Disney's Second Renaissance?

Rating: 9/10 (12 July 2014)

Disney seem to have been doing rather well in the past few years. It's first renaissance (beginning with The Little Mermaid in '89) ended abruptly in the late 90s and was replaced with the meteoric rise of Pixar, which could seemingly do no wrong, releasing hit after hit. Even Dreamworks was more consistent! But 2010 marked Pixar's peak (Toy Story 3) and Disney's return. Tangled was an excellent return to form, and Wreck-it Ralph was great fun. But it is with Frozen that Disney has captured the magic once again, in a wonderful movie deserving of its massive success.
Frozen is a beautiful film where nothing really goes wrong. The music is Disney at its catchiest, the visuals are picturesque, and the characters are irresistibly charming. Loosely based on the Snow Queen, Frozen focuses on two sisters, Elsa and Anna, dealing with Elsa's cold-based magic and its consequences, both physical and mental. Elsa regresses and becomes a recluse while Anna becomes overly hopeful. While it doesn't discuss the psychological issues too deeply, the subtext and emotions are there for pondering.
Along the way the two sisters meet other colourful characters, primarily Kristoff, an ice trader, and Josh Gad's adorably hilarious snowman Olaf, the best sidekick since the Genie of Aladdin. His pleasant naivety is heartwarming, to say the least. The film has been much lauded for its 'progressive' elements, notably that its main relationship is not romantic, but between the two sisters, and other subversions of genre that to state would spoil the plot.
Though with regards to plot, that may be the weakest part. Frozen went through numerous rewrites along a complicated development process, and it can be seen in the final product. Characters and traits are set up early on that are forgotten or abandoned in the second half- for instance Kristoff is established in the film's first scene as an ice trader whose love in life is ice, yet there is never any kind of reference to this in the proximity of Elsa, who has limitless magical control of ice. Nefarious looking characters never really amount to much, and possibly one too many red herrings are used seemingly solely for the purpose of pulling the rug out from under the audience. And while none can doubt the brilliance of Let it Go, the Elsa at the end of the song is not the same as the Elsa in her next scene. Also, rock trolls.
Yet, this is to complain about minor qualms. The plot works, pleasantly surprises, and is ultimately a backseat to the characters. There have been many plot comparisons to The Lion King (which are well-founded), but the plot in Lion King drove the narrative, whereas in Frozen the characters are the drivers, first and foremost. An equally compelling comparison is to Tangled, except the traits of the single Female protagonist are divided between the two sisters here.
It would be boring to simply state the wonders of the art style and the charm, so one could be somewhat picky. Frozen's soundtrack is great, but has the same problem that a few Disney films suffer from, namely that one great song overshadows both the other songs and the rest of the film itself- the best example being Mulan and 'I'll make a man out of you'. 'Let it Go' is this to a T. Yet it's entirely forgivable, not just for being a great track, but also for being the best looking piece in the film, creating the gorgeous ice palace before the audience's eyes.
Frozen confirms that Disney have returned to form- hopefully something that continues. It's fantastic fun, appeals to all ages, both genders, while being positively progressive in ways that blockbusters seldom are- not just animation or kids films. Disney are still determined to focus on over-privileged Royalty at the expense of commoners, but otherwise Disney are moving full steam ahead. A magical success.