Frozen will warm your heart

In a Nutshell:  Magical.  Visually stunning. Old school Disney romance with a modern feel, similar to Tangled.  This one is worth buying on DVD for the fam.  Somehow this is going to be made into a Broadway musical some day, right?  The detail and humor are Disney perfection.

Uplifting theme:  Love IS an open door.  It’s a bit of a dramatic illustration of believing the mistaken notion to “conceal it – don’t feel it.”  Embrace yourself and your unique strengths and weaknesses. Of your worries and stresses – let it go.  Girls, your handsome prince may not wear a suit with epaulets.  Not all Disney villains are evil…some are just misunderstood.

One of the best surprise themes in this Disney heroine/romance movie is that you don’t have to marry a handsome prince to be happy and if you do find your true love, he may not be the handsome prince you imagined.  Another empowering theme for young girls is that romantic love isn’t the only one that will break evil spells.  (SPOILER ALERT) It’s the pure love between sisters and the sacrifices they make for one another that changes them and the story.

Things I liked:  Idina Menzel‘s beautiful voice…yes please. All of the snow-filled animation is simply gorgeous from the delicate snowflakes to glittering snow packs to icy palaces, foggy breath, windy flurries, and a lively snowman.  You can hear the snow crunch and you feel like you’re IN the fog and cold snow storm….watch it in 3D if you can!  The human movement, facial expressions, and Kristoff’s awesome hair are all amazing.  We’ll probably see Kristoff’s boots for sale in the Ugg store pretty soon.  Elsa’s cute figure is inspiring and yet false advertising at the same time.  Kristen Bell did a terrific job too.  Who knew she could sing?  Who knew she studied opera while growing up? She’s been holding out on us!

If you LOVE the music from this movie and can’t get enough, I’ve got great news for you!  They released another version of the movie intended as a “Sing-A-Long” where audiences can join in on the music.  Also released are some songs that didn’t make it into the movie.  You can watch those at:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnew92/6-bonus-songs-from-frozen-that-you-need-to-hear-9qja

Things I didn’t like: The African chant music seemed out of place until a friend of mine explained it wasn’t African, but actually Scandinavian.  Oh!  My son (the animation student in college) thought the artwork was so elegant that Olaf the Snowman seemed out of place and a bit of an annoyance a la Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars.  My sister disagreed and thought Olaf was a welcomed comic relief, connecting the two sisters to their childhood relationship.  Speaking of Olaf, lovable Josh Gad, who voices the enthusiastic snowman, praised Disney’s animation talent by saying “If there’s something snow can do, Disney animators have absolutely discovered it!”  The Art Direction team was sent to Norway for inspiration for snow-filled mountains and even costuming on the film.

Funny line:  “We finish each other’s….sandwiches.”

Tips for parents:  No bad language.  Thank you! Enough action for the boys to be entertained, beautiful music for the girls to sing along to, and thought-provoking character development for adults to enjoy.  Thanks to YouTube, you’ll be able to watch some of your favorite songs and scenes again until the DVD hits store shelves.  LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie.