“Frozen” Review

By MORGAN HAMERMAN

Disney’s newest princess release, Frozen, takes place in the fictional kingdom of Arendelle where Elsa, one of the daughters of the King and Queen, has the magical ability to create snow and ice. An accident with her sister, Anna, forces Elsa to hide her powers from not only her sister, but also the entire kingdom. Her fear of hurting people draws Elsa into her room for years on end, resulting in her not even seeing Anna until Elsa’s coronation day. Elsa finds it hard to assimilate and ends up running away to avoid hurting the people of Arendelle. Consequently, she puts the kingdom in an eternal winter, marking the beginning of an adventure–in every sense of the word–for both Elsa and Anna when Anna embarks on a journey into the mountains to find her sister.

Along the way, Anna meets new people who join her in her quest to find Elsa and end the freeze. These characters include a mountain man named Kristoff, his trusty reindeer, Sven, and a snowman (brought to life by Elsa) named Olaf–a ready source of comic relief throughout the film.

Of course there are villains in the story, too, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, SPOILER ALERT! Stop reading this now and go buy the early release available on iTunes or the DVD! There’s a giant snowman that chases Anna and the gang away from Elsa’s crystal palace, and more importantly Anna’s supposed love interest, Prince Hans, who wins over the audience’s love with his naiveté and compassion towards the citizens of the frozen kingdom. Hans turns out to be a huge phony who’s only after the crown.

But what makes this movie different from most Disney princess movies is that Elsa is not the damsel in distress waiting to be saved by a handsome (or Hansome) man. Instead, Elsa finds her true self on her journey and “lets it go” (it being her worries and restraints). The movie is less about finding “true love” than it is about the power of love, but SPOILER ALERT not necessarily romantic love.

The film proved its worth during the 86^th Annual Academy Awards when it took home not only “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” for “Let it Go,” but also “Best Animated Feature.” Overall, Frozen is a truly inspiring movie that will make you question the stereotype that Disney movies are only for kids.