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"Frozen," the latest Disney musical extravaganza, preaches the importance of embracing your true nature but seems to be at odds with itself.

The animated, 3-D adventure wants to enliven and subvert the conventions of typical Disney princess movies while simultaneously remaining true to their aesthetic trappings for maximum merchandising potential. It encourages young women to support and stay loyal to each other—a crucial message when mean girls seem so prevalent—as long as some hunky potential suitors and adorable, wise-cracking creatures also are around to complete them.

It all seems so cynical, this attempt to shake things up without shaking them up too much. "Frozen" just happens to be reaching theaters as Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping season are arriving. The marketing possibilities are mind-boggling. And in the tradition of the superior " Beauty and the Beast " and " The Little Mermaid ," surely "Frozen: The Musical" will be headed to the Broadway stage soon. The songs – which are lively and amusing if not quite instant hits—are already in place.

Little girls will absolutely love it, though. That much is undeniable. And the film from co-directors Chris Buck ("Surf's Up") and Jennifer Lee is never less than gorgeous to watch. A majestic mountaintop ice castle is particularly exquisite—glittery and detailed and tactile, especially as rendered in 3-D.

But first we must witness the tortured backstory of the film's princesses – not one, but two of them. The script from " Wreck-It Ralph " co-writer Lee, inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story " The Snow Queen ," has lots of cheeky, contemporary touches but is firmly and safely rooted in Scandinavian fairy tale traditions.

When they were young girls, sisters Anna and Elsa were joyous playmates and inseparable friends. But Elsa's special power—her ability to turn anything to ice and snow in a flash from her fingertips—comes back to haunt her when she accidentally zaps her sister. (Not unlike the telekinesis in "Carrie," Elsa inadvertently unleashes her power in moments of heightened emotion.) A magical troll king heals Anna and erases the event from her memory, but as for the sisters' relationship, the damage is done.

Elsa's parents lock her away and close down the castle, which devastates the younger Anna. (Of the many tunes from "Avenue Q" and "The Book of Mormon" songwriter Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez , the wistful "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" is by far the most poignant.) But once they reach adolescence and it's Elsa's turn to take over the throne at age 18, the two experience an awkward reunion.

The perky, quirky Anna (now voiced by a likable Kristen Bell ) is a little nervous but overjoyed to see her sister. The reserved and reluctant Elsa (Broadway veteran Idina Menzel ) remains distant, and with gloved hands hopes not to freeze anything and reveal her true self on coronation day. But a run-in with an amorous, visiting prince ( Santino Fontana ) who sets his sights on Anna triggers Elsa's ire, and she inadvertently plunges the sunny, idyllic kingdom into perpetual winter.

Flustered and fearful, Elsa dashes away in a fit of self-imposed exile – which significantly weakens "Frozen," since she's the film's most complicated and compelling figure. On her way to the highest mountain she can find, Elsa belts out the power ballad "Let It Go," her version of "I Am Woman." This soaring declaration of independence is the reason you want a performer of Menzel's caliber in this role, and it's the film's musical highlight. (Her flashy physical transformation from prim princess to ice queen does make her resemble a real housewife of some sort, however.)

Afterward, though, the story settles in on Anna's efforts to retrieve her sister and restore order to the kingdom. Along the way she gets help from an underemployed ice salesman named Kristoff ( Jonathan Groff ) and his trusty reindeer sidekick, Sven. They all meet up with a singing snowman named Olaf (a lovably goofy Josh Gad , star of "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway) who dreams of basking in the warmth of the summer sun. This "Wizard of Oz"-style quartet makes the obstacle-filled trek to the imposing fortress that awaits. (At least "Frozen" has the decency to borrow from excellent source material.)

While the journey may seem overly familiar, the destination has some surprises in store. Some come out of nowhere and don't exactly work. But the biggie—the one that's a real game-changer in terms of the sorts of messages Disney animated classics have sent for decades—is the one that's important not just for the little girls in the audience, but for all viewers. It's so innovative, it makes you wish everything about the film met the same clever standard.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Frozen (2013)

Kristen Bell as Anna

Idina Menzel as Elsa - Snow Queen

Jonathan Groff as Kristoff

Josh Gad as Olaf

Alan Tudyk as Duke of Weselton

Eva Bella as Young Elsa

Livvy Stubenrauch as Young Anna

Santino Fontana as Hans

Christopher Williams as Oaken

Jennifer Lee

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Film Review: ‘Frozen’

Chilly scenes of widescreen winter and a scene-stealing snowman are the chief assets of Disney's accomplished but formulaic 53rd animated feature.

By Scott Foundas

Scott Foundas

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Move over, Frosty. A quixotic snowman who longs to experience summer handily steals the show in “ Frozen ,” Disney ’s 53rd in-house animated feature and one of its most classical, with a Hans Christian Andersen pedigree, a full-fledged showtune score and little of the ironic humor that has become the lingua franca of most contemporary toons. But this always enjoyable tale of mysterious magic, imperiled princesses and square-jawed men of action proves longer on striking visuals than on truly engaging or memorable characters. With the family crowd pretty much to itself this holiday season, “Frozen” should generate considerable box-office heat, if not quite the same level of critical and audience affection that attended the superior “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph.”

The result of a decade-long effort by the studio to fashion an animated feature from Andersen’s classic “The Snow Queen,” “Frozen” ultimately bears only the most superficial resemblance to its source, the haunting story of a young girl’s efforts to free her true love from the mind-altering effects of a cursed mirror and the icy lair of the eponymous snow spirit. Instead, writer-directors Chris Buck (a veteran Disney animator with credits dating back to “The Fox and the Hound”) and Jennifer Lee (who co-scripted “Wreck-It Ralph”) give us a more conventional tale of two sisters, younger Anna (Kristen Bell) and elder Elsa (Idina Menzel), heirs to the enchanted Scandinavian kingdom of Arendelle (also a return of sorts to Disney tradition after the dutiful PC dues-paying of “Pocahontas,” “Mulan” and “The Princess and the Frog”).

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Only as Elsa’s coronation day draws near does she emerge from her seclusion, still uncertain as to whether or not she can control her “gift” (which, like the telekinetic rage of Stephen King’s Carrie, seems to be triggered by intense surges of emotion). Meanwhile, Anna has had all memory of her childhood trauma wiped, “Men in Black”-style, by some friendly neighborhood trolls, leaving her all the more miffed by big sis’ literal and figurative cold shoulder.

These early passages play out pleasantly enough, enhanced by nice detail work showing the bustle of daily Arendelle life and an amusing turn by Alan Tudyk (last seen as “Ralph’s” megalomaniacal Turbo) as the nosy, diminutive Duke of neighboring Weselton (which, to his great consternation, everyone mispronounces as Weaseltown). But the narrative of “Frozen” only really kicks into gear with the palace ball following the coronation, where everything seems to be going hunky-dory until Anna makes the mistake of asking her sister’s permission to marry the dashing Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (Santino Fontana) — whom, admittedly, she only met earlier that same day. To say that Elsa’s reaction puts a chill in the air would be an arctic understatement. (Think Carrie’s prom crossed with the Ice Capades.)

With her secret laid bare for all to see, a devastated Elsa flees into the surrounding mountains, enveloping all of summertime Arendelle in a thick permafrost as she does. Anna gives chase, but proves ill equipped for the rugged and frigid terrain, eventually stumbling upon a small trading post (run by a hulking Swede named Oaken, voiced by “Bolt” co-director Chris Williams) that has wasted no time in jacking up prices on its minimal supply of off-season winter provisions. It’s there that she crosses paths with Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), a flaxen-haired ice seller somewhat lacking in social graces (his best, and possibly only, friend is his trusty, sleigh-pulling reindeer, Sven). But with his own bottom line taking a sizable hit from the sudden climate change, he agrees to help Anna search for Elsa in the hope of once again bringing sunshine to the land.

Which is around the time Olaf enters the picture. An anthropomorphic snowman brought to life by Elsa’s magic, with a row of buck teeth and a few twigs of would-be hair atop his head, this irrepressible optimist (marvelously voiced by “Book of Mormon” alum Josh Gad) likes “warm hugs” and possesses a most unhealthy fascination with the summer — a season he’s never experienced, and whose dangers to his person he seems blithely unaware of. This leads to “Frozen’s” most inspired musical number, “In Summer,” as Olaf imagines himself bounding through blooming meadows, soaking up the sun and engaging in other flights of seasonal fancy, all wryly visualized by Buck and Lee and expressed in playful lyrics by the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (the latter a Tony winner for his work on “Avenue Q” and “Book of Mormon”).

The tactile, snow-capped Arendelle landscape, including Elsa’s ice-castle retreat (imagine Superman’s Fortress of Solitude with a more feminine touch), is “Frozen’s” other true marvel, enhanced by 3D and the decision to shoot in widescreen — a nod to the CinemaScope richness of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Lady and the Tramp.” That’s almost but not quite enough to make up for the somewhat slack plotting and the generic nature of the main characters. Neither princess here is a patch on “Tangled’s” babe-in-the-woods Rapunzel, while both Hans and Kristoff are cut from pretty standard-issue hero cloth until a reasonably surprising third-act twist somewhat ups the ante. Only Olaf is unimpeachable: Get this snowman a spinoff feature to call his own.

“Frozen” goes out accompanied by “Get a Horse!”, director Lauren MacMullan’s utterly dazzling five-minute short starring Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Peg-Leg Pete and other vintage Disney characters in a “Sherlock Jr.”-style adventure that finds their hand-drawn 1930s avatars bursting through a movie screen and into the 3D/CG era. Though the animation is all new (including impeccable re-creations of the black-and-white Disney/Ub Iwerks style), the sound is predominately archival, including Uncle Walt himself as the voice of his iconic alter ego.

Reviewed at AMC Empire 25, New York, October 26, 2013. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 102 MIN.

Production: (Animated) A Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release of a Walt Disney Animation Studios production. Produced by Peter Del Vecho. Executive producer, John Lasseter.
Crew: Directed by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee. Screenplay, Lee; story, Buck, Lee, Shane Morris, inspired by “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen. Camera (color, Deluxe prints, widescreen, 3D), Scott Beattie (layout), Mohit Kallianpur (lighting); editor, Jeff Draheim; music, Christophe Beck; songs, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez; music supervisor, Tom MacDougall; executive music producer, Chris Montan; production designer, David Womersley; art director, Michael Giaimo; visual effects supervisor, Steve Goldberg; head of story, Paul Briggs; head of animation, Lino Di Salvo; technical supervisor, Mark Hammel; character CG supervisor, Frank Hanner; modeling supervisors, Chad Stubblefield, Jon Kim Krummel II; look supervisors, Michelle Lee Robinson, Hans-Joerg E. Keim; character TD supervisors, Keith Wilson, Carlos Cabral; technical animation supervisor, Mark Empey; animation supervisors, Rebecca Wilson Bresee, Hyrum Virl Osmond, Malcon B. Pierce III, Tony Smeed, Wayne Unten; supervising sound editor/sound designer (Dolby Atmos), Odin Benitez; re-recording mixers, David E. Fluhr, Gabriel Guy; stereoscopic supervisor, Katie A. Fico; associate producer, Aimee Scribner; casting Jamie Sparer Roberts.
With: Voices: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk, Ciaran Hinds, Chris Williams, Stephen John Anderson, Maia Wilson, Edie McClurg, Robert Pine, Maurice Lamarche, Livvy Stubenrauch, Eva Bella, Spencer Ganus, Jesse Corti, Jeffrey Marcus, Tucker Gilmore.

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Frozen Reviews

Ten years later, Frozen remains one of the iconic films in the Disney library and can hold its own against any of the Disney Renaissance films or earlier classics.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 14, 2023

I wish exposition wasn’t overused, and that more risks were taken concerning the screenplay, but as a Disney animated flick, it meets the company’s standards.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 24, 2023

While trying to please everyone, Disney speaks to the lowest common denominator instead of setting itself apart.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 19, 2022

It's genuinely a delightful experience; full of memorable songs and fun moments & lots of dry humour.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 16, 2021

Frozen has all the elements of classic Disney.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 1, 2021

I felt like Frozen was a mixed bag: not as bad as I feared it would be, but not as fun to watch as Tangled or as subversive as Brave.

Full Review | Jan 20, 2021

The story occasionally transforms around the musical numbers, but they're of notably momentous design.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 3, 2020

It is one of 2013's most immersive and enjoyable animated features.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 8, 2020

Frozen in parts was entertaining and fine as a feature film but its not consistent enough to grab my attention for long periods of time.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 15, 2020

Frozen is the best of Disney's princess films since Beauty and the Beast.

Full Review | Jun 30, 2020

Sparkling with wonder, is magical. Won't Oscar gold look beautiful glistening in Elsa's ice palace!

Full Review | Jan 7, 2020

Frozen is a bit childish, but that's okay. Its level of sophistication isn't Pixar-ian, but that wasn't its aim. This was an attempt to travel back to mermaids, little and beasts, beautiful. And by and large, it does just that.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Aug 27, 2019

Frozen is, above all, an entertaining and charmingly poignant tale about love overcoming fear.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 31, 2019

Disney still has the magic and charm to turn out something wonderful, and Frozen is a delightful animated treat for the whole family.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 9, 2019

There are laughs aplenty, memorable tunes galore, and enough subversions of old tropes to make Frozen fresh.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 8, 2019

As animated features go, "Frozen" is a visual feast, a beautifully designed film that perfectly captures this magical world.

Full Review | Apr 9, 2019

It's Bell's infectious performance as Anna that's easily the standout here though, the actress instilling the young princess with a tender core that makes her easy to root for.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 6, 2019

It is a seminal movie in the Disney Canon for me.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Feb 6, 2019

A consistently delightful animated feature, action-packed, beautiful to watch and studded with strong show tunes, Frozen harks back to the Disney classics.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jan 19, 2019

It's a sweet film that offers an escape from paying bills, shoveling snow and the other doldrums of life.

Full Review | Jan 10, 2019

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Frozen: film review.

Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad voicestar in Disney's first widescreen fairy tale since "Sleeping Beauty."

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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You can practically see the Broadway musical Frozen is destined to become while watching Disney’s 3D animated princess tale. Shrewdly calculated down the the smallest detail in terms of its appeal factor, this smartly dressed package injects a traditional fairy tale, Hans Christian Andersen ‘s The Snow Queen , with enough contemporary attitudes and female empowerment touches to please both little girls and their moms. Energetic, humorous and not too cloying, as well as the first Hollywood film in many years to warn of global cooling rather than warming, this tuneful toon upgrades what has been a lackluster year for big studio animated fare and, beginning with its Thanksgiving opening, should live up to box-office expectations as one of the studio’s hoped-for holiday-spanning blockbusters.

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Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, and Santino Fontana in Frozen 'Let It Go' in 25 Languages - Behind the Mic (2014)

Fearless optimist Anna teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven in an epic journey to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Aren... Read all Fearless optimist Anna teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven in an epic journey to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Fearless optimist Anna teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven in an epic journey to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter.

Jennifer Lee
Hans Christian Andersen
Kristen Bell
Idina Menzel
Jonathan Groff
1.2K User reviews
415 Critic reviews
75 Metascore
83 wins & 60 nominations total

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Trivia When the gates open during "For The First Time in Forever," there is a cameo of Rapunzel and Eugene (Flynn) from Tangled (2010) . Rapunzel has short, brown hair and is wearing a purple and pink dress (her celebration dress at the end of 'Tangled'), and Eugene is wearing a maroon vest and a brownish sash. They are entering the screen from the left.
Goofs Towards the end of the movie, when Kristoff is holding Anna in his arms, his thumb passes through her torso for a moment.

Anna : I'm Anna.

Olaf : And who's the funky looking donkey over there?

Anna : That's Sven.

Olaf : Uh-huh, and who's the reindeer?

Anna : Sven.

Olaf : Oh they're bo - oh! Okay. Makes things easier for me.

Crazy credits Near the end of the credits the following disclaimer is included: "The views and opinions expressed by Kristoff in the film that all men eat their own boogers are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Walt Disney Company or the filmmakers. Neither The Walt Disney Company nor the filmmakers make any representation of the accuracy of any such views and opinions."
Alternate versions A sing-along version of the film with on-screen lyrics and a bouncing snowflake, was released in selected theaters on January 31, 2014.
Connections Edited into Zenimation: Cityscapes (2020)
Soundtracks Vuelie Written and Produced by Frode Fjellheim and Christophe Beck Performed by Cantus Conducted by Tove Ramlo-Ystad

User reviews 1.2K

Aug 9, 2014
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November 27, 2013 (United States)
United States
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$150,000,000 (estimated)
$400,953,009
Nov 24, 2013
$1,285,048,126

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 42 minutes
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Surround 7.1
Dolby Digital

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Movie Review: Frozen

Within the first few minutes of Disney Animation’s latest feature Frozen, I realized we were embarking on a completely different Disney Princess story. At it’s core, Frozen melts the preconceived molds of a Disney Princess movie and creates something universally enjoyable. Throughout the film, I could not help but compare Frozen to Tangled, a movie I enjoy for its departure from the classic fairy tale to a hybrid fairy tale/buddy comedy. While both films are from the same creative team and benefitted from a collaboration with the Pixar Brain Trust, Frozen is not a duplication from the 2010 story mold.

Disney Frozen Elsa Ice Palace Chandelier

The design and look of the film is mesmerizing with it’s inspiration coming from ice crystals and symmetrical snowflakes. The chandelier in Elsa’s ice palace looks like it could be in the atrium of a Dream class ship. One of the first things I did after returning home from the theatre was pre-order The Art of Frozen .

Frozen is the story two sisters Anna and Elsa, the latter who was born with a magical ability to create ice and snow. This heartwarming film builds on the foundation laid by Tangled with an ensemble of characters from the swooning Prince Hans and Kristoff an ice delivery guy who finds himself out of work to the comedic duo Olaf, the snowman, and Sven, Kristoff’s reindeer (think Pascal and Maximus.)

Kristoff’s family (the trolls with their infinite wisdom) reminded me of the Snuggly Ducking gang from Tangled.

As children, the sisters were inseparable until one day a freak accident occurred while Elsa was creating a winter wonderland which nearly killed Anna. Unable to control her magical ability which are triggered by her emotions, Elsa isolates herself in her bedroom to prevent another incident that could hurt her beloved sister. Years go by with the sisters growing further apart, until the day Elsa becomes the Queen of Arendelle. As events unfold during Elsa’s Coronation, she loses control and creates an eternal winter. This sudden change in season sets off an adventure that will take Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf on a mission to save Arendelle of which only Anna can help thaw through an act of true love.

The writers found an interesting way to introduce two new Disney Princesses. While it seems like Anna is receiving all the attention, I felt Frozen was more of a story about Elsa, a young princess who must bear great responsibility as she takes the throne, and becomes the ruler of her kingdom.

The soundtrack is a powerful mix of story-telling songs created by husband and wife artists Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and moving score by Christophe Beck who created the spectacular score for Paperman . The deluxe version of the soundtrack ( CD ) is one of the best releases in the first time in forever as it includes the musical numbers from the film, Beck’s score and even early demo recordings from Robert and Kristen (and even their own children!)

I highly suggest staying in your seat for the full credits as there is a final scene at the very end of the Frozen credits. While you wait for the credits to scroll look for the Walt Disney Studio’s disclaimer. It is a hysterical call back to early in the film to a scene with Anna and Kristoff.

Finally, make it a point to get to the theatre early so you do not miss the all new short “Get A Horse” featuring Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse. Yes, you read that correctly, Disney Animation created an all new Mickey Mouse short using new technology and the original voice of Mickey, Walt Disney! Here is just a taste of the short, that will take you to an unexpected and enjoyable place!

Overall, well… I would say Frozen exceeded expectations, but in reality I really did not know what to expect as a result of the various promotional videos that were released leading up to the opening of the film. We saw the film with my parents, so it was a mix of three generations and we all enjoyed Frozen. The big question is whether to pay the premium to see Frozen in 3D… We did, but honestly, I think it would have been just as enjoyable in 2D. I do think that Get A Horse was meant to be seen in 3D. The short uses 3D effects to amplify the story being told, whereas in Frozen it was used to enhance the overall look of the scenes. If I go back to see Frozen at my local theatre I’ll stick to the 2D, but if you are going to see the film at sea, go for the 3D — you already paid for it!

Finally, if you are into planning ahead, you can already pre-order Frozen on blu-ray from Amazon .

Princess Anna Meet & Greet At Sea

The Disney Parks Blog announced a limited time meet-and-greet opportunity with Princess Anna onboard the Disney Cruise Line fleet throughout the holidays. Inside the Magic has some photos from Anna’s debut appearance on the Disney Fantasy.

What did you think about Frozen?

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3 Replies to “Movie Review: Frozen”

Seen it Wednesday in 2D was so awesome I want to see it again in theatre hopefully next weekend,

Pingback: [冰雪中毒系列一] 解析 Frozen《冰雪奇緣》 | 小瑄子的小事紀 Alice's Space

Thanks very much for your sharing , it’s very valuable , I just got a elsa costume from cosplaysky uk, and i am attending the conveinece in MCM lonlon on April 15th; To cos the elsa better, i read lots of reviews to get more knowledge from the apperance and also the personality ,

‘Frozen’ movie review: Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel dazzle in Disney’s latest

Remember when Disney was a powerhouse of animated musicals? In the 1980s and '90s, movies such as " Beauty and the Beast " and " Pocahontas " didn't just win the box office, but songs from Disney movies stormed the Billboard charts, too. There was Elton John's " Can You Feel the Love Tonight " from " The Lion King " and " A Whole New World ," a No. 1 hit from " Aladdin ." An entire generation of youngsters tormented their parents, playing the taped soundtrack from " The Little Mermaid " on a never-ending loop.

Disney is back in the game with " Frozen ." The movie might not have potential pop hits — the songs sound much more like musical theater show tunes than Miley Cyrus auto-tuned — but the animated comedy-adventure has a sweet and very modern message, plus strong characters. More important, the movie blends the music-minded mentality of yore with the more recent ambition (thank you, Pixar) of truly appealing to all ages.

The story was inspired by " The Snow Queen " by Hans Christian Andersen, although it bears little resemblance to the fairy tale. "Frozen" follows sisters Elsa and Anna, who are princesses in a Nordic region, Arendelle. Elsa has a secret power: She can fill a room with snow and ice with a few shakes of her hand. Only she hasn't mastered her ability, and one day she accidentally injures the younger Anna with a shot of ice to the head. After that, Elsa mostly hides in her room for fear of hurting people, and the girls become estranged.

But on Elsa’s coronation day, the new queen becomes frightened — one of her triggers for spontaneous ice creation — and she accidentally freezes the fjord around the castle as she sends Arendelle into an eternal winter. Elsa flees amid accusations of witchcraft, and the majority of the movie is spent with Anna, who has always adored her sister, as she sets out to find the queen, bring her home and get her to cancel the permafrost. Along for the ride are the burly Kristoff and his pet reindeer, Sven, plus one of Elsa’s creations, a talking snowman named Olaf.

Anna is much more of a contemporary rom-com heroine than an Ariel-the-mermaid type. She’s clumsy, awkward and a bit of a dork (although she does a mean robot). But, refreshingly, she’s no damsel in distress, not even during the film’s late scenes, when she finds herself in a desperate situation.

Kristen Bell, who shot to fame as the spunky detective in " Veronica Mars ," feels like the perfect pick to voice such a character. And she can sing, too, although not quite as transcendently as Broadway star Idina Menzel, who voices Elsa and has no trouble hitting the high notes in the sometimes cheesy, always soaring soundtrack . Rising star Josh Gad also does memorable voice work as Olaf, the brainless rube of a snowman who's always wanted to go to the beach.

The movie, while dazzling to look at, may be a little long for some small children. But its surprising and poignant ending, which subverts so many fairy-tale stereotypes, feels as though it cancels out the movie’s small flaws and dragging moments. “Frozen” may be a nod to the pleasures of vintage Disney and old fairy tales, but there’s nothing outdated about it.

PG. At area theaters. Contains some action and mild rude humor. 108 minutes.

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‘Frozen 2’ Review: Long-Awaited Sequel Pushes Disney Into a Charming and Surprising New Direction

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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Editor’s note: This review was originally published for the theatrical release of “Frozen II.” It is now available to stream on Disney+.

Everything was in its (seeming) right place at the conclusion of Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck’s 2013 animated smash hit “Frozen,” as long-suffering princesses Anna ( Kristen Bell ) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) were reunited, the kingdom of Arendelle was freed from its eternal winter, Elsa was crowned queen (with her magic intact and appreciated), and Anna had found love with a doofy regular dude after banishing a nefarious smooth-talking wannabe Prince Charming type. Still, fans of the Disney feature have long clamored for a sequel to the musical charmer, if only to spend more time with a cadre of cute characters (including, of all things, a hammy reindeer and Josh Gad as a sentient snowman who has zero right to be as cute as he is) inside an inventive new world.

Perhaps they should have been careful what they wished for, if only because it’s about to be upended by a fresh new story.

Sure, Elsa eventually ascended to the throne, leaving her self-created ice castle behind and slipping into a role that had long been carved out for her, but does that choice truly reflect who she is? And while Anna has always been happy to play second (very supportive) fiddle to her gifted big sis, she’s consistently seemed like the better choice to lead a kingdom (and a Disney franchise) to new heights. Every sequel is tasked with dramatizing what happens next , but “ Frozen 2 ” is built on a sly bit of course correction that might rile the very people who wanted it so badly. The franchise — and the fandom — are better for it.

“Frozen” may have ended with everything in its right place, but Lee and Buck’s long-awaited followup makes the case that a sequel was necessary, not because it was demanded, but because “Frozen” was never the correct end of the story. Loving the characters and themes of “Frozen” and wanting to see more of them can only naturally lead to “Frozen 2,” which does away with so many of the happily-ever-after elements of the first film (and finds new, updated ones). By moving the tension between the traditional and the bold to the forefront, “Frozen 2” is one of the more daring visions of the future of Disney moviemaking, all bolstered by gorgeous animation and a handful of instant-classic new jams.

While “Frozen” used plenty of traditional plot points to guide it, including building off a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, imparting key lessons about doing the right thing, and making being part of the royal family sound like a fun gig, it was always laced through with some compelling subversion. Some moviegoers even latched on to Elsa’s alienation and desire to break free from expectations as indicative of her potential queerness — possible sexuality aside, crafting a bonafide Disney Princess who really, really didn’t want to be one is still a heck of a choice for Disney.

Picking up soon after the events of the first film, “Frozen 2” finds Elsa, Anna, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Olaf (Gad), and Sven the reindeer happily ensconced in a cheery Arendelle. And yet an early flashback to Anna and Elsa’s youth — before they were separated out of fear of Elsa’s icy powers — indicates that the seeds of this story were sown long ago. Since the first film, which offed Anna and Elsa’s parents in an off-screen shipwreck, fans have wondered about what really happened to the royal couple, another pair of loving adults lost to the whims of a studio that has always cherished the concept that parental death is key to personal growth.

“Frozen 2” gives the princesses — and the film’s audience — more time with King Runeard (Jeremy Sisto) and Queen Iduna (Evan Rachel Wood), as they share the fantastical fairy tale of an ill-fated political meeting that nearly killed the kid king, locked a distant forest and its inhabitants in a magical mist, and inspires Elsa to go looking for answers she can’t find in Arendelle. Much that’s been guessed about the super-secret plot of “Frozen 2” has turned out to be incorrect: there is no autumnal version of Elsa, no overt same-sex romance, no secretly alive parents. That’s for the best, because the surprises that “Frozen 2” unfurls are emotional, mature, and often quite dark for a kids’ film (tip: the youngest “Frozen” fans might need some warm hugs to get through a fraught final act).

As is so often the case, it starts with an unexpected journey. Early in the film, Elsa attempts to push away any thoughts about striking out into the unknown (as illuminated by a song that is, of course, titled “Into the Unknown,” one of two sturdy “Let It Go” stand-ins), and muses that everyone she loves is finally under one roof, so why would she need more? For someone as magical and secretly bent on living her own life as Elsa, you can see where the discomfort might creep in.

Anna, meanwhile, is happy as a clam, embarking on zippy signalongs with best pal Olaf (“Some Things Never Change” is just as fun and frisky as “Love Is an Open Door”) and looking forward to whatever the future might bring. Olaf, now maturing into something of an adult snowman (Was he a “snowkid” before? Best not to worry about it), is consumed by the idea that everything — including terrifying spirit-filled magical forests — will make sense when he’s older, while Kristoff just wants to put a ring on Anna’s finger.

When Elsa starts hearing an ethereal singing voice calling out to her, she’s compelled to follow it far North, and the rest of the crew can’t help but tag along, all the better to stick together and assuage Anna’s well-founded fears about losing her sister again. Of course, the journey and the voice lead straight to the distant forest, one filled with secrets and memories (many of them rendered literal by magic-conjured ice sculptures, a plot point that makes much more sense in practice). There’s also a handful of new friends to meet, all of which are welcome, many of which are underserved (Sterling K. Brown is the lone newbie who really gets to leave a mark).

In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Frozen 2, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven journey far beyond the gates of Arendelle in search of answers. Featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, “Frozen 2” opens in U.S. theaters November 22.©2019 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Keen observers will likely see how this all is going to play out, as previously illuminated by Iduna’s flashback appearance, complete with its own song (“All Is Found”). That doesn’t stop the film’s script, from Buck, Lee, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Marc Smith, and Allison Schroeder, from occasionally getting lost in the woods. Zipping between ruminations about the spirits that fill the forest (it’s certainly the most pagan Disney film in recent memory) to a convoluted exploration of the sins of the father (no, really) and a series of richly-animated and truly obvious revelations, “Frozen 2” is crammed with material, most of which works.

Despite the emotional upheaval of the final act, it also has a fair bit of amusement and spectacle. There’s tongue-in-cheek jibs about the Disney experience throughout, and Lee and Buck have some serious fun spinning the big musical numbers into fresh territory (Kristoff’s big song, “Lost in the Woods,” is filmed as something of a power ballad music video, more Guns n Roses than anyone could ever expect from the Mouse House, and one of the best parts of the film). Olaf is as deranged and cute as ever, moving from court jester to something of a classic fool over the course of a transformational outing. In a flashback, Anna and Elsa’s dad even makes off with a lightning fast joke about a “new Danish author.”

It all culminates in a wild, windswept mission for Elsa, one that capitalizes on her powers and pushes them to terrifying ends. The same can be said of the film’s animation, which has mostly adhered to the style of the original, all sweet faces and the occasional burst of icy action (Elsa can still make some insane snowflakes, and more ), before building to an ocean-swept sequence that’s vivid, terrifying, and more eye-popping than the “Let It Go” scene in the first film. Like the film itself, it’s scary and different, but it also shows off the inherent power of moving away from expectations and embracing the drama of real life. No sequel is essential, but “Frozen 2” makes the argument that, even in the fairy tale land of Disney, they can still be important.

Disney will release “Frozen 2” in theaters on Friday, November 22.

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Disney’s Frozen review

Walt Disney Animation Studios finally - finally! - brings The Snow Queen to life. And you never dreamed it'd be this good...

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When I was 16 years old, I took my then-infant cousin to the cinema, notionally as a treat for him. The only thing available for us to see was Disney’s Beauty And The Beast . He quite liked it, save for an insistence that he needed a toilet break at an inopportune moment. Me? It blew me away. It still does. It’s one of my favourite films of all time, the best Disney animated movie, and the film I’ve watched more than any other. It unlocked a lifelong love (quite often a tough love) of Disney animation, that’s killed my bank account ever since.

The biggest compliment I can thus give Frozen is this: somebody watching it is going to feel the same way about Disney’s latest that I felt over 20 years ago when I first saw Beauty And The Beast . At its peak, Frozen is Walt Disney Animation Studios firing with everything, demonstrating why it’s emerged in recent years as the most interesting mainstream producers of feature animation (with terrific features such as Wreck-It Ralph , Tangled , The Princess And The Frog and Winnie The Pooh ). And this is very much a Disney film, the kind you feel nobody else could make. It’s a fairytale, but co-director Jennifer Lee’s screenplay manages to modernise it, whilst never losing the feeling of tradition. There’s no cheating here – it’s the story itself that’s been made more relevant, rather than any gimmicks attached around it.

But I’m racing ahead. This is, as longtime Disney geeks (guilty as charged) will happily tell, the final realisation of the many, many attempts to bring Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen to the big screen in animated form. Many brilliant Disney people have tried before, most notoriously when a fascinating-looking hand-drawn venture fell apart just over a decade ago. But the team this time around, led by co-directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck ( Tarzan ), have utterly cracked it.

They’ve done it by adjusting the story, and making it the tale of two sisters, Elsa and Anna. This single switch, of making the lead two characters related, has immense pay-off. Courtesy of an excellent opening sequence, we learn that both have magical powers, but an accident puts in place what looks like a lifelong division between the pair. This is most wonderfully demonstrated by the tremendous, moving song ‘Do You Want To Build A Snowman?’ And to zoom in on that for a second, it’s that one song bundles together so much of what Frozen gets right.

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Firstly, it demonstrates that this is a film with personal – rather than world-ending – stakes at heart, that matter all the more as a consequence of being so contained. It’s a song ostensibly about a physical door between two sisters – giving nothing away – that symbolises them being driven apart.

It’s also a song that sees Disney heading back to Broadway – just as it did in the late 80s/early 90s – for its muscial spark. And it finds it, not least in the firm of The Book Of Mormon and Avenue Q songwriting pairing of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who penned the tunes here (backed by a gorgeous Christophe Beck score). They prove inspired choices, as does the lead voice pairing of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel, with Disney’s casting department eschewing huge movie star names for absolute musical talent and appropriateness for the key roles (further examples: Alan Tudyk, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff. There’s not a weak link in the voice cast).

It’s a big series of decisions, and pretty much every one of them is bang on. Disney ran away from songs sung by characters as a storytelling device for a while, but in Frozen , it demonstrates that when done properly, that approach can result in something really rather special. It’s back to the old adage of economical storytelling through terrific songs. At least three of the numbers here are flat-out excellent, and one of them – ‘Let It Go’ – will be winning an Oscar next year. You can put me down for a quid or two on that.

Still, it’d be remiss not to note that there are moments in Frozen when you wonder if it’s veering a little bit too close to Beauty And The Beast , or possibly taking an ingredient from one or two other features (which I won’t name for fear of spoiling the film). Furthermore, as much fun as the supporting characters are – Disney Stores will sell a lot of Olaf toys – we’re not quite at the level of Sebastian or Cogsworth here. That said, when the focus is firmly on Anna and Elsa, as it is for most of the film, Frozen is just terrific. Much will be made of the fact that we get two female leads powering a Disney movie here (heck, two female leads powering a blockbuster movie full stop), but that overlooks something even more fundamental: the two main characters are both superb creations, who you can’t help but care about and, to varying degrees, root for.

Directors Buck and Lee have clearly approached the whole project with real intelligence. They’re adept at spotting when to pull back on the songs, they put some gorgeous cinematic sequences on the big screen – the animation really is something to behold – and they generate more than one goosebump moment in the sublime telling of the story.

Furthermore – crucially – they get that it’s the small things that matter, and by getting so many of those less showy moments spot on, the big moments soar. To their further credit, Frozen ‘s also not scared of taking a few interesting left turns, which again, we won’t spoil here. That the film’s a virtually seamless marriage of comedy, action, drama and music is some achievement as well.

It’s an almost pinch-yourself moment when you realise that The Snow Queen has burst out of a sustained term in development hell and ended up as good as it is. It’s not a faithful telling of the story by pretty much any measure, and if you’re a Hans Christian Andersen purist, chances are you’ll be setting up a Tumblr or Facebook protest page in the coming weeks. But as a mainstream family animated motion picture, it finds Walt Disney Animation Studios in incredible shape, the peak of a turnaround that started quietly with Meet The Robinsons , and has been building for years.

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Frozen ‘s brilliance isn’t good news for everyone, though. Right now, if I was one of the team making Walt Disney Animation Studios’ fascinating-looking 2014 release, Big Hero 6 , I’d be breaking out in a cold sweat at the thought of following it into cinemas. For everyone else? This is the best Walt Disney Animation Studios movie in a generation, and the best family movie – by a considerable distance – of the year. It’s an astounding piece of work, and the kind of film that we’ll still be buying on whatever’s replaced DVD in 30 years’ time.

Just wonderful. In the sage words of Marty McFly, “Your kids are gonna love it…”

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Simon Brew | @SimonBrew

Editor, author, writer, broadcaster, Costner fanatic. Now runs Film Stories Magazine.

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DVD & Streaming
Animation , Comedy , Drama , Kids , Musical , Romance , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

November 27, 2013
Voices of Kristen Bell as Anna; Idina Menzel as Elsa; Jonathan Groff as Kristoff; Santino Fontana as Hans; Josh Gad as Olaf; Alan Tudyk as Duke of Weselton

Home Release Date

March 18, 2014
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Distributor

Walt Disney

Movie Review

Elsa is icy.

No, really. She’s not just a little standoffish (though she’s that, too). Everything she touches actually freezes solid. She merely needs to gesture to send snow and ice flying. She’s colder than a popsicle, as frigid as a football game in Barrow, Alaska. Even Narnia’s White Witch would accuse Elsa of overdoing things a little.

Not that she has a choice. From birth, she’s had this gift (or curse) of being able to conjure cold with just a touch or gesture or thought. It used to be fun, too: As a kid (and heir to the lovely, vaguely Norwegian kingdom of Arendelle) she would turn the palace ballroom into a gigantic icebox so she could play in it with her sister.

Alas, roughhousing with magic isn’t always the safest thing. When Elsa accidentally zaps Anna (she’s the sister) in the head with one of her frigid blasts—necessitating an emergency trip to some wise, old trolls—Elsa decides to keep her snowy powers bottled up. Anna is made to forget that Elsa ever had powers in the first place, but as Elsa’s now-hidden magic grows stronger and stronger, the two sisters grow ever more distant. Elsa closes herself off, both emotionally and literally, from any sort of human contact—for everyone’s good, she thinks.

But not even über-chilly princesses can fend off warmth forever. On her coronation day, tradition dictates that the palace throw open its doors and invite the kingdom in for a sumptuous ball. Elsa knows she must, so she does—taking every precaution she can to make sure she doesn’t freeze everyone out.

It’s not enough. When Anna introduces Elsa to a handsome stranger named Prince Hans, and the two ask for her blessing in marriage, Elsa—dutiful, frigid Elsa—says no. In desperation, Anna grabs Elsa’s hand and pulls off one of her protective gloves.

And the cold front sweeps in.

Elsa flees the ballroom and escapes into the wild, leaving a trail of icicles behind her. It’s an abdication, of sorts—an admission that she is a monster, unfit for human companionship. If she can just go away, she need not hurt anyone again.

There’s only one problem: She already has. Even though it’s July, Arendelle is caked in ice—the result of Elsa’s panic and fear. And Anna, feeling the whole thing’s her fault, knows she has to go after her sister and make things right.

“She’s my sister,” she says on her way out the castle door. “She would never hurt me.”

Positive Elements

Following decades of Disney tradition, Frozen is a fairy tale about true love. But this time, the prime love in play is between sisters, not a young and blushing couple: Anna loves her older sister fiercely, and for years she’s been so puzzled and hurt by Elsa’s chilly distance. Elsa loves Anna just as much—which is why she’s kept such a chilly distance. Elsa sacrificed her own happiness, in a way, to keep the people she loves safe.

When Elsa’s powers are unleashed, Anna rides to her aid, getting help from Kristoff, a wandering ice salesman, en route. She risks her life on more than one occasion for her sis, and eventually helps Elsa find a way to control her powers.

Indeed, sacrificial love abounds here. It has to: When Anna is struck with a cold shard that only sacrificial love can melt, several people seem to be good, qualified candidates to make that sacrifice. Kristoff, who’s fallen in love with Anna, takes her to fiancé Hans—hoping that “true love’s kiss” will thaw her chilly soul. A lively snowman named Olaf lights a fire and volunteers to stay with Anna, helping to keep her warm. “Some people are worth melting for,” he says. Hans, put in charge of the kingdom in Elsa and Anna’s absence, opens the castle’s doors to the country’s cold citizens, giving them warm clothing and piping hot food.

In Frozen , love not only makes everything better, it makes us better, too. As we’re told by a passel of singing trolls: “We’re only saying that love, of course, is powerful and strange/People make bad choices if they’re mad, or scared, or stressed/Throw a little love their way and you’ll bring out their best/True love brings out their best!”

In the midst of all this loving, we’re warmed up with other lessons: how we should try to accept and help people who are different from us, even if those differences can be a little scary; how bottling up emotions inside us is a recipe for disaster; how, conversely, letting all those emotions out at once can be dangerous; and why (despite what Disney sometimes says in its other bits of entertainment) it’s probably a good idea to look at love-at-first-sight with a bit of suspicion.

Spiritual Elements

Frozen is said to be loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story of “The Snow Queen”—a tale filled with earthy demons, religious references and spiritual allusions. But, really, this isn’t so much of a retelling as a complete gut-and-remodel job. Most of the characters and all the spirituality have been neatly stripped away, leaving behind an ethical but almost wholly irreligious fable. Never mind that Elsa’s coronation takes place in a church and is presided over by what looks like an Orthodox priest.

Oh, and never mind, too, all the supernatural activity going on, most notably Elsa’s strange powers and the colony of rock-like trolls. Elsa’s abilities are wholly organic here, not spiritually derived. She has neither asked for them nor does it appear that anyone else has put a spell on her.

Sexual Content

Upon first meeting, Anna and Hans careen into the same dinghy where they share a “moment” after they fall and get tangled up together. When Anna’s quizzed about her love for Hans—a test to see how much she really knows about him—one of the questions involves Hans’ shoe size. Her response? “That doesn’t matter,” a wink-wink to adults in the audience. Couples smooch.

An odd little aside that we’ll document without comment: After the credits, a monstrous snowman (a creation of Elsa’s with a deep voice) lumbers across the screen, picks up Elsa’s discarded tiara and sticks it daintily on its head, looking quite pleased.

Violent Content

Frozen is frosted with violence meant to be humorous. Snowman Olaf, for instance, falls literally apart with the slightest provocation (and sometimes melts a little). Characters get hit and thrown and spun around and fall down and sometimes sail off a cliff (to land in a relatively soft pillow of snow).

But there is more serious peril here, too. A band of soldiers eventually goes out looking for Anna and Elsa, with two of them having been instructed to “take care of the monster” should they have opportunity. They do, and they try to kill Elsa with swords and crossbows, while Elsa tries to impale one in the face with a slowly growing icicle and pushes the other off a balcony with a wall of ice. (Hans shouts, “Don’t be the monster they fear you are!”) Later, someone nearly kills Elsa with a sword. People get punched in the face—sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose. Someone succumbs to a deep, magical cold. A friendly reindeer nearly drowns. Anna and Kristoff are chased and attacked by wolves. Elsa and Anna’s parents are lost at sea. (Their ship is tossed around by stormy waves, then vanishes.)

Elsa’s magic can be lethal if her blasts of icy coldness hit you in just the right spot (your heart).

Crude or Profane Language

A couple of incomplete exclamations of “What the …?” Name-calling includes “duke of Weasel Town” and a put-down that giggles over somebody being confused with a donkey.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Champagne is served at the coronation ball. Olaf is seen with a tropical drink of some sort.

Other Negative Elements

Kristoff, we’re told, doesn’t smell that good and likes to urinate in the woods. Excited about the castle opening up, Anna sings about being either “elated or gassy.” People get hit in the face with saliva. Kristoff tells Anna that all men pick their noses and eat the boogers (an assertion the credits jokingly distance the movie from). Olaf talks about “yellow snow.” A troll talks about passing a candy stone.

Characters lie and mislead at times. After trying to follow her parents’ wishes to conceal her abilities for most of her life, Elsa pushes back against their strictures, casting off their advice and creating a magical castle of ice. “No right, no wrong, no rules for me,” she sings. The moment powerfully embodies Elsa’s sense of freedom … and rebellion and isolation. (But it should be noted that it is designed to freeze, so to speak, a moment in time for Elsa, not to celebrate it or negate the more positive place where she’s heading in her journey.)

For most of my life, the only animated movies worth seeing were Disney’s.

When I was a kid, my parents would take me to re-releases of the studio’s classics: Snow White , Pinocchio , Cinderella , Fantasia . When I was in college and my early 20s, Disney flicks were all the rage: My friends would tromp off to the local theater to see The Little Mermaid or Aladdin or The Lion King .

It’s a different world today, of course. Two-dimensional animation has all but disappeared, certainly in feature films. A host of other studios are making quality computer animation. And for the last two decades, Disney has lagged behind Pixar, struggling to keep up with that studio’s steady brilliance. (Finally fully assimilating it into the Disney brand to perhaps better rub up against its cachet.)

Now, with Frozen , the wheel may be turning again.

It’s not like Disney’s breaking new ground (or ice) with this holiday flick. It has all the hallmarks of a classic Mouse House product: Music! Castles! Heroic heroes! Dastardly villains! Funny if somewhat-annoying sidekicks! Moreover, movies about princesses have always been Disney’s bread and butter, and giving us two in the same movie can feel almost cynical.

But there’s something different about these ladies—something, if I may say, special.

They inhabit a tale that’s not so much about a princess falling in love as it is about learning to love. It’s not about staying a child forever (à la Peter Pan’ s Neverland), but figuring out how to grow up. Under the veneer of traditional Disney magic, Frozen gives us a bit of the emotional depth Pixar so excelled at. It’s a movie that doesn’t just entertain. It tries to speak to us, giving us insight into the nature of family and friendship—why sometimes those we love seem to go a little crazy and what we can do to help bring them back. (Elsa’s struggles could be seen as a metaphor for adolescence in some ways.) It plays with Disney’s well-worn messages of feel-good hope (be true to yourself; follow your dreams), modifying them and molding them into something stronger and more mature.

Frozen is then, perhaps, family entertainment for a new generation. A confection sprinkled with a few suggestive asides that remains a sweet bucketful of ice cream, you might say, a smooth-textured story with quality messages mixed in.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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‘Frozen’ (2013) Movie Review

By Brad Brevet

For a while Pixar reigned supreme in the world of animation, capturing the attention of audiences both young and old with films that managed to appeal to us not only from an entertainment perspective, but emotionally as well. At the same time Disney Animation fell into something of an identity crisis with films like Brother Bear and Chicken Little , but in 2010 they again found their footing with Tangled and again in 2012 with Wreck-It Ralph . Now, in 2013, the studio has returned to the world it knows best with Frozen .

Frozen strikes an impressive balance of humor, heart and everything that’s worked for ages in Disney’s best animated features. Telling a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen ‘s fairy tale “ The Snow Queen “, Frozen follows two princesses of Arendelle — Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel ) is the eldest and soon-to-be Queen, and Anna ( Kristen Bell ) the free-spirited, slightly awkward and naÃ¯ve younger of the two sisters.

At a young age, Elsa and Anna were the best of friends, but when an accident as a result of Elsa’s ability to conjure ice and snow almost kills her sister the two young girls’ relationship isn’t the same. Elsa shuts her sister out, concealing her powers from her sister, afraid of hurting her. It isn’t until several years later that Elsa comes out of hiding, but it’s a day that soon finds her running from the castle walls and labeled a sorceress after her emotions get the better of her, and the secret she’s kept hidden for all these years is revealed as she accidentally turns Arendelle’s summer into an eternal winter.

Written by Jennifer Lee ( Wreck-It Ralph ) who co-directs with Chris Buck ( Surf’s Up ), the story’s main appeal is its lack of a big bad villain that must be overcome. Instead of a story hellbent on destroying some one or some thing , it’s about coming together and finding something positive in our differences and accepting people for who they are. This isn’t to say the film doesn’t have it’s share of foes, though this isn’t a movie all about beating the bad guy.

Frozen also doesn’t concern itself with casting big name actors in supporting roles, hoping A-list celebrities will attract audience attention, rather than focusing on the film’s story. Kristen Bell is probably the most recognizable name in the film’s voice cast and she’s surrounded by a pair of actors that have largely made their claim to fame on Broadway in Idina Menzel and Josh Gad , the latter of which plays a hilarious little snowman named Olaf that comes to life and dreams of dancing in the sun on the beach. In a lot of ways Olaf reminded me of Sid the sloth in the Ice Age franchise, though the comedy here is cleaner and, in fact, much funnier.

Olaf enters the story after Elsa makes for the forest and Anna takes off after her, where we eventually meet the ice-selling mountain man Kristoff ( Jonathan Groff ) and his reindeer Sven, who is essentially a rehash of Maximus, the horse in Tangled given his canine ways, but it’s a welcome rehash. Groff is a perfect example of the kind of actor an animated film needs to cast, not necessarily a big name (most who know him probably know him as Jesse St. James from “Glee”), but a kindhearted voice rather than someone we associate with anything other than his character in this specific movie.

For better or worse, Frozen doesn’t attempt to venture into the upper stratosphere of storytelling, it keeps things incredibly simple with a page-by-page, storybook-style telling that prefers to briskly move through the narrative rather than lingering on moments for too long. At times this is jarring and a bit abrupt, but for this story the style mostly works.

The couple of minor villains are paper thin and the themes are kept simple, keeping children easily engaged, but it isn’t as if adults will be left twiddling their thumbs as there are a few surprises and moments of legitimate tension. In fact, several members in my audience audibly gasped at a late in the game revelation. But I’m almost certain it’s not so much for the reveal, but because of what what the revelation meant for the characters they’d come to so quickly love.

The film’s strength is in these characters as well as keeping the idea of an animated Disney musical alive, the best of which comes with Elsa’s “ Let It Go ” (written by Tony Award-winning duo Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez of “Book of Mormon” fame) which is an absolute knock-out moment. The animation, the song, Menzel’s voice and the entirety of that four minute segment is quite powerful as it beats to the film’s thematic heart.

Overall, Frozen may be simple, but it’s strengths are more than enough to overcome its lack of complexity. While it will likely resonate more with younger girls, it isn’t a film young boys or adults will have any problem enjoying. There are more than enough laughs between Olaf and Sven, a giant snowman and great animation to keep everyone interested, not to forget some serious moments of tension as well.

It’s amazing to think Disney is in the midst of three great animated features in a row and it still feels like they are climbing over the wall Pixar placed in front of them. But if they continue to make films such as Tangled , Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen every ounce of respect they may have lost is sure to come back tenfold.

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Frozen (2013) Review

A NEW DISNEY CLASSIC IS BORN

For years, Disney animated films has captivated millions of viewers (both young & old) and have literally built from the ground up an empire that has dominated the market for producing such timeless cartoon treasures. Following in the footsteps of its rich history cannon of blending classical fairy tale stories (Adding a personal twist thrown into its tale) with Broadway style-esuqe musical songs, Disney debuts its 53 rd animated movie titled Frozen (Based off of Hans Christian Anderson’s tale The Snow Queen ). Does this new feature film find its way into your heart or is it as cold as ice?

Set in the Kingdom of Ardendelle, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are two sisters’ princesses who are close growing up until an accident happens involving Elsa’s strange powers of conjuring snow and ice. Concerned for both of their children’s safety, their parents separate the two, raising them individually with limited interaction with each other as Anna loses her memory of Elsa’s magical powers, while Elsa is isolated from the world, trying to conceal and control her powers. Many years later, on Elsa’s coronation day to be Queen of Ardendelle, her icy powers are exposed to many after following an altercation with her sister. Elsa, scared of what others now think of her, flees the kingdom and heads into the mountains to live alone in exile, however, in her haste departure, Elsa’s magic accidentally covers the land in an unnatural and perpetual winter. With help of an ice-delivery man named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Kristoff’s faithfully reindeer Sven, and magical talking snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad), Anna races off to find her older sister and restore the climate balance within Ardendelle and within each other’s heart.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

Since Tangled was released back in 2010, Disney decided to veer off its traditional path of fairy tale princess and faraway kingdoms and choose to do a variety of other animated feature films like the video game nostalgia of Wreck-It-Ralph and the return to 100 acre woods in Winnie the Pooh (the 2011 version). This year, however, Disney has returned to its trademark staple as Frozen brings back all the fairy tale joy of its timeless animated movies, while also reengaging itself to new viewers.

One of the most interesting things that Disney decided to with H.C. Anderson’s classic is to make the character of the Snow Queen not to be that typical villain archetype and rooted more in human emotion. The character of Elsa, in the movie, is not a cold hearted evil queen with nefarious ideals, but rather a cautionary tale about believing in oneself, in owns abilities, and those who love you (especially family). The character of Anna also shares redeeming qualities of being smart and adventurous, but also been flawed with rushing into things and sometimes being a little odd. In truth, the message in the movie is about empowerment and trusting in those around you and yourself (Both found in both Anna and Elisa).

The animation is something that should be highly praised in Frozen . The style is a mixture of Rococo-inspired hand-drawn/ CG hybrid technique that was similarly used on Tangle (more on that below); there’s even a brief moment of a famous Rococo painting, “The Swing” in the movie). It definitely compliments Frozen’s fantasy world with a beautiful picture-esque scenery of sharp colors as well as its animals and characters, who’s faced expression are detailed and feel alive with variant personalities. Personally, Frozen is the best-looking animated film of 2013.

As far as voice talents go, its solid performances all around with Kristen Bell’s endearing optimistic, yet slightly clumsy portrayal of Anna to Idina Menzel’s complex and vulnerable depiction of Elsa. However, the best performance is in Josh Gad’s character of Olaf, who really steals the best lines and catchphrases in the film and does bring that hilarious goofy sidekick quality that are staples in majority of kids animated movies. Other characters (minor / supporting ones) includes Alan Tudyk as the Duke of Weaselton (not to be confused by pronouncing it saying “weasel”), an old and dubious fuddy-duddy, Santino Fontana as Hans, a charming prince from the Summer Isles who carries himself in laudable fashion, and Ciran Hinds as Pabble, the elder leader of the rock-like trolls who are educated in the ways of magic (and the mysteries of the heart and mind).

As with many other Disney’s animated movies of classic stories and nuances’, musical songs (for the most part) play pivotal roles in its narrative with characters pouring out their hearts with emotions of elation, confusion, triumph, or even sadness. Frozen ranks very high in this category and delivers some of the best songs that Disney has put out in quite some time ranging from the duality of Elisa and Anna’s personas in “For The First Time in Forever” to Olaf’s anticipation for summertime in “In Summer” to finding that perfect someone in your life in “Love Is an Open Door”. But the really show-stopper song in Frozen is Elsa’s liberation in “Let It Go”, which captures the certain “Magic” (both on-screen with it’s visually and in Idina Menzel’s powerful vocals) that one seems to find in classic Disney songs. Many are already speculating (including myself) that this particular will be nominated in the “Best Song” category at the Oscars next year (and hopefully wining it). As a side note, Demi Lovato’s rendition of “Let It Go” (which appears during the film’s ending credits sequence) is pretty good. However, I still like Idina Menzel’s version better.

Even Disney’s Princesses have their own problems to contend with and the film Frozen doesn’t have a whole lot, but a few minor things to be criticized. First, though I mention that the animation style looks superb, I still think Disney should have stayed with the idea of making 2D animated movies again like they did back in 2009 with The Princess & The Frog . ( Frozen was originally going br in 2D, but the studio decided for the film to be in 3D animation). Even with the film rendered three-dimensions, its overall look and character designs are an unmistakable illusion to its 2010 predecessor Tangled . Disney’s animated movies usually have their own particular design of animation and unique to each film. However, Frozen’s animation is way too similar to Tangled’s animation as I expected certain characters from Tangled to show up and help out Anna and her companions. It’s just something you don’t do. Additionally, Frozen could have been tweaked back in its storyboard stage before moving forward with the film. There are a few holes in its narrative that they don’t take the time to fully explain and like in how Elsa got her powers, Kristoff’s relationship to his reindeer Sven or his strange adopted Troll family, or even the misadventures of Olaf (who does steal the show with his comical dialogue, but doesn’t really serve a vital importance to the main story thread). These examples could’ve been expanded upon, offering a more satisfying understanding for audience members, but alas they’re not. Also, with Elsa (the Snow Queen) being more a good guy caught in tragedy, Frozen seems to lacking the central antagonist that classic Disney villain that you just love to hate and ultimately be defeated by the heroes of the movie. Finally, when the movie heads into the third act, there’s a plot twist that comes across as being a little “Too little, too late” by the time it happens.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Is Disney’s Frozen worth seeing? Definitely, yes! This Disney-esque film of a beloved children’s classic excels with its dazzling animation, excellent voice talents, a new take on an old tale, and musical songs that will surely be with you long after the movie has ended. Even with the film’s fair share of problems, Disney seems to be embracing its own timeless legacy and reiterates its endearing identity; harkening back to a time in everyone’s childhood of watching movies with talking creatures and singing princesses. The Kingdom of Ardendelle might be blanketed in eternal winter, but Disney’s Frozen will enchant moviegoers everywhere; warming their hearts this holiday season.

4.4 Out of 5 (Highly Recommended)

Released on: november 22nd, 2013, reviewed on: november 27th, 2013.

Frozen is 105 minutes long and is rated PG for some action and mild rude humor

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Furiosa box office breaks unwanted mad max record in week 2, 10 most rewatchable jason statham movies, ranked, frozen is another fine addition to the disney animated feature pantheon, offering a witty and heartfelt princess fairly tale with creative musical elements and some visual panache..

Disney's Frozen - a 3D animated fairy tale musical inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" - takes place in the kingdom of Arendelle, where the young princess Elsa was born with the ability to magically create ice and snow using her bare hands. When Elsa slips up and nearly kills her sister Ana by accident, the panicked king and queen decide to isolate their daughters from the outside world and push Elsa to keep her emotions in check (out of fear that she will lose control and cause serious harm to others).

Several years later, following some tragic circumstances, grown-up Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Ana (Kristen Bell) no longer share the close bond that they once did. However, upon Elsa's coronation day, people from all over flock to meet the new queen, which gives quirky Ana a chance to mingle with others - including the handsome (and equally goofy) Prince Hans (Santino Fontana), whom Ana becomes immediately smitten with. Unfortunately, Elsa's mounting emotions start to break free, as she terrifies the locals with her powers and inadvertently starts an eternal winter upon fleeing the kingdom. Thus, it's up to Ana and the unconventional mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) to find Elsa and restore order to the land.

Walt Disney Animation Studios - a version of Walt Disney Feature Animation that was renamed and restructured by John Lasseter in 2006 - has been on a critical hot streak of late, with both its traditionally-animated offerings ( The Princess and the Frog , Winnie the Pooh ) and 3D computer-animated features ( Tangled , Wreck-It Ralph ). That winning record stays alive with Frozen , a captivating and heartstring-tugging animated musical that - similar to Princess and the Frog and Tangled - updates the well-established Disney princess fairy tale formula, with a film that has relevant themes, delightful characters, catchy musical numbers and lovely digitally-animated visuals.

Frozen is based on a screenplay by Jennifer Lee (co-writer on Wreck-It Ralph ), who co-directed the film with fellow Disney vet, Chris Buck ( Tarzan ). As you probably gathered from the synopsis, Lee's script touches on what are very much hot topics for storytellers nowadays - like the dangers of social alienation and the reality of what relationships are like - in a fairly sophisticated fashion that ought to please adult moviegoers, while also remaining accessible to the juice box crowd.

The only significant problem with the story (co-penned by Lee and Buck with relative newcomer Shane Morris) is that there are plot/character elements that feel too much like conscious attempts to "correct" the classic Disney princess fairy tale tropes; in particular, those which are now outdated ( Tangled has the same problem). Occasionally, this ends up weakening the narrative enough so that it doesn't have quite the poignance of Pixar's best work to date (to use a fitting comparison).

This is the first animated film to have Kristen Bell voicing the protagonist, but she is able to instill Ana with infectious energy, making the character's quirks - like her tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve - all the more charming, rather than ingratiating. Similarly, Idina Menzel is pitch-perfect as 'Snow Queen' Elsa, managing to capture her emotional volatility (no pun intended), whether speaking or singing her heart out to the sky. As for the last of the film's leads: Jonathan Groff does a nice job of playing up Kristoff's oddball humor and commendable nature (note: anyone who's ever owned a pet ought to get a kick out of the way that Kristoff communicates with his reindeer, Sven).

Noteworthy supporting characters include Olaf (Josh Gad), the enchanted snowman who makes for a pleasant comic relief, even in the moments when the film doesn't seem to know what to do with him; Alan Tudyk as the Duke of Weselton (it's not pronounced like "weasel"), a dubious but amusing old fuddy-duddy; Santino Fontana as Hans, a wide-eyed prince who carries himself in an admirable fashion; and Ciarán Hinds as Pabbie, the elder leader of a group of rock-like trolls who are knowledgeable in the ways of magic (and the mysteries of the heart).

Songwriting husband-wife duo Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez ( Winnie the Pooh ) developed the original lyrics and music for Frozen , which often take the form of lightweight melodies that supplement the more brazen Norwegian music-inspired score by Christophe Beck ( The Muppets ). Admittedly, not all of the songs are winners (the trolls' ensemble number "Fixer Upper" is a bit on the nose), but the majority of them are enchanting. And to be frank: you might want to check your pulse if Menzel's rendition of "Let It Go" - the film's show-stopping number - doesn't stir your emotions at all (there's an obvious pun there but, moving on...).

The animation style in Frozen is the same Rococo-inspired hand-drawn/CGI hybrid technique used on Tangled (there's even a shoutout to the famous Rococo painting, "The Swing"). It compliments the fantastical and cartoony nature of the setting, making the scenery a lovely collage of sharp colors (bright in the summer, cool in the winter) and the human/animal characters quite expressive and feel alive. Overall, Frozen isn't necessarily Disney's most accomplished piece of animation (certainly not its most innovative), but there are some arresting images and sequences offered here (see: when Elsa constructs her ice palace in the mountains) that justify the higher price of admission for a 3D screening. (That said: 3D is not a necessity.)

Overall, Frozen is another fine addition to the Disney animated feature pantheon, offering a witty and heartfelt princess fairly tale with creative musical elements and some visual panache.

For additional incentive: there's a clever short film included at the beginning - a Mickey Mouse cartoon titled "Get a Horse!" - that meshes 2D/3D animation, even as it pokes fun at the occasionally ribald nature of Disney 'toons from the early 20th century (no worries parents, kids won't notice). And be sure not to leave the theater before the credits stop rolling, since there's a funny disclaimer - followed by an amusing short clip - at the very end.

In case you're still undecided, here is the trailer for Frozen :

Frozen is now playing in 2D and 3D theaters. It is 108 minutes long and Rated PG for some action and mild rude humor.

Our Rating:

Movie Reviews
4 star movies

Disney Frozen Movie Review: It’s a Must See Family Movie #DisneyFrozenEvent

Hitting theaters TODAY! Disney Frozen is a MUST SEE movie that will captivate the hearts of every child – and their parents too. Read on for my Disney Frozen Movie Review. Frozen is simply fabulous. Beautiful animation paired with a knock-out musical and a stellar storyline about the love between two sisters. When you leave the theater you won’t be able to stop thinking about FROZEN or singing the catchy tunes from the film.

Disney Frozen Movie Review

Over the last week I’ve been sharing scoop on my experience attending the “red” or “snow” carpet Disney Frozen world premiere & my interview with Kristen Bell , who voices Anna in the movie, but now it’s time to talk about the movie. I saw the movie at the premiere and my children and husband had the opportunity to screen Frozen earlier in the month.

All of us were blown away by this fabulous Disney animation and musical. My kids, aged 5 and 7, both say Frozen is now 100% their most favorite Disney movie ever. Plus, we have been listening to the soundtrack non-stop for the past week – both at home and in the car. It’s just that good. I think for years to come children and adults will be singing this magical music and Frozen will be quick to become a Disney classic.

The music is truly so excellent. Think of the caliber of musical that is The Lion King or The Little Mermaid – and then just add FROZEN to that list.

From a character standpoint, Princess Anna is a likable, goofy, spunky, and the kind of girl who is determined to solve her own problems. Awesome!

I loved Frozen and I honestly can’t wait to see it in the theater again. I left singing the tunes and “Let It Go” is now my favorite tune. “Let it Go” is sung by Idina Menzel (Tony Award Winner for Wicked), who plays Elsa during what is one of my favorite scenes in the film. You may also have heard Let It Go on the radio as sung by Demi Lovato. A genius song that is just amazing during a gorgeous and powerful scene in Frozen.

Disney Frozen Movie Trailer

Disney frozen synopsis, disney always seems to be able to create a storyline that appeals to both children and their parents which i find makes their films so special to everyone. at it’s heart, frozen is a story about the love between two sisters..

Here’s is a brief synopsis on the storyline of Frozen from the official synopsis.

Walt Disney Animation Studios, the studio behind “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph,” presents “Frozen,” a stunning big-screen comedy adventure. Fearless optimist Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) sets off on an epic journey—teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff) and his loyal reindeer Sven—to find her sister Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf (voice of Josh Gad), Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom.

On Frozen’s Olaf the Snowman – What a Sidekick!

Kids will be rejoicing about the adorable and hilarious Olaf after they watch Frozen. The little snowman Olaf will fast become one of the most favorite movie sidekicks. Here’s one more cute clip of one of Olaf’s scene stealing moments when he sings a song about loving summer. Yes, this snowman DREAMS of heat.

Run, skate, sled, or ski into theaters this weekend to see FROZEN. It’s FANTASTIC and the perfect family movie for the holidays.

18 thoughts on “Disney Frozen Movie Review: It’s a Must See Family Movie #DisneyFrozenEvent”

Yep, you got me – we’ve been thinking about Frozen non-stop as you assumed. We loved it and I’m glad your family did too. That’s a pretty big order to fill to be their favorite Disney movie ever!

Can’t wait to take my son to see it! Your review made me really want to go~

Frozen is also my kids favorite Disney movie right now too!

We are going to see it today. I can’t wait. Estelle

We are hoping to take the boys this month…it looks like a truly special Disney experience – we have been waiting for one of those for a while!

We are SO excited to see this. The kids have been raving about it– and they’ve only seen the previews!

Can’t wait to see it! Sounds like a perfect family day out!

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very useful for me.Thanks for sharing a great information about Frozan.

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we can hope find more from you like this. Keep it up the good Work.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Chilling tale is gory, but less so than other horror movies.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The film's main point is that bad things can happe

The movie goes out of its way to show that these c

There's a brief "pushing" fight on solid ground ne

Two of the main characters are boyfriend and girlf

We hear more than one use of "f--k," plus many, ma

We see a poster for Newbury Comics near the film's

One of the main characters is called a "pothead,"

Positive Messages

The film's main point is that bad things can happen to anyone at any time. These three characters did bribe the lift guy rather than buying lift tickets, but their punishment for that crime seems very severe. The characters generally show more stupidity than they do bravery, teamwork, or problem solving.

Positive Role Models

The movie goes out of its way to show that these characters have their good and bad sides. They pay a bribe instead of buying tickets, they smoke cigarettes and pot, use bad language, and are not in totally trusting relationships. But we also learn that one of them once fell in love, one of them has a puppy, and that they have devoted friendships. The fact that they do not deal well with this crisis tips the balance into the negative.

Violence & Scariness

There's a brief "pushing" fight on solid ground near the film's beginning. Later, a character jumps from the stuck chair lift and breaks his legs on the ground below. His legs are askew and bones stick out. Wolves devour him, but mostly off-camera. A character's hand is stuck to the frozen bar, and we see the skin peeling back as it is pulled off. A character gets severe frostbite to the face, with peeling skin. A character slices up his hands on the cable, and we see some blood. Finally, we see a bloody corpse in the snow.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Two of the main characters are boyfriend and girlfriend, and they sometimes speak in intimate ways, but mostly playful and very little that's sexual. (She complains because he calls her by her real name, rather than a pet name.) In one scene, the boyfriend unzips the girl's jacket a few inches so that she can flirt with the chair lift guy and get cheap lift tickets. Another character meets a girl and flirts with her.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

We hear more than one use of "f--k," plus many, many uses of "s--t" and "ass." Other words include "dick," "hell," "douchebag," "asshole," "retarded," "piss," "Goddamn," and "oh my God."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

We see a poster for Newbury Comics near the film's beginning, and one character mentions his favorite breakfast cereals, "Crunch Berries," "Cinnamon Toast Crunch," and "Lucky Charms."

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

One of the main characters is called a "pothead," and he brags about smoking a lot of pot, although he is never seen doing so onscreen. Another main character smokes cigarettes, as does a secondary character. (She bums a cigarette from him.)

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Frozen is a horror/thriller from director Adam Green , whose previous movie was the comic slasher movie Hatchet . This one is a good deal more serious; it's filled with very effective, excruciating suspense, but it's also not particularly smart. It's one of those movies in which the audience is usually two jumps ahead of the characters. The movie has its fair share of gruesome blood and gore, especially in the second half. Language is fairly strong, with more than one use of "f--k" and many uses of "s--t." The characters, all college students, smoke cigarettes, and there are references to pot. Viewers may find themselves very anxious, and very annoyed at the same time. It's an intense movie, but also fairly mild compared to many other entries in the horror genre. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

Parents say (10)
Kids say (28)

Based on 10 parent reviews

Don’t recommend

What's the story.

College student Dan ( Kevin Zegers ), his best friend Joe ( Shawn Ashmore ), and his girlfriend Parker ( Emma Bell ) go for a weekend ski trip. Since Parker is a beginner, they spend most of the day on the bunny hills. As night -- and a storm -- approach, they decide for one last big run. Unfortunately, due to a series of misunderstandings, and the fact that they bribed their way onto the lift rather than buying tickets, they are left stranded halfway up the mountain as the resort closes down for the week. The lift is terribly high, and it's terribly cold. The cable is razor-sharp, and there are wolves in the woods. How will the trio get out of this chilling situation?

Is It Any Good?

Director Adam Green broke into the horror genre with the comic slasher film Hatchet , which was made with just the right attitude, and it's a good deal of fun. His follow-up Frozen is more serious and not as much fun. The suspense is definitely there, and it can be excruciating. But it's almost an empty exercise, as there's not much meat to the film itself.

For one thing, the characters never seem very smart, and they remain almost constantly two jumps behind the audience. (Some of the situations they get themselves into can be irritating.) Additionally, the idea of a stuck lift chair isn't very visually dynamic. So Green relies on a lot of sitting-and-talking sequences to break up the suspense, and while these are sometimes pleasant, they're not exactly Shakespeare. In other words, the movie has a good flow, and it understands how to generate thrills, but the characters, situation, and dialogue are stretched a bit thin.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the ways in which this problem could have been averted. Could better communication have helped? Better listening?

How did the movie's violence affect you? Was it scary ? Which was the most horrifying part? Did you notice if some of the violent events took place onscreen, or offscreen?

The three characters in the film have an awkward relationship . The two boys are best friends, and the girlfriend of one boy is trying not to come between them. Have you ever experienced this kind of romantic tension in real life?

Movie Details

In theaters : February 5, 2010
On DVD or streaming : September 28, 2010
Cast : Emma Bell , Kevin Zegers , Shawn Ashmore
Director : Adam Green
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Genre : Horror
Run time : 93 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : some disturbing images and language
Last updated : June 1, 2024

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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November 27, 2013

Animation, Family, Fantasy, Musical

Walt Disney Animation Studios, the studio behind "Tangled" and "Wreck-It Ralph," presents "Frozen," a stunning big-screen comedy adventure. Fearless optimist Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) sets off on an epic journey—teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff) and his loyal reindeer Sven—to find her sister Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), 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.

Rated: PG Runtime: 1h 42min Release Date: November 27, 2013

Directed By

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Frozen Trailer

Hans (voiced by Santino Fontana) in a canoe with Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) in the movie Frozen

Frozen (2013)

Elsa (voiced by Indina Menzel) about to use her powers in the movie Frozen

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Frozen movie review.

Last updated on September 30th, 2021 at 10:19 am

Overall, the animation was lovely, the characters were wonderful, and your children will be singing, “Do you want to build a snowmaaaaaaan ?” all winter. It’s an excellent family holiday film.

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Frozen : The Happiest Surprise of 2013

I was skeptical about Frozen . I think most people were. Disney didn’t market it much at all, which made me suspicious of secret suckitude. That weird quote about animating women didn’t help , nor did controversy over the visual similarity between Anna and Tangled ‘s Rapunzel.

Then, a few weeks ago, something weird happened. I started seeing reviews about how great Frozen is. Not “better than you think it is” or “pretty good, considering.” Just great . And then Thanksgiving weekend hit. You know the film’s going to make bank, because it’s a kid’s movie on a holiday weekend. But it smashed Disney Animation’s opening weekend record, and the comments on that post were filled with you, our readers, saying how wonderful it is.

So I decided to see it. And I was not disappointed.

(This review is spoiler-free. There are vague references to plot events, but nothing specific. I welcome any and all spoilery discussion in the comments, so if you’ve not seen the film yet just don’t scroll down that far.)

Frozen is something new for Disney: A movie about sisterhood. (Well, new ish . Let’s not forget Lilo & Stitch ). The two main characters are Anna ( Kristen Bell ) and Elsa ( Idina Menzel ), the former a delightfully weird princess (“We finish each other’s sandwiches!”), the latter a Queen who’s suffered isolation her whole life because it’s thought—first by her parents, then by her—that being around other people will make it impossible to control her icebending. Watching the trailer it’s easy to assume that Elsa is the villain of the story, a sorcerer-gone-bad who has to be convinced by her pure-hearted sister to return to the light side of the Force.

But that’s not how it is at all. Elsa is the protagonist of her own story, one in which well-meaning parents taught her to rein in emotion for her own good. Frozen got on my good side by doing several things I didn’t expect (there was a plot twist about three-quarters of the way through that made everyone in the theater gasp), and the way it portrays family is one of them: Elsa and Anna’s parents aren’t evil. They’re not the stepmother from Snow White . They genuinely think they’re doing what’s best for both their children, and yet they screw things up (forgive the pun) royally. It’s an unusual (but welcome) message to put in a Disney film: Sometimes your parents mean well, but each person has to take charge of their own life and decide what’s best for them. It’s similar to what we saw in Brave , but it takes it further. Merida eventually brings her parents around, but the legacy that Anna and Elsa’s parents leave in their daughters’ lives is physical and emotional isolation. For a Disney movie, it’s pretty dark.

The biggest moment when I thought Disney was going to go the generic “I’ve seen this a thousand times before (usually in Disney movies)” route was near the end of the film, and I don’t want to spoil what happens, but I will say this: Frozen is all about sisterhood. The relationship between Anna and Elsa is the most important one in the film. And yeah, there is a romance, but it’s almost an afterthought.

Honestly, my biggest problem with the film—and it’s more an annoyance than a major point of ARRRGH —is that the romance seemed really tacked on. There’s a point in the middle of the film where things kind of veer away from the sister plotline, and you have your Disney Romance Song and your Disney Cute Glances. And the whole time it felt like the movie had swerved off its path. I was counting down the minutes ’til we got back to Elsa.

It’s like we can have a movie about sisterhood, but there still has to be a romance. We can have a movie that does things we don’t expect a Disney movie to do (see: That plot twist. Damn .), but there still has to be cute talking sidekicks. Frozen is absolutely a step in the right direction, but I hope the studio will one day reach a point where they regularly make movies where the Princess doesn’t end up with her One True Love by the time the credits roll. Pixar is boss at it, and I know you can do it too, Disney. I’ve seen Mulan .

The lack of racial diversity was also a problem. I know Frozen is set in a fictional land based on Scandinavia, but darn, Disney, did you have to make everyone white? There were POC in Scandinavia in that time period, first off, and one of the female leads makes magic ice castles, so don’t give me that “But history! Realism!” excuse.

So I do have a few beefs with Frozen based on what it isn’t , but that’s because it was generally an excellent film and I feel like it deserved to be even more excellent. I wouldn’t be quite so adamant if it was, say, The Little Mermaid 3 . Because that’s a bad movie (I assume), and while racial diversity is a wonderful, essential (and underused) part of media, it doesn’t stop a story or dialogue from sucking. But Frozen is a good film, and diversity and/or a lack of “Protagonist finds the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with!!!!” would’ve given it that boost to “ Frozen is a gift to humanity, let me snuggle it to my bosom and love it forever.”

But what we got was still great. It was funny, they did a really interesting thing with the villain (though this review is spoiler-free, if someone wants to talk about it in the comments I have feels ), Alan Tudyk was there, and while the songs were the the most part unmemorable I think my playcount for “Let It Go” is in the double digits, and the movie only got out like 14 hours ago.

I even laughed my butt off at the stupid snowman.

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A collage of stills from the 'Rocky' and 'Creed' movies, featuring Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Carl Weathers, and Mr. T

15 Disney's Frozen Movie Fun Facts You Didn't KnowDisney's "Frozen" became a cultural phenomenon upon its release, captivating audiences with its memorable characters, stunning animation, and unforgettable songs. While many fans are familiar with the story of Elsa and Anna, there are numerous behind-the-scenes details and interesting trivia that even the most devoted fans might not know. Here are 20 fun facts about Disney's "Frozen" that will surprise you:

Posted: May 23, 2024 | Last updated: May 23, 2024

Snow Queen Connection

Elsa's Ice Palace:

Multiple Language Versions

The success of "Frozen" led to a Broadway musical adaptation, which premiered in 2018, featuring new songs and additional story elements. ]]>

Broadway Adaptation:

Breaking Records:

Hans' Deception:

Voice of Sven

Animators' Challenges:

Kristoff's Outfit

Hidden Mickeys

: The filmmakers visited Norway and drew inspiration from the Sami culture for the design and traditions of the Northuldra people introduced in "Frozen II." ]]>

Sami Influence

Elsa Was Almost a Villain:

In the coronation scene, you can spot Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from "Tangled" among the guests, suggesting a shared universe between the films. ]]>

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider Cameo:

Record-Breaking Song: "Let It Go,"

is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen," though the film takes significant creative liberties with the original story. ]]>

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen: "Frozen"

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Leslye Headland Hopes the Force Is With ‘The Acolyte’

Her new “Star Wars” show is a dream come true, but she knows it carries enormous expectations. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared,” she said.

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A woman in a green blazer and floral shirt reclines in a darkly lit restaurant booth

By Brooks Barnes

Reporting from Los Angeles

Leslye Headland has been telling “Star Wars” stories onscreen since she was a teenager. Ostracized at school for being different, she retreated inward, making stop-motion films starring her action figures.

So when she found success as an adult in Hollywood — Headland helped create “Russian Doll,” the 2019 Netflix comedy starring Natasha Lyonne — and got the chance to create an actual “Star Wars” show, it was the realization of a lifelong dream.

And a chance for humiliating failure. On a galactic scale.

“I essentially cold-called Lucasfilm and, after a lot of conversations, found myself pitching a show — utterly elated, my ultimate career goal, the culmination of my fandom,” Headland said. “At the same time, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. There is so much pressure. It’s extreme. I had never done anything this big before.”

Headland’s show, “ The Acolyte ,” will debut on Disney+ on June 4. Costing roughly $180 million (for eight episodes) and taking four years to make, it attempts two feats at once: pleasing old-school “Star Wars” fans — who can seem unpleasable — while telling an entirely new story, one that requires no prior knowledge of “Star Wars” and that showcases women and people of color.

For the faithful, “The Acolyte” serves up scads of Jedi, a franchise fundamental that the other live-action “Star Wars” TV shows have depicted sparingly or not at all. The opening scene in “The Acolyte” takes place in an eatery crowded with colorful aliens, a callback to the Mos Eisley cantina from the first “Star Wars” movie, in 1977.

Other shout-outs to core fans — we see you, we haven’t forgotten about you — are sprinkled into the dialogue: “May the force be with you” and “I have a bad feeling about this” makes an early appearance.

At the same time, “The Acolyte” embraces what some people call “New Star Wars,” an era defined by diversity and expansion beyond the Skywalker saga, which started with Disney’s purchase of the franchise in 2012.

Amandla Stenberg stars as a dreadlocked warrior who has a complicated relationship with a Jedi master played by Lee Jung-jae from “Squid Game,” in his first English-speaking role. Jodie Turner-Smith (“Queen & Slim”) plays the lesbian leader of a regal coven of witches, while the Filipino-Canadian actor Manny Jacinto (“The Good Place”) appears as a shadowy trader. In one of her most action-oriented roles since “The Matrix,” Carrie-Anne Moss plays a steely Jedi named Master Indara.

“The Acolyte” also breaks new ground behind the camera: While women have directed episodes of shows like “ The Mandalorian ” and “ Obi-Wan Kenobi, ” Headland, 43, is the first to create a “Star Wars” series.

“It was like working on a razor’s edge,” she said during a Zoom interview, pushing her oversize glasses higher on her nose. “You’re thinking, ‘This is what people want from “Star Wars.” This is what people don’t want.’ It can mess with your head.”

“During the creative process,” she continued, “I had to give myself the forgiveness, as an artist, to fall off the razor — as long as I got back up. That was my promise to myself.”

From the second that any new “Star Wars” project comes into public view — Disney announced “The Acolyte” in 2020 — fans claw for information and pick apart what they find. It’s part of what makes “Star Wars” so powerful: People care. But the attention also creates problems.

Rumors can solidify into facts. Some “Star Wars” obsessives, for instance, have worried that Headland’s show “breaks canon,” or tinkers with already-established story lines in the franchise — the ultimate “Star Wars” crime. It does not.

In fact, Headland chose to place “The Acolyte” at the very beginning of the “Star Wars” timeline so canonical issues would be minimal. The show is a mystery-thriller — someone is killing Jedis — set at a time when the Jedi are at their peak, the pre-“Phantom Menace” era that has been explored in “Star Wars” novels but never onscreen. The only character in “The Acolyte” that previously existed anywhere in the franchise is a Jedi Master from novels named Vernestra Rwoh. (Headland cast her wife, Rebecca Henderson, in the role, giving her a lightsaber that can transform into a whip .)

“Leslye wanted this show to be accessible — no homework needed before watching,” said Jocelyn Bioh , the Ghanaian-American writer. Headland added Bioh to the writing team for “The Acolyte” specifically because Bioh was not a “Star Wars” devotee.

“She asked me what I knew about ‘Star Wars,’ and my answer was, ‘Harrison Ford runs around space with a giant dog?’” Bioh recalled, laughing. “And Leslye said, ‘You’re hired.’”

“She wanted to potentially invite in new fans — people like me,” Bioh said.

The first “Acolyte” trailer, released in March, racked up 51.3 million views in its first 24 hours, a record for any live-action “Star Wars” series , including “The Mandalorian,” according to Lucasfilm. Sneak-peek “Acolyte” footage, released in theaters in early May, highlighted the show’s unique martial arts sequences; fan sites instantly deemed the fighting style Force Fu .

But a loud, primordial part of the “Star Wars” fandom has pushed back in predictable fashion.

“Why are there so many women, girls and minority characters increasingly dominating the ranks of Jedi?” reads a comment on “The Acolyte” trailer, with others expressing a similar worldview.

It is a version of the same misogyny and racism that greeted Rey, the female Jedi (played by Daisy Ridley) who made her debut in “The Force Awakens” in 2015, and that drove Kelly Marie Tran off social media when she appeared in “The Last Jedi” (2017). Kathleen Kennedy, who runs Lucasfilm, has also experienced it, with “South Park” harshly attacking her in an episode last year. The cartoon depicted Kennedy giving the same feedback to “Star Wars” creators over and over: “Put a chick in it! Make her lame and gay!”

Some trolls have nicknamed Headland’s series “The Wokelyte.”

In a brief telephone interview, Kennedy’s support for “The Acolyte” was steadfast. “My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people,” she said. “That’s an easy decision for me.”

“Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation — it’s terrifying,” Kennedy continued. “I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into ‘Star Wars’ struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal.”

Headland has tried to limit her exposure to the online conversation, both good and bad, instead relying on friends for “weather reports.”

“As a fan myself, I know how frustrating some ‘Star Wars’ storytelling in the past has been,” Headland said, declining to cite specific examples. “I’ve felt it myself.”

She followed up with a text message. “I stand by my empathy for ‘Star Wars’ fans,” she wrote. “But I want to be clear. Anyone who engages in bigotry, racism or hate speech … I don’t consider a fan.”

“Star Wars” projects aren’t known for personal or idiosyncratic filmmaking. The production and marketing budgets are simply too high; the storytelling must appeal to the widest possible audience to make the numbers work.

Rian Johnson, who directed “The Last Jedi,” told The New York Times in 2017 that he didn’t even try to put his own stamp on the franchise. “It would be bad news if you came into this saying, ‘How do I make this mine?’” he said.

Kennedy, however, pushed Headland to do just that with “The Acolyte.”

“You’ve written a great ‘Star Wars’ show,” Kennedy told her in 2019 in response to early scripts. “Now go write a Leslye Headland show.”

Kennedy had read one of Headland’s plays, “ Cult of Love ,” which explores a complicated relationship between siblings. “It’s about her personal experience,” Kennedy said. “And it was just so well done and incredibly emotional. I remember reading that and saying, ‘Leslye, this is exactly what you should tap into as you write this story for us.’”

Explaining exactly how Headland took Kennedy’s advice would spoil a major plot point in “Acolyte.” Let’s just say that Headland heightened a clash between characters.

“I have a very strained relationship with my youngest sister, and I feel like one of the reasons it is strained is that we both see each other as the bad guy,” Headland said. “And if I was going to tell a story about bad guys, it seemed to me that the place to start should be a familial relationship where one person is adamantly convinced of her correctness and the other person is also adamantly convinced of her correctness.”

“We don’t speak,” Headland added. “I think this will be a surprise to her.”

She wouldn’t say anything more on the topic, except to emphasize that she has a good relationship with her other sister, who helped make a visual presentation that Headland used to pitch “The Acolyte” to Lucasfilm. (Headland described her concept in the meeting as “‘Frozen’ meets ‘Kill Bill.’” Kennedy bought it on the spot.)

Stenberg, the show’s star, said “Leslye really is driven by emotion and heart and relationships. So even though our show is within the ‘Star Wars’ universe and set in outer space, in a galaxy far, far away, it’s really a family drama.”

Headland had directed indie films (“ Bachelorette ,” “ Sleeping With Other People ”) and served as showrunner for “Russian Doll,” the hit Netflix comedy about a New Yorker (Natasha Lyonne) caught in a reincarnation loop. But she had never managed a big-budget production.

What she lacked in experience, she made up for with “Star Wars” geekdom. Headland became a “Star Wars” superfan as a teenager. It was an apocalyptic period of her life, or at least it felt that way.

“I had no friends,” she recalled. “I ate my lunch in the bathroom.”

She found solace among the misfits in George Lucas’s space operas, discovering books like Timothy Zahn’s “Heir to the Empire” (1991) and collecting action figures. When Lucas released the “special editions” of his first three “Star Wars” movies, Headland lined up at her local theater on opening night. A few years ago, she had Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art for Princess Leia tattooed on her right hand.

“‘Star Wars’ has been a part of my personality since I can remember,” Headland said. “So working on this show has been a dream. I had to take my shot.”

She paused for a moment. “If it doesn’t succeed, it’s because of me,” she said. “That’s really scary to think about.”

“No, no — I’m not going to go there,” she said, climbing back on that razor’s edge.

Brooks Barnes covers all things Hollywood. He joined The New York Times in 2007 and previously worked at The Wall Street Journal. More about Brooks Barnes

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Why ‘Little Mermaid’ May Mark the End of Disney’s Remake Factory Hits | Analysis

Pro Available to WrapPRO members

The well is running dry for the company’s Renaissance-era movies and there’s doubt more recent successes like “Moana” and “Frozen” will perform

When Bob Iger took over Walt Disney again, one of his first moves was to reassure Wall Street that more sequels and remakes were coming. Disney has a lot in its vault, and remaking animated classics as live-action movies is widely seen as a safe strategy, with built-in audiences for familiar fare.

That strategy is coming into question, though, as weak international box office numbers for “The Little Mermaid” trickle in. The live-action remake of the 1989 film grossed $95 million in its Friday-Sunday North American debut, but just $68 million overseas. For comparison, star power fueled the 2019 “Aladdin” remake with Will Smith and 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” with Emma Watson, both of which earned more than $1 billion, mostly overseas.

What ties Disney’s recent remakes together is that they’re primarily based on movies from what’s called its “Renaissance” period — a range from the late 1980s to late 1990s when Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films (many of them musicals). So if Disney were to continue its remakes, it will need to start tapping into its more recent releases.

Images from some of the comedies coming to theaters in 2023

So as it’s already running low on Renaissance films to remake, Disney will need to turn to movies like “Frozen” and “Tangled.” It’s already focusing on “Moana” with Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Maui in the upcoming live-action remake, which just signed up “Hamilton” director Thomas Kail .

“Moana” would seem to fit the bill: It earned more than 60% of its box office internationally, suggesting global appeal. And it’s a perennial streaming favorite on Disney+. The only problem: The original animated version came out less than seven years ago.

“Turning any of these newer films into live-action remakes is a pretty poor idea,” Josh Spiegel, the author of “ Pixar and the Infinite Past: Nostalgia and Pixar Animation ,” told TheWrap. “The body’s not quite cold yet.”

Spiegel questioned whether any of Disney’s newer titles had anything approaching the nostalgic pull of the Disney Renaissance-era films. Disney didn’t respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

"Snow White," "Moana," "Robin Hood" (Photo credit: Disney)

Mining the vault

It was something of a fluke when Walt Disney’s 2010 live-action “Alice in Wonderland” overcame lousy reviews to become just the sixth movie to pass $1 billion worldwide. Nobody expected the next batch of Disney remakes or revamps (“Oz: The Great and Powerful,” “Maleficent” and “Cinderella”) to follow suit.

Then Disney started mining its Renaissance. “Beauty and the Beast” ($1.263 billion in 2017) offered a mostly faithful remake of the 1991 Best Picture-nominated classic, complete with all the popular musical numbers. Ditto “Aladdin” ($1.053 billion in 2019) and “The Lion King” ($1.648 billion in 2019). “Mulan,” an early 2020 remake of a late-Renaissance production, was tracking for an $85 million domestic debut when theaters closed down in March of that year. It likely would have been a hit if not for the pandemic.

The problem is that there are few films left from that era that could sustain a remake. And the results of “The Little Mermaid” reinforce the need to scrutinize the performance of the originals to understand the global potential of a given work. The original “Little Mermaid” earned just $99.8 million overseas, less than half its total. The two “Frozen” films, by contrast, amassed $1.86 billion out of $2.74 billion globally in non-U.S. markets.

Another advantage of remaking more recent movies is that Disney won’t have to sand off the rougher edges of scenes or characters that seem less than enlightened in modern times. (See the YouTube outcry after the new “Little Mermaid” dropped some lyrics from Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”) Disney films of the last 15 years have more modern sensibilities baked in.

Admittedly, Disney has thrived by selling remakes as more socially aware or progressive than the originals. “Beauty and the Beast” made Belle an inventor, and “Aladdin” gave Princess Jasmine a fight-the-patriarchy power ballad with “Speechless.” It will be harder to find a twist on newer remakes.

That could be an advantage, though, to the extent that fans liked the originals as they were.

“Disney wouldn’t have to deal with… pundits and online commentators complaining that their childhood favorites have been sullied,” Rebecca Hains, the author of “ The Princess Problem ” and professor of media and communications at Salem State University, told TheWrap.

The remake factory

Remakes of “Lilo & Stitch” and “Hercules” are in development, alongside Reese Witherspoon’s long-gestating “Tink” and a rumored “Bambi” remake. That’s not even counting potential sequels to “The Jungle Book” and “Aladdin,” a Barry Jenkins-directed prequel to “The Lion King” and the upcoming “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” with Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.

Even Pixar’s purely animated corpus might be up for live-action grabs. A more fantastical franchise like “Cars” might not work, but more human-centric movies like “Brave” or “Up” could be up for discussion. What if Pixar gave Marvel some superhero competition with a live-action “Incredibles”?

“They shouldn’t want that, but they might pursue it,” said Spiegel, of the prospect of a photorealistic, CGI-assisted remake of an animated Pixar hit.

Disney’s large consumer-products business is a key motivator.

“When you make a live-action ‘Frozen’ or a new ‘Tangled,’ that’s more opportunities to get kids to buy the same Disney princess characters now looking like whoever plays her and wearing whatever new outfits the new film provides her,” said Hains, who believes that the degree that a given film project is “toyetic” — amenable to being turned into a line of toys — is a key factor in determining what gets remade.

Remakes or sequels?

One problem: Does a live-action remake forestall an animated sequel?

There have been very few theatrically released sequels (“The Rescuers Down Under,” “Fantasia 2000,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Frozen II”) to any non-Pixar Walt Disney Animation works. While nobody is expecting an animated sequel to “Treasure Planet” or “Brother Bear,” the more recent animations are sequel-friendly for the same reasons that make them remake-friendly.

And there’s the question of whether Disney is doing enough to create new works: Every remake or sequel started off as an original idea, after all.

“They might try making more animated films before making more remakes,” said Spiegel. “They need the first thing to facilitate more of the second thing.”

If even something as seemingly surefire as “The Little Mermaid” seems to be coming up short, that may be good advice.

There’s an argument, though, for celebrating Disney’s more recent string of hits. In his first stint as CEO, Iger revived Walt Disney Animation following its post-Renaissance slump. Hains wondered if Disney shouldn’t celebrate that very recent success. The Walt Disney Company in 2023 is itself kind of reboot. Why not have Iger bring back his greatest hits?

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“This is a call from the ancestors to sail to new skies and reconnect our people across the entire ocean,” Cravalho says in a voice-over.

Moana 2 was directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller and produced by Christina Chen and Yvett Merino. It will feature music by songwriting partners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear as well as Opetaia Foaʻi and Mark Mancina.

The original film’s soundtrack was produced by Encanto composer Lin-Manuel Miranda and featured the Billboard Hot 100 hits “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome.” In August 2021, it passed Frozen to become the longest-running No. 1 on Billboard ‘s Soundtracks chart at 52 weeks .

Watch Disney’s record-breaking Moana 2 trailer above.

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Powered by JustWatch. "Frozen," the latest Disney musical extravaganza, preaches the importance of embracing your true nature but seems to be at odds with itself. The animated, 3-D adventure wants to enliven and subvert the conventions of typical Disney princess movies while simultaneously remaining true to their aesthetic trappings for maximum ...
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