Hello all! Lol, so – there seems to have been a… big… blizzard thing… (lol, name that movie quote!) going on in Ohio this past weekend… and it appears we were out of road salt (? – this is what I’ve heard at least – ?)…
So, since I had to postpone my trip to see I, Frankenstein until last night, I figured this is actually the perfect opportunity (and a funny coincidence in my book) to review this particular movie for you.
Welcome to my review of Frozen! 😀
Starring: Idina Menzel (Elsa), Kristen Bell (Anna), Jonathan Groff (Kristoff and sometimes Sven), Josh Gad (Olaf), Santino Fontana (Hans), Alan Tudyk (The Duke of Weselton)
Plot (taken from Yahoo! Movies):
“Fearless optimist Anna sets off on an epic journey-teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven-to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom.”
Trailer:
Characters:
Idina Menzel (Elsa) – Fabulous and amazing. I love this character. She’s strong, and puts the safety of others, especially her sister, first. And I love this character’s attitude throughout the movie. A friend who watches a lot of plays told me this actress played the lead in Wicked – and so now I have to go watch Wicked. 😀
Kristen Bell (Anna) – This is such a fun character. She’s not afraid to be herself, or say what she thinks, and she’s definitely honest. Blunt in a cute kind of way. I also love that she’s so totally different from Elsa.
Jonathan Groff (Kristoff) – He’s hilarious. Kind of weird and silly, and an all-around nice guy – I totally love this hero. 🙂 I really like the way he approaches different situations in the movie, and his funny friendship with Sven.
Occasionally Jonathan Groff (Sven) – Lol, this character doesn’t have a voice actor, although Kristoff does sometimes speak for him. He’s Kristoff’s quirky reindeer sidekick, lol, and I’m kind of in love with him, voice or not. 😀
Josh Gad (Olaf) – He’s just adorable. I love this character – right up there with Sven. He’s always cheerful, and he loves warm hugs. XD
Santino Fontana (Hans) – Oh, Hans…What can I safely say about Hans without ruining all the fun? Lol, not much. So lets just say he leaves an impression. 😉 And in the end, a very big one ~~ you should have seen me in the theater… you know how involved in movies I get, lol. “Flames… flames out of the sides of my head…” (we should make a game of this – name that movie quote!)
Alan Tudyk (The Duke of Weselton) – Oh, how I love to hate this guy. He’s such a… such a… WEASEL!!!! XD Lol, he’s also a kind of hilarious villain – both comic relief and a threat at the same time.
Review:
Well then. I think I have a new favorite Disney Princess.
I want to be Elsa when I grow up.
Assuming I grow up.
So, how many of you have either read Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen, or seen any of the movies based on it?
If you have, in either case, then you’ll know what I mean when I say that Elsa and Anna remind me a lot of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Elsa is the older sister, and is more reserved and composed, and seems to make it her job to look before she leaps. Anna, on the other hand, just dives into everything head-first. Looking before she leaps would be waaaaaay too bo-ring for her. She’s impulsive and cheerful, and more than a little naïve in some instances.
I love the bond between the sisters. That’s the central theme of this story. It’s all about family. In a lot of earlier Disney’s, it was more about the girl finding her prince charming – which you know I love, romance is a key ingredient in most fairytales – but this was a refreshing change of pace. There was still romance, but it didn’t overshadow what was happening with Elsa and Anna.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this one was that both sisters were trying to figure out their place in the world, in their own ways. Elsa was constantly hiding. Afraid to be herself. Afraid she would be feared, or even hated. I think she felt like an outcast. And Anna was mainly confused in the beginning. She was dying to get out of the castle and experience the world, and couldn’t understand why Elsa would ever want to shut the world away. She was so overly-eager to throw herself out there, that she ended up getting herself into some trouble.
It was really cool to watch them both grow, and come into their own. 🙂 And they were both stronger for it in the end. Very well done.
The songs were fun and memorable, lol, and I’ll probably be humming “Do You Want To Build A Snowman” all week. 🙂 The animation is beautiful too. I’ve always loved the artwork in Disney movies – it’s always detailed and beautiful.
And did I mention that Elsa is kind of fierce?
‘Cuz she is. 😀
My Rating for Frozen: Epic – I love this movie, and will definitely be buying it. Lol, it doesn’t even matter that I don’t have kids yet – I love animated movies just as much as live action anyway. 😀 Definitely check this out if you liked Brave or Anastasia or Tangled, or if you like Disney or animated films in general, especially with strong female leads.
And, just because I love Elsa, here’s my favorite song from the movie. 😀
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My Rating System:
Epic: This movie is so mind-bogglingly awesome that I may go see it twice. This one will have a place of honor on my shelf.
Cash-Worthy: Good stuff. This will most likely find a place on my shelf.
Not Bad: I liked it. I’m glad I saw it, and it may or may not end up on my shelf at some point. I would say rent it first to be safe.
Meh: Rent it first. You may love it or hate it, but I’m indifferent probably because it’s not my type of movie. I’m glad I saw it, but it won’t end up on my shelf.
Emergency Cake: I have an emotional reaction to movies sometimes, especially to tragedies. If a movie makes me sad or angry, sometimes it will stick with me for a while. At these times, only chocolate cake can save me. Chocolate cake makes everything better. No shelf for you. Ever.
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Artwork Credits:
I got the artwork in my greeting from this post on The Skyrim Blog.
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paigeaddams 
I’ll try and watch it . . . but it gets annoying after a while that the guys in these movies are all . . .well, I’m a gentleman, so I’ll just say . . . ooops, no that’s not gentlemanly . . . neither is that, or that . . . Better not say.
Lmao – uh oh, that doesn’t bode well for this Disney hero. XD
Now I’m really curious too! I’ve heard some say that they don’t like the heroes because they’re portrayed as too perfect, giving girls unrealistic expectations of some perfect ideal. This would also be unfair to men as well, who would (maybe not consciously) be expected to live up to these ideals. I think that’s what I’ve heard most from others – which makes sense, because I think part of what makes people so interesting and great is all their imperfect little flaws and quirks. 🙂 Lol, I think that something that annoys me though is that they’re oblivious, and sometimes way too passive in the story.
Take Tangled . . . not much of a hero there. Sure, he came through at the end, but otherwise greedy, selfish, ready to lie, cheat, and steal at the first opportunity. Heck, the horse was a better role model for guys. In that movie Disney was selling the “roguish” male to little girls. We’re training generation after generation to eschew the safe and boring for the “bad boy” with a good heart. (Note . . . I’m not just saying this because I am safe and boring; I’m saying it because . . . OK, yeah; it’s because I’m safe and boring).
Brave . . . that movie had no role models for guys; to a person, all buffoons.
Now I get they are catering to a particular demographic . . . I saw a bunch of them in november when I was at Disney. Girls wearing the princess costumes.
And what are they learning? Guys are either slimy jerks (a view I happen to share), or they are basically decent but dull-witted, and need to be pushed, prodded, cajoled into doing the right thing.
Assuming Disney is providing role models (even inadvertently) to both sexes, guys will come into two sizes; benign but worthless, or evil but worthless.
Ultimately my objections with a lot of these movies is they are callously produced with marketing in mind, and some basic “moral” anchoring the excuse for the marketing. The characters are seldom more than caricatures (I hear Frozen is an improvement). I did read Disney fought against the characterization in Frozen, as they saw it as a risk to their “formula” and hence to their profit. To their credit, the producers and writers held steadfast.
I’ll probably watch it . . . if I remember . . . if Hitman is not on.
Lol, I say watch Hitman after Frozen, just in case you feel the urge to mentally kick someone after seeing this hero. I will say~~
{{SPOILER}} to give fair warning – you *have* described, almost to a T, one stereotype that is found in Frozen – but luckily (thank you, God/universe/someone’s plain old common sense), this character is not glorified as someone to look up to. There is also a character caricature – lol, you’ll know when you see him – who’s more annoying than threatening. He’s more of a mini red herring than anything else. {{END OF SPOILER}}
And I think you hit the nail on the head – I didn’t know how exactly to put my finger on it at first, but benign/evil worthless is what I’ve been noticing myself. I actually didn’t like Brave because of that – as you said, there were *NO* good male role models (which are as important to little girls as female role models), and, in my opinion, the heroine was a bit of a brat up until the end (my mom would have smacked the shitake mushrooms out of me if I had talked to her like that). If Brave had a moral, I missed it – lol, probably because I was annoyed at the heroine. 🙂 I kind of took issue a little bit with Epic as well, for the same reasons. Note to Disney: strong female lead does *NOT* = disrespectful.
Also, “bad boys” only look good on paper, lol. The real life “bad boys” are the ones that a lady should run from as if her life depends on it – it’s just too easy to confuse “bad boy” and “bad guy” without even realizing it, which can lead to a lot of heartache, and potentially darker, more serious consequences. I would say it’s possible, but probably extremely rare, to find a real “bad boy” who just happens to have a heart of gold, and just needs the right woman to show him the way. There are exceptions, absolutely, and perhaps I’m a little jaded here – but Disney should use “bad boys” sparingly (and carefully) – like he has to have a very big, obvious, game-changing kind of heart of gold hero hidden not too far beneath the surface – like he routinely rescues babies from burning buildings and runs a soup kitchen.
If you do decide to see this one, (lol, perhaps followed by a Bruce Willis marathon) in its defense, the two heroines really shine – and I would say I really, *REALLY* appreciate those producers and writers that stuck to their guns – because they actually do seem like good role models. Romance (although it’s wonderful) is not the entire focal point of their universe, and they have more character depth than I think a lot of Disney princesses have had in the past. I’m glad Disney took the risk, stepping out of their comfortable “formula.” The old formula was good, and I love old-school Disney, but this was a refreshing change.
{{SPOILER}} And the one hero was actually a nice guy, and not such a bad role model. Lol, I don’t think he fell into the benign/evil worthless void at least. XD {{END OF SPOILER}}
Definitely tell me what you think if you do decide to see it! 😀 Ooo – or do a review maybe? I’d love to hear what you say about these particular characters.
Could you review Thor: Dark World?
Hey Luke – absolutely, I can do that for ya! 😀 Lol, it may take me a few days since I have a few other posts I’m finishing up, but I’ll get to work on it.