Tuesday 21 July 2015

Disney’s Biggest Hit: An Analysis of ‘Frozen’


Caution: Spoilers!

There’s no doubting the success of Frozen (2013). Disney’s 53rd animated feature has taken the world by (snow)storm and continues to be viewed as one of the best films that they have ever released. Personally, however, I’m somewhat bemused as to why this is, particularly considering the high quality of the films that preceded it, such as Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and Tangled (2010), and even the film that followed, the underrated Big Hero 6 (2014). Deconstructing the Disney hit, it becomes clear that Frozen isn’t nearly as cohesive a film as you’d expect – and it’s profoundly flawed. The following analysis explains precisely why the recent classic left me feeling, well, a little cold.

Firstly, the movie appears to be somewhat disjointed, almost as though they were toying with too many concepts at once. Consequently, nothing is explained. We learn nothing concerning Kristoff’s background other than that he is an experienced iceman. His adoptive family, the trolls, also lack development. Who are they? How did they come to be here, and why? And how on earth did Elsa’s father know about them and their healing powers? We’ll never know – these questions are never addressed. More importantly, Elsa’s powers are never fully explained. I appreciate it’s a fairy tale but it still needs to make sense. The father specifies that she was born with the powers rather than cursed, but once again it’s never explained why. And that’s ultimately the biggest flaw this film has – nothing is explained!

Following the film chronologically, Elsa is then quarantined off from everybody, while Anna’s memory is wiped in order to forget her magical powers. Once again, my question is WHY?! Elsa manages to subdue her powers by wearing gloves. This is proven on the day of her coronation, and everything is perfectly fine. If this is possible, why does she remain in hiding? On coronation day (which also frankly makes no sense – who the hell was running the kingdom during the three years following the king and queen’s deaths?!) Anna meets Hans, Prince of the Southern Isles, to whom she becomes engaged later that day, following a rather irritating pop song ‘Love is an Open Door’, which utilises modern-day phraseology to a jarringly cringe-worthy effect – a purposeful anachronism that seriously does not work. Elsa’s powers are then revealed before the townspeople, and she escapes, leaving Arendelle in an ‘eternal winter’. Subsequently, Anna decides to go after her, leaving the prince she just met barely five minutes ago in charge of the entire kingdom (what?!).
Elsa retreats to the mountains, where she builds herself an ice fortress, for no real reason other than to show off her powers in High Definition. This is accompanied by the best song in the film, ‘Let It Go’. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Meanwhile, Anna meets Kristoff and his reindeer Sven, who for some reason acts like a dog. How original. It’s not as though I’ve seen a hoofed animal act like a dog before… *cough*Tangled*cough*. Kristoff appears to exhibit some kind of bizarre, almost symbiotic relationship with Sven, speaking for him on numerous occasions as though they’re engaging in conversation. O…kay then. Moving on. The film’s focus then completely shifts to Anna, the ordinary sister, and her relationship with Kristoff. This is a bizarre and frankly major missed opportunity for Disney – Elsa could potentially be one of the most interesting, complex characters they ever created. Instead, they push her into the background. Nothing is explained concerning her powers, nothing! Is it caused by anguish, or fear, or anger, or sadness, or what? It’s never made clear. We gather that it’s invoked by some kind of mental torment, but, bafflingly, she was forbidden from showing her powers after having struck Anna – yet when she struck Anna she was happy, playing. So what exactly is she protecting her from?

Anna and Kristoff then meet the always-annoying and very-occasionally-funny snowman Olaf, who for no other reason than to pad out the film with filler, yearns for summer. The accompanying song also serves little purpose in terms of the film’s narrative. What’s more, Anna seems to remember Olaf from when she was younger – yet how can she if her memory of Elsa’s powers had been erased? But that’s a minor issue. My main problem with this character is that he is pointless. You might argue that he’s a side-character, but even the most irritating of the side-characters in previous Disney films served a purpose. In The Princess and the Frog (2009), Louis the alligator yearns to be human, and so has a logical motive for joining the protagonists on their quest, while Timon and Pumbaa in The Lion King (1994) represent an antagonistic, dissuasive conscience which helps to facilitate the narrative. But Olaf has no reason to accompany Anna, Kristoff and Sven, other than to witness the return of summer in an incredibly thin subplot – one which is used as a poor excuse for a song. It’s not clever, it’s not funny – it’s just lazy writing. 

Later, Anna ascends the staircase of the ice castle to confront Elsa, introducing her to Olaf. Elsa seems amazed by the fact that Olaf is alive – that she created life – and yet within minutes she conjures a giant snowman to guard her castle. If she didn’t know she could do it, how did she do it again?! After Elsa freezes Anna’s heart, they meet the trolls, and we endure another catchy but pointless song, concerning the relationship between Kristoff and Anna. It’s okay… but very pointless, as their relationship never actually blossoms, and it therefore serves no purpose to the narrative. In fact, saying that, there’s little point in any of the development of their relationship, as a true romance is never realised by the film’s culmination. This is fortunate in one sense, as otherwise the film’s message would be extremely contradictory; Anna is with Kristoff for barely any longer than she was with Hans (everyone gave her grief for that engagement, but nobody seems to care about Kristoff). But in another sense, it means that much of the film’s focus is completely misguided. Why do they give so much screen time to Anna and Kristoff when it isn’t relevant to the plot? 

They return to Arendelle soon afterwards, with the intention of finding Hans; as the trolls said, only an act of true love can unfreeze a frozen heart (again, why is this when a frozen head can be unfrozen in an instant?). Then, we get the big twist: Hans is evil, and merely wants Anna’s hand in marriage so that he can usurp the throne. A good twist, right? Um, well… it doesn’t really add up. If Hans’ intention was to take over the kingdom, why didn’t he when he had the chance? Anna essentially gave it to him! What’s more, he winds up lying that he and Anna said their marriage vows anyway, so why did he not simply kill Elsa on the mountain? Better yet, why did he venture out at all? It makes no sense.

The ending is also severely problematic. I appreciate what they were trying to do – instead of the ‘true love’s kiss’ cliché, they wanted to present us with an alternative, more feminist-friendly interpretation of true love. Now, I have no problem with this scene alone. In fact, I find it fairly admirable, in the sense that it is not only original, but more fitting for a contemporary audience. But in the context of the movie, it just doesn’t work. For more than half of the film, Anna and Kristoff’s relationship appears to represent one of the main themes, but it’s entirely disregarded in a shameful, last-minute, self-aggrandising attempt to confront the traditional, and to give the film a semblance of uniqueness and modernity in its final moments. That’s not ground-breaking; that’s bad writing. As a result, it’s incredibly anticlimactic. Finally, Elsa’s ‘winter’ is lifted after Elsa learns to love… somehow. I’m not quite sure how that works. I mean, when did she ever stop loving? She loved her sister so much, she locked herself away to protect her (even though she wore gloves all the time anyway…), and her parents clearly loved her too, so how on earth does exclaiming ‘Love! Of course, love!’ help in any way? Again, it makes no sense!

Overall, this film is a shambles, saved only by a decent soundtrack (though there have been far better in Disney’s canon). Part of the problem is that it’s unclear what the film is trying to be. The opening scenes feel very much like an adult musical, yet the scenes after ‘Let It Go’ seem to take a different direction entirely, turning it into some kind of child-friendly adventure story. In all, it’s very patchy and disjointed, and altogether doesn’t add up. Frozen’s success can surely only be put down to the effects of merchandising and their exploitation of the Disney Princess franchise. The songs are decent, but nothing special, and story-wise the film is severely problematic, laden with plot-holes. Disney have since announced that there is to be a sequel (which will no doubt, too, be godawful), but, on a personal note, now that it’s been two years since its initial release, particularly in light of its obvious flaws, I think it’s about time people let it go.

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