Frozen is amazing!
I am so in love with Frozen. I keep playing the soundtrack over and over again, and while Idina Menzel is one of the main reasons why, it’s also simply because it’s gorgeous, goosebump-inducing music that goes with a funny, enjoyable movie.
Any movie that relies on the true love of family over a brand new love interest is so my movie. I get goosebumps just thinking about how the conflict in this film was solved, and my family and I are still belly laughing over the antics of the characters. Queen Elsa is the “princess” that I needed in my youth; in fact, I’m claiming her song as my theme song this year, and I bet I know a lot of moms who could do the same.
Frozen is not without its faults; it diverts so heavily from The Snow Queen that you really can’t say it’s based on the fairy tale at all. The physical characteristics of the cast are way too similar and completely lacked diversity of any kind; even Wood Sprite asked me, “Mom, did these people make Tangled, too?” Indeed, the main character looks almost just like Rapunzel. Although I like the fuller faces, there are thousands of ways of making them differently.
Some moms are saying that the older sister’s transformation involves dressing too provocatively, and while I normally agree, I don’t have that issue this time around. This is a girl who has been forced to stay covered from nearly head to toe her whole life; if I were finally grown up and singing (in my opinion the best song of the year) “Let It Go,” I think I’d wear a shoulder and leg-showing dress, too. Maybe it could have been a little more modest for a kids’ movie, but I didn’t have an issue with it. There was also the issue of the finding a love interest at every turn angle, but it was completely secondary to the plot, which was refreshing.
Is it the best movie since The Lion King? No, because I loved Princess and the Frog, too (as well as Brave, of course). But it’s the best Disney musical since Princess and the Frog, and definitely ties with the two as my favorite Disney films of all time. Growing up with Belle as my heroine due to the lack of any others available, I have to say that these strides forward in female heroism really, really make me happy.
Wood Sprite loved it, too!
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia