Traditional in the best sense of the word

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2014)

Walt Disney's "Frozen" takes us back to a time when animated films were literally royal affairs, overflowing with handsome princes and beautiful princesses, magic spells and comical sidekicks, Broadway-style songs and happily-ever-after endings. In this case, it's the Princesses who take center stage, and they're pretty resourceful and feisty, as befits the modern era.
The story, based on "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson, features Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) as royal sisters, the former of whom has magical powers, the latter of whom does not. The problem is that Elsa's use of her power is erratic, to put it mildly, and in an attempt to protect Anna from any possible fallout, Elsa has hidden that power from her little sister for most of their lives. On the day she is crowned Queen of Arendelle, Elsa inadvertently casts a spell on the world, plunging it into eternal winter. It becomes the job of Anna, with the help of some colorful assistants, to get Elsa to un-cast the spell and return normalcy to the world.
With screenplay by Jennifer Lee and direction by Lee and Chris Buck, "Frozen" isn't the most cutting-edge of animated features, particularly in contrast to many of PIXAR better-known offerings, but it has an elegant, classical appeal that makes "old-fashioned" seem cool again. The score by Christophe Beck isn't instantly memorable but it at least it's more snappy than sappy, and the shimmering visuals compensate for a touch of spottiness in the storytelling.