"Frozen", Disney's latest 3D animated film hits the big screens today. We caught the film in a special media preview earlier last week, and I have to come upfront and say it: it's the BEST Disney animated film I've seen in a while.
I grew up on a diet of Disney cartoons, like many of my generation, and I still remember the day my parents told me we were going to watch The Little Mermaid at the cinema. I didn't want to go. Yup, that's right, I wasn't interested. I'd read the story of The Little Mermaid -- the original Hans Christian Andersen tale -- before and found it incredibly sad and depressing. Why would I want to watch that? I went along anyway, and that was my first introduction to Disney magic: Disney's ability to take a story and turn it into something magical, with it's characters, humour and great songs. I totally and utterly loved it. To this day, it is still my favourite Disney cartoon of all time.
My experience with Frozen is a lot like that.
I'd caught the trailer for Frozen when I brought the kids to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 recently and, I have to say, I thought it was… ok. It didn't seem particularly enthralling and when I heard it was loosely based on another Hans Christian Andersen tale, The Snow Queen, I was even more mystified. I went because the kids were interested and whaddya know? The Disney magic is still there. I was completely blown away.
First, a quick summary of the storyline:
Elsa and Anna are princesses of the kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa also hides a secret power that she struggles to contain -- the ability to turn anything she touches into ice and snow. She loses control of this on the day of her coronation, and runs away after being exposed, condemning the kingdom to eternal winter. Anna then sets off on an epic journey to find Elsa and bring back summer, teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff, his loyal reindeer Sven, and a hilarious snowman Olaf along the way.
There are a few things that I thought made the movie special:
1. The 3D. I'm not sure if this film also comes out in a regular non-3D version, but you MUST watch this in 3D. Don't worry that it'd induce motion sickness, because it doesn't. I'm extremely prone to motion sickness and it took a lot for me to watch Avatar in 3D, but I had no problems with Frozen at all. What it allows you to do instead is to fully immerse yourself in the beautiful wintry landscape. I lost count of the number of times the kids stretched out their hands to try to catch the snowflakes floating before their eyes. It's not pointless 3D, but effects that enhance the experience of the film.
2. The Music. It's been a long time since I've heard any memorable songs in animated films, so I was pleasantly surprised by the catchy musical numbers. In total, 8 original songs were written and from the opening song I felt a tingle in my spine that told me that this film was going to be good. You can listen to a preview of it here. The best song in the film however has to be "Let It Go" sung to perfection by Idina Menzel (I love her!!) as the voice of Elsa in the film. It was one of the songs I came back and obsessively played on repeat. There is also this hilarious little "Frozen in Summer" by Olaf that had the kids laughing along.
3. The Non-Traditional "Princess" Storyline. But for the fact that the two main characters are indeed princesses, I would not classify this as a "princess" story at all. The relationship between the two sisters is the centrepiece of this story and unfolds in a manner which which touching and heartwarming. I wish I could say more, but I don't want to spoil the show for those who haven't watched it!
Just a word of warning: Certain parts of the might be a little too exciting for the tiny tots. Noey got a bit tense at times but loved it. Meips on the other hand cried at some points. Maybe it's just my non-movie hardened kids since some other 2-year olds seemed ok with it, but do view the trailers and exercise your own judgment.
Another bonus for watching this in the movie in 3D is that you get to catch the REALLY EXCELLENT movie short Get A Horse! before the movie. It starts off as one of them classic black-and-white hand drawn cartoons of old. It even features Walt Disney's voice as Mickey, something painstakingly put together from old audio clips. And then, the camera pulls back and the characters pop out the screen in full 3D colour. The action then switches between the 2D and 3D animation in a way that just works and is extremely entertaining to watch. It's really really REALLY good.
Frozen is classic Disney like I remembered it to be. Family entertainment for the whole family. Don't miss it!
* Disney's Frozen opens in cinemas on 28 Nov. Running time: 1 hr 48 mins. Rated PG.
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