Film Review: Frozen

4/5 stars

Congratulations, Disney, on finally making a semi-interesting movie concerning female relationships that would make Walt proud. “Frozen,” the latest animated feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios, is a reworking of the Snow Queen narrative from Hans Christian Andersen. As with most Disney adaptations, it is a watered-down, more digestible version of the original tale, generally avoiding any risk of child mortality and substituting Christian overtones for songs about snowmen instead. The release of “Frozen” marks a historical moment as screenwriter and co-director Jennifer Lee has become the first woman to direct a full-length animated motion picture for Walt Disney Animation Studios. With the film’s careful balance of humor, sincerity and kid-friendly grit, I can’t help but wonder why Disney doesn’t put women in charge more often.

The story follows the relationship between Princess Anna (Kristen Bell) and her sister, newly crowned Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel). The relationship is severely fractured on account of Elsa’s hidden ice powers and deep fear of hurting others. Both Bell and Menzel are perfect fits for their roles. Bell embodies adolescent goofiness and awkwardness in the voice of Anna, making us all forget that she ever was the voice behind Gossip Girl, while Menzel flaunts her seasoned vocals in a show-stopping number reminiscent of her stint in Broadway’s “Wicked.” The supporting cast of mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer Sven and ridiculous snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) also serve the story well, providing Lifetime-quality romance and needed comedic relief.

The music of “Frozen” is catchy and clever, which is unsurprising given that the music was composed by Christopher Becke (known for “Paperman”) with lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Christopher Lopez (known for “Avenue Q” and “The Book of Mormon”). The songs are funny, and sweet, plus easy to quickly memorize and sing in the car (not that I am speaking from experience here…). It is not difficult to imagine certain numbers like “Fixer-Upper” and “Let It Go” in the musical canon of Disney alongside “Circle of Life” and “Part of Your World.”

Usually, I scoff at such mass production and consumption of sentimentality, but surprisingly, I enjoyed this movie in a non-guilty pleasure way. Better yet, my six-year-old niece LOVED this movie and has been singing its songs on a daily basis. Granted, the feminist-on-my-shoulder is quick to note that the princesses still embody unrealistic beauty standards and Disney yet again put out another white princess, but the core of the movie concerns the friendship and love between two sisters. True, it’s no “Frances Ha” and cute boys still get in the way, but any fairy tale where the true love is based on a sisterly bond and not on a romantic infatuation is a movie that I can stand behind.