Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Frozen (but full of warm fuzzies)

Pixar's loss of John Lasseter's direct involvement in their day-to-day operations hasn't done them any favors (see my reviews of Monsters University and Brave); however, his influence on Disney as a whole looks to be unmistakable. Unmistakably good, at that. Whereas the last couple of Pixar movies have descended to fairly typical Disney fare, Frozen rises towards the kind of film we haven't seen from Pixar since Toy Story 3 (a movie that made me cry, and I don't cry at movies very often). It's not as good as TS3, but it's definitely the best Disney Animation movie in a good long while.

In an effort to avoid spoilers, I'll just say that the movie is delightful on so many levels. Olaf steals every scene he's in, and my kids loved him. Seriously, my daughter especially has not stopped talking about him, and both of the younger ones have been singing as much of his "puddle" song as they can remember. My daughter, who is less interested in movies than the boys, would have turned right around and seen it again. [And we'd (my daughter and I) planned to see Desolation of Smaug together (because the boys (and my wife) were too disappointed with the first one to want to go see the second one), but, when we walked out of the theater from Frozen, my daughter said, "I don't want to go see The Hobbit; I want to see Frozen again," which we're not actually going to do (because I'll just buy here the DVD), but, now, I have no one to see The Hobbit with (which I'm only going to see because I feel compelled to do so).]

The animation in the movie was, in a word, incredible, especially the ice and especially especially the ice bridge. The songs are good (and who knew Kristen Bell could sing? Okay, so, well, maybe lots of people, but I didn't know, so I was surprised to see that she had performed her own songs), and, as I've already implied, the song by Olaf was really catchy.

The best parts of the movie, however, can't be talked about without being spoilery: You've been warned.

The death of the parents at the beginning of the movie is pretty typical for Disney. I'm not quite sure why all of their young heroes have to be orphans of some type, but it's almost always the case. Possibly, for Frozen, it's there to help you feel as if you're in a typical Disney film (I kind of doubt it), but, whatever the reason, you know when the parents are leaving on their trip that they're not coming back. Of course, that's what sets up the problems for the rest of the movie. Elsa has no one to help her cope with her powers and grows up in isolation because of it.

One of the best moments is between Anna and Kristoff as he chastises her for attempting to marry someone (Hans) that she had just met that day. It's very amusing, because the immediate True Love thing is so endemic in Disney movies, so it's refreshing to see it handled like this in this movie. In fact, the catalyst of the whole thing is Elsa (now the Queen) refusing to allow the marriage between Anna and Hans because they had only just met. There's even a comment from Kristoff to Anna where he is saying "no" to her about something (no, I don't remember exactly what) because he doesn't trust her judgement. All of this is a nice break from that Disney cliche.

And then there's the whole thing with True Love's Kiss that they also turn on its head, and that was great to see, too. And I won't say more than that, because I don't want to give everything away. Let's just say that the movie ended with both Anna and Elsa growing as characters, something that Brave, unfortunately, lacked.

At any rate, it's a very enjoyable movie and one that I hope is signaling a new direction for Disney. Disney Princesses are great and all that, but it's good to have some that don't need to get rescued.

Also, Alan Tudyk was great. I didn't even realize that was him until I saw his name in the credits. He's a great voice actor and under-appreciated as an actor in general.

29 comments:

  1. This is a movie I've been hearing a lot about, so I do want to go and see it. Thanks for sharing, Andrew :)

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  2. Sounds like it was worth the price of admission!

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  3. My daughter has seen it and now she's trying to drag all of us out to see it! I hadn't even heard of it, to be honest, but I don't pay all that much attention to movies.

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  4. It wasn't the epic film they touted, but it did have a really sweet spirit. Olaf did indeed steal every scene he was in.
    My wife also requested a stuffed Olaf for Christmas. The things I do for love...

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  5. OK now I have to convince my kids to see it with me so I don't look like a perv adult in the theatre alone without kids with me.

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  6. I'll have to wait for it to come out on DVD. It's not playing in my town. They are, however, still playing Last Vegas.

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  7. I will probably catch it once it's on disk. Or maybe Netfix - as they've got some sweetheart deal for Disney movies.

    I have heard it was good. Even if I have no inkling what it's about.

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  8. I've heard good things about it and then I've also heard bad things about it. I don't care that much either way.

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  9. I skipped the last part of your post after you said "spoilery" because I avoid those at all costs. I'm glad to hear there's something out there as good as TS3, because that was one amazing way to wrap up that story. Of course, I cried in TS1 also. I'm a cryer. All I remember of TS2 is the creepy almost naked baby doll being the mob boss poker player.... I'm looking forward to this movie even if my boys have gotten so old they might not watch it with me...or have they...check out my excerpt from my contest story. And I totally threaten you with weapons and call (and link of course) you by name so you might want to go defend yourself. Just sayin'. Not that you miss many (if any) of my posts which is much appreciated, btw.
    Tina @ Life is Good

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  10. Yup. We loved it too, although--and this may shock you--I liked Tangled more. Olaf is amazing though. I mean, how many utterly optimistic characters do you come across these days? You don't. And in the cynical society, I think we've lost even the belief that optimism is a good quality to have. That's one of the biggest reasons I liked the movie. It reminds us several things society seems to have forgotten.

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  11. Bonnee: Sure thing!

    Anne: yeah, It was. Even though the price of admission for 5 people isn't all that cheap.

    JeffO: Let her drag you to it.

    Alex: As long as she doesn't give him your spot in the bed.

    JKIR,F!: Just sit in the back and wear dark glasses. Oh, wait, that might make it worse.

    M.J.: Seriously? That's... wrong!

    Rusty: It's about these sisters... hey! Just go read a synopsis! I'm not here for that.

    GP: I haven't actually heard anything bad about it. Well, except for the one bad review I saw on Amazon, but the woman gave it 1-star because it was animated and she hadn't realized that ahead of time.

    MP: Do it!

    Tina: Well, it's not as good as TS3; it's just the best thing they've done since TS3. I haven't seen an animated movie as good as TS3 that wasn't a Toy Story movie. Well, except, maybe, Ratatouille. Or Up.

    You know, I have minions.

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  12. Crystal: I liked Tangled, but it was lacking something. I'd probably have to watch it again to say what, though.

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  13. I probably won't see this unless it's with the grandkids. But, yeah, what is this fantasy about parents dying and leaving kids as orphans. I remember having similar fantasies when I was a kid. Not that I ever wanted it to happen, but I guess it's part of a plotline that resonates with kids.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  14. I've heard a lot of good things about Frozen. Glad to hear you all enjoyed it.

    Looking forward to your thoughts on Hobbit 2. I preferred it to the first one but he's still taking way too many liberties with the material.

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  15. Lee: I never had those fantasies. Not about my parents dying, I mean. Mine were always about finding out that my real parents were, like, aliens or something and would come take me away in a spaceship.

    TAS: I don't expect to like it more, not after seeing the trailer. The barrel scene already has me cringing more than the domino trees did in the first one.

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  16. I may actually end up seeing this on DVD with the wife. I'll admit I don't mind a cartoon/kids movie every once in a while if it's good enough, and everyone who's seen it said it was worth seeing.

    Also, I've loved Alan Tudyk as an actor ever since I saw him in the original Death at a Funeral. He steals the show in that movie, and is just amazingly hilarious.

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  17. ABftS: I think Dodgeball was my first Tudyk movie. He's so awesome as Steve the Pirate.

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  18. Tudyk is a great voice actor! His performance in "Wreck It Ralph" was another unrecognizable voice.

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  19. Maurice: Like I said, he's completely underrated. In all capacities. I wish I could have gone to see Spamalot when he was in it.

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  20. Since we became so poor we don't usually go to movies anymore, but I'm thinking I'll make an exception this time and go with my niece and nephew next weekend. The reviews have been so great - I wanna see it!!

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  21. So glad to read this review! My little one is turning 5 in another week or so and for her birthday we're going to her first movie. She's going to choose between Frozen and that Dinosaur movie that's out or about to come out.

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  22. RG: I understand how that goes. Movies, especially movies with the whole family involved, are actually kind of a rare thing for us. Well, only a few a year.

    Jessica: I love dinosaurs, but this one coming out looks to be the same as, well, every other dinosaur movie ever made. I'd say push for Frozen and rent Land Before Time.

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  23. I recently saw Frozen, and was just as pleasantly surprised. The music, I felt, was sort of hit-and-miss, honestly, with only a couple of songs sticking out as the sort that will last beyond the fanfare of the movies, but the story itself was so refreshing. After "The Princess and the Frog", I was pretty ready to just ignore any Disney movie aimed at children.

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  24. Alex: As far as the music goes, I was most impressed that Bell sang her own songs. My kids loved the Olaf song, though.
    I agree with you about the frog movie; my kids liked it, though.

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  25. I have now seen it. It's hard to talk about without being spoilery. I will say that there were certain things I did appreciate in terms of subverting the conventions, but on the whole I found it underwhelming. Beautiful to look at, for certain, but I'm sorry to say it just didn't do it for me. Alas, different strokes and all that.

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  26. JeffO: It was the subverting the conventions that really made me like it. But, yeah, preferences are preferences, which is fine unless you tell me you liked After Earth or something like that.
    :P

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  27. I loved your review, and I'm dying to see this movie! (I'll have to wait until it comes out on satellite though.) Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas! :-D

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  28. Lexa: Merry Christmas to you, too!
    (How long do you have to wait for satellite to get it?)

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