which Menzel hits those notes is enough to give anyone Goosebumps. I don’t care if it’s repetitive, it’s one of the best Disney songs ever written and easily my favorite thing about the entire movie, even if I prefer the cover version from Floor Jansen of Nightwish fame.

Memorable Scenes:

This was actually a lot trickier than I thought it would be as most of the best scenes in this movie involve song sequences or are otherwise covered by a different category. The only scene I could think of for this section was the bit where Kristof introduces everyone to the trolls, who at first appear as inanimate rocks. Olaf get his funniest moment in the film where he whispers how Kristof must be crazy and insists she run for her life.

Story:

While there are several themes and motifs throughout the film, such as being your true self, not living a life of emotional isolation and subverting traditional fairy tale tropes. However, I think what this movie was ultimately going for was to show that love between siblings can be every bit as powerful as romantic love, perhaps even more so. Afterall, it’s the bond between Anna and Elsa that drives the plot and it is ultimately Elsa’s love for Anna that saves her from turning to ice in the end. It’s not the most complicated of messages, but it is nice to see Disney, the company that’s been telling us that true love conquers all since the thirties, show us that true love can take multiple different forms.

The Dark Disney Factor:

Well, not for nothing, but Elsa’s self-imposed isolation do to the trauma of nearly killing her sister is as dark and as real as it gets and to the film’s credit, it handles it surprisingly well, with all the weight that such a subject deserves. If you want a genuinely dark scene, there’s the bit where Anna turns to ice. What I especially like about this is how we get no music here, just the sound of Elsa weeping over the sister she’s finally lost, her worst nightmare coming true. It’s a powerful scene even if it’s undone shortly after. Great stuff.

Final Thoughts:

Frozen is a very good movie, but it is not the perfect film that its hype might suggest. Don't get me wrong, I still thoroughly enjoyed the viewing experience, but it's not going to end up on my top ten or twenty lists any time soon. I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually much prefer the sequel but I'm getting ahead of myself. This is a fun film and I'm glad I watched it, but next we're tackling another one of my personal favorites, one that had the unenviable task of being Disney's followup to a monster hit of this caliber. Next time, Big Hero 6!