Frozen
Yes, that's right...I said "Frozen". I know some of you are screaming in glee "She's going to talk about Frozen!!! I LOVE that movie!!" while others are thinking "Oh no, not her too. Aren't we done with this movie yet?" I, myself, am probably in the second group. Nonetheless, I have committed myself to discussing everything movie that I watch (as well as every book that I read) and so I must discuss this one as well. Besides, it isn't the worst movie, in fact it is pretty good.
But first, some backstory. A few years ago I saw a post from Disney on facebook saying that they were making a new movie called Frozen based on the story of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. Yeah, how many of you knew that? It changes things completely, doesn't it? So I saw as the sketches were released, as plots were slowly revealed, and even when the first clip of Olaf and Sven (which at the time seemed completely unrelated to the movie) was finally put out. It looked cute, it seemed like a good idea. Of course, at the same time a part of me was screaming inside, "How does this have ANYTHING to do with The Snow Queen?!" Disney doesn't usually change the story that much, but they also tend to pick less dark stories.
Anyways so when this movie suddenly became huge, I questioned whether it was really worth watching. That seems contradictory, but I suppose that I should point out that I tend to go against the grain of highly popular trends...I'm a bit of a rebel that way.
Now back to the movie. Two princes, Elsa and Anna, live happily in the palace with their parents, the king and queen. The problem? Elsa has the powers to create and manipulate ice and snow (and apparently give it life, but she doesn't know that yet). One night she accidentally hits Anna in the head with it, leaving a streak of white in her red hair. Her family takes her to the stone trolls (the only other beings with music) for healing and they decide that they should erase all memories of Elsa's magic. He then gives two mysterious foreshadowing comments: that had it reached her heart it would have been fatal, and that Elsa's greatest enemy is fear. Meanwhile a tiny Kristoff and Sven are adopted by one of the trolls while looking on. Elsa's parents try to help her deal with her magic, but they don't know what to do. Eventually, they leave for a diplomatic mission and die at sea when the ship is capsized in a storm. Three years later Elsa is to crowned queen, but is still having serious trouble dealing with her powers when she is afraid or overly emotional, and her new position isn't any less trouble for her. When Anna falls for the first cute, "sweet" guy to walk through the door, Elsa blows up and freezes the whole party. Everyone is afraid and so she runs to the mountains where she can be herself without any judgement, and suddenly when the fear is gone she has perfect control of her powers. However, the visiting Duke is suspicious of her and so Anna says she will get her sister to unfreeze their now icy country, but she leaves Hans in charge. Anna runs into Kristoff and Sven who help her along the way. They are soon joined by the awesome Olaf. Anna finds Elsa and reveals the full capacity of her powers, but Elsa is scared about all of tis and accidentally hits Anna in the heart with some of her ice (there's what they took from The Snow Queen). When Elsa sees this she freaks out again and makes Marshmallow, who is far scarier than he sounds, to chase them all away. They fall off a cliff, and Kristoff notices that Anna's hair begins to turn white. he takes her to the trolls who try to marry them, and tell them that only an act of true love can save Anna. Hans and the Duke's men trap Elsa after defeating Marshmallow and place her in a cell. Hans comes to tell her that Anna is missing and she needs to stop the winter, which she can't. Kristoff and Sven bring a freezing Anna back to the palace for Hans to heal her with "true love's kiss". Finally, Hans reveals his evil plan to take over their kingdom, which did not involve any of these events, but he takes full advantage of them. Hans locks her up and tells everyone that they got married just before she died from Elsa's magic, and so becomes the king. Elsa breaks out of her cell with magic. Olaf has a cute scene where he rescues Anna and helps her to see that Kristoff is her true love. Hans, Kristoff, Anna, and Elsa all end up on a frozen body of water where Kristoff tries to reach Anna before she dies, and Hans chases Elsa with a sword. Right before she gets to Kristoff, Anna turns and places herself between Hans and her sister, right before she freezes over. But, her own act of true love saves her and allows Elsa to realize that her love for Anna can help her and she unfreezes everything. Hans and the Duke are snet back home and ties between nations are severed, but Arendelle becomes a happy place. Everyone gets there poetic justice, and they live happily ever after (or so we can assume).
It ends very abruptly.
It was cute. I must admit it. I love the animation style, the characters, the story. It had a very Tangled feel, only I felt like it was missing something. I'm not exactly sure what, but the way we just jump from Anna's memory being cleared to a very quick glance at their childhood before their parents die at sea to the coronation makes me feel like we could have built so much more backstory or character profile that could improve the story and build more attachment to the characters. Of course, this movie was designed to hold the attention of small children. Plus, I probably get this impression from the lengthy novels that I am used to reading where there is never a detail left out. I must remember that movies cannot always be like that. The other thing that bothers me about it is the way that their parents react towards Elsa's magic. They seem so accepting, and suddenly they are too terrified to even treat her like their child. It is sad and stupid. Plus I think that Elsa could have at least spoken to Anna through the door if she was really so afraid to come out and have contact with her. What did she think her silence was going to do? They're sisters for crying out loud. You can't break that bond (and that's the message of the movie, too, which makes this behaviour a bit contradictory). I know that that was necessary to the rest of the plot, but I wish that it was different.
I understand that "Let It Go" became such a big song because of its great message, but I really think "Love is an Open Door" deserves more attention. It is such an adorable song, even if Hans turns out to be evil.
But first, some backstory. A few years ago I saw a post from Disney on facebook saying that they were making a new movie called Frozen based on the story of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. Yeah, how many of you knew that? It changes things completely, doesn't it? So I saw as the sketches were released, as plots were slowly revealed, and even when the first clip of Olaf and Sven (which at the time seemed completely unrelated to the movie) was finally put out. It looked cute, it seemed like a good idea. Of course, at the same time a part of me was screaming inside, "How does this have ANYTHING to do with The Snow Queen?!" Disney doesn't usually change the story that much, but they also tend to pick less dark stories.
Anyways so when this movie suddenly became huge, I questioned whether it was really worth watching. That seems contradictory, but I suppose that I should point out that I tend to go against the grain of highly popular trends...I'm a bit of a rebel that way.
Now back to the movie. Two princes, Elsa and Anna, live happily in the palace with their parents, the king and queen. The problem? Elsa has the powers to create and manipulate ice and snow (and apparently give it life, but she doesn't know that yet). One night she accidentally hits Anna in the head with it, leaving a streak of white in her red hair. Her family takes her to the stone trolls (the only other beings with music) for healing and they decide that they should erase all memories of Elsa's magic. He then gives two mysterious foreshadowing comments: that had it reached her heart it would have been fatal, and that Elsa's greatest enemy is fear. Meanwhile a tiny Kristoff and Sven are adopted by one of the trolls while looking on. Elsa's parents try to help her deal with her magic, but they don't know what to do. Eventually, they leave for a diplomatic mission and die at sea when the ship is capsized in a storm. Three years later Elsa is to crowned queen, but is still having serious trouble dealing with her powers when she is afraid or overly emotional, and her new position isn't any less trouble for her. When Anna falls for the first cute, "sweet" guy to walk through the door, Elsa blows up and freezes the whole party. Everyone is afraid and so she runs to the mountains where she can be herself without any judgement, and suddenly when the fear is gone she has perfect control of her powers. However, the visiting Duke is suspicious of her and so Anna says she will get her sister to unfreeze their now icy country, but she leaves Hans in charge. Anna runs into Kristoff and Sven who help her along the way. They are soon joined by the awesome Olaf. Anna finds Elsa and reveals the full capacity of her powers, but Elsa is scared about all of tis and accidentally hits Anna in the heart with some of her ice (there's what they took from The Snow Queen). When Elsa sees this she freaks out again and makes Marshmallow, who is far scarier than he sounds, to chase them all away. They fall off a cliff, and Kristoff notices that Anna's hair begins to turn white. he takes her to the trolls who try to marry them, and tell them that only an act of true love can save Anna. Hans and the Duke's men trap Elsa after defeating Marshmallow and place her in a cell. Hans comes to tell her that Anna is missing and she needs to stop the winter, which she can't. Kristoff and Sven bring a freezing Anna back to the palace for Hans to heal her with "true love's kiss". Finally, Hans reveals his evil plan to take over their kingdom, which did not involve any of these events, but he takes full advantage of them. Hans locks her up and tells everyone that they got married just before she died from Elsa's magic, and so becomes the king. Elsa breaks out of her cell with magic. Olaf has a cute scene where he rescues Anna and helps her to see that Kristoff is her true love. Hans, Kristoff, Anna, and Elsa all end up on a frozen body of water where Kristoff tries to reach Anna before she dies, and Hans chases Elsa with a sword. Right before she gets to Kristoff, Anna turns and places herself between Hans and her sister, right before she freezes over. But, her own act of true love saves her and allows Elsa to realize that her love for Anna can help her and she unfreezes everything. Hans and the Duke are snet back home and ties between nations are severed, but Arendelle becomes a happy place. Everyone gets there poetic justice, and they live happily ever after (or so we can assume).
It ends very abruptly.
It was cute. I must admit it. I love the animation style, the characters, the story. It had a very Tangled feel, only I felt like it was missing something. I'm not exactly sure what, but the way we just jump from Anna's memory being cleared to a very quick glance at their childhood before their parents die at sea to the coronation makes me feel like we could have built so much more backstory or character profile that could improve the story and build more attachment to the characters. Of course, this movie was designed to hold the attention of small children. Plus, I probably get this impression from the lengthy novels that I am used to reading where there is never a detail left out. I must remember that movies cannot always be like that. The other thing that bothers me about it is the way that their parents react towards Elsa's magic. They seem so accepting, and suddenly they are too terrified to even treat her like their child. It is sad and stupid. Plus I think that Elsa could have at least spoken to Anna through the door if she was really so afraid to come out and have contact with her. What did she think her silence was going to do? They're sisters for crying out loud. You can't break that bond (and that's the message of the movie, too, which makes this behaviour a bit contradictory). I know that that was necessary to the rest of the plot, but I wish that it was different.
I understand that "Let It Go" became such a big song because of its great message, but I really think "Love is an Open Door" deserves more attention. It is such an adorable song, even if Hans turns out to be evil.
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