Have you ever seen a film teaser trailer and thought "Oh God, this is going to be a disaster" and then see more publicity that furthers your suspicions about said film. However, as the film is released, you see that it is given high praise so you finally go watch the film...and then wish you watched it the day it came out and regret all the bad prejudice you had against the film. This was my experience with Disney's latest animated film, Frozen.
Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) are royal sisters of the kingdom of Arendelle. On the day of Elsa's coronation (yes, we actually have a Disney QUEEN!), Anna and the kingdom learn of Elsa's ability to create snow and ice out of thin air. Fleeing into the mountains, Elsa creatres her own ice kingdom and starts a new solitary life. Anna travels to the mountains with the help of Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer Sven and sentient snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) in order to help her sister and restore summer back to Arendelle.
While I enjoyed Wreck-it Ralph alot, it wasn't exactly a Disney classic as it felt more like a Pixar film (still great though), Frozen is a comeback for classic Disney with a retelling of a classic story which was a story that was long over due for a Disney film. Now it's here and I absolutely love it. I'll get the best bit out of the way and that's the soundtrack. Good...God is the soundtrack amazing. Out of all the songs in the film, only one falls flat (you know which one...) but for what is good is REALLY good. If 'Let It Go' does not get nominated (or win, even) for the Oscar for best song, it will one of the greatest crimes against music. It's well written, the sequence is gorgeously animated and the singing, *sigh*, Idina Menzel's voice is perfect and absolutely dominates the film. Others such as 'For the First Time in Forever' and 'Frozen Heart' are also great (I also have a soft spot for 'In Summer').
I've been begging for the return of hand-drawn animation but Frozen helps me get over that fact that it's basically gone. Frozen is really well animated with really fancy snow and ice effects (like I previously mentioned, the sequence for 'Let It Go' is gorgeous). One of my early complaints was that this looked like Tangled re-skinned but I am wrong. The characters do look different from previous ones, with great voice acting to make them memorable, and even characters like Olaf have very unique designs. The tone of the film is also stepping back to what Disney was good at. Some dark scenes, some hilarious moments, some heartwarming scenes and the such. It's what Disney does best.
Frozen is worthy of being part of Disney's line-up. Despite being CGI, it looks gorgeous and, when accompanied with some great voice acting, makes for some very likable and memorable characters. The best thing is the soundtrack which features one song that is nothing short of perfect. It doesn't quite reach 9/10 because there is one aspect that is up there with the gargoyles from Hunchback of Notre Dame in terms of annoyance but, other than that, Disney is back.
Verdict:
8.5/10
Beautifully animated, great characters and a truly amazing sountrack, Disney is back on its feet
although looking at what's next...just how long is Disney on its feet for?
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