Response to Frozen

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I love this movie and the songs!

It is amazing how far animation has come when you compare Frozen to Cinderella. All of the men in the first scene are visibly different people with unique features which contrasts Disney’s normal portrayal of background characters as not different from each other.

“Beware the frozen heart” I never noticed this foreshadowing.

Baby Sven is so cute!

“The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded.”

In the beginning of the movie the villain seems to be Elsa’s powers. This is different from almost every other Disney movie where the villains are very present and represented as people.

Disney does have a track record with killing off the parents of main characters or having main characters with one or less parents.

I wonder if Elsa would have learned to control her powers if she was socialized and not isolated in her room.

 

Frozen finally showed a realistic scene of how people wake up in the morning. Anna has messy hair and is drooling when she wakes up. Unlike Cinderella, who wakes up singing and hair perfect, Ana does not. Although she does start to sing shortly after she wakes up, it is only because it is a very special day.

“You can’t marry a man you just met.” Disney is trying to fix their prior statement that you can marry right after you met. Marrying right after they just met happened in Cinderella and Aladdin and in many other movies, characters get married after very little time spent together.

Frozen is similar to Wreck-It Ralph. Both Ralph and Elsa have a special and destructive power that can either be used for good or bad. They both have to learn how control their power and end up using it for good. Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph are also similar because they both have a villain that is not revealed until later on in the film.

Elsa and Ana may be the first protagonists without animal sidekicks. Kristoff has Sven but Elsa and Ana do not have animal sidekicks. Olaf fills in the role of comic relief and replaces the role of an animal sidekick.

“Do you think she knows how to knock?”

Elsa only wants to be free to be herself and not have to hide her powers from everyone. She also does not want to hurt anyone like she hurt Ana.

“I don’t have a skull. Or bones”

“He’s crazy”

Frozen continues Disney’s theme of blending the line between good and evil with the characters Elsa and Hans of the Southern Isles. Elsa never intends to be evil. However, her powers have the effect of a villain. Also in the beginning, Hans of the Southern Isles seems to have good intentions. He helps the people of Arendelle deal with the frozen summer. However, his true intentions are to marry Ana and kill Elsa so that he can rule Arendelle.

“We are not saying you can change him because people don’t really change.” This is the opposite of the message in Beauty and the Beast. In that movie, it is assumed that Belle can change the Beast if she tries hard enough. In fact, it is almost assumed that it is her duty to change the Beast. Frozen communicates a different and more progressive message to the audience.

Frozen also redefines Disney’s definition of true love. True love is not only romantic love but is also love between family and friends.