It often surprises people but I'm quite the fan of the Disney animated film. For many years in my childhood, The Little Mermaid was my favourite film and Prince Eric was my first film crush. I mean look how pretty he is...
And he plays a musical instrument and has an adorable pet sheep dog...pretty much the perfect man, right? What a pity, he is fictional and a cartoon.
Anyhow that said, like most people I have a bit of an issue with the expectations they establish for young women- true many of them are after all based on fairy tales, most of which were written to help keep the women in their place BUT the Disney version of The Little Mermaid gives a much more "keep them in their place" view of women than the original. And then along came Frozen!
Surprisingly for a film that includes the voice talents of many actors I'm quite the fan of (Jonathan Groff, Idina Menzel, Alan Tudyk, and Kristen Bell), it came to cinema screens without me hearing much about it at all. I was a little curious but not enough to look into it. Then friends started seeing it and they started ranting about how much they loved it so I caved and went along to see it myself.
First a synopsis, Frozen is the tale of two sisters, Elsa and Anna. Their parents are killed at sea and the young girls left to fend for themselves (well they are princesses so really be taken care of by servants) and in addition to this, Elsa has since birth made an uncontrollable power to create ice and snow, and after an incident that almost kills Anna, Anna's memory of her sister's powers is erased by trolls and Elsa isolates herself from Anna and the castle is locked to avoid people discovering Elsa's power. After years of distance between the two sisters and isolation from the outside world, the castle is opened to the people when Elsa comes of age and is crowned queen. Anna, now a flighty young adult, falls in love with the first man she meets, Prince Hans, and decides to marry him after only knowing him for a couple of hours. The sisters fight and Elsa's powers are triggered and she freezes the whole kingdom before fleeing into the mountains to be alone. Anna goes to the mountains to find her sister in order to unfreeze the kingdom and as she travels she meets Kristoff an ice salesman whose only friend is his pet reindeer , Sven,and also Olaf a sun loving snowman who Elsa brought to life by accident. When they find Elsa, the sisters fight again and Elsa accidentally strikes Anna in the heart with ice. Kristoff rushes her to the trolls to get help but it is discovered that only an act of true love can cure her...
Stopping before I spoil the ending.
So why is this film different?
Is it a better Hans Christian Andersen adaptation than The Little Mermaid? No, as an adaptation of The Snow Queen, it is definitely a failure. It is more of an homage than an adaptation. Is it that it is unique in it style? No, many people have commented and I agree, it owes a lot to Wicked and not just the casting of Idina Menzel (BTW, anyone know if there is an original Broadway cast recording of Wicked on CD or DVD available anywhere?).
The difference and one of the more amazing things about Frozen is summed up in this meme:
The amazing thing is that finally Disney openly acknowledges that marrying a man you just met or who doesn't really know you (sorry Mulan fans but I would argue she also falls into this camp- I would argue potentially Belle from Beauty and the Beast does not but no-one says it in her case) is a STUPID idea, and that marriage isn't the be all and end all for a young girl. Both Elsa and Kristoff declare that Anna is foolish in getting engaged the first night she meets a man. In addition to this, aside from her powers, it is not questioned that Elsa as a young single woman would be perfectly suitable candidate for queen. Finally, Anna's desire to help her sister show that even though she could have been a Disney witch, Elsa is not to be dismissed or considered villainous after she freezes the kingdom- she is the most sympathetic "witch" that Disney has ever given us and she is definitely not a villain.
I would add more but that would be spoilers, needless to say, the film's ending supports my argument. The ending gives me other things to say but spoilers...
The film is amazing for many reasons- the songs, the snowman who longs for summer, the voice acting- but I would argue that this is the first Disney film that I would say every child should see for the expectation and ideas it gives them (especially young girls)*. I will still love the other Disney princess films for what they are but this finally is a Disney film with its ideas about women heading in a direction I would prefer.
And if you haven't seen it and need more convincing, for an animation and song point of view, not a gender politics standpoint, watch this clip of the amazing Let It Go as sung by the absolutely astounding Idina Menzel (who voices Elsa in the film):
Convinced, now? You should be!
*I should admit I've not seen Brave and I think it might be more in the vein of Frozen than earlier Disney.
