Frozen

FROZEN

Directors : Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
Year :  2013
Genre : Animation
Rating : ***1/2

Despite a busy and fairly productive year, 2013 has proven to be somewhat of a critical disappointment for the once unmatched Walt Disney company. Yes, it may have had box office success and relative analytical praise with 'Oz : The Great & Powerful' and 'Saving Mr. Banks' and of course the now obligatory installments of the 'Avengers' saga raked in an absolute ton of money. But thanks to such mediocre films as 'Planes', 'Monsters University' and 'The Lone Ranger', 2013 has been one of the most critically damaging years for the studio in a good long while. So it is with a great sense of relief that Disney ends 2013 with one of their best movies in years. Based loosely on the classic story of 'The Snow Queen' by Hans Christian Anderson, 'Frozen' is a fun and beautiful looking movie that manages to exhibit some of the most stunning animation I have ever seen while still maintaining the aesthetics that made the company so popular in their golden age of the 50's and 60's. With a fantastically glacial palette, a number of brilliantly entertaining showstopping songs that rival the best to ever come from any Disney musical and conveying a palpable sense of scale and magnitude in the perfectly realised backgrounds, locations and character design, 'Frozen' is one of the best animated films released this year and while 'Despicable Me 2' is for my money the greatest of the lot, I have a feeling that this picture will snatch the Oscar glory from Gru and his minions come March 2014.

'Frozen' focuses on the trials and tribulations of two Princess sisters, Anna and Elsa. While Anna may be a perfectly normal little girl, Elsa has the mystical ability of being able to create ice and snow simply through the power of the mind and when she is driven to madness on the day of her coronation, Elsa places her kingdom under a perpetual Winter and isolates herself in a magnificent ice palace of her own creation. Desperate to see her sister and end the devastating blizzards that are bringing havoc to her city, Anna goes on a dangerous and daring quest to find Elsa and save her people from certain death. Along the way she encounters a thrill seeking mountaineer and a naive and caring snowman who dreams of seeing Summer and lounging in the light of the sun.

While the movie does fall into the pitfalls and tropes that Disney have now become infamous for such as the death of parents, comical sidekicks and under developed secondary characters and love interests, 'Frozen' still manages to keep it's head above the water thanks to engaging protagonists, a complex and very interesting antihero and a number of side characters who are entertaining and pretty funny. Animation techniques and the technology that is used to generate graphics is constantly expanding and as far as I can see, 'Frozen' is by quite someway the pinnacle of the mountain so far. The ways in which the snow and ice interact with the characters and the environment is beautifully realised and while the effects are clearly CGI, the sense of epicness and scale allow the effects to blend seamlessly and effortlessly into the narrative, increasing the atmosphere and emotional tone of the picture. The snowflakes on screen look just a fluffy and as delicate as the real thing and the ice and glaciers are just as mountainous and as potentially fatal as they do in reality.

Director Chris Buck is probably best known for making the funny and entertaining 'Surfs Up' and he brings the same kinetic and exciting animation that made that film so amusing to 'Frozen'. The camera is constantly moving and with the help of some sweeping and diving cinematography, we are fully immersed in the world and the environment in which the characters live. This dynamical directorial style is best used during the movies showstopping songs, which as previously mentioned are some of the best written for any Disney musical. As with any picture some of the numbers are better than others, but when they are good, whoo boy are they good. The most memorable of these is the spectacular and awe inspiring 'Let It Go' which is sung by Idina Menzel and tells the way in which Elsa is never going to hold back her cryokenetic powers and do whatever she wants as queen. Featuring everything that a classic Disney song should have: great lyrics, a catchy tune and sung with gusto and overwhelming power by one of the greats of stage and screen, 'Let It Go' is the song for which 'Frozen' is going to be remembered. As well as the song itself, this entire scene is choreographed beautifully and directed in a way which clearly envokes the sense and aesthetics of a Broadway musical. It is as if composers Kristen Anderson - Lopez and Robert Lopez envisaged the song being performed on stage by the atomic voice of Menzel, with the set rising behind her as the orchestra blasts out the accompaniment and the special effects take full flight. Like 'Beauty & The Beast' and 'The Lion King', 'Frozen' is destined to be not only a box office hit but also a Broadway smash in the future and I know for sure that I would gladly pay full price to see that. 

As with every animation now, 'Frozen' features a number celebrities voicing the characters on screen and as ever Disney has pulled out all of the stops to get the best and brightest for the job. However, unlike many of Disney's contemporaries, they have made good decisions in choosing the right person for the part; putting the character first and the potential names on the poster second. In the central roles of Anna and Elsa, we have Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel respectively and they contrast each other very well indeed; Bell is the sweet natured and benevolent princess and Menzel is the tortured and the ostracised misunderstood antihero. The contrasting dynamics make for great drama and moments of touching sibling friendship and relatable unconditional love, giving 'Frozen' a heart that so many Disney pictures are missing today.

A Disney movie wouldn't be complete without a number of comic sidekicks and 'Frozen' certainly has it's fair share of funny secondary characters. First and foremost we have Olaf, an endearingly naive snowman voiced by comedian Josh Gad who provides the film with many of it's biggest laughs. Created by Elsa as a child, Olaf is a true friend to Anna and his loyalty and love for Anna and Elsa adds an extra layer of sentimentality and friendship to the movie. However while I do like the character, he does slow the movie down and this has always been my problem with Disney. I have always hated the comic secondary characters that Disney have put in their films and for me, these not only slow the pictures down but also add to the audience pandering that Disney are renowned for. My all time favourite Disney film is the almost perfect 'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame' and even that serious and dark story features 3 gargoyles who destroy the tone of the film and the magnitude of the story and the emotions of the characters. I have gone on record on this site many times that I loathe and have always loathed 'The Lion King' and that is because of the hideous characters of Timon & Pumbaa. Yes, the songs are not that great and the primary protagonist should have been expanded more, but if there is one underlying problem I have with the massively overrated picture is the characterisations and the ways in which they bring down the tone of the entire film. I'm not saying that 'The Lion King' would be a masterpiece without the annoying meerkat and warthog duo, but it would certainly be much easier to stomach. 

Olaf is in no way as annoying and as irritating as the gargoyles or Timon & Pumbaa and he is certainly more likable than many of the unnecessary comic sidekicks that the studio have shoehorned in their movies in the past. But for me, he brings down the entire tone of the movie and I wish that Disney would stop doing this. I understand that these are movies for children and that kids like to laugh, I'm not being naive. But I wish that the company would realise that children can take more serious drama and that they should try making films with more emotion and heart and less emphasis on trying to make them giggle with unfunny sight gags or tired slapstick.

As a whole, 'Frozen' is the best Disney film since the majesterial 'The Princess & The Frog' and is sure to feature in many critics top 10 lists at the end of the year. While I would love to have it in mine, I do have some problems with it. The story could be a bit tighter and the secondary characters such as the villagers and the compulsory love interests could be more developed and not just there to be unnecessary comic relief. However despite it's flaw, it is still a fantastically entertaining adventure that should be enjoyed by children and adults alike. Showing us why Disney is the greatest animation studio of all time, 'Frozen' redeems the company's dignity and ends 2013 on a high. Sony and Dreamworks seems to have overtaken Disney both critically and financially this year, but I do hope that the once great studio find their moxie soon and goes back to the style of film making that made them such cinematic behemoths nearly 70 years ago. If this film is anything to go by, it seems that they finally have.