Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Frozen

Do you want to build a snowman? 

I saw Frozen tonight, and now I want to build a snowman! I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, but I have to say, it really surprised me. I went into it with quite a few expectations. Now I know not to do that anymore because this movie was absolutely nothing like I thought it would be. That's not a bad thing, though! Let me explain... 

SPOILER ALERT! | I thought about keeping this post spoiler-free, but then I thought hey...that's no fun. I'll be going into detail about everything because this is my blog and I can do that. Consider yourselves warned! 

Feeling and tone: The movie had an overall different feeling than what I was expecting. Seeing as the animation greatly resembles that of Tangled, I was expecting the movie to give me the same feeling Tangled did as well. This was not so, however the vibe I got was still very interesting. I'm going to try and describe this next part as best as I can: Frozen did not necessarily have a "classic Disney" feel, but it definitely had an old-timey Disney vibe. Hahaha, not very coherent, but whatever. My cousin/friend, Brianna, (I LOVE having a relative who's also my best friend and fellow Disney geek!) compared it to Brother Bear as far as tone goes, and I couldn't agree more! Both Brother Bear & this movie had a sense of culture, family, and what it means to truly love someone. Now, in spite of Frozen's "old-timey" feel, it was very contemporary. The music style is more Broadway than most Disney movies--but hey, I'm not complaining about that! 

Characters: The characters were so on-point. I'll probably leave someone out by mistake, but I'm going to talk about each of them individually. 

Okay, so Anna is obviously the main protagonist of the movie. It's common for everyone to love the main character simply because they're the main character. They're designed to make you fall in love with them. But here's what I love about Anna: she's so real. Yes, she's your stereotypical animated Disney princess in terms of her looks: big doe eyes, teeny tiny waist, hair that every real life girl dreams about having--all of it. However, her personality is different. 
She is an adventurer who is also a bit clueless, a beautiful girl who is also really clumsy, and a lonely girl who just wants to love and be loved in return. In the beginning of the film, Anna was very naive and desperate. Throughout the film, though, she develops into a strong, confident woman who knows what is truly important and does what she can to make things right. She cares about her family (especially Elsa) soooo much, and she would do anything for them. Honestly, anything. 
Sure, Anna sometimes (okay, often times) acts impulsively and doesn't always think about potential consequences which may follow her actions, but she does everything with the desire and intention to put someone else's needs above her own. Anna is selfless and brave and I admire her so much. (Even though she is a little bit crazy.) 

Elsa
We love Elsa. Here's the thing...she's not a misunderstood villain; she's not a suppressed genius; she's a girl who grew up thinking there was something wrong with her and so she felt the need to shut everyone out and hide a huge part of herself. 
Conceal, don't feel, put on a show... 
She was so ashamed of what she did to Anna when they were kids--even though it was only an accident and she actually helped keep Anna alive long enough to get her help. But because she felt she had done this awful thing to her sister, she shut her out. She shut everybody out. Throughout the beginning of the movie she was just scared and lonely. It wasn't until after her coronation that she let it go. 
She left Arendale because she didn't want to hurt Anna, but also because she just wanted to be free. It wasn't until she realized that shutting everyone out and isolating herself wouldn't make her free, but the love she has for her sister and her people would. 

This guy. I like this guy. He's kind of a weirdo, but maybe that's why I like him so much. He's definitely no Prince Charming...not even a Flynn Rider...but he's so dorky and adorable that you just want to give him a big hug. Also, he was a really cute little kid. Anyways, moving on! 
Kristoff obviously had a weird childhood considering he was raised by trolls and his lifelong best friend is a reindeer. But, just like each of the characters in this movie, he learned and he grew as a person. He realized that, while animals and mythical creatures (seriously though, I can't get past the trolls) make great companions, we, as humans, need relations with other humans as well. He may have a song called Reindeers Are Better Than People, but he comes a long way. He, probably learning from Anna, discovers how to put other people's needs and well-being above his own. It is evident by the end of the movie that he truly does know how to love. 

Hans is the reason I don't trust pretty men.
This guy swoops into the story like the suave prince that he is. He's attractive, poised, has great hair, and he's voiced by Santino Fontana. Could he get any more perfect??
Well, here's where the spoilers I mentioned earlier come into play: Sorry to break it to you, ladies, but HANS IS THE BAD GUY. SERIOUSLY. 
He was just a power-thirsty, selfish, cruel person who manipulated and took advantage of Anna just so he could be one step closer to the crown. This guy has some serious underlying issues, and let me tell you, I did not see his personal plot twist coming. Even though Hans was the villain, he was a very well written character. I mean, I had no idea he even was the villain. THAT'S GOOD WRITING RIGHT THERE.

Olaf: 
COULD THIS SNOWMAN GET ANY CUTER??? 
I adore Olaf. He's so ridiculous and dumb and honestly just kind of a wacko but this frozen guy completely warmed my heart. Immediately after the movie, I wanted to go to the Disney store and buy a stuffed Olaf and take him home. He was a great comedic character, and such a sweetheart.
"Some people are worth melting for." AWWWWWWWWWW!

Sven
Yes, Sven is a reindeer. Yes, he was one of my favorite characters. 
While watching the previews for Frozen, I was afraid that Sven was going to be exactly like Maximus from Tangled. This movie proved me wrong yet again! Sven, while he did resemble Max with some of his mannerisms and his overall animation, was totally his own character. He was Kristoff's loyal sidekick who always stayed by his side. He was also just a big ole cutie pie who liked to catch snowflakes on his tongue and attempt eating Olaf's nose. (It was a carrot, don't freak out.) 

There you have it. I loved these characters sooooo much! 

Plot: Right after the movie finished, I was very uncertain about how I felt about all the different plot lines and mini stories which occurred throughout the course of the film. However, as I sat here and tried to explain what bugged me about it, I came up with nothing. Naturally, I started wondering why I couldn't think of anything. I finally came to the conclusion that I actually liked all the crazy stuff that happened! Even though in the moment it seemed like it was just a whole bunch of story line all thrown into one movie, all the sub-plots were leading to the one end goal: to reunite Elsa and Anna. 

My only complaint at this point is that I feel Anna and Kristoff (spoiler alert: they end up together, and boy oh boy are they adorable!) didn't have very good character development. They kind of just met--and I don't recall them ever officially introducing themselves to one another--and Anna talked him into accompanying her on her journey to find Elsa and talk her into coming home. Not much happens on this journey for Anna and Kristoff's romance; they talk briefly about how Anna is engaged to Hans, whom she had just met (laaaaame), and Kristoff barely opens up to Anna about his own personal life. The movie goes on, they go through adventures together, and by the end of the film they're in love!? I don't know, it just seemed a bit lacking to me. I probably missed a lot of Kristoff/Anna bonding because I was focusing on everything else that was happening in the movie, so I'll have to see the movie again. Not complaining. ;) 
In spite of my nit-pickiness over Kristoff and Anna's road to romance, I firmly believe the character development for all the characters was overall really well done. Everyone started off one way and, although they did not necessarily change, they evolved into a stronger version of themselves. 
Side note: I normally don't trust Wikipedia, but I found this entry on Frozen and it really is nicely written. Check it out for a good overview of the plot, plus some awesome info! <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_(2013_film)> 
 All in all, I give Frozen two thumbs up! It was a heartwarming story that had me laughing throughout. The music will forever be stuck in my head, but that's okay because it's beautiful. I can't wait until I can see it again; when I can really just sit back and enjoy every little thing that happens. I love all the detail in this film. 

Well done, Disney. Well done.

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