A fairy tale adventure on par with Disney Renaissance films

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2017)

When this movie came out I thought it was nice how it subverted the princess fairy tale tropes: that the love that broke the spell didn't come from some random Prince but from the love between sisters, and that the bad guy wasn't some evil enchantress in a dark tower but an inconspicuous, lovable guy that would've functioned as a love interest in another movie. But now that I think about it, the classic Disney animations from the 90's - such as The Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King - already did the fairy tale modernization and subversion. Actually even Sleeping Beauty had some meta humor in the 50's.
What Frozen represents is a return to the Disney 'Renaissance' style. It is a larger-than-life adventure full of magic, romance, whimsy and life lessons. It teaches you to believe in yourself, to care for your family, to open up and trust, to deal with issues... like any proper Disney film will. And it is a musical. The songs are by now so famous that most parents are overexposed to them. 'Let It Go' won the Oscar and will be a sing-along staple for a while to come: 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman' took its place among other beloved Disney storytelling music. My personal favorite is the simple, feelgood pop ballad 'Love is an Open Door'.
The snow and ice is beautifully animated - the Disney animation division is really pushing what we can do with CG animation. I've read some criticism that the princesses look exactly the same as Rapunzel from 'Tangled', but Disney princesses have always been cookie-cutter cuties and it doesn't bother me.