FanGirl Fridays!

Welcome back to another edition of FanGirl Fridays, where i geek out out some of my favorite things in popular culture. I know this is probably the third time I have written about this but I have to talk about my love for...

Frozen

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I honestly am obsessed with this movie and listen to the soundtrack almost everyday. This movie reminds me of the older Disney Renaissance, where movies like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast emerged. I would probably put Frozen at least in my top five of movies because it had everything I loved in a movie, let alone a Disney movie. The music was fantastic (and Oscar winning!), the animations were breath-taking and the characters were complex and interesting.

In typical Disney fashion, it has a super depressing beginning with Elsa isolating herself after nearly killing younger sister Anna and the parents dying in a shipwreck during a storm (most of this occurs during a bridge of a song). Although I would have liked to learn more of how and why Elsa got her powers, I still really enjoyed the overall film. I think that by not making Elsa the easy villain kept me guessing and wondering what was going to happen next.

The story follows Anna at Elsa's coronation and the fallout that happens as a result of her ice powers emerging. Elsa runs away, finally embracing her power, while her sister joins up with ice salesman Kristoff and his trusty reindeer Sven to try to bring her back to the kingdom. They also come across the lovable Olaf, a snowman created by Elsa who longs to feel the sun in summer (not knowing the consequences). Other characters such as Hans (the perfect prince) and the Duke of Weaselton (Weselton! haha in-movie joke) help make the movie even more memorable.

The music is another wonderful piece to the film. They evoke the sadness and loneliness felt by both Anna and Elsa (who don't realize the other is going through the same experience) and also the wonder into breaking free of the current situation. Do You Want to Build A Snowman is a great opening song that introduces Anna and has her literally grow up before our eyes. For the First Time in Forever also express Anna's excitement and Elsa's dread at finally be reintroduced to the world after 10+ years. Of course Let it Go is the most popular song, but I enjoy most of them (except Fixer Upper, it seems like it doesn't fit) like Olaf's ode to summer ("In Summer"). In many of the iconic Disney movies, they seem to have incredibly fun and easy to sing songs, which I think that Frozen fits.

Without giving the ending away, the best part of Frozen is the fact that it focuses on other versions of love that the characters experience (companionate and familial). It evens states at one point that it is ridiculous for a character to fall in love and get married to someone she just met, obviously poking fun at well-established Disney tropes of the princesses. The presence of strong female characters reminds me of another of my favorite movies, Mulan, as Elsa decides to break free and embrace her "otherness". The movie also has a great twist (that I didn't see coming) that ties a lot of the characters together. Although I would have loved a little more of the ending, I left the theater (which was full of children, btw) completely satisfied and in awe of Disney. I believe that this movie and Tangled are helping to Disney to take back the animation throne from Pixar. And I can't wait to see what they come up with next.