Frozen

When the trailer for ‘Frozen’ was dropped a few months back, I predicted a dud. It looked so generic and obvious and unfunny and repetitive and just everything I didn’t want it to be. When news of the film broke I was ecstatic. Disney, doing another musical, basing it off of a very dark and disturbing tale. I knew it would get white washed a bit (which I was fine with), but it was a MUSICAL and so I was automatically game for it. Then that trailer deceived me. Still, my daughters were hooked with the very first television spot, and they’ve had the dolls for nearly a month already, and so we were going to see this opening night. With expectations low (despite some good early ink), there was nowhere to go but up for this film, and it didn’t just go up, it blew through the roof! Yes, ‘Frozen’ is easily Disney’s best film since ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and honestly, one of the best musicals since. It’s a visual feast, charming and sincere, and an unexpected twist on a tale of love, family and acceptance with beautiful shades that make this something truly special. The film tells the story of two sisters, Anna and Elsa. In early childhood, they are joined at the hip. Elsa has an ancient power to create ice (a power that is never explained, and quite frankly doesn’t need to be) and they use her power as an advantage to their playing. When an accident occurs and Anna is injured, Elsa becomes terrified of her ‘gift’ and basically locks herself away from everyone and everything, including Anna. The two obviously drift apart (‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman’ is a marvelous musical moment and brought tears to my eyes) and after the loss of their parents things only get worse. Now fully grown, Anna is a naïve and desperate young woman seeking any attention she can get, and Elsa is distant and misunderstood. On the night of Elsa coronation things go amuck and her secret is exposed to disastrous consequences, and soon Elsa is forced to flee and Anna is left to track her down and ‘thaw’ her town. Now, many have balked before seeing the film that Anna is reduced to yet another Disney stereotype, a girl who needs a man to get the job done. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose, but ‘Frozen’ certainly takes a different approach that the one expected and presents us with a lovable tomboy, a klutz who takes risks and places faith and is willing to ‘take the bull by the horns’, even when its beyond her reach. Sure, she is aided by a man, but she doesn’t need him around (and even the twist at the end where it could have easily fallen into stereotype of ‘man saves the day’ turns out to be even more sincere and honest in the way it finally comes out). Anna is a great role model for young girls (and surprisingly, so is Elsa) and the beautiful bond created by Disney here is unlike anything I’ve seen them do before. Yes, while the film does eventually give is an antagonist (albeit ever so briefly and the way the villain is handled is light and a very nice change of pace), the beauty of ‘Frozen’ is that the chief antagonist is not a singular person but the inner struggle to be accepted and understood. Elsa is not a monster, she is simply scared or herself and what she may do to those whom she loves. ‘Frozen’ does a marvelous job of portraying the bond between sisters and the lengths each will go to protect and love the other. My daughter was in tears over their separation; that is how heartfelt this portrayal is. ‘Frozen’, in my eyes, is one of the best things Disney has done; ever. The film is a modern-day classic and one that is sure to be remembered and regarded as a beloved nod to the Disney Renaissance with obvious modern twists and its own identity. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I can see this being spoken of in the same circles as ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’. While ‘Tangled’ certainly helped Disney regain their footing after some serious dips in quality, ‘Frozen’ completely redeems them and proves that they are still as magical as they ever were. Take that Pixar! And let’s just talk about the musical angle for just a moment. This is one of those rare gifts that actually feel like a true Broadway show. The use of music is integral to the feel of the story, and the glorious visual expanse helps create an epic and ‘larger than life’ reality. When Elsa has her big number (‘Let it Go’ is one of the greatest Disney ballads of all time, easily) you can feel the goose-bumps and your heart starts beating faster. This is a beautifully nostalgic reminder of the power of Disney, and it helps bring those same chills and thrills to a new and younger generation. I have never seen my daughter so excited to be watching a film as I saw her while watching ‘Frozen’. It carries a different feeling.

A household favorite! I let my toddler watch a video at night at before she gets ready for bed. This has been in our DVD player since the day it arrived. She loves it, and so do I. Normally when she's watching a movie, I use that time to pick up around the house. Not with this movie. I get everything done before the movie starts so I can watch it with her. Keep in mind, it's still a Disney story, so there are the signature elements of fairy tales, princesses, and the quest for love. However, the story line is well written, and much more modern for the times. Disney is maturing in their character growth, subject matter, and tone. This is the epitome of an animated musical. The songs are catchy, my daughter is 2 1/2 and she loves to run all over the house singing "Let it go", and knows the words almost verbatim. Elsa is the oldest sister, born with the power to freeze what she touches. She and Anna were close in their youth, until one day Elsa struck her with her powers while they were playing. Elsa was isolated from Anna by their parents, and Anna never understood why, and has been trying to reconnect with Elsa from that day forward. Three years after their parents pass away (remember, it's Disney), Elsa becomes queen. After her coronation, that's when the true grit of the movie begins. Disney really did a wonderful job capturing the attention of all ages in this story. I feel for Elsa, while most think she's the villain...but you'll have to watch and find out for yourself. Anna is lonely growing up in the castle without having much contact with her big sister. She can't wait for her sister's coronation because the gates will finally reopen, and she'll have contact with actual people for the first time in years. The character's introduced later, Kristoff, and his reindeer Sven, Prince Hans, Olaf the snowman, the trolls, and the other minor characters that come and go throughout the movie, make this one of the best Disney films I've ever seen. Disney will always have their classics, like Little Mermaid, Cinderella, etc., but this next generation of Disney films seems to be a power house in the making. This movie was entertaining, compelling, and an easy to story to get lost in. Well done Disney! Looking forward to what lies ahead!

I love love love this movie! It's the coolest movie! I love the cast of characters, that the storyline is well versed. It starts out as Anna and Elsa, Anna is normal, Elsa has powers. Anna gets on Elsa's bed, tries to wake her up to go build a snow man. Elsa gets dragged down stairs into Anna's room and then Elsa releases her powers, Anna leaps tall snow hills until she flies and lands on the floor frozen. Her sister Elsa screams for help, her parents carry Anna to the trolls, the troll heals her memory and restores it to a happier time, when her and Elsa were playing. They walk away take Anna home, Elsa is forced to wear " special gloves" and conceal her powers, as the trolls revealed evil would only harm her and others. Her father shut her off from Anna, and she sings to Elsa to come build a snowman. Elsa and Anna grow up, one day Elsa is getting ready to be queen, and Anna wakes up late. So, she throws her dress on does her hair up, and dances around singing. She goes on a ship to arandelle where Elsa awaits her arrival. She meets Hans from the southern isles, he's charming, but, very helpful. She falls in love with him at the coronation of her sister, and when Elsa is crowned " queen" she tells Anna she's happy to see her. Before long Hans and Anna run along singing and Hans asks her to marry him, she says yes. She goes back into the castle, tells Elsa in front of the crowd, Elsa rejects her offer of marriage, and tells her not to go. She says " what have I done wrong?" And pulls off Elsa's glove. Elsa loses control of her powers and used her evil powers instead to create ice that would injure the towns people. They stared in utter shock, and Elsa fled the ocean waters, until it froze solid to north mountain. Anna told Hans she'd go after her, Hans stayed behind to mandate the kingdom. Anna left on her horse, fled to the north mountain to find Elsa. She comes up near the top, no cape on freezing, loses her horse, and is forced to fight the freezing air and snow. She stumbles upon a lodge, enters oakens lodge and asks for a coat and shoes. She's puzzled to see shoes but, no coat. Just then a tall, clumsy man comes into the lodge, he's covered in snow. Anna plays it off, and finds out in the den, it's none other than Sven and Kristoff. She tells Kristoff she has to find Elsa. He says he helps no one, acts stubborn and refusal. Anna persuades him to leave at night, so, they get into his sled, Sven runs faster, and faster, until Kristoff flies off after the wolves, the wolves attack him, Anna throws a blanket on fire at them. She puts Kristoff back in, the get to a cliff, the sled crashes, Kristoff has to be dragged up by Sven and anna. They continue until they find the stairway to where Elsa ice castle is. Once their closer the find Olaf, Elsa's childhood snowman, he scares Anna and Anna throws Olaf around until he's whole again. She puts a carrot on his face wrong, then fixes it. Olaf finds summertime relaxing and sings about it,then Anna and Kristoff move onwards with Sven and Olaf, to the ice castle, Anna and Kristoff find the icy stairway, climb it to the castle with Olaf. She's opening the doorway, Elsa appears after she's built her castle up, the chandelier, and the doorway with balcony. Anna tells her that arandelle is in a deep, deep, winter, that she must break the spell, so, she says she can't, she hits Anna with an icy blast. Anna flees the castle without Elsa. The marshmallow monster throws Olaf, breaks him into pieces.anna gets revenge only to anger marshmallow. He comes after them both and scares them to the cliff, Kristoff repels Anna downwards, marshmallow grabs the rope and Anna cuts it. They fall. Anna lands in the snow, Kristoff sees her hair, and Olaf says " he hesitated". He says her hair isn't bad. They run to find the love experts, and when they find them, their hiding, and Olaf talks to them. They unroll out as trolls, and welcome Kristoff and later Anna, they try to fix them up, but, Kristoff says " she's engaged". They try to troll fully we'd them, it doesn't work, so, the grandfather troll told her " only an act of true love can save her" they left, Sven flew thru the woods back to arandelle , dropped her off in the castles door way, she went inside told Hans she needs a " true loves kiss" he was prepared to kiss her, then left her abandoned, he told the king that she died. He lied. She was inside laying on the floor cold and lifeless, Olaf came in lit a match and saved her, until Elsa was captured, broke free, fled the dungeon and then Olaf got Anna out the window, they were trapped! Elsa was walking thru the blizzard, Kristoff was led by Sven to find Anna, Kristoff refused twice, he told Sven to hurry, he almost got to Anna but, by the time he was close, and Hans tried to kill Anna, she stopped hans short and froze solid! Her sister embraced her weeping. She felt her tears and her heart unfroze completely. From then on Anna and Elsa were in separable. Anna gave Kristoff a new sled, and Sven a new title, and then Hans was arrested and the old man was shipped off, Anna and Elsa let winter return after summer was restored in arandelle and ice skated. Anna and Kristoff were happier than ever.

I went to the theater expecting the usual dumb kids movie, and was blown away. I LOVED this film and instantly added the DVD to my wishlist. Honestly, my favorite movies are The Hunt for the Red October, Galaxy Quest, Pixar's Incredibles, Princess Bride, Ponyo, Sound of Music, and Lord of the Rings Extended Editions. I gravitate to no particular genre, but only to what I find are the absolute best movies. Frozen is up there with the best movies I have ever seen. Period. Why is this film so good? 1. It teaches real love. Love is about putting the other person's needs first. Love is shown in your actions not your words. I am so floored that a kids movie actually taught this and even took the time to point out you never get engaged or married to a guy you just met. WOW... a Disney film not about being swept off your feet by a guy in 3 seconds? Its about time. 2. The side kick characters are not annoying.... seriously!! Its like the difference between Jar Jar Binks and R2D2. These side kicks are more like R2D2 whereas past Disney sidekicks were like Jar Jar Binks. These side-kicks from the reindeer to snow monster were done exactly right. They add humor to the show and dimension without ever getting in the way of the story or you wanting to strangle them. Way to go Disney!!! Any way you can retroactively edit sidekicks in older films? 3. The plot themes are serious yet with enough humor that it doesn't feel too serious AND without the humor taking away from the story line. What a great balance to hit just right. Ok so the story line is a bit simplistic because its a kid movie, but it still has twists and turns. I did not find the story predictable because I was expecting another one of those princesses falling in love movies.. and this was not typical. The story teaches important themes like what love really is, the weight of responsibility, how to use power rightly vs. wrongly, and empathy for others. 4. Great music. The opening song grabs you and whisks you away to another world. Every song helps you connect more deeply to each character... and pulls you deeper into the story. I have never felt so much empathy in a musical since Fiddler on the Roof... and I'm not that emotional of a person. So if you have daughters, grandchildren, nieces, or work in childcare... get this movie. You will be able to watch it over and over without going insane. The kids will learn what true love really is and what to watch out for in love.... its not what all those other princess movies teach. So you can rest easy.

This won't cover the movie, that's been reviewed plenty before the DVD and Blu Ray were released, so this will cover the actual Blu Ray. Unfortunately as with so many, there's a bunch of previews right away, but at least here you can skip them. I'm so tired of discs that don't let you skip past them, and was very glad here we could. My son is 10 and loves this movie, since he's totally obsessed with the music in it. We didn't see it in the theaters until Feb, several months after it was first released. We got the expanded soundtrack within minutes of getting home, and it's the only thing he's let me play in the car for over a month and a half now. When the digital download was released, I got that to hold us over until the Blu Ray release. It was disappointing in that it had such poor sound, stereo only. And of course it was rather compressed, so even the 1080 version wasn't very impressive. So when I got this one playing, I felt stunned because it's such a night and day comparison to the iTunes version I have. I use a Media Center PC so anything I watch, or any of my movies, all play on my 55" LED TV. But I dislike having to use iTunes for watching movies in my setup, I prefer my own Media Browser system to watch my digital movies, or my Xbox One for watching Blu Ray discs. The PC I use has a blu ray player, but the software has a tendency to get the audio out of sync slightly, which is annoying. Extras - it has the "Get a Horse" short that my son loved, several version of the music video, and not just the English versions. It has a very slick extra that talks about some things in the 40's where they initially had assigned a production number to "The Snow Queen" even though it was never realized. This video also had some of the artwork from one of the original Disney artists, I don't recall his name, but there were some really nice shots of some of the things he drew along the Ice Queen theme, and the producers of Frozen talked with his widow about some of his drawings, and compared some of the things they incorporated that they recognized in his work. There is also a "Deleted Scenes" bit that has pseudo animation by taking the storyboard shots and running them one after another to give some sense of motion. But nothing in there really impressed me, and I can see why they were cut. Interestingly enough though was a storyboard about when Elsa was originally going to be "Evil" at the beginning of the work on the project. But back to the picture quality - amazing. I'm watching it now, and after having seen the iTunes version so many times, I just keep gasping at each scene, and how amazing it looks now compared to what we're used to. Surround sound is well done, and it's nice getting the voices out of the center channel and music out of the sides and rear as well as the sound effects. Even in the "Get a Horse" short the surround sound aspects were well done for when Mickey flies the "cow airplane" around behind the audience. Bright, vibrant, and no "washing out" of any of the colors. It's great being able to pause it to see details so clearly, like the cameo of Rapunzel and Flynn. All in all, this will likely be one of the more played DVD's in our Pixar / Disney collection for quite some time, and it was well worth buying. I'd give it more stars if I could.

Disney's Frozen plays subtly upon assumptions, stimulating reconsideration of what obstacles there may be to true love--and even whether there oughtn't be a few for young people to start with after all ! It might do to bundle those aforementioned assumptions under the label "Pride And Prejudice-esque" : sister dynamics in one corner, brother dynamics in the other, no real parents in either, yet the imbroglios of Elizabeth and D'Arcy more attributable ( or at least attributed ) to the mutual miscomprehension of "classes" than to these lovers' personal, pre-romantic, familial histories. Comparable to Elizabeth Bennett in being the younger and less ostentatiously gifted of upper-class sisters, daughters of parents distant and then untimely deceased, is Frozen's Princess Anna. Anna falls in love almost instantly with the ( Spoiler alert ! ) cad-monster, Hans, far harder-driven even than Wicked Wickham by fraternal jealousy and legacy-lust. ( Cf. "With twelve older brothers..." ) In part to shed clarifying-contrastive light on both Anna's and Kristoff's backgrounds, Frozen has the ( adoptive ) family of Anna's real-true-love-to-be, Kristoff, be a clan of trolls very liable to overwhelm their mild nordic orphan-friends like a flash-mob Big Troll Wedding, a tidal wave of cheeky Family Wholeness that is everything unfamiliar to Anna at least. So might we wish to fall, en famille Grecque, upon Elizabeth Bennett, whisking her past pride and past prejudice to a perfect if premature Happy Ending. But Frozen implies that one should heal psychic faults at their pre-romantic, familial origins rather than, still ignorant of the sources of one's inclinations, seeking a panacea in romance however authentic. The Trolls, Kristoff had warned Anna, are consummate "love experts"--but why then does Frozen have the stricken Anna faint rather than rally at the climax of The Trolls' big number about love ? Until then, under a shock-wedding gazebo, together with Hans before The Priest-Troll, Anna attends politely to their advice. As Anna's reserved looks and Kristoff's impatient expostulations meanwhile suggest, however, The Trolls' advice, if sound in itself, is nonethless directed to Hans and Anna in error. Anna is neither a snob nor a prude nor a slanderer's fool who needs prodding towards her "fixer-upper." Nor is she well-advised to be, as The Trolls imply she should, *less* critical. How perilously "spontaneous" Anna has already been in romantic matters ! And how ingeniously dark the parallel ironies of Anna's duet with Hans will prove to be : Hans has indeed been trawling for just such an "open [ reread : carelessly unlocked ] door" ! The Trolls are wrong furthermore to imagine that, Our Heroine rid of Hans and open to advances on Kristoff's part ( and to quote the French version ), "tout sera reglé !" The Trolls have been rushing Anna towards Kristoff, even just a kiss from whom will come only in the film's denouement, and ignoring her real and serious illness, which Kristoff can't help with yet. Finally, reflecting upon the rather odd fact that the "true love's kiss" they prescribed to Anna comes at last not from any man nor involves "true love" of the kind that phrase itself inevitably connotes, we should take The Trolls to task--and maybe ourselves--for conceiving Anna's challenge amidst a fog of assumptions--be they ethnic, "neo-Austenean," both, or something else. Olaf, the hilarious snowman first brought to life by Elsa in childhood and, later, brought back to life by Elsa in the midst of renewing her stolen identity, leaves far less to be desired as sidekick-advisor than The Trolls. Recall that Elsa created Olaf at her little sister's ( at Anna's ) musical appeal : "Do you want to build a snowman ?" Insofar as Elsa thus created Olaf not only *for* Anna and at Anna's request yet hardly "with" her, Olaf is a proxy for older-to-younger sororal attention never directly forthcoming from Elsa. At the same time as he is a kind of ambassador of deflected sister-love, however, Olaf is--of course, but note it--a snow*man* or -boy at least. Olaf in fact provides gentle yet not-undemonstrative opposite-sex affection with his very first breath : "My name is Olaf, [ I'm a male snowman, by the way, ] and I like warm hugs !" Unsupervised at this juncture and momentarily uninhibited, Elsa does get carried away by her powers just as--let's give them their parental praise-due as well as criticism--The King and Queen of Arandel strove to prevent. Elsa accidentally injures Anna, The King and Queen are horrified, Elsa descends into an inner deep-freeze that isolates her above all from her sister, and Olaf disappears for over a decade. Correlatively, soon after he is *re*created on a mountainside by Elsa Revitalised, he meets with Anna searching for Elsa : "Did Elsa create you ?" "Yes." "Do you know where Elsa is ?" "Yes." He finds the hidden staircase to her castle for Anna and Kristoff and helps them get inside past another--but this one's Angry--snowman-proxy of Elsa's creation. It is he, not Kristoff, who rescues Anna at the brink of death by explaining love to her and by his readiness to "melt for her" in loving self-sacrifice. Though Olaf cannot himself be Anna's true love in the inevitable romantic sense of the phrase, he is the key to the meaning of Frozen in being thus the bridge ( sometimes almost comic-literally ! ) between Anna's and Elsa's hearts, between lost childhood memories and readiness for Adult Love. Minus a few pretty pointless physical danger spectacle-scenes and just a forgiveable touch of girl-power corniness, a beautiful, brilliant, and surprisingly reflective creation from Disney.

Great movie kids love it,

This is an excellent movie with great re-watch value. I really like the graphics in HD downloaded at best quality. The first time I watched it, I was impressed with the graphics, but the plot and story didn't stick out as to me as much. However, my appreciation of those things improved quite a bit after watching the movie more than once. You can learn a lot from the show, I think. It seems to be about love (all the way through). I notice new stuff every time I watch it. The music is awesome, of course. Back when it came out (quite a while before I saw it), people always ranted and raved about Elsa and how awesome and beautiful she was, and didn't have a lot to say about Anna—but huh? Anna's awesome. She one of the funnest characters (and princesses) to ever have graced a movie, and she's no less beautiful than Elsa, even without the stylish blue dress and hairstyle. Her songs are no less profound than Elsa's, either, I think. Anyway, here's some of the plot (spoiler alert): Anna has magical powers over cold, ice, snow, etc. Anna wakes Elsa up and wants to play with her. They play. Elsa accidentally hurts Anna with her magic. They take Anna to some trolls to be healed. They heal her and warn Elsa about her powers. A troll heals Anna and removes all memories of magic from her brain. Elsa's parents decide to isolate Elsa to keep her and others safe until something or other happens, like she learns to control her powers (Elsa is in her room and won't play with Anna, or even come out and see her—for years). Their parents die in a shipwreck. Elsa is to become queen. On coronation day, Anna is really excited and goes out into the city, singing and stuff. Anna meets a prince from another kingdom; they seem to like each other. The coronation happens. Anna and Elsa are together for a bit, and they're happy. Anna and the aforementioned prince do some stuff together and become engaged (the same day they met). They ask Elsa for her blessing. Elsa is appalled and doesn't give her blessing. Some drama ensues, and Anna appropriates Elsa's glove while she's talking to her. Elsa wants it back (the gloves help to keep her powers under control). Elsa accidentally uses her powers and frightens and/or surprises everyone. Elsa runs away, and unknowingly causes a perpetual winter. Elsa sings Let It Go as she builds an ice castle and a snowman named Olaf (who comes to life) with her magic (and she replaces her black attire and her hairstyle with what she's known for). Anna goes after Elsa and wants to talk to her and convince her to fix things and come back. There's a conspiracy against the throne, and they try to use the incident against Elsa. Anna meets someone who sells ice for a living (and his reindeer) on her way to find Elsa; they help her. They find Olaf, and then Elsa. Anna talks with Elsa. Elsa accidentally uses her magic on Anna after they talk things out and Elsa still hasn't changed her mind, except this time it hits Anna's heart and can't be healed by the troll (only an act of true love can help her). … Well, there's more plot, but you can just watch the movie (I hope). Anyway, it's an excellent movie, and I really recommend it. I recommend watching it multiple times. I believe this is one of the best movies out there. Beyond what it says in the IMDB parents' guide (which shouldn't bother most people, even those with high standards), it's quite clean. Anna's coronation day dress (I think that was the one) could certainly be more modest, though. This edition of the movie has lots of people singing Let It Go at the end, as well as a cartoon and some information about the creation of the movie, I believe. On another note, Lexi Walker does an excellent rendition of Let It Go (you can look it up), which she did with the One Voice children's choir. I recommend looking at her other music, too. You can find it on the Amazon digital music store. She's a young artist (teenage, now).