The Mouse's take on "The Snow Queen" works exceptionally well

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2015)

This is an animated feature done by Disney Animation Studios. There will be spoilers ahead:
Disney has been making animated feature-length films since 1937, with more than 50 done by the Disney Animation Studios through Frozen, in addition to now owning Pixar and having distribution on others. In recent years, Disney Animation Studios, while doing fairly good work, has been overshadowed by Pixar and Studio Ghibli. Frozen is the best animated film DAS has done since probably Aladdin in 1992.
With Frozen, DAS takes Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" and gives it the Disney treatment. Frozen is incredibly successful on so many levels. It works as a full-blown musical, with a fine score and a very catchy hit song, "Let It Go". The animation is fantastic, it's the funniest animated film the studio has done in years.
The characters are mostly well-designed and the voice work (spoken and sung) is equally exceptional for the most part. Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel, as Anna and Elsa respectively, are the leads and the heart of the story. It's essential that they do well or the film will sink. Their performances are fantastic.
Beyond the two leads, there are a couple of romantic sub-plots and a couple of characters set up to be the comic relief. One of the love interests, Kristoff, has a reindeer named Sven and their interactions are fairly funny for the most part. Olaf the snowman is okay. He works better for kids than he does for me.
Anna and Elsa are sisters who are also Princesses (naturally-this is a Disney film, after all). Elsa, the older sister, has the power to produce snow, ice and frost, which is a two-edged gift. After an accident, she and her sister fall apart, largely due to Elsa's fears that she will accidentally harm Anna.
On Elsa's coronation upon her coming of age, various problems rear their heads and Elsa flees the palace, determined to exile herself. Anna pursues her sister, equally determined to fix whatever has come between them and make things whole and right, like they were when the girls were close.
Through various travails and setbacks, the bad guy(s) are exposed, the sisters regain their close relationship and various mysteries are resolved. All the elements Disney films typically have are present, with a script strong enough to carry it all to a satisfying conclusion.
I must admit that I like The Wind Rises a bit more than I do Frozen, but that's like saying I like chocolate ice cream more than I like fudge ripple. Both are wonderful, as is Ernest and Celestine. Those three, along with Despicable Me 2 and The Croods, form the nominees for the Animated Feature Academy Award, with Frozen winning.
This film is available on Blu-Ray and DVD and is well worth having. Most recommended.