The club of Disney royalty gained two new members at the end of 2013: Queen Elsa and Princess Ana of Ardendale. These heroines are the central characters of ‘Frozen,’ which was the feature film shown last weekend in Ice Auditorium.
Disney’s “Frozen” is about Queen Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) who was born with a curse that gives her the power over cold weather, meaning she can control ice, snow, and basically anything frozen. As a child, she is taught to conceal herself and her powers in order to protect both herself and her younger sister Ana (Kristen Bell), who has no idea about Elsa’s gift.
On the day of Elsa’s coronation as queen, she is forced to go into public for the first time in over a decade, which frightens her but elates Ana. During the coronation, Ana meets a young and handsome prince, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (Santino Fantana), and they decide during a single musical number to get married. Upon hearing the news, Elsa becomes upset and accidently reveals her powers and promptly flees the kingdom. Elsa’s powers send Ardendale into a seemingly permanent winter, unless Ana, with the help of an ice-salesman and a talking snowman, can talk to her sister and get her to undo what she has done.
“Frozen” has found itself in a blizzard of praise and has received its fair share of awards, such as the Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. What sets “Frozen” apart from other Disney movies is its focus on the bond between sisters as opposed to Disney’s more popular theme of romantic relationships.
The song “Let It Go,” performed by Idina Menzel and sometimes as an awful cover by Demi Lovato, it the most well-known song from the film. Even if someone has not seen the actual movie or gone out of their way to hear this song, they have heard it at least a dozen times, be it on television or being song constantly by every girl ages 13-20 for the last three and a half months.
Another notable fact is that “Frozen” did what, arguably, no other animated movie has been able to do thus far, and that is create a weird little sidekick, in this case the enchanted snowman Olaf (Josh Gad), and make it not annoying. In contrast to some of Disney’s other attempts, the character of Olaf is equal parts hilarious and perfect.
“Frozen” has turned into something much more than just a children’s movie because it is relatable to almost anyone, be it someone with an older sister they would face the winter for, someone with feelings that they have been concealing, or someone who was raised by singing trolls.
Paige Jurgensen / Columnist
Paige Jurgensen can be reached at [email protected]
