FROZEN

2013

Frozen is Disney's 53rd animated feature film, and the second one inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's short stories, The Little Mermaid being the first one.

Loosely based on the tale of the Snow Queen, Disney's first attempt at an adaptation of this story was way back in 1940 when Walt wanted to create a film based on Andersen's life and the stories he wrote. The film was never produced and the project of animating the Snow Queen was shelved as so many other projects in Disney's history.

The studio's latest effort to bring the production to life went through a lot of changes and has some really tough moments, but the end result was probably Disney's most popular musical since the movies from the 90's renaissance.

Originally the film was meant to be done in classic animation, but in the end it was produced in 3D animation which, for me, is kind of a shame because I'm not really fond of the way the film looks. Since the first time I saw it I had a hard time being OK with the way some of the environments look. And when you see what they look like in the visual development phase, you can't help but wonder what the film would have been if it had been done in traditional animation.

The Character Design done for Frozen is really beautiful. It takes the classic Disney Princess look to a more contemporary look. Brittney Lee did a fantastic job creating Elsa and Anna, giving them such beautiful costumes. 

Now, I want to point out some random stuff that I really like about the film and I'm not sure if they are intentional or not, but I couldn't help but notice. 

First of, when Anna goes looking for Elsa, I really like that the horse is the one that announces that Anna needs help. It reminds me of the same situation in Beauty and the Beast when Phillippe runs back to Belle after Maurice is attacked by wolves.

The second thing I like is the snowman that guards Elsa's castle. For me it was also a link to Beauty and the Beast, when LeFou guards Belle's house and is disguised as a snowman.

And then finally, how this scene from the beginning of Love is an Open Door reminds me of the Kiss the Girl sequence in Little Mermaid. Not just because of the way they are sitting down at night but more importantly the flowers that hang at the sides.

And talking about Love is an Open Door, in my opinion it's by far the best song from the film as opposed to the super popular Let It Go sung by Adele Dazeem Idina Menzel.