Why I Loved (& Kind of Didn’t Love) Disney’s ‘Frozen’

Photo via Forbes

I obviously don’t try to hide my love of animated films: I’m part of the Disney generation. I grew up with Jasmine, Belle, Ariel, Meg, and Mulan; as I got older, Tiana and Rapunzel were added to the lineup of Disney heroines. No matter how old I get, though, I can’t imagine a time when I wouldn’t want to see the newest animated musical from Disney. (I’m twenty-three, if I were going to grow out of it, you’d think I would have done it by now.) So of course I saw Disney’s newest film, Frozen, which came out on November 27. Everyone has been raving about Frozen, calling it the best Disney movie since Beauty and the Beast. It certainly had the best opening weekend of a Disney animated musical since The Lion King, but I wasn’t so sure. I liked The Princess Frog and Tangled, but they still weren’t quite up to the standards I had come to expect as a child growing up on these flicks. So I went into Frozen with an open mind, if not very high expectations.

Photo via Disneys–Frozen on Tumblr

Frozen follows the story of two princesses in the fictional kingdom of Arendelle: Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell.) Elsa has a magical gift to create snow and ice. But after a traumatic childhood event, Elsa hides herself away and tells no one about her gift, while Anna grows up essentially alone. On Elsa’s coronation day, she and Anna get into a fight and Elsa runs away from Arendelle, leaving the kingdom in an eternal winter. Anna follows her sister to find Elsa and bring her back. She teams up with Kristof (Jonathan Groff,) a surly mountain man, his reindeer Sven, and a living snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad.) By the end of the film, I had definitely fallen in love with the characters of Frozen as well as the story. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s as good as The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast, especially through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia, but Frozen is definitely a quality Disney film–for the most part.

Most Anticipated Animated Films 2013-2014

Photo via Empire

Anyone who says animated films are only for children is either lying or hasn’t opened themselves up to an entire selection of fantastic movies. I have a hard time saying animated films are a genre of their own because there are many genres within animation. Sure, a good portion of animated flicks are geared toward kids, but there is usually enough depth within the films to make them appeal to all ages. If you’ve gone back and watched the Disney movies that came out in the 90s, there are plenty of jokes that went over our heads. Even though a lot of people lump animated films into that just-for-kids category, many times these movies are created with adults in mind as well.

Photo via IMDB

With Disney’s Frozen coming out this week, I thought now would be a good time to talk about all the animated films I’m excited for in the coming year. Originally, Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur was on this list, but unfortunately the film’s release date was pushed back to 2015. Since The Good Dinosaur was meant to be Pixar’s only release next year, there will be no Pixar films in 2014. While it’s tragic, that’s not to say there aren’t any good animated movies coming out. Plus, it means there will be two fantastic Pixar movies in one year–The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out. (I’m actually looking forward to the latter movie more.) Now, let’s take a look at my most anticipated animated films of 2014 as well as the rest of 2013.

10 All Time Favorite Disney Songs

‘Hercules’ premiered in 1997 and starred Tate Donovan, Danny DeVito, & Susan Egan. (Photo courtesy of Disney.)

Recently, I re-watched Hercules, which was one of my favorite Disney movies when I was a kid. For those who have Netflix Instant, how great is it that so many Disney movies are available on Instant? I know it’s because the two companies struck a deal back in December, but I’m so glad the viewers are get something as well. Since my family’s collection of Disney movies consists almost exclusively of VHS tapes and we don’t actually own a working VHS player anymore, it’s nice to be able to watch some of my favorites anytime I’d like. Sure, ABC Family or the Disney Channel occasionally decides to play some of the Disney flicks I grew up with, but sometimes it’s nice to come home from a long day of work, have a drink, and sing along to Hercules at top volume.

My rewatch experience got me to remembering all the music from those Disney movies to which I still know all the words. There are plenty of playlists on Pandora, Songza, and Spotify devoted exclusively to those songs, such as “Disney” curated by my friend Monica. I also remember arguing with friends when I was younger over which Disney songs were the best, although movies like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Mulan always made the list–to be honest though, my friends and I still have these discussions. So for a bit of nostalgia, I decided to put together my list of all-time favorite Disney songs.