Frozen

My sister and I are best friends, but we didn't used to be. We didn't really get to BE friends until I moved away to college - I don't know if we were too close or not close enough in age (we're three school years apart, about two and a half years apart in age), but we bickered and fought and pushed each other away for most of our childhoods. Now, we go out together. We talk on the phone. We are friends, confidants, an essential part of each others' lives. I tell you thing because it's a key part of why Frozen was so deeply, deeply affecting to me.

Disney has been on a role lately, portraying familial relationships that are just as, if not more important to the characters in its movies than romantic relationships. In last year's Brave, there WAS no romantic relationship - it was all about Merida and her mother. Likewise, the central relationship in Frozen is not that between Anna and one of her two suitors, but between her and her older sister Elsa. And let me tell you, Frozen GETS it. Frozen takes you into the relationship between these two girls and shows you how hard it is to be so close to someone, how hard it is to grow into different people, and how necessary it is to hang onto that bond. Yes, I had some problems with a few of the musical numbers (a couple felt shoehorned in, like they were more obligatory than necessary, and I just didn't care for one on a musical level), and yes, I wish the story had spent more time on Elsa and her struggles. But this is a movie about sisters, and it gets the sister relationship so profoundly right that I have a hard time complaining about the other stuff.

There is one other thing the story does that I won't spoil, but suffice to say, it is a complete departure from what you'd expect and what Disney has been criticized for doing in the past that I just have to applaud them for doing it. You'll know it immediately, and when you do, we can talk about the implications it has for the future of Disney princesses. It is a development that excites me.

One unexpected thing the film did in a really fantastic way: that snowman. If you're like me, you watched the trailers for Frozen with no small amount of dread, because of that AWFUL snowman. I was so afraid that he'd be this intrusive, forcefully comedic character that the movie wanted for marketing purposes. But! Olaf the snowman is quite well utilized. His humor is well deployed, so that it enhances rather than detracts from the emotional moments. He walks a fine line between endearing and annoying without ever falling on the bad side. I ended up laughing sincerely with him much more than I anticipated.

This is all to say nothing of the sheer beauty of the film - Frozen is incredibly lovely. The ice and snow glitters, and the other colors are vibrant against the white landscapes. The voice acting is likewise fantastic, with Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel voicing the sisters to great effect (if you haven't seen the "Let It Go" sequence, which Disney recently put up on YouTube, I highly recommend it - it doesn't spoil the plot, and gives you an enticing taste of Menzel's power in the role of Elsa). i

Frozen has been getting a lot of controversy, regarding the overwhelming whiteness of the cast and the trimming of female characters from the source story The Snow Queen. Both are legitimate criticisms, but don't let them prevent you from seeing such an incredible story about the love between sisters and the power of family. At the end of the day, Frozen is about two sisters who save themselves, regardless of the other people (including men) that enter their lives. And that is an achievement worth celebrating.