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Frozen

Frozen: Fun & Festive Disney Fairytale

  • Idina MenzelJonathan Groff...
  • Action & AdventureAnimation...
  • Chris BuckJennifer Lee
reviewed by
Marija Loncarevic
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Frozen: Fun & Festive Disney Fairytale

Following the success of The Princess and the Frog and Tangled, Disney’s latest venture comes in the form of another princess fairytale; Frozen is a magical musical winter fable that ticks all the right boxes for a festive holiday viewing.

Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Snow Queen, the film follows the story of two sisters; Princess Elsa (voiced by Menzel) and her younger sister, Anna (voiced by Bell).  Elsa possesses magical powers and is able to turn anything into snow and ice with just one simple wave of her hand; as the more grounded and mature of the two, she consistenly has to keep one eye on her carefree sister.

During one of their play dates, Elsa’s powers go out of control, almost killing Anna in the process. The King and Queen isolate the sisters from the outside world – and each other – and force Elsa to stay away and learn how to keep her powers and emotions in control.

Years later, at Elsa’s coronation, the film shows the pair to have lost their sisterly bond and after hearing the news that Anna has fallen in love – and now wishes to get married – to the handsome Prince Hans (Fontana), Elsa once again loses control of her powers. This time, however, the result causes havoc and fear amongst their party guests and Elsa decides to flee the kingdom.

Anna subsequently sets on a mission to find her older sister and bring her home with the support of goofy ice salesman, Kristoff (Groff), his loyal reindeer, Sven, and walking and talking snowman, Olaf (Gad).

With no knight in shining armour, prince on a white horse or any other male suitors charged with saving the day, Frozen delightfully forgoes traditional romantic fairytale narrative and decides to keep its focus on family bonds and sisterly love. Bell is incredibly infectious as Anna and does an excellent job, presenting her character with a tremendous amount of energy and wit. Correspondingly, Menzel is exceptional as Elsa and manages to capture her vulnerability and impulsive nature wonderfully, while Groff and Gad offer terrific support and serve up most of the comic relief.

Directed and written by Wreck-It-Ralph’s Jennifer Lee, Frozen offers a magical winter watch and although the 3D doesn’t really add any more depth to its icy Nordic hills, the animation is still just as captivating. The musical numbers are enthralling and the show-stopping performance of the film’s main anthem, Let it Go, provides quite the festive spectacle.

This is a Disney fairytale through and through; whimsical, humorous and incredibly enchanting; Frozen is a true winter classic and a wonderful holiday film for all. 

Like This? Try

The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), The Little Mermaid (1989)

360 Tip

Jennifer Lee is the first woman to direct a full-length film for Disney.

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