Pixar Studios has been the gold standard of animation for so long now that it seems surprising when another studio presents a movie of comparable quality. Especially the Walt Disney studio, because audiences have not embraced their films with the same enthusiasm (although I like Tangled a lot and gave four stars to The Princess and the Frog and Brother Bear). Anyway, Disney has come through again with a new animated film that is tremendously entertaining and beautifully crafted.
Frozen is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” in which the Nordic princess Elsa (Idina Manzel) grows up with the power to turn things to ice, and in order to hide her talent (which she considers a curse), pulls away from her sister Anna (Kristen Bell) following the deaths of their parents. But when Elsa is made queen her secret is uncovered and their country of Arendelle is transformed into a frozen tundra — sort of like New Jersey for the past two months. It is up to Anna to set things right with her sister and restore the kingdom to normalcy, if she can.
Evidently the story has changed a great deal from the original Andersen, but that is to be expected, to appeal to today’s young viewers. Co-directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee have fashioned an engrossing adventure out of the material, filled with beauty (and occasionally menace) that is often breathtaking. The animation of snow and ice is absolutely gorgeous, better than a snowflake kaleidoscope come to life. The expertise of the animation extends to the people and animals (especially Sven the reindeer) as well; this is one beautiful film to behold.
Frozen is also a musical, with songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, that fit the story like a glove. A few of the songs tended to sound quite similar, but that is my only quibble; the music is one of the high points of the movie. The story is a bit clumsy at times, what with people rushing from Arendelle to the mountains and back again at different times, but never intersecting, and odd tangents which appear from time to time but do not lead anywhere. Still, I was impressed by the look and sound of the film, as well as the very detailed characters and sentiments.
Frozen is the most original animated film I’ve seen in some time, mixing good songs with fun characters in wild situations. It isn’t a masterpiece like The Little Mermaid yet it has a great deal of charm and feeling. It’s nice to see that the studio that pioneered feature film animation still has the knack. ☆ ☆ ☆. 25 February 2014.