Review: Frozen

It's fair to say the Noughties weren't the best time for Disney, their renowned and loved Renaissance era died in 2000 with the release of Fantasia 2000 and while they hid away Pixar came and took up the mantle of Best Animation studio for the next decade. Things picked up in 2009 and 2010 with the releases of Princess & The Frog and Tangled then in 2012 with Wreck-It Ralph the studio showed signs of coming back and in a big way. What I'm saying in this overly long intro is that where Wreck-it Ralph showed the return of Disney, Frozen confirms it, creating not only the best animation film of the year but one of the best film of the year and one of the best Disney have done since Mulan.

Set in Arendelle, a fictional medieval town with a Norwegian feel, the film follows two sisters, adventurous but foolish Anna and quiet, reserved Elsa. When she was born it was discovered that Elsa had the power to create and control ice and snow, at first this power is used for fun with the two close sisters building snowmen and playing in their home, however an accident occurs and Elsa hurts Anna, while she was saved Anna has her memories changed to forget her sisters powers but remember the fun they had together. Scared at the thought of hurting someone else, the girls' parents lock the castle gates to prevent anyone coming into contact with Elsa while Elsa herself locks herself away in an attempt to try and control her powers.

After the death of their parents and when Elsa comes of age she is charged with running the kingdom as Queen, this means opening the gates and letting the townspeople in. While Anna is thrilled at the prospect of meeting new people and possibly finding true love for the first time, Elsa is terrified and nervous since her powers are still uncontrollable. The coronation seems to go off without a hitch but Anna asks Elsa to bless her engagement to Han, a prince she just met mere hours ago, the ensuing argument inadvertently reveals Elsa's powers to a scared and angry crowd and plunging the town into an eternal winter. While Elsa runs off to live in isolation, Anna decides to go after her and end her sister's spell with the help of mountain man Kristoff, his reindeer Sven and funny little snowman Olaf.

It's a great story because it deals with the themes of isolation, fear, family and friendship, all stuff Disney is great at, but in a way that never feels forced or contrived. It's also surprising at points with some reveals that come out of nowhere about certain characters and how things turn out, I won't spoil anything but the way things wrap up in the end is so unique and so original but so fitting and so perfect that if the film had gone the way you were expecting it to go it would not have worked half as well as it did.

Part of what made the film so great were the characters, particularly Elsa and Anna and the bond they have, both were incredible but so much better together, the way they interact and that familiar bond they share practically make this movie. Anna is arguably the main character since we see more of her but both share that role, Anna is adventurous, she's not rebellious but she wants to go out and do more and see more, her head is full of wonder and ideas, however because she's lived alone in the castle with no-one, not even her own sister for company, she's a bit overeager and foolish to the ways of the world, I guess naive would be the better word. she believes in true love but has no proper idea what it is. What she does know is that she loves her sister, even after discovering about her powers and wants nothing more than to return to the happy, playful time they had as children, and is willing to do anything to get her back.

Elsa is the opposite of Anna, while they were kindred spirits at first, hurting Anna and fearing her own powers put Elsa into a shell, she tried desperately to control her powers, hiding her emotions and shutting out everyone. While she has the right idea it doesn't work and the fear of discovery overtakes her and only makes things worse. Elsa's self-isolation in the mountains seems to be the best thing for her since it allows her to be herself and not have to worry about hurting anyone but in reality it doesn't help at all, shutting herself out causes her to be unable to control her emotions when faced with conflicting feelings such as when Anna arrives and Elsa is torn between wanting to be with her sister and not wanting to risk hurting her. She's smart and is thinking along the right lines but her plans aren't working the way she wants them to and its through her sister and the journey they take together that she learns how to control herself.

The sisterhood between Elsa and Anna is the most vital aspect of the film since it's a major element to the story and to the character's development since the death of their parents forces them to grow up with only each other and even then they're apart because of Elsa's powers, if that bond fell apart the film wouldn't have worked out as well as it did. Thankfully the bond is not only there but it works perfectly, you can see that closeness between the two of them, they're best friends and would do anything for each other, Elsa removes herself from her sister's life because she loves her too much to risk hurting her while Anna risks her own life to find her sister and bring her back. More than that though it's the moments where they fight that makes the relationship feel real, Elsa's older sister advice to Anna about marrying Prince Han and why she shouldn't do it, Anna's frequent, childish wishing to go out and play with her sister, the arguments and quarrels are as essential to them as the fun and the love.

Also with them is Kristoff and his reindeer Sven, since they are always together it makes sense to place them together even though Sven is just used as a tool for Kristoff to talk to and express his feelings, a funny tool nonetheless and Sven does have a couple of great moments on his own but he's more an extension of Kristoff than anything else. Kristoff himself is a great character, born alone as an ice-seller, all he has in the world is Sven and a some trolls that adopted him as family (yes there are trolls in this movie, sorry I forgot to mention that earlier). Kristoff isn't so much a loner but more self-isolated, he's never seen much reason to interact with other people since he considers himself well-off enough with Sven and the trolls, however his time with Anna and seeing the loving but fractured relationship between the sisters has him rethinking the his thoughts.

If I had one complaint it's that they don't go into enough detail on why Kristoff isolated himself or where his parents are, true the death of Elsa and Anna's parents are enough parental loss for the film but I wanted more from him.

There's a lot of side characters like Han and the sinister Duke of Weselton that I won't go fully into for fear of spoiling the best parts of the movie but one last character to discuss is Olaf the snowman. Now Olaf is the comic relief, along the line of Flounder and Sebastian in Little Mermaid or Timone and Pumba in Lion King and like them he's good comic relief, a funny little thing with a huge personality and eagerness to rival even Anna. His main gag is that he wants to experience summer but has no idea of what summer or even heat actually is, it's a fun joke that doesn't tire itself out and even leads to one of the film's most heartfelt moments. That's what makes Olaf works, he's in it just enough to not become annoying and his big heart and love for his friends makes him a great companion to the group.

The earlier mention of Disney's Renaissance period wasn't by accident, not counting Princess & The Frog, this is the first proper Princess Musical film the studio has done since Mulan and that was 15 years ago, the songs are plenty, the visuals amazing and the characters amongst the best created, Elsa and Anna are welcome additions to the Princess roster and rival Belle for the best of the studio. Using the CGI technology Disney are able to put together a truly stunning film with crisp animation, bringing both danger and beauty to the Winter conditions, the way the snow and ice are used in near perfect, it looks and feels like real snow, it acts in that uniquely wet but solid way snow does and when Elsa is using her powers with the intense blasts and blues and whites and purples it truly feels like magic but it also fits the two stages of Elsa without changing the colour, when she's happy the magic is wide, bursting and epic, when she's angry it's small, sharp and confined.

The wintery animation works perfectly with the film's more action packed moments, I'm actually surprised at how much tension there was in the film, tension is nothing new to Disney (I'm looking at you Wildebeest Stampede) but there's a great number of high octane moments through here, the discovery of Elsa's powers at her coronation shows the exact fear of the unknown that she was avoiding her whole life, a snow-troll chase hints at a darker path Elsa is taking while bringing the first true danger to Anna and Kristoff and sadly not the last. The finale set-piece on a frozen lake with thick, cracking ice and abandoned ships crashing down is the most intense part of the film and its ending was near heartbreaking.

Then there was the songs, I've heard some people say there needed to be at least one more song somewhere in the third act and I'd have to agree, even just a small one because the music here is pretty damn good, not Disney's overall best (I doubt they'll ever beat the collective Beauty & The Beast and The Lion King soundtracks) but good songs and one of them being the closest to perfection the studio has been since Can You Feel The Love Tonight. Frozen Heart is a big, boombastic piece that sets opens the film heavily and brings the icy tone, Do You Want to Build A Snowman in contrast is a bright childlike piece about Anna not understanding why her sister has abandoned her and just wants to go outside and play with her. For The First Time In Forever brings the sister's juxtaposition to the forefront as Anna is thrilled to be opening the castle gates while Elsa tries to prepare herself for the first outside contact in years, and In Summer is a fun little ditty from Olaf as he wonders aloud about what Summer will bring despite not really understanding what Summer is.

There are a couple other songs but none of them face up to Let It Go, not only is it the best song of the film it's the best animated sequence. A powerful piece where Elsa laments her isolation but decides to make the most of it finally free to use her powers how she wants, she goes through a physical and emotional change, truly happy for the first time since she was a kid she build a spectacular ice castle on the mountain in a sequence that Disney will have trouble trying to match in their next film The song is emotional, it's passionate, Idina Menzel who voices Elsa and her singing voice does nothing but justice to this incredible piece, everything about it works perfectly.

I fear I might have gone a little overboard with this review but I truly did love this film, it's one of the best film of 2013 and easily makes a place in my top 10 of the year, the story is wonderful and surprisingly original, the characters interesting and engaging with Elsa and Anna owning the film together, the animation stunning, the music incredible, this is the return to form Disney has been needing for too long a time, I cannot recommend this movie enough, see it and love it.

9/10