Despite the fact that Disney is still remembered for its
quality family entertainment, it has been some time since their primary
animation studio has produced anything of lasting relevance. Sure, Pixar, their
digital-animation sister company, has occasionally been able to approximate the
glory days when Disney could so perfectly
balance sentimentality with sincerity,
in a narratively compelling way, but with the expansion of their ever-splintering
markets, the studio’s proper animation department has been on a steady decline
for last 20 years.
“Frozen”,
a 3D reworking of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Snow Queen”, cleverly plays on
the nostalgia of the classic Disney musical by simulating the Broadway infected
melodrama of films like “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid”, as well as the visual
aesthetics of older selections from their repertoire like “Cinderella”. But does “Frozen” manage to carve out a niche
for itself among the pantheon of Disney standards or is it simply an empty
pastiche?
This
loose adaptation of Anderson’s fairytale tells the story of two sisters who are
emotionally separated after the enchanted
snow-bender Elsa (Idina Menzel) almost kills her younger sister Anna (Kristen
Bell) in a childhood accident. Years later, after Anna's been healed and her memory of Elsa’s powers
have been wiped, they are reunited at Elsa’s coronation. When Anna announces
her hasty engagement to the young Hans (Santino Fontana), Elsa again reveals her
hidden powers in an argument, causing her to leave the kingdom in embarrassment,
unintentionally cursing the land to fall into a summertime snowpocalypse. With the help of a burly traveler named
Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and an enchanted snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad), Anna
must find where her sister is hiding and convince her to end the oppressive cold
weather and come back home.
Many
elements of the trademarked Disney magic is recognizable in this digitally
animated princess story. The characters motivations are clear, the animation is
visually impressive but never too busy or over-designed, and the musical numbers,
though tinted in modern-pop, occasionally reach the emotional
heights of the Alan Menken/Howard Ashman collaborations of the early 90s.
Without out a doubt, there is no shortage of charm in this movie. Where the film does lack is in its plot construction
and storytelling.
Much of
movie’s conflict has to do with finding mechanical ways to separate or main
characters and bring them back together. Because Elsa isn’t the actual villain
in this peace, and her character is as distant to us as she is to her sister, we
neither fear her nor strive for Anna’s yearning to reconnect. When the final
act starts and the true antagonist is revealed it’s already too little too
late to properly build adequate tension into the story. The side characters introduced
in the middle of the film are cute enough, fun to watch and they keep things light, but the
film could have definitely benefited with a more substantial B-plot following
Elsa as she is snowbound in her ice castle, away from everyone else.
As captured
in any of the behind the scenes footage of how the old Disney masterpieces were made,
you can see that every screenplay was closely scrutinized and subject to
multiple drafts and storyboard sessions before they were approved by Walt or any of his fruitful
successors. For all of the nostalgic posturing and magical evocation in
“Frozen” it ends up feeling more like Disney’s greatest hits than an original
piece unto itself. But that isn’t to say that the experience, as surface-oriented
as it may be, isn’t totally enjoyable while you’re in the moment.
What’s
important about the success of this film is that people want to like it even if
it isn’t nearly as timeless as the movies it’s trying to be. Though “Frozen” doesn’t totally put Disney
back on track it’s at least an admirable step in the right direction.
Originally published in the Idaho State Journal/Dec-2013
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