The Second Renaissance?

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2014)

Disney's 50th classic, Tangled (2010), marked the beginning where 3D Disney animated features aimed for the warmth and feel of Disney's first renaissance (The Little Mermaid (1989) up to Tarzan (1999)). The decade following this renaissance would become a watershed period (2000-8) of poorly received films, and suffering losses at the box office.
Pixar would essentially be the dominating force in a new 3D world, and Disney's attempt with Chicken Little (2005) (poorly received, but OK at the box office) and Meet the Robinsons (2007) could not live up to the beasts produced at Pixar.
The year 2009 with the return of the star director of John Musker and John Clements of the first renaissance era, critics have coined that Disney might be in a second renaissance. The idea was that they would return to traditional hand drawn 2D animation to recapture the feel and warmth which the first renaissance Disney films were associated with.
Musker/Clements' The Princess and the Frog (2009) was essentially a welcoming sight for many fans, however, it still just performed a quarter of what The Lion King (1994) grossed with around roughly 250$ USD.
Then Oscar winning animated short Paperman (2012) happened which was a beautiful mixture of 2D style in a 3D environment, and during the production of Tangled (2010), the aim was exactly this: a 3D animated feature with the same warmth and feel as the 2D. It generated nearly 600 million USD in profit, and the following Frozen (2014) generated over 1,1 billion USD on a budget of 150 million.
Frozen (2014) is the first film in 20 years to gross more than Lion King (1994) which was up to 2010 the animated feature king at the box office when Pixar's Toy Story 3 (2010) was the new crown at the box office. From a financial stand-point, box office performance is what "decides what is a good movie" which is a sad thing to say, but that's the reality of the industry, but Frozen's success is not purely rooted in a money making formula.
It is the return of the renaissance Disney with modern themes and less bound to conventions found in the older Disney classics. It is loosely based on the Danish fairytale author H. C. Andersen's The Snow Queen, where the title character has bee changed into a deuteragonist (second most important character which can be both with or against the protagonist, in this case both).
Elsa, our Snow Queen, is a one of the most relatable character created by Disney which deals with the strife of family, and the conflict of holding back yourself from hurting your beloved ones.
The second most notable change is the relationships between boys and girls, Frozen is not necessarily a feminist film, but it is certainly proto-feminist. Elsa and Anna are the driving force of the film, and without spoiling anything, are also the ones who resolve the conflict.
Women have for a long history in film been secondary to male plot-driven characters. Women were something to look at, and rarely contribute to the plot. If the Hunger Games (2011) marked the beginning of box office giants with leading female roles, Disney's Frozen marks the beginning where driving forces of female characters can generate animated films of 1 billion USD, and possibly a second renaissance.