I saw Disney’s newest animated movie, Frozen last night. And you know I love Disney with all of me. You know I love seeing a movie before it’s actually released. And you know I’ll be truthful (and nitpicky) with my review. My review of Brave had over 51 comments and most of them said, “OK. Now I won’t see the movie.” I’m sure Pixar is eternally grateful that I reviewed the movie for them!
Here’s the thing–most family movie reviews focus on how many cuss words and if there’s any drinking. I want to know all the little things–do siblings hate each other? are the guys ogling girls? are the parents stupid? These are the things I’m going to put in this review. I’m just warning you so you don’t finish this post and say, “Good grief. She’s going a little overboard.” I’m not. I’m just telling you the little details so you can decide if it’s right for your kids to see. You are the gatekeeper to your children’s hearts and mind! Be wise in what you let in!
(All that sounded awfully serious, didn’t it?!)
First of all, let’s begin with “Get a Horse!” the short featurette before the movie. And pretty much, I was sold from there. Old school, vintage-y Mickey and Minnie?! It was so perfect. I’m not going to give away the fun of the cartoon but if you love classic Mickey Mouse with all the slapstick humor and falsetto voices, you’ll love love love this!
Now. Let’s get to Frozen. Ready?
{slight spoilers ahead}
Here’s what happens in the first 5 minutes…
If Tangled was about parents wishing for their child and Brave was about a mom and daughter’s relationship, then Frozen is about two sisters. Anna, the gregarious extrovert and Elsa the quieter big sister. However, Elsa has magical powers–she can create snow and frost with her hands!
She and Anna use the ballroom of their palace to make a winter wonderland complete with funny snowmen, snowflakes and snowdrifts. Then Elsa accidentally hits Anna in the head with her snow powers and Anna is knocked out–feared to be dead!
Anna and Elsa’s parents rush her to a group of trolls (super cute and funny trolls) who heal her head but erase her memories of Elsa’s magical powers. Elsa and her parents decide to hide all traces of Elsa’s powers. This drives a wedge between Anna and Elsa as the younger sister cannot understand why her big sis is so distant.
{and bigger spoilers in this paragraph}
And the adventure…
On the day of Elsa’s coronation, Anna is ecstatic with finally opening the doors to the castle and inviting people in. She meets a Prince and falls in love and gets engaged. This makes Elsa so mad, she loses control and covers the village and fjord in ice. She then runs to hide in her new ice palace in the mountains. Anna runs after her and meets up with rugged Krisotff and his reindeer, Sven. The almost-engaged Prince stays at the palace to keep the peace.
{and HUGE spoilers now. You might wanna skip to the next section…}
And the ending…
When Anna finds Elsa, Elsa’s snow power hits Anna in the heart–freezing her heart which will eventually freeze her completely. Kristoff takes her to the trolls (who try to marry them to each other) and tell them the only cure is “an act of true love”. So, of course, Kristoff rushes to take Anna to her new Prince…of course realizing that he himself is in love with Anna.
In the end, the Prince is a slimy crook hoping for Elsa’s crown and tries to kill her. But before he strikes the death blow, the almost-frozen Anna jumps in front of Elsa to sacrifice herself. She immediately turns to ice and Elsa is devastated. But, in the vein of Beast and Flynn, in a few seconds Anna is brought back to life. The “act of true love” wasn’t true love’s kiss but the sacrificial act of a sister.
Why you and your kids will want to see Frozen…
1. Norway. How fun to have a movie in Norway! The first song is sung by ice cutters and it’s just thrilling! I loved the buildings, the clothes and accents.
2. Olaf. He’s the funny snowman you’ve probably seen in the previews. You’d think he’s kinda the snowy version of Shrek’s Donkey. Instead he’s the embodiment of Ann and Elsa’s childhood bond. And the sweetest, most naive little guy you’ll ever meet.
3. Sisters. I firmly believe cultivating strong, healthy sibling relationships is one of the best things we can do for our kids. If they can learn to love, depend on and encourage their siblings, it will be practice for future relationships! This movie was all about loving, protecting and being faithful to your siblings.
4. No romance. This movie wasn’t about finding the man of your dreams. It was about saving your sister. The final big scene wasn’t a man and woman kissing–it was two sisters hugging!
5. Music. Oh, the music! This was a musical. Like a musical musical where people are singing about opening doors and walking across the room. Love.
6. Snow. The snow was so pretty! When Elsa used her powers, it was gorgeous!
**updated to add #7 because I saw the movie again on Thanksgiving!**
7. Self-Control. When the trolls heal Anna’s memories as a child, they also give Elsa a warning. If she doesn’t learn to control her powers and gives into fear, there will be chaos and disaster. When Elsa does cause chaos and Anna tries to convince her to help her melt the snow, Elsa realizes she has let fear take over her life. It was a big big object lesson about self-control and letting fears run wild.
Why you and your kids might NOT want to see Frozen:
1. Snow monster. When Elsa is in her ice palace, she creates an snowy ice monster to keep everyone away. He was kinda scary. My timid 7 year old is not going to like him. He has 2 roaring-snarling scenes.
2. Romance. I know, I said there was no romance. But there kinda was. When Anna meets her prince at the coronation party, they fall in crazy love (the song is hilarious!) and decide to get married right away. There is much talk about true love, falling in love in one day, engagement, true love’s kiss, first kiss, etc. It’s definitely shown to be silly and not a good idea (Kristoff is appalled!) but I know my kids are not going to get it. Especially because the Prince is super cute and nice at the beginning. He’s not Gaston, where even though he’s attractive he’s a jerk. This guy is cute and nice.
3. Magic. There is no explanation to why Elsa has magical powers or everyone knows and trusts trolls. There is no “bad magic” in it–Elsa does not turn into an evil queen or anything. The magic kinda reminded me of Sophia the First–they just live in a normal town, it just happens to have flying horses, talking animals and magicians. But if magic bothers you, this is not the movie for you!
A few things that might make you raise your eyebrow:
1. When Elsa finally embraces her snowiness and builds her snow palace, she changes her clothes and Whoa, Mama! She’s got a skin tight, slit up the thigh, off the shoulder dress that shows off wiggling hips and every curve. I think I said, “Dang.” when she walked out.
2. Anna’s excitement at the coronation party is mainly about hoping she meets a man and falls in love. She imagines herself in several romantic scenes (men talking to her, holding out their hand to her, laying on a picnic blanket together, etc.) So, if this is a movie you end up buying and keeping at home, your daughter will be singing about it.
3. Anna and Kristoff do kiss at the end. (And are cartoon kisses getting more real?)
In conclusion
My often-scared-ran-out-of-the-room-when-she-first-saw-Beauty-and-the-Beast 7 year old daughter and my silly 5 year old boy are going to see it this weekend. I thought it was funny, sweet and had a good message. I liked how there wasn’t really an evil magic bad guy. The music was beautiful and the scenery breath-taking.
The characters didn’t have the heart squeeze of Rapunzel and Flynn or Carl and Russell. But they were super fun and I’m sure I’ll be giddy next time I go to Disney World and get my picture taken with Anna.
Updated to add: My kids both loved it. Of course, my son said his favorite was the snow monster. Typical boy. My daughter and I had a great conversation about self-control and fear. They also really did not like the Prince because he “pretended to be good”. I was surprised they’d get his duplicity. Overall, I liked it better the second time I saw it!
Just a few cartoony things…
OK. I can’t stop myself. So much of this movie reminded me of Tangled! The village, the decorations in the village, the horses, the boat even the fun, naive awkwardness of the main character. At one point, Anna, the prince and a horse are in a small boat and it could have been Flynn, Rapunzel and Maximus!
Updated to add: I saw Rapunzel as a cameo in the movie! Right when Anna opens the gates and walks out, Rapunzel walks in! Look for her signature pink/purple dress and her new short, brunette ‘do!
My sisterchicks, Staci and Kristen were at the movie with me. In the middle, Staci said, “So, are you taking notes for a birthday party?” Heh. Well, we just did a snow party for Secret of the Wings. But I did love our Tangled party. Maybe a Frozen one would be a good idea. *wink*
So. Are you going to see Frozen? Or no?
I attended Frozen as a member of the media. All opinions my own. All photos property of Walt Disney Company.
Hi,
Thanks so much for the review, my 2 boys had seen the snowman and thought he was great.
I am thankful to you for how you have done the review, because it has saved me some money on a movie I wouldn’t go see.
For me, Deut 18 I keep away from magic all together. As a parent it is so hard to know how to guard them, and this particular verse helped me quite some time ago to draw a line in the sand that said no.
Why make some magic ok and not others? To me that seemed like it would confuse my kids.
If the enemy can be insidious he will, so we just steer clear.
There are other things we can do.
So, thanks for taking the time to make it a meaningful review that’s useable.
God bless
You are welcome, Lisa! I love what you said about steering clear! Thanks for your comments. 🙂
a
In almost all disney movies there is the magic. Personally, I saw “The sleeping beauty” when I was a little child, and I never questioned because the fairies magic was good and the witch magic was evil. And in the other movies too, it never confused me. Probably he thought the obvious:
1- In the fairytales there are the good magic and the evil magic, just as in the reality there are plants good to eat and poisonous plants.
2- The goodness or the evilness of magic depends on the person who use it. A knife can be used to cut an apple in pieces and to feed people, but also to hurt people. It depends on who wield it.
Thanks Fra,
You made me realise I hadn’t been clear – I also watched all the Disney classics as a child, good magic v bad magic, etc.
However, as I am a christian I have to base my viewpoint on God’s. HIs word says in the verse mentioned above, that witchcraft (good/bad magic) is an abomination. So, for me, I steer clear.
The anology of a knife then doesn’t work, because the basis is that it ALL is wrong.
Like I said, it is insidious.
I am just so pleased that there are alterantives to watch!
Praise the Lord! I am not the only one out there that believes God does not have a grey area for “good magic” My bible says in Revelation 21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
There is no exception for the “good sorcerers”
Dear Lisa:
So blessed by your comments….as I was thinking of taking my 7 (although age doesn’t matter) to see the cute snowman thing but had a check in my heart to look further before I leap. Oh how clear black/white the Word is and I appreciate your reminder of magic and how it grieves the heart of God when we go against His will for ourselves and these precious ones He’s entrusted us to.
Thanks….
In Him,
Mona
I love your reviews and how you approach them! I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I did read a storybook version that was recently put out. One thing I wondered about as I was reading it, was if it was confusing that there wasn’t a ‘clear’ villain or evil character. Elsa does things that are scary but she isn’t a clear villain (that was my impression from the book). I’ve heard it said that even though it seems scary, it is often good for little minds that there is a clear ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘good’ and ‘evil’. Does that make any sense? Anyway…we’ll probably be seeing it because it really looks amazing (and we have Norway in our blood :))…but this was something that crossed my mind as I was reading the story.
Yeah, I do know what you mean. It could be a bit confusing for kids—I think the movie clearly shows Elsa’s internal struggle. And how she’s trying to protect herself and THINKS she’s protecting everyone from her powers.
It may be a good conversation starter to talk about how things can LOOK good on the outside but are evil (like the Prince) or how we can lose control (like Elsa) and hurt people. Good thoughts, Courtney!
a
That’s good to know! I agree that these things could be a really good conversation starter.
Thanks for the review. The grandparents want to take my 4 and 6 year olds this weekend, but I wasn’t sure about it. It is so hard to know about Disney movies these days. Your review seems consistent with the one I read at Plugged In last night. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thanks, Kristen! I do love Plugged In’s reviews!
a
Loved your review honey! You made me want to see it. I vote for seeing it on Thanksgiving!
Well, I was going to write a review but you just said it all 🙂 I took my girls and all three of us LOVED it. We laughed until we cried. My youngest said it was her favorite Disney movie now!
PS your pic under Get a Horse isn’t working
Hmm. Weird. All the pictures on my blog seem to be jacked. Another thing to add to my to do list…
My family did a screening of the movie before it aired as well. My 9 year old daughter left there taking about how this movie was really about sister relationships (we have 4 girls). So, II’ll say she got the concept of the movie. I loved the scenery, the songs & of course the sister relationship theme. I did think the ice monster was a bit scary & wasn’t sure f my 7 year old was going to be scared. Our friend’s 3 year old son got a bit scared with the 3D motions, but once he knew they weren’t going to actually come out of the screen, he was fine. I definitely recommend this movie & will probably buy it for my 9 & 7 year old daughters.
Thanks for your insight, Becky! I love hearing how your daughter picked up on sister themes. 🙂
a
thank you for your imput…i wish I had known about Brave and Tangeled before i introduced them to my children. i think we will stay away from this one though.
Those are the details I look for. Thanks for taking the time to do this review. Looks fun!
Thanks so much for your review! Yes, those are just the kind of details that I want to know about movies that my kids will see, and I was interested to see what Frozen will be like. I don’t mind the spoilers! Hadn’t thought of taking the kids, but maybe we’ll watch it…. my 7 yr old sounds a lot like yours! 🙂
Thank you so much for your review. I really appreciate the issues you were careful to discuss. I will be checking back here for reviews more often. Sure wish I would have seen your review of Brave before I went to see it. Never been so mad at Disney in all my days! Thanks again….we can’t wait to see Frozen!
As a mother of older kids, I look at different things now, and I mostly appreciated that Frozen was entertaining without being too little-kid oriented (we were all bored at Planes) or too scary or filled with adults themes, etc. …I could go on. I thought that Frozen was a good mix – good music, sisterly love, beautiful scenery, good story. I actually liked that there was no clear villain (at least not through most of the movie).
Loved your review, and yes, going to see it. I also appreciated your review of Brave.
I truly appreciate your details and descriptive honesty ~ THANK YOU!!! Could you do this for me about EVERY movie please (lol) 🙂 We are going to see this movie for sure and I’m grateful to be prepared for what I will see and need to explain to my daughter ?
I actually read this after we went to see it this morning. Everything you said was so true. But It was a GREAT movie! I though the snowman was HILARIOUS! My daughter is 5 and the snow monster didn’t bother her. It was a great movie for everyone! I can’t wait until it comes out on video…. Def a must have!
Great review! I just saw it and LOVED IT, and this was a great summary!!
Thank you for the honest review! We have three girls and I can’t BELIEVE some of the movies that we’ve rented and have ended up turning off in the first 10 minutes!! We actually did like Tangled, but have turned off many others. It shocks me to see what is in a G movie these days and how many movies geared towards young kids are PG…crazy!!! I’m glad to hear you liked this one…I trust your perspective! Did you happen to review Brave…I heard it was a tad scary (my 7 year old is super sensitive)?!
Thanks again!
Here’s my Brave review: http://ohamanda.com/2012/06/22/brave-movie-review-pixar-mom/
🙂
Even though, or maybe because, my kids are 14 and 16, we still talk about movies, what they mean, what is going on. Thanks for this. We will go see it, and then we will talk about it, especially about love. They are close siblings, the youngest of many, and I think they will like that aspect.
I think we are going to see this Friday and now I feel much better about it. It will be my childs first movie at a theater. Thanks
Hi Amanda,
I would love to hear more about your take on magic. How do you approach the subject with your kids? Where do you draw the line between good/bad/ evil? Do you think kids can differentiate between the differences of imaginative play and real dangerous magic spells etc… And everything in between. My daughter is almost 5 now and until now we have just had a general no magic policy, however as we approach school and more imaginative play opportunities with other kids arise she is going to come across it more.
Thankyou for your blog and ministry.
We are looking forward to starting Truth in the Tinsel this year!
We just saw it today with my 9 y/o. I echo what you said in your review…loved that ‘true love’ doesn’t save the princess and was a bit appalled by the sexiness of Elsa’s dress. I wonder though about the confusion for a little person around the prince’s betrayal. Will hopefully lead to some good conversation.
I went to see Frozen with my DH at a sneak peak. I liked the fact that it didn’t have super scary stuff like witches (The Little Mermaid or Snow White). I love love love the ice (I live in Canada LOL). I will NOT be taking my kiddos (5 &3) to see it. They would find the snow monster too scary. They found Cinderella scary until just recently (Lucifer the cat). The only movies they’ve seen so far are Cars (the first one), and since July of this year Planes, and Cinderella.
I like the message – siblings together, there for each other. My DH doesn’t like the magic. We are discussing whether or not to allow the kids to see it when they are older. Be careful little eyes what you see…. once you’ve seen something it is almost impossible to get it out of your head and so I’d rather error on the side of caution. Not sure where we stand on ‘good’ magic.
Disappointed that the lake scene with Olaf and Sven chasing Olaf’s carrot nose wasn’t in the movie. I laughed when I saw it on the trailer.
I agree about Olaf’s scene… My husband and I were discussing that. It will probably be on the blu-ray/DVD extra stuff!!!
Absolutely!!! Can’t wait!!!! Thanks for the review! 🙂
Thank you for the review on Frozen. My girls want to see it and now I am also excited to go. As I am sure everyone experiences siblings and their spats with each other, this should be a great movie for them. I am always reminding them “shes your sister, you will always have each other” ,when they can’t seem to get a grip on the bickering. I am curious to see how they react to this movie.
Thanks again,
Michele.
I love, love, love that you do movie reviews!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I didn’t even consider taking my daughter (4) to see this because of the rating. I thought it looked adorable but after a mistake with Brave, I was not going to trust it. Sure wish I heard about your reviews before that mistake. My daughter thanks you too!
Yay! I’m excited to see it now! Thanks so much for this great review 🙂 I’m always looking for exactly the same kind of things you’re looking for, and this came just as we were talking about whether or not to go see it. Love timely posts! Hope your Thanksgiving was awesome!
We enjoyed it too, Amanda, and the opening cartoon was great. I was already wishing we had done the 3D thing at that point.
We saw it this last weekend. 8yo daughter, almost 7yo son… Both loved it. We will definitely be buying this movie my daughter told me this weekend… I did love it. I have 2 younger sisters myself and I loved how this movie concentrated on that and I of course of wanting and waiting for the “True Loves Kiss” and when it happened to be the act of sisterly love that broke the curse I was elated!!! Even more so when my daughter actually got the correlation. My son was typical boy and loved the horse and the snowman!!! They both commented on the “jerk” the prince was. I wasn’t to keen on the “jerk” part but they were pretty much right on the mark.
All and All your review is what I would have gotten from this movie as well. LOVED IT!!! REFRESHING comes to mind.
Oh and the Mickey Cartoon was AMAZING!!! That is how I remember “Pete”. Not how they make him a simple bad but trying to be nice guy. Just mean ole Pete, and Mickey saving Minnie!!!
The black and white to color was sooooo cool!!!
[He was kinda scary. My timid 7 year old is not going to like him. ]
[Of course, my son said his favorite was the snow monster. ]
LOL
You missed 2 parts I kind of found inappropriate for a young child’s movie 1 when the snow man got stabbed through by the icicle and said oh look I’ve been impaled and 2 when kristoff took Ana to the trolls after her heart was frozen and the troll grabbed at his clothes and told him take off your clothes
Yes, I’ve caught those two. Very inappropriate!! Not for children. this movie.
Also, after that a troll jump over Kristoff and the image is a little sexual.
I really appreciate such a well-written and honest review! I did NOT let my kids watch Brave, but this movie seems like a good choice for my kids. I also like to look at the little things like family relationships, attitudes, etc. in a movie. I have boys, and they are more sensitive to attitude and respect issues as opposed to things like the snow monster, which I’m sure they will love. 😉 We are definitely a Christian family, but I grew up reading and loving Tolkien and Lewis – who were both huge fantasy and “magic” authors as well as strong believers, so I certainly believe Christians can enjoy movies with those elements as well as books (as much classic literature contains such elements). Thanks for your thoughts!!
Thanks, Amanda! My mom wants to take Libbie and I told her I would have to see what Amanda said about it first. 🙂 I loved Brave but your review was spot-on and we haven’t let Libbie see it yet. I hate how even Disney can’t just make things G anymore.
My sister and I took our younger sisters to see it, we are 19, 21, 9 and 7 respectively. I loved it. I thought it was a little dark at the beginning, very sad (for me), but I loved it and so did my sisters. I also have a cousin who just turned 6 and just got her own little sister and she also loves Frozen. I think it sends a good message about sisters and to me personally about not letting boys ruin a good sister bond.
Good review. I agree — I didn’t like Elsa’s outfit when she first took up residence in the palace, but I can say that the message that really came home with my 4 year old daughter was “fight for the ones you love”. She always wants to act out the scene where Anna goes the palace and then FINALLY Elsa returns home. Good movie in my book. I wish I would have seen Rapunzel cameo though!
I’m really confused by the scene where the troll asks Kristoff to take off his clothes. Why was this said? It seemed very random. Thanks for any insight.
I think she says “take your cloths off ill wanna wash them” referring again to kristoffs smell. Although still not appropriate as it may leave question to what the troll wants, especially for a child
In the “Fixer Upper” Song I thought there was a little innuendo…
“Trolls:
Is it the way that he runs scared, or that he’s socially impaired
Or that he only likes to tinkle in the woods — what?!
Are you holding back your fondness due to his unmanly blondness
Or the way he covers up that he’s the honest goods ”
After that taking off the clothes reference…
I let my four-year-old daughter watch the movie and she’s been singing it ever since. She’s well aware that ice isn’t going to form around her feet while she sings, but that’s because she’s probably more in tune with reality than most of you.
By the way, be sure you all stay consistent with your anti-magic and tell your kids Santa, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and everything else is fake. Also, unicorns aren’t real and imagination is bad.
Somewhere God is shaking his head because some idiots don’t know the difference between principles and rules.
“I regulate more than you because I’m a better parent!”
Hope you don’t mind, I borrowed your awesome format here for the review I recently wrote on How To Tarim Your Dragon 2! http://www.simplelifemessylife.com/how-to-train-your-dragon-2-review/
Thanks for the great reviews!!
Yay! I can’t wait to read it! I’ll have a review up next week, too! 🙂
I have to mention the things that truly bothered me about this movie. First, using violence and wanting to “kill” others bothers me in a children’s movie. This happened several times.
Second, at the end Ana punches the mean prince in the face, he falls and she is applauded. I teach my child hitting is wrong whether someone “deserves” it or not.
Am I the only mom bothered by the intent to kill and punching?!
Did you notice what was said when Ana was introduced to the trolls??? The male troll pulled at Kristoffs clothes while saying “Take off your clothes” …..all Disney movies have little sex related sayings. When does it stop?
My girls have fallen in love with this new Youtube Channel, It’s elsa wearing normal clothes, and reading bedtime books that aren’t Frozen!!! Such a relief, thought I’d share since your child seems to love Frozen just as much!!!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?feature=c4-feed-u&list=PLK-ga1PfJ4pbCmT3wZIrrA2kWzHR1WML1
Join Elsa as she reads bedtime stories to your kids from her bedroom in the palace of Arendale! A new book will be read and posted every monday and friday starting in January, and yes Elsa wears normal clothes, because no one would want to wear a gown 24/7 in real life! Sweet and quirky, these tales read by Elsa will easily capture your kids hearts 🙂