Reviews WesternAnimation / Frozen 2013

Nice points!

In regards to the title change, I'm sure we know that Disney changed it due to better marketing - but in a way, "Frozen" represents more than "The Snow Queen".

Yeah, I felt that it would have been nice just to have more time developing the characters' relationships with each other, but then maybe that's something that can be developed in shorts (hopefully)! The movie spent some time with the adventure element, when I felt that some characters (notably Elsa) were neglected, but then most of Elsa's development can be interpreted in "Let It Go" or just from her tragic background.

Lack of character development for Elsa? Really? Her story arc consists of her becoming a repressed, isolated individual as a result of trauma and misguided parents, then learning to show/enjoy her true self and respond to her own desires instead of her obligations, followed by relating to society and other people by understanding that pain is not the inevitable result of human contact. That seems to me like a hell of a lot of character development.

Agreed with the above post. I also believe that Anna has changed in the story. She learns what "true love" is and shows it by taking a hit for Elsa. Before that point, she was mostly interested in herself even though she did care a lot about Elsa such as wanting to marry Hans immediately and unintentionally causing trouble when Elsa disapproves. Anna does go after her sister despite feeling ignored for almost her entire life (pretty strong love toward Elsa), but she wants happiness by being with Elsa. She doesn't entirely disregard Elsa since Anna even offers her support(First Time in Forever Reprise), but in the end, Anna is mostly serving herself. Olaf later tells Anna that true love is "putting another person's needs before your own", and she does so when she decides to die in Elsa's place. In fact, it was appropriate for Olaf to be the one to tell Anna what true love is not just because he represents the sisters' love for each other, but Elsa keeping Anna away was also out of love (and fear), and Elsa wasn't happy about having to do so (and I don't think Anna would be happy about dying either). I'm not saying that true love can cause misery for one person, but it sure doesn't guarantee happiness if the movie is anything to go by. And of course, Anna doesn't marry Kristoff right away unlike when earlier when she wanted to marry Hans right away.

Maybe Anna's "development" wasn't overt or she didn't change drastically as a person, but I'm not sure they need to be. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle doesn't change much. She probably does learn that inner beauty is more important, but she knows that, at least a little since she found the handsome Gaston to be intolerable.

Can't edit a comment... because I forgot to some other things

I've always thought that Anna should've gotten her memories back to learn the truth, which could give her more of an understanding of Elsa's position. Anna shows some understanding in the song between them, but the reason Elsa wanted to be alone wasn't quite the reason Anna believes it was. And also because the white streak in Anna's hair is gone or when more of Anna's hair became white like the streak after Elsa struck her, and no one seems to notice...

I agree with the OP, except for con #1. Also, most of those aren't cons, they're just things that should have been added to the movie.

Why would you shoehorn a message about body posistivty into this film?

This is an alright review for messages invovled but it seems more like a highschool/first year screening for ideas present in the film rather than a judgement on the film itself. Cons ought to be things the story was missing internally rather than "elements that could be added". While Pros say nothing about how they make it work [and they do], only that good ideas are present in the film. "Politically agreeable" seems like rather shallow praise for a film.

As to Cons while I agree with most of the messages here but you could state just as easily that they shouldn't be royalty in the first place since it promotes a plutocratic ideal and they'd be better off setting their characters outside of a European Fantasy setting. The list for ways that this could be a politically positive films is essentially endless but most of these aren't in story, especially the Kristoff and Elsa angle; they have much history of interaction and a life partner thing would feel shoehorned, especially since the story does set up a romantic plot between Anna and Kristoff. It would be wierd to become "platonic life partners" with someone whom your sibling introduced you to and seemd to be interested in dating. Some of these elements could work but the story is not, as an internal narrative, lacking because of them I think.

I actually hated Olaf. I thought he was an annoying, purposeless character that could have been cut with little consequence. His song about wanting to enjoy summer is simply disturbing and uncanny, bringing up titanic amounts of Fridge Horror. Needless to say, summer kills snowmen; if you replaced Olaf with a human and summer with something that kills humans (drowning, falling from tall buildings), the movie would be rated R.

Fridge Horror? The dissonance was intentional.

^ Yes, but the Fridge comes into play when you step back and actually take the scene for what it is: A kids movie has a character who glorifies something that is inherently lethal to them, and they're playing it for laughs. The dissonance is intentional, but it's only when you realize how dark the scene would be under other circumstances that is falls into Fridge Horror. I don't want to seem rude, but how many parents would complain or even sue if the opening lyrics to Olaf's song were "Winds will blow, kids will stare at the sight, of whatever my body does whenever it hangs...".

Don't you see how disturbing and disgusting that is? To this day I am baffled as to who thought Olaf's "In Summer" song should be in the movie; it's not funny, it is not artful, it's not cute. It's as violent and horrible as a song about happily wondering what it's like to be burned alive.

It's still not Fridge, because that was entirely the point of the sequence. That's why they used a snowman instead of a human. The situation is inherently absurd, and they used that absurdity to generate comedy. It would be disturbing and disgusting if they used a person. But they didn't. The situations aren't completely comparable, and that's where the humor comes from.

Ever heard of Black Comedy?

Mm... nope. I think it was hilarious.

I didn't care for Olaf, but because his voice was just... ugh. I would have taken literally any other voice but the one he had. It annoyed me for some reason. I have no idea why. He remind me of Raymond from the Princess and the Frog. I guess he served the same purpose sort of.

I just wish Anna and Elsa's relationship had more time to develop. They seemed like strangers for the most part to me for some reason. So that's my biggest point. I gotta watch the film again when I can.

Crap. About the above, he remind me of Raymond because of his role in the story. Not his voice. Important distinction there. I love Raymond and his voice! :D I think it's the innocence that makes me think of those two as being in the same role.

About the "Kristoff could be mixed-race" con — he's already a minority, he's Sami. I think that there could have been more people of colour in total, but changing one minority into a different type of minority isn't the way to do it.

Am I the only one thoroughly unimpressed with Frozen? It seemed very run-of-the-mill.

This is the internet, no-one is the only one of anything :P There's a couple of reviews on this site to accommodate your tastes. I'd recommend a touch of Overrated And Mediocre By Disney Standards or even The most disappointing film I have ever seen.