Call me crazy, I thought Frozen was just okay

[Meadowlark]

I was really looking forward to seeing it because of all the hype. We rented it last night.

 

Yes, I loved some of it. The music and singing was very cute and the animation was superb. The snowman was adorable. I was thrilled I did not hear words like idiot and moron, unlike many Disney movies I've recently seen.

 

BUT, am I the only prude who has a problem with their kids viewing movies where a character is being hunted to kill? I mean, really? Jeez, if I would've known that was in the movie, I would never have allowed it. I have a fundamental problem with it. I know life isn't all butterflies and rainbows, but I think it's okay for my kids to think that it is for now, They'll be introduced to reality soon enough without the help of Disney. Note to self-preview!

[AK_Mom4]

Most Disney movies kill off characters that way or try to. Think Snow White, Bambi, Beauty and the Beast. Hunt 'em down and kill 'em.

 

But I'm with you in the Just OK part for Frozen. Cute story but meh. I like the musi which is good because DD12 got the score and has been playing it non stop on the piano for weeks.

[Excelsior! Academy]

I agree with you about Frozen.  It was okay, definitely Disney quality, but certainly not the best movie ever made. 

[Julie Smith]

It was okay. But I also dont' see the big deal about it.

[Zuzu822]

I haven't watched it, but my older kids (7 and 5) started it and haven't expressed interest in finishing it.

 

Not our cup of tea, I guess. 

 

[LucyStoner]

I haven't seen it.

 

But the premise of most classic Disney films has some degree of death or being on the run/fear of death. Snow White being a prime example. More recently Little Mermaid and Aladdin.

[Tenaj]

I'm not sure why but it's been a favorite here but it may be because I don't purchase many movies anymore and I did purchase "Frozen".  I believe the kids have watched it four times since we got the DVD a few weeks ago.  Most of that is because it's my 4yodd's favorite at the moment and really the first Disney movie she's fallen in love with.    She always asks if we can watch, "Freeze" - LOL!  Since she has watched a lot of boy-interest movies in her short life (see my siggy line) I think her brothers are trying to be kind in letting her have her way on this one.

 

A related funny . . . my 17yods has really big speakers in his room and we were all treated to hearing the soundtrack echoing through the house from his room the other day.  Made us all laugh :)

 

Editing to add:  One of the reasons I like this one is that the monsters aren't very scary.  The big snowman makes my 4yo hide her eyes momentarily but even on the big screen it wasn't as scary as some past Disney movies.  Also, even the emotion doesn't seem to be quite as intense for my youngers . .. I have a few kids who can't watch Lion King without crying . . . also Nemo so I appreciated this movie for making my kids interested, not scared and not so emotional that the tears fall.

 

[NoseInABook]

My 6 year old is belting out Let It Go right now. I've seen bits and pieces but I haven't made it through the entire movie yet. My husband and the kids all love it.

[trulycrabby]

I really, really liked it, but it didn't blow me away. :)

[Mergath]

Dd, dh and I all liked it.  The music was great, second only to The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Lion King.  We're actually pretty picky about violence, but I didn't have a problem with any of it.  There has to be some element of fear in a movie, or it's going to be a dull ride for everyone.  I thought Frozen did a good job of being exciting enough to keep us adults from wanting to fling ourselves out second story windows from boredom, but not overwhelming for the younger kids. 

[fdrinca]

It's OK. I hoped for more, given the hype. I think it's the first *good* Disney movie in a while, plus there is a better message than "go get your man!" It's the first real Disney movie my daughter (age 5) has seen, so she's obsessed.

[Word Nerd]

I liked it more than I thought I would and am generally not swayed by hype. I was really disappointed by Tangled so my expectations weren't high for Frozen, but I was pleasantly surprised.

[AmandaVT]

We attempted it last night. None of us were entertained, which is rare for me and a Disney movie! I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I was watching with two males? DH borrowed it from a co-worker, because "everyone loves it". So we tried. DS mostly ignored it and played with toys. DH and I tried, but couldn't get into it. 

[KRG]

I haven't seen it yet but I'm sure I will be under-impressed. I never seem to have the same reaction to hyped up movies, books, etc that the majority of people do.  Most of the time when everyone raves about something I tend to skip it because I know I will not have the same reaction.

[sassenach]

I haven't seen it.

 

But the premise of most classic Disney films has some degree to death or being on the run. Snow White being a prime example. More recently Little Mermaid and Aladdin.

That made me laugh.  There's no reality check like one's childhood movies being 25 years old!

 

I wasn't bothered by Frozen's storyline, I just thought it was kind of scattered and not super entertaining.  I felt the same way about Brave.  Tangled, however, I LOVED.  

 

I did think it was visually stunning and the songs are certainly catchy.  

[gardenmom5]

I haven't seen it.  my dh didn't like it at all.

[clarkacademy]

Well at least you got through it I couldn't get past the first ten minutes.

[Joker]

We loved it here! We saw it in the theater multiple times, bought the dvd, and have the soundtrack as well. My youngest is even playing some of the songs on her keyboard as we speak. I have teens, though, so the violence in this movie was not something I even really thought about at all. I love that this is a movie that has my dds and their teen friends singing along and watching often.

[Jenny in Florida]

I'll go one farther: I thought it was just okay the night we watched it. Nothing special. I wasn't crazy about most of the animation. (I hate when they ignore things like physics.) And I thought the plot was. at best, muddled and the music derivative.

 

Still, generically cute enough.

 

However, with each week that passes since we watched it, I find myself liking it less and less in retrospect. I am, especially, so appalled by the way the girls' parents handle Elsa's "problem" and the effect it has on the sisters' relationship  -- and mostly the fact that this issue is never addressed or resolved -- that I just can't feel warm and fuzzy about the film. I found Anna's sense of being abandoned absolutely heartbreaking in a way that lingers in my brain and bothers me every time I think about it. (I feel the same way about Mufasa's death and Simba's grief in the Lion King, by the way, although at least the rest of that film was good enough to make it worth watching.)

 

But, yeah, not a Frozen fan here.

 

Edit: My son now refers to the film as "Frozen: The Full-length Music Video for Let It Go."

[mathmarm]

That movie was awful in a number of ways. I didn't care for it. Neither did my 4yo niece.

[Tess in the Burbs]

My kids didn't love it.

 

But at the swim meet today one of the teen boys chose that song from the movie as his intro music...the crowd went wild :-)

[poppy]

No interest at all in seeing it here. My kids didn't love it.... scary wolves apparently?

The only recent Disney/Pixar movie I liked was Tangled.

[I.Dup.]

Edit: My son now refers to the film as "Frozen: The Full-length Music Video for Let It Go."

 

:lol:  so true!

[ChristusG]

HUGE Disney fan here.....Personally I thought it was probably one of their very best animated movies. I absolutely loved it. And if you missed the big screen version in the theater, you missed a lot. I LOVED it on the big screen....the surround sound of the amazing soundtrack, the full screen....it was great. I totally loved that the "true love" in the end wasn't a guy. It always bothers me a little when love from a guy solves everything in the end. I love that this was the love of her sister.

 

As for it not being "real"....ignoring physics and all that. Really.....I mean, pretty much every kids show does that. So does every super hero movie. Most movies with special effects, etc.

 

We saw it the very day it came out so there was no hype about it yet. We see pretty much every Disney movie the day it releases.

[Jenny in Florida]

As for it not being "real"....ignoring physics and all that. Really.....I mean, pretty much every kids show does that. So does every super hero movie. Most movies with special effects, etc.

 

Well, no, I would argue that good ones generally don't.

 

While superhero flicks may set up an unreal situation, there is usually (at least in the better ones) some attempt to explain why that character's powers make things different. There are limits. Gravity is still gravity, even if one particular character can for some reason defy it. People and objects move in predictable ways that make sense within the rules the story has defined.

 

I think J.R.R. Tolkien called this idea "secondary belief." He said that a narrative should be internally consistent, meaning that an author may create a "secondary reality" that differs in some significant ways from the real world, but once those differences are defined, the author has to play fair in order not to break the spell.

 

I was bothered by numerous instances in Frozen when that was not the case, and it took me out of the story and destroyed the magic for me.

 

Personally, I've never believed media intended for kids should get a pass allowing lack of quality or laziness, just because it's "for kids."

 

Edit: I'm a huge Disney fan, too, by the way. But it certainly looks to me like the animation studio may be in a fallow period similar to the one from the 1970s and 1980s.

[happi duck]

We loved it here! We saw it in the theater multiple times, bought the dvd, and have the soundtrack as well. My youngest is even playing some of the songs on her keyboard as we speak. I have teens, though, so the violence in this movie was not something I even really thought about at all. I love that this is a movie that has my dds and their teen friends singing along and watching often.

I could post almost the same thing except ds plays Let it Go on guitar!

[katilac]

My teen girls and I loved it; dh hasn't seen it yet. 

 

It's visually stunning in the theatre in a way that can't be duplicated at home, so that is likely some part of it. 

[musicianmom]

I loved it in the theater, though I was really bothered by the way the parents handled Elsa's powers and by the fractured relationships.

 

But the plot really does not stand up to multiple (ad nauseam) viewings. Neither does Anna's cutesy Lauren Graham-ish way of talking. And I am starting to cringe every time I hear my kids singing "no right, no wrong, no rules for me."

[dollhouse]

The music was good, and I liked the snowman, but didn't think it was that amazing. I guess I'm not 10 anymore,

[fraidycat]

I liked Olaf. That's about it. I'd watch it again just for him.

 

My DD, who is 11 and has not gotten "into" any Disney movie since Winnie the Pooh when she was 2, loves it though.

[Laurie4b]

I liked the focus on the love of sister for sister rather than romantic love coupled with teh very strong countercultural message that going gaga for a guy whose character you don't know can be dangerous. As a woman, I applaud Disney's changes from passive female characters who wait for their prince to hand them a life to stronger female characters and now this emphasis on the love of sisters. However, when my sons were young, we were not into them watching a lot of Disney movies because the guys then were not heroes, but either villains or dufouses. I am glad that this one at least has a guy character that is a decent human being, brave, and not stupid.

 

As for violence, scary parts, etc. : Kids under 7 viewing big screen movies are at risk of much greater fear than older kids because they cannot distinguish reality from fantasy as well and the experience of the dark theater and huge screen heightens the sense of reality from it. So violence that wouldn't phase an 8 year old can give a 5 year old nightmares for years. (I personally experienced the latter, having dreams of Disney-like witches out to harm me or my family during my childhood years.)

[kewb]

We enjoyed the movie.  It was classic disney. I wouldn't say it was the greatest one ever but I wasn't expecting Gone with the Wind.

 

I think I enjoyed that blog post about the movie indoctrinating kids with a pro-gay marriage message more.

[Unicorn.]

I liked the focus on the love of sister for sister rather than romantic love coupled with teh very strong countercultural message that going gaga for a guy whose character you don't know can be dangerous. As a woman, I applaud Disney's changes from passive female characters who wait for their prince to hand them a life to stronger female characters and now this emphasis on the love of sisters. However, when my sons were young, we were not into them watching a lot of Disney movies because the guys then were not heroes, but either villains or dufouses. I am glad that this one at least has a guy character that is a decent human being, brave, and not stupid.

 

[snip]

 

This is a big reason that I loved the movie.  It wasn't the typical prince/princess meet, fall in love, live happily ever after garbage of most Disney movies.  I have to admit, one of my favorite parts is when she punches the guy.  I also really love Olaf, and want a little pet snowman of my own.  :D

 

Another big reason I like it so much, is that teen boys really enjoy it.  It's nice to see them enjoy something that doesn't involving killing and utter destruction.  It got a standing ovation from a bunch of older teen boys in the theater... I thought that was really sweet. 

 

[Seasider]

I think I enjoyed that blog post about the movie indoctrinating kids with a pro-gay marriage message more.

Seriously? I missed that...

[fraidycat]

I think I enjoyed that blog post about the movie indoctrinating kids with a pro-gay marriage message more.

What? Link please? Is the blogger saying that because the act of true love was between sisters that Disney is now promoting gay marriage?

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I had low expectations before seeing the movie, I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

[momto10blessings]

We enjoyed it

[Mommy22alyns]

It was "just okay" for me too.

[Zuzu822]

What? Link please? Is the blogger saying that because the act of true love was between sisters that Disney is now promoting gay marriage?

I think it was the storekeeper. When he said something to a (his?) family in a sauna- the implication being it was his male partner and children.

 

I read something along those lines, but may not be what the PP is referencing, and I haven't seen the film.

[WishboneDawn]

I thought the music was way below the usual standard for Disney. I enjoyed it in the end but we had (finally) watched Brave a week before it and Frozen suffered a lot in comparison to Brave.

[Seasider]

http://m.policymic.com/articles/79455/7-moments-that-made-frozen-the-most-progressive-disney-movie-ever

 

I had to go and google about the family in the sauna. The link above is to an interesting article that turned up. Perhaps it helps explain the enormous popularity (and marketing strategy!) related to this film.

[Isabella]

Haven't seen the movie, but I keep watching the Lexi walker and Alex boye Let It Go clip on youtube. It's awesome and addictive.

[aggieamy]

DD loves it.  DH hasn't watched it yet.  A friend and I watched last night and both hated it.  

 

Music - weak.  Nothing spectacular.  

Plot - horrible.  Disjointed and pathetic.  I felt like the writers didn't even try.

• Hans - No foreshadowing that he was a bad guy.  None.  He saves Elsa's life. Holds the kingdom together.  Acts selflessly.  And then ... nope.  He's actually a bad guy.  A really really bad guy.  That was stupid.
• Trolls - Unnecessary.  Felt out of place in the movie.
• The early scene with the trolls that Kristoff sees is never mentioned again.  It's like the guy on the wall in scene one.  It is supposed to go off before the end of the play.  
• Why does Elsa need to become sexy?
• Snow monster - So Elsa loves her sister but then sends a snow monster that could have killed her to attack her?  Not believing it.

 

I did love the setting and how pretty it was though.

 

[Seasider]

Amy, I think you'll like this...

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ThvBNZdGcQ

[aggieamy]

Amy, I think you'll like this...

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ThvBNZdGcQ

 

That is awesome!

[MeAndTheBoys]

THANK YOU.  Totally agree with all of this.  If my 11 year old keeps belting out "Let it Go" I may have to slug him--

 

The trolls were stupid.  STUPID.

 

I just agree with all of this :)

 

My only "like" about it was that sisterly love is the "love" of the movie--not a sappy "I'm a poor little helpless princess and your kiss will save me" kind of love.  I love my sister and would jump in front of something for her too :)

 

The girls' noses about drove me batty through the whole movie--they didn't even look like people.

 

But I did like the setting--there was some beautiful scenery in there.  And my DS2, big tall blond animal lover, is just like Kristoff.  And the snowman was kind of funny--

 

Betsy

DD loves it.  DH hasn't watched it yet.  A friend and I watched last night and both hated it.  

 

Music - weak.  Nothing spectacular.  

Plot - horrible.  Disjointed and pathetic.  I felt like the writers didn't even try.

• Hans - No foreshadowing that he was a bad guy.  None.  He saves Elsa's life. Holds the kingdom together.  Acts selflessly.  And then ... nope.  He's actually a bad guy.  A really really bad guy.  That was stupid.
• Trolls - Unnecessary.  Felt out of place in the movie.
• The early scene with the trolls that Kristoff sees is never mentioned again.  It's like the guy on the wall in scene one.  It is supposed to go off before the end of the play.  
• Why does Elsa need to become sexy?
• Snow monster - So Elsa loves her sister but then sends a snow monster that could have killed her to attack her?  Not believing it.

 

I did love the setting and how pretty it was though.

 

[MeAndTheBoys]

We enjoyed the movie.  It was classic disney. I wouldn't say it was the greatest one ever but I wasn't expecting Gone with the Wind.

 

I think I enjoyed that blog post about the movie indoctrinating kids with a pro-gay marriage message more.

 

The post I saw didn't even make sense--at the very end, the snow monster puts on Elsa's tiara--and some blog tried to make a big deal out of that ????????????????????????????????????????????//

 

Betsy

[Annie G]

We saw it on dvd when the grandkids came to visit last month. I thought the movie was just 'ok' but loved the music.  For me, the best part of watching it was that the two granddaughters sang the entire thing with their father, which was charming.  

 

 

[Above The Rowan]

As a general rule, I detest Disney. I cannot stand them. However I think they are starting to make some steps in the right direction in terms of their female characters. This one surprised me, I was thinking it was gonna be another "knight in shining armour saves the day" and then turns out sister saved sister instead. That was a nice change.

 

It was not as good as some others though. I thought the music was okay, and felt okay about the characters. Brave was much better though.

 

I tend to prefer older Pixar films over Disney as a general rule.

[Tess in the Burbs]

Ok, I finally saw it.  At this point my kids were excited to see it again since every kid they know loves it.  

 

It's just ok.  My kids like the music however, and they and their friends make up new words to the songs....quite hilarious.  It was so boring I packed it up and sent it back the same day it arrived and dh never got to see it lol.  

 

It was worth seeing once.  But I could go awhile without needing to see it again .