Comments on: Animation Addicts Podcast #55: ‘Frozen’ – She’s Flawless…with Flaws!

By: The Animation Commendation

The Animation Commendation — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 15:46:00 +0000

Good podcast!

I like this film, but prefer Tangled. I also feel that Fixer Upper is extremely unnecessary.

By: shaunn

shaunn — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 17:25:00 +0000

Hi! Finally had a chance to finish your podcast. A couple of observations: first, I really do get the feeling, along the way, that your collective critique is (as Chelsea says, I think) somewhat critical for the sake of being critical. As I was listening to what you were saying I was thinking to myself that there were reasonable explanations for much of what you were criticizing or or even things that you overlooked. For example, the lack of development of Olaf: Olaf was innocent by nature and meant to be the virtual personification of Anna and Elsa’s love. He was subconsciously created by Elsa based on her childhood memories; that’s why he knows his name and wants warm hugs; it’s even why he later says “the sky is awake.” So, his innocence and naivete are inherent; he may eventually become more, but not in the time that’s given. Similarly, I think that spelling out that Elsa isolated herself for love of her sister was not really necessary. Maybe it would have added more, but it was certainly (to my mind) fairly obvious. Again, even Olaf’s explanation to Anna of what love is comes directly from Elsa. I guess maybe this can all be seen as too subtle, but I think it’s a powerful and essential to the film. Elsa’s devastation at the end – where she is willing to let herself be killed – is far more poignant when you understand that her inadvertent murder of her sister is the horror that she has been trying to avoid her entire life. BTW, Mason says that Elsa’s tears are what defrosts Anna and no one corrects him or suggests what seems to me to be the correct interpretation of this: i.e., the “act of love” is Anna’s actual sacrifice. Elsa’s tears (unlike in the original Snow Queen story) symbolize her love for her sister but they are not an actual act of love. Anna saves herself and saves Elsa too. Just to wrap up my already too long comments – I enjoyed both “In Summer” and “Fixer Upper”. The latter, especially, has been described by other people as fundamental to the film’s message.
Thanks for an interesting podcast. It’s interesting to see the immense variety of opinion on this film. One final point: I recently rewatched “Tangled” – really good movie, but (IMHO) not nearly as good as Frozen. (Though Flynn’s sacrifice is similar to Anna’s) I think the music in Frozen is also better for its variety. In my view, Frozen has great emotional resonance because, when you stop and think about it, it is about fear vs. love but it is also about loneliness and sadness. Most of the film is actually very sad and it is only at the end that there is a ray of light. I think that’s why it works.

By: shaunn

shaunn — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:54:00 +0000

HI! Just started listening to your podcast. Just made it through the first hour; I’ll try to listen to the rest later. Just a few comments (and pardon me if you address this later). I think that one of the questions of the film is “did Elsa spend her whole life in her room?” Bearing in mind the various limitations/jumps made for a movie aimed at children, I think it is evident she did not. Remember, she is there in the foyer when she sees her parents off. And we have to assume she was educated with tutors and had interactions with the staff. However, it seems that her parents did their best to isolate her from Anna and this may have been based on the idea that keeping Elsa from emotional extremes was the best way to control her powers. Also, Elsa missed her parents’ funeral because she actually, physically, could not leave her room – we can see the snowflakes hanging in the air in her room, just as when she thought she’d killed Anna. I think that her emotions over her parents death were too extreme (understandably) and she had to stay in her room because she definitely would have revealed herself. I agree that it would have been nice if the trolls had helped her more, but I take that part of the film as the parents misunderstanding/misinterpreting what the King Troll told them. Sure, he shows them “fear” with a mob attacking Anna. But he also meant that fear was her enemy in the internal sense as well – it’s just that Elsa and her parents only understood fear from outside and did not realize that the Grand Pabbie meant fear in all its forms (and he did not do a good job of explaining this). One last point: Anna punching Hans at the end (rather than Kristoff) is a further demonstration of Anna’s independence and spirit. It would have been contrary to the movie’s key themes if Anna needed Kristoff to stand up for her. Enjoying the podcast so far and looking forward to the rest!

By: V

Sat, 14 Dec 2013 08:59:00 +0000

In reply to N.

I love the second half of “Fixer Upper” too, especially at that “We’re not saying you can change him because people don’t really change” part! And loved Chelsea dishing some serious knowledge with her “quick fix” trivia. Musical geek cred well earned indeed! 😀

By: BillK

BillK — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 18:09:00 +0000

I was swept away by the rising strings when I heard “For the First Time in Forever” but that’s nothing compared to the way I was thrown to the floor and left completely in tears by the sheer power and beauty of “Let it Go.”

By: Morgan Stradling

Morgan Stradling — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 04:40:00 +0000

In reply to Karoline. That is so cool!

By: MichaelGnik

MichaelGnik — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 12:10:00 +0000

In reply to Adriana. I surprisingly enjoyed the humor in both instances. I tend to loathe comedy but in this case it fitted the broadway model perfectly.

By: MichaelGnik

MichaelGnik — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 12:09:00 +0000

I think why many people (aka Mason how dare you??!! 😉 like Frozen but may still prefer Tangled is this:

When Tangled came along, it surprised everyone. Disney releases (except among the relatively few of us hard core fans) were not as grand, epic or magical as we’d expected during the renaissance.

Tangled blew that out of the park and changed the game. Follow this up with Wreck It meant for Frozen people expected BIG BIG things.

And I think (much like Pixar with Brave – which is my fav Pixar movie) their prior success was also a little bit of a set up for disappointment.

Frozen is not Tangled. It’s darker in theme, less colorful in palette and makes different use of songs (much better in Frozen imo).

That doesn’t make it a lesser film , just different.

Yes there are points to pick on (from the rushed ending to the less than expansive character development) but you can do the same to anything else in the classic canon.

Perhaps its the “just watched it and loved it” afterglow but I adored the film, cried, laughed and rejoiced in triumph at the ending.

Whoop whoop for Disney (and Chistof!!!)

🙂

By: Karoline

Karoline — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 21:34:00 +0000

Starting off by saying that I’m Norwegian, so you just won’t believe how
excited I was for this movie. I took a quick weekend trip to London
just to see it earlier(it comes out the 25th in Norway). I saw the movie
it some of my friends who’re studying in London(all Norwegians) and I
just want to say that how in the coronation scene we were all completly
blown away because the church was just so norwegian, it looked
completely unchanged. Yes, it was small but I can truly say that is very
much legit.

By: Karoline

Karoline — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 21:13:00 +0000

Starting off by saying that I’m Norwegian, so you just won’t believe how excited I was for this movie. I took a quick weekend trip to London just to see it earlier(it comes out the 25th in Norway). I saw the movie it some of my friends who’re studying in London(all Norwegians) and I just want to say that how in the coronation scene we were all completly blown away because the church was just so norwegian, it looked completely unchanged. Yes, it was small but I can truly say that is very much legit.