Frozen

I am not a big fan of animated movies. I am not sure what the exact reason is for that. As a kid, I lost myself in the world of Cartoon Network; I knew all the characters, all their stories. What is further mystifying is that after I do watch those occasional animated movies, I end up thoroughly enjoying them. So what possibly could be the reason for my not being keen on animated movies?! This question stumps me. A colleague of mine recently gave me Frozen. I had heard a lot about it, I mean one has to; Frozen won the Oscar for the best animated feature this year. He said that his one year old daughter loved it so he was sure that I would love it too. So I asked him, “Well, going with that logic, what are you trying to say? Am I like a one year old or am I like your daughter?” He just ginned.

Frozen is based on Anderson’s The Snow Queen, but it is strikingly different in its treatment of the theme. Like all the usual fairy tales, we have a kingdom – Arendelle, a king and queen and two adorable princesses - Elsa and Anna. Elsa, the older sibling harbours a dark secret – she is in fact a sorceress, having the ability to create snow and ice at will. However after a misadventure, she becomes a recluse, shutting herself out from the outside world, especially her younger sister whom she loves more than anything in the world. When Elsa comes of age she is to be coroneted the Queen, after the death of her father. However an emotional outburst on Elsa’s part leaves the kingdom of Arendelle in a perpetual winter. Terrified of doing any further damage, Elsa runs away to the mountains, where she builds herself a magnificent snow castle. But Anna is determined to bring her sister back to the kingdom, as “she belongs there.” Thus begins the adventure.  Seeking help from Kristoff, an ice man and his reindeer, Sven, and a talking snowman – Olaf, Anna sets off to bring back Elsa to Arendelle.

Elsa has been brilliantly voiced by Broadway veteran Idina Menzel. I have been a fan, ever since I saw her on Glee, and her Let it Go is the big musical number of the movie. The song won the Oscar for being the Best Original Song. Anna is voiced by Kristen Bell, Kristoff by another Broadway player Jonathan Groff. Olaf is voiced by an adorable Josh Gad who dreams of basking in the warmth of the summer sun ; In Summer is the song that you should play in the background this summer and remind yourself of the fun things you can do in summer. For me the best thing about the movie was the relationship between the two sisters. The movie incorporates the power of women when we are shown that the true love that has the power to unfreeze Anna’s heart is not that of the ‘prince charming’ but that of her sister. This is a very first time for a Disney animated flick. And perhaps this is the reason, why it appealed to all the other little ‘princesses’ in the world.