“Frozen” Talkback

Frozen, Disney’s 53rd animated feature, directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, opened in the United States this week. The Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score currently stands at 84%, which trails Tangled’s 89%. The film is bolstered by a 91% Rotten Tomatoes audience rating which is higher than Tangled’s audience rating of 87%.

Critics have been kind to the movie, but in a backhanded way. Stephen Holden in the New York Times called the film’s characters unconventional, but he apparently didn’t think the same of the plot because he gave away Frozen’s plot twist in the first paragraph of his review. Holden went on to say that the story lacked “the purity and elemental power of a classic myth like Beauty and the Beast,” and that the film, “for all its innovations, is not fundamentally revolutionary. Its animated characters are the same familiar, blank-faced, big-eyed storybook figures.”

Peter Travers in Rolling Stone also damned the film with faint praise:

In a year of weak animated features, Frozen – loosely based on “The Snow Queen” – takes the lead by default. There’s not much flair in the story of princess sisters Anna and Elsa, divided by Elsa’s uncontrollable ability to turn things, even Anna, to ice. But the animation is pretty, the songs are tuneful, and Josh Gad gets big laughs as Olaf, a snowman with a sun fetish. It’s the holidays, people, work with it.

Now it’s time for the Internet’s most knowledgeable animation community to share their thoughts. After you see Frozen, report back here with your thoughts in the comments below. As always, this talkback is reserved for readers who have seen the film and wish to comment on it. General comments about the film, or commentary from those who have not seen the movie, will be deleted.

(Frozen billboard via Daily Billboard)