Disney's Frozen

[droosan]

Frozen is back to #2 at the box office! It beet out both new movies!

.. and the DVD/Blu-ray release is only six weeks away.

Someone at Disney underestimated its staying power ..

[gaastra]

Yeah. Remember in the 80s when you had to wait 6 months before a vhs release? I think they really do release these movies on dvd way to early. Why go to the movies when it's out on dvd in two months.

[ShyViolet]

Good to see you Dan! Cute av.

[TitusTodd]

...and available digitally in only 22 days! Nice to see it be so successful!

[Dan]

Somewhat Frozen related, I image. The annual "I'm going to Disneyland/Disney World!" post-Super Bowl commercial featured Idina Menzel giving her rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star".

[Ben]

Like I said, I'm surprised the disc isn't a winter release, following a fall theatrical reissue. I bet Disney could have made at least a third more theatrically on this, although there's also the strike while the iron is hot approach which will see its home debut number shoot to record breaking figures (especially if it wins Best Feature and that sticker can go on the packaging - another reason why I don't think we have seen the 3D release cover yet).

[eddievalient]

Frozen was okay, but the script really could have used another draft or two. The first half is great, but once Olaf shows up, the quality of the writing drops off big time and we're left with a film that could have been amazing if they'd only given it more time but as-is is only average. The sad thing is that for the first time since Up, Pixar actually did make the best animated film of the year (although The Croods was a close second), but they weren't even nominated for the best animated feature award at either the Annies or the Oscars.

For those interested, there was a Russian animated film of The Snow Queen in 2012 and to be quite honest, I enjoyed that film more. It's not as ambitious as Frozen, of course, but I thought it was much better written. This is a case where less truly is more.

[Dan]

The soundtrack for Frozen has maintained it's No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts, being in the position for the fourth time.

[Dacey]

For those interested, there was a Russian animated film of The Snow Queen in 2012 and to be quite honest, I enjoyed that film more. It's not as ambitious as Frozen, of course, but I thought it was much better written. This is a case where less truly is more.

Isn't that the one that managed to somehow throw in a dog goblin sidekick thing, a Snow Queen who was essentially the White Witch from Narnia, and, oh yeah, a band of pirates?

Yup. Definitely sounds like it had "less" than Frozen.

[Ben]

...but at least enough to warrant a sequel: http://youtu.be/ZL5lOFz61i8

[eddievalient]

The sequel actually looks like it might be decent. I'm surprised.

[Dan]

Saw this on deviantART and chuckled.



Link to deviantART page

[droosan]

My favorite, so far:

[eddievalient]

Here's the interesting thing about that:

At the beginning of the film, it's implied that the palace gates were only planned to be open for a single day before being closed again, this time for who knows how long. Because of this, it makes complete sense that Anna and Hans would want to be married right away as otherwise, they might never see each other again. Elsa's refusal likely had everything to do with her fear of being found out and the whole line about "you just met him" was merely a convenient excuse. Later, when Anna leaves Hans in charge, we see that he takes the job seriously and Anna's faith in him was well placed. This would have been an excellent setup for the lesson that sometimes you have to go with your gut even when everyone else says you're wrong for doing so.

Unfortunately, all that setup and character development went completely out the window in the film's much weaker second half. Disney has openly admitted that Hans being the villain was a late addition when they realized the film had no villain, apparently forgetting that they have themselves done villainless films before and nobody minded then. This is why Frozen was ultimately a disappointment. They took a great premise with interesting, multilayered characters and threw it away in favor of a typical clichéd good-vs-evil plot. Why people are citing this as Disney's best film is beyond me.

[Dan]

It's an interesting analysis, but I don't think Hans was as capable of a leader as you're making him out to be. Granted we don't see the full scope of his abilities, there are some chinks to the armor, as it were. One is his seemingly immediate threat of labeling the Duke of Weselton a traitor and be dealt with for merely expressing outrage over his trade supplies being given away for no return, an that could easily be construed as being uncalled for. (Granted the Duke's behavior throughout the film is more than enough to warrant him recognition as a traitor, Hans' sudden declaration could be seen as questionable). Furthermore, Anna made sure someone was in charge before taking off to find Elsa while Hans seemingly did no such thing before he did. Without Hans, who's in charge in Arendelle?

Like I said, we don't see the full scope of his abilities as the story is more concentrated on Elsa and Anna, but I wouldn't jump to the belief that Hans' reveal of being the villain was a twist for the sake of one or their need for a villain after restructuring Elsa's position.