Rental Review - Frozen

Frozen (2013), PG, 102 minutes - Although I really enjoy animated features, for a variety of reasons Frozen was not a film that I caught in theaters (despite its very lengthy theatrical run). This past week, my wife and I finally had the opportunity to see what all of the hubbub has been about. Aside from the original teaser trailer with Olaf (Josh Gad) the snowman and the reindeer, I somehow managed to know virtually nothing about the film other than its apparently having quite an infectious soundtrack.

For those late to the Frozen party like myself, it revolves around a pair of Princesses, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) who grow up in seclusion in their kingdom's castle after a childhood accident involving Elsa's magical freezing power nearly kills Anna and causes Elsa to ostracize herself for fear of losing control of her abilities again. When Elsa comes of age and is pronounced Queen of the Kingdom, the two girls get their first dose of social contact in years. They represent both sides of the social coin. Anna is curious and excited to meet the outside world while Elsa is filled with anxiety and would rather stay out of the public eye. Of course, things turn out more the way Elsa had feared than the way Anna had hoped, which leads to Elsa running away with Anna and her naivety being left to run the kingdom. Anna has other ideas, and along with the help of ice merchant Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) she ventures off to find Elsa, leaving her new fiance Hans (Santino Fontana) in charge of the kingdom in her stead.

As you would expect from Disney, the animation is beautiful.  The voice acting is well done also, with Bell leading the way, but with nice additions from Menzel, Gad, and Groff, as well as Alan Tudyk and Ciarán Hinds.

I really enjoyed Frozen, as I do most Disney animated features. It may be a sign of my age, but I didn't feel that the songs were as catchy or as good as songs from Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), or The Lion King (1994). Of course, that's just my opinion. There's an entire generation of kids who love 'Let it go' enough to have made Frozen the biggest animated box office draw of all time. If you've haven't seen this film yet (which really just means that, like myself, you have no kids), you'll find a high quality, entertaining Disney adventure that is well worth the watch.