We Finally Broke Down and Watched 'Frozen'...Here is Pete's Review

A Review of the Movie ‘Frozen’

By Pete Schulte

For a person who likes to draw cartoons, I confess that I haven’t seen as many animated films as I perhaps should. Most of the time they’re really well done with great story lines and musical scores. I’d have to say my favorite of these is ‘Up.’ Luckily I was alone while watching it because I admit to breaking down in tears several times before it ended. I don’t know, some movies just get to you that way. Other favorites include ‘Despicable Me’ and its sequel, ‘Shrek,’ ‘The Lion King,’ and my childhood favorite ‘Dumbo.’

I was looking forward to seeing ‘Frozen’ after hearing such good tributes and after hearing Idina Menzel (or whatever John Travolta called her) sing ‘Let it Go’ at the Oscars. I didn’t know that ‘Frozen’ was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Snow Queen,’ an animated film I’d seen as a kid, a film that I remember scared me at the time. It’s funny how movies can sometimes jog a seemingly forgotten memory back to life.

Frozen tells the story of two sisters with royal lineage. The eldest, the young queen, struggles with the responsibility of power, while the younger princess struggles with, well, everything -- though she has an open heart and is a lot of fun. Anytime you have a backdrop concerning royalty (and in Disney films it’s quite frequent), there is always court intrigue, double-crossing and backstabbing, though the film makes all of this easy to follow. In any case, the queen sister banishes herself to a frozen mountaintop as she fears her dark powers are more powerful than the light. Sadly, she inadvertently leaves her subjects in a deep, endless freeze after fleeing. It’s up to the younger, klutzy princess to save her sister from herself, to save their kingdom from the cold, and to save everybody from the treachery of villains.

If you’re one of the few who hasn’t yet seen Frozen, do see it for the story of sisterhood, see it also for the comedy, and especially the sound and feel of the music. It’s just wonderful. Let it Go!

Now please let us know what some of your favorite animated films are. We would love to hear from you.