Frozen: Why It's Not the Miracle Film We're Making It Out to Be

So I’ve wanted to get into a discussion with someone as of late about Disney’s most recent animated film, Frozen. Unfortunately, most normal people don’t find debating about a children’s cartoon to be a fair use of their time, so instead I’ll voice my concerns over the Internet. This isn’t meant to be a review, at least not in a strict sense. I’m more interested in discussing why I don’t think this film is as “AMAZING AND FLAWLESS AND PERFECT” as people seem to think it is.

Let me start by saying that Frozen is, by no means, a bad film. Considering the serious flops that Disney experienced in the early 2000’s (I’m looking at YOU, Home on the Range), it was refreshing to hear that they finally struck a chord with their audiences and fan bases.

While Princess and the Frog seemed to be a small step in the right direction, Tangled burst open the doors to the studio that were beginning to collect dust. Tangled succeeded so well because it returned to the fairytale formula that Disney is best at, thanks to the input and influence of legendary animator Glen Keane, and modernized it for twenty-first century viewers. Frozen, according to many critics and movie-goers, goes one step further than Tangled by producing two strong female leads that, in Layman’s terms, “get shit done.” They aren’t dependent on a man to complete them or to solve their problems. For what they were able to accomplish, Frozen did a great job of establishing strong, three-dimensional characters (literally and figuratively).

But what I do not agree with is the claim that Frozen is the Beauty and the Beast of this generation.

Beauty and the Beast, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of Disney’s potential. Everything about it was perfect, from the music to the story to the pacing to the animation, and it’s going to take a heck of a lot of work and love and dedication on the part of the company to ever produce that kind of excellence again (indeed, I’m skeptical of whether or not that zenith will ever be achieved again). And frankly, Frozen, for all of the positives, is just not even close to that level of perfection.
 
First, I want to discuss what I thought Disney did well with Frozen, starting with the visuals. As usual, Disney maintains their artistic integrity and takes complete advantage of their icy environment that they chose for the setting. Everything visual about this movie is stunning: The backgrounds, the effects, the ice, the characters…it’s one of the most beautiful films they’ve ever animated. I adore the designs of all of the characters, whether it’s their clothes, their hair, or their facial features. I think it’s awesome that Kristoff is not your typical “hot guy” Prince Charming. He falls into the “delightfully cute and quirky,” category, the kind of guy someone would meet in real life. He isn’t out-right gorgeous, but he’s cute. Also, props to Disney for introducing a blonde male lead—the only prince in their cannon to have yellow locks (John Smith doesn’t count). Anna and Elsa are both beautiful and cute; their lovely faces are balanced by also being friendly and inviting. As for Hans…he’s the Gaston character, and they achieve “sexy handsome.” I can’t say much else.

The way they animated the ice and snow is incredible. The entire “Let It Go” sequence is one of the most breathtaking, visually stunning scenes, and definitely the pinnacle of the film. All of the ice, as well as the environment that they set up, is both beautiful and dark—the snow glitters as the sun shines on it, but the harsh winds and dark, black nights bring the winter curse to life. I felt cold just watching it in the theatre.

The characters themselves are some of the best as well. I mentioned above that they’re all multifaceted individuals with personalities and motivation. None of them suffer from the overly simplistic, idealized princesses and princes of the earlier decades. I’m not going to ramble on about each of them because, frankly, I expected nothing less. Disney is getting much better at fleshing out their protagonists and antagonists.
 
Frozen’s music is good. There is a selection of songs that are excellent, but a few of them were borderline silly. Yes, “Let It Go” is catchy. Yes, the “Fixer Upper Song” is stupid.

I also give props to Disney for introducing one of the few sidekick characters in their history that isn’t obnoxious. Olaf was well-written, well-performed, and even though he didn’t have a real significant purpose in the story, he was never in the way.

Disney also stepped up their game with the use of serious internal conflict, something that is rare in their cannon in favor of more simplified storylines and motivation. The character of Beast (a.k.a. Adam) dealt with similar inner turmoil as Elsa does: He is cursed by an outside force beyond his control and forced to cope with the reality of what that means. In doing so, he pushes everyone that cares about him away and gives into the hopelessness and despair that continues to plague him until the arrival of Belle. Elsa’s own curse has placed not only despair and fear in her, but affected the lives of those around her who wished to help. She shuts the world out and loses touch with herself and her sister. While Elsa’s curse can also be viewed as a gift and can never be lifted, it is still a defining aspect of her character, just as with Beast. In this respect, Frozen achieves a level of sophistication that hasn’t been seen in over a decade.

So if there is beautiful imagery, in-depth characterization, and emotional turmoil that creates both internal and external conflict, why do I feel that Frozen is still, in many ways, a huge miss?

Contrary to what many people believe, my qualms with the film have nothing to do with the feminist arguments and the complaints about how Elsa is never given a love interest. I’m sick and tired of people having something to say about Disney’s female characters, anyway. It’s taken far too seriously and, besides that, the same people that complained that Anna was too focused on marrying someone were the ones arguing that Elsa needed a love interest. Come on. We need to stop blaming Disney for the perpetuation of a “male dominated culture.” We can’t even decide what we want to see on the screen. Quit using Disney as the scapegoat for our own disillusions.

Anyway.

My major problem is really one thing: The story. Is the set-up good? Yes. It’s very good, actually. We get a glance at the relationship between Anna and Elsa that is both brief and powerful. There’s also an interesting dynamic between Elsa and her father, who encourages her to hide her powers and is, in a way, responsible for her anxiety. The audience gets the impression that this story is going to center on Elsa and Anna will be the one with less screen time. But, for anyone who paid attention to the trailer, you know that isn’t the case.

And for me, that’s where the story falls flat. Rather than focus on the two sisters, especially Elsa, Disney seems to want to mold three different stories together: a buddy comedy road trip, a love story, and familial conflict. While the first half of the movie is strong, the second half takes a bit of a nose dive for this very reason. They spend an inordinate amount of screen time relaying the events of Anna and Kristoff’s journey for the sake of building a romance between the two, give us a fraction of insight into just what the hell Elsa is doing on the mountain to pass the time (or eat or sleep or function with access to virtually nothing), and establishing the kindness and capability of a character that turns out to be a liar in the end. The one character that the intro sets up as vital to the story—Elsa—is pushed aside for dozens of side stories, other plot points, and comic relief.

The film does redeem itself a bit in the end by offering a twist on the “act of true love” cure for Anna’s curse, but for me, it isn’t enough to make up for the fact that they offer such little time to develop their relationship or even just Elsa’s character. We pity her, but we don’t empathize because there’s hardly anything there to cling to. The act of true love is more powerful for Anna’s character because it reveals the first genuine act of selflessness that she demonstrates in the entire film. But again, why is she the focus? Why isn’t Elsa? Why isn’t Elsa trying to help her sister rather than whine and pity herself? Why the hell did Kristoff battle through the blizzard to get to Anna, only to disappear and end up doing nothing? What was the purpose of the trolls???

To me, these problems all come down to a lack of focus. I think they could have eliminated the character of Hans, allotted more screen time to Elsa and Anna’s relationship, as well as Elsa herself, and increased the role and purpose of Kristoff. I also wanted them to go into more detail about why Elsa had her snow/ice powers: Did it run in the family? Are there others out there like her? Did the power come from another source? I realize it’s just a fairytale, but one of the things that made Tangled’s storyline work so well is that they gave a reason for Rapunzel’s hair to glow by introducing the magic golden flower. They didn’t have to give an elaborate background on it, but they let the audience know that she didn’t just happen to be born with magical hair. I wish they did something like that with Elsa’s powers. If they were given to her through a curse, or an outside force, or some gross flavor of ice cream that the queen ate—I don’t care; but giving that detail builds the background of the characters and adds depth to them. Not to mention the fact that everyone at the coronation ball flips their lid when she accidentally uses the powers, but the writers give the impression that this kind of thing just happens to certain people. Some of the people in this world are born with ice powers. And that’s all fine and well, but then why would the kingdom be so damn freaked out by it? Sure, they can be unsettled, but if you don’t explain why she has these powers and how the rest of the kingdom views the possibility of its existence, it makes their fear and hatred a little hyperbolic.

In the end, I will say this: Frozen is another step in the right direction. Is it Beauty and the Beast? Heck no. Is Disney getting closer to hitting that mark? Yes. Maybe their next film will be just what we’re all looking for.