Frozen

(PG) Disney DVD/BD & Digital Download

What an absolute gem in the Disney treasure chest is this (not so) little movie.

You only have to watch this film to see why this is not only Disney’s highest grossing movie and highest grossing animated feature, but also fifth on the list of highest grossing movies, according to Variety. From start to finish this movie just exudes the magic that makes every Disney movie so special.

Having grown up in the generation of little girls that religiously watched all the Disney Princess movies (and maybe still continue to do so…) I must say this is right up on the top shelf with my personal favourite, The Little Mermaid.

The casting choices are superb; who would have thought the brilliant vocal and comedic combination of Kristen Bell (Ana) and Idina Menzel (Elsa) would work so perfectly? Kristen Bell brings an endearing and refreshing awkwardness to Ana; something really never before explored in a Disney princess, who are always supposed to be beautiful, graceful and well, perfect! She’s the type of character that all young girls can look up to and aspire to be like because she’s so relatable and the Disney team have made an impressive effort to make her a realistic role model.

Idina Menzel is, as always, stunning. Her vocal prowess is unmatched and she brings an incredible understated strength to the character of Elsa. Although Broadway superstar Jonathon Groff (Kristoff) doesn’t do as much singing as one would wish, he plays the character with an incredible balance of charm and sweetness that makes him an instantly likeable character, leaving you secretly hoping for him to succeed with Ana instead of the charming Prince Hans.

I don’t think this movie would be complete without the loveable, hilarious and insane Olaf (Josh Gad). The song-writing duo of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez actually said in an interview that it wasn’t until Josh came on board that the character of Olaf took off, and in fact all the characters only really came to life through extra suggestions by cast members.

With original songs composed by power-couple Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and orchestral score by award-winning composer Christophe Beck it’s not hard to see why it really comes down to the music and score that make this movie as wonderful as it is. Everyone on the face of the earth has heard that incredibly catchy hit “Let It Go” but that’s only the tip of the ice-berg.

The sweeping orchestral arrangements draw on norse folk songs that weave throughout the movie and are broken up by cute and sweet original songs such as “In Summer”, “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” and more. Although Disney skipped over go-to man Alan Menkin (Enchanted, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas) for this movie the ‘new three’ brought a fresh and exciting new vibe to the Disney music world.

My absolute favourite thing about this movie, however, is the important message it sends to children about the importance of family and siblings. Although Disney has created strong, vibrant heroines in the past (think Mulan, Ariel, Rapunzel), they have tended to override all their hard work with this incessant idea of having to find a handsome prince to live happily ever after with at the end of the film. However one of the things that makes this one so great is that (SPOILER ALERT) it takes almost a 360 degree turn; instead of Ana running towards her prince to save her she instead turns away from him and faces her own ‘death’ in order to save her sister.

Not just one for the children, adults will certainly not only enjoy watching the joy their children get out of watching it, but may find themselves pleasantly surprised to be humming along to the catchy songs and enjoying themselves as well.

Caitlin Harris