Frozen

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2013)

I saw the preview trailer for this, where the snowman sneezed and lost his carrot nose, and the opposite side of a lake a reindeer skidding towards it. This was a teaser for the real Disney film, a reversioning of the story The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson, and I was looking forward to it. Basically, in the Kingdom of Arendelle, the princess Elsa (Idina Menzel) has cryokinetic powers, which means she can summon ice and snow through her hands, she and her younger sister Anna (Kristen Bell) used to be very close as children, but she accidentally injured her younger sister while playing as children, so the King (Maurice LaMarche) and the Queen have the Grand Pabbie the Troll King (Ciarán Hinds) heal and erase the memory of Anna knowing that her sister has powers. As they have grown up they have drifted apart, with Elsa forced to wear gloves, as she has not learned to control her powers, and is afraid of harming other people, their parents die at sea, but Elsa being secluded in her room has created a rift between them, it is only at her coronation that the sisters are talking more. Anna is excited that the gates of the kingdom are opened, exploring she bumps into Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (Santino Fontana), they form a very quick mutual attraction, and at the coronation, which seems to go fine for Elsa without any incident removing her gloves, Hans proposes to Anna, but her sister will not give her blessing, and an argument between them exposes Elsa's powers to everyone. Elsa flees the kingdom and inadvertently unleashes an eternal winter over the kingdom, but alone she realises that she no longer has to be afraid and can embrace her powers, in celebration she builds herself an ice palace, and unknowingly brings to life a snowman that the sisters built as children, Olaf (Josh Gad), Anna meanwhile sets off on a journey to find her sister to bring her back, end the winter and reconcile. Getting supplies from a shack Anna meets mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer Sven, she convinces him to guide her to the North Mountain to find her sister, and meeting Olaf on the journey he helps them to find the palace of ice, she tries to convince her sister to return, but she still fears hurting people, and agitated by her persisting Elsa strikes her sister with her power in the chest. Fleeing the palace from a large snow monster Kristoff notices Anna's hair turning white, so he takes her to the trolls, and there Grand Pabbie explains that her heart has been frozen, only an act of "true love" can thaw it, or she will be froze forever, she believes that it is Hans that can do this for her, giving her a kiss to save her life. Hans meanwhile sent a party to find Elsa, and she is captured and imprisoned, she admits to him that she does not know how to reverse the winter spell, and reuniting with Anna she explains the situation of her frozen heart, but he does not truly love her, he only usurped her to steal the throne of Arendelle, he then has her locked up, claiming to the kingdom that she was killed by Elsa, and announces that she will be executed for doing so. Elsa escapes her captivity, while Olaf assures Anna that it is in fact Kristoff that is in love with her, Elsa is led to believe by Hans that she killed her own sister, he is about to make a move to kill her in the middle of the frozen sea, Anna blocks a blow and subsequently freezes solid, Elsa's grieving though is what thaws her because of the sacrifice being the sign of true love. In the end Elsa realises that love is what can help her control her powers, so she is able to bring an end to the eternal winter, and ensuring that Olaf will not melt in the heat of the summer, Hans is sent away to face punishment for his crimes, and Elsa cuts of trading with Duke of Weselton (Alan Tudyk) who was exploiting Arendelle for his own profit, Anna and Kristoff share a kiss and Elsa promises the gates will always remain open. Also starring Chris Williams as Oaken and Jack Whitehall as a troll. The voice casting is all good, the animation is fantastic, it is a charming story, and many of the songs are enjoyable. I am glad I watched it again to get a better opinion, because I maybe previously thought of it as just an excuse for earworm songs, and being more for children, it is actually a very engaging and enjoyable fairytale for adults and children alike, a splendid animated adventure. It won the Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Song for "Let It Go" (also nominated the Golden Globe), it won the BAFTA for Best Animated Film, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film. Very good!