Frozen mania has swept the nation. More to truth, Frozen has swept, mopped, and toothbrush-scrubbed the nation, the continent, and the bigger part of the free world for the past several years now, and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Parents love to claim to be sick of Elsa and the gang. We’ve all seen a variety of YouTube videos depicting parents who are tired of Frozen–from dads parodying the Frozen soundtrack with Frozen-weary lyrics, to a mom rocking back and forth muttering “Let it Go” as if she were one snowflake away from a straightjacket.
I have two little girls who have loved Frozen from the get-go. It was, after all, the first (new) movie either of them ever saw in a real theater, and it will always be special to them for that reason alone.
Our house is just as Frozen-ized as any other that serves as home to little girls. We have coloring books, storybooks, costumes, a complete activity kit, magnetic paper dolls, regular paper dolls, invisible ink pads, toys, and games that are all Frozen-themed.
We watch the movie regularly, and the soundtrack is a staple on our devices.
Frozen has been around long enough with our girls that their grandfather actually knows the difference between Elsa and Anna. And, believe me, that is really, really, saying something.
I should be sick of Frozen. I should want to “open up the gates” or the “open door” that love supposedly is and fling all of Arendelle into the fjords.
But the truth is, I love Frozen. A lot.
The 3D animation is Disney’s best outside the realm of Pixar. The velvet on Anna’s dress looks like velvet. The chiffon looks like chiffon. The schnozzberries taste like schnozzberries. I’ve dabbled in 3D animation and this is some serious rendering, folks. There are some backgrounds that look so photorealistic that they’re almost spoiled when a character pops up.
And when else has an animated feature ever depicted a red-headed gal with freckles on her shoulders? Now that’s realistic!
The music is Broadway worthy, and that was most likely the intention as Frozen: The Broadway Musical is slated for Spring of 2018. But one reason we all keep playing and singing the songs is that, well, they’re good! They’re not only singable, but belt-out-able (is that a word?) and “In Summer” is even soft-shoe-danceable (definitely a word). The songs tell the story just as much as the dialogue. The orchestra does a killer job. The music is fun yet intricately beautiful. Yep, good music.
The story is one of Disney’s best. It’s the tale of two different kinds of lonely teenagers/young adults, to which most of us grownups can relate on at least some level. Elsa is the girl who isolates herself by choice because she thinks no one could possibly understand her. Anna, on the other hand, is lonely because her chances for social interaction have been severely limited, and she’s chomping at the bits for friendship and, of course, romance. The two kinds of loneliness collide, all ice breaks loose, and the only way to set things right is to thaw the barriers with selfless love.
Kristoff is the perfect Disney guy and absolutely adorable (but I’m married and he’s, well, pixelated). He’s not a fixer-upper at all; he’s fine. After Olaf sings of how he craves the summer, Kristoff completely forgets that a magical snowman has appeared in a completely bizarre way and is totally concerned with telling him that summer melts snow. Kristoff is also the first to want to clean Prince Hans’s clock, and only backs off because Anna deserves first crack at him.
And this is a micro-detail, but one that always makes me smile, but he puts his hat on Anna when she’s freezing. Oh, and he blushes when the trolls dress her up as a troll-bride, as if suddenly she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. He’s a keeper. (Even if he does say “reindeers.”)
Just a handful of other things I love about Frozen: the Northern lights; the choir at the beginning and at the coronation; the guys harvesting ice (I like to watch men work–bonus points if they sing about it); how the ice turns solid when Elsa stomps on it twice; the quart of lutefisk so there are good feelings; the hidden Mickey in Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna; the portraits in the great hall; Rapunzel and Eugene’s cameo; and, of course, Olaf.
By the way, on our recent trip to Walt Disney World we stood in line for an hour to ride the new Frozen ride and I had an absolute ball. I sang along with the Appalachian-style instrumental renditions of the soundtrack. I got to see the quart of lutefisk. I touched the ice harvesting tools with my own hands, yessir. Good times.
I crave Frozen. I don’t argue when my girls want to watch it, and have been guilty of suggesting it or even planting the idea in their heads just to make it think it’s their idea. I’m just glad I have kids, since I probably would be Frozen-crazy with or without them (so much easier this way).
Did I have children as a sham to cover my obsession with Disney animation? Hmm, possibly. We may never know. I just imagine I may be into Frozen long after they have let it go.
