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Frozen (2013), PG, 3.5 stars

Anna and Kristof meet Olaf, the snowman.
Disney Animation has been on a roll with The Princess and the Frog (I was not too crazy about it despite some great characters), Tangled, and Wreck-It Ralph. I mean the holiday season is upon us and children would want to see a movie with their families that takes place during the winter, right? Well, I have to confess that Pixar has honestly been creating decent movies, but not memorable ones recently. So, since there is not really a lot of competition from other animated movies this year, Frozen is no question the best animated movie of 2013.

The movie starts with the young sisters, Anna and Elsa, when they were children, playing with Elsa's snow magic. When the magic goes too far, the royal family tells the trolls to remove the magic from Anna and the memory of her sister's power. Elsa is banished from the world and Anna because the parents wanted to protect Elsa. Both sisters are lonely without each other and their lives get worse as their parents die in a storm where a wave capsizes the boat. Hey, Disney tends to get rid of either parent or both parents in a movie. So, it is not a shocker.

Years later, Elsa (Idina Menzel) is being coronated and every royal person around the world attends that celebratory event. But, her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell) is very excited because the gates to Elsa's kingdom finally opens and she wants to see her sister. She is also hoping to see the person who she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Anna meets Prince Hans (Santino Fontana), who is a charming character and they are both attracted to each other. As Anna really connects with Elsa, Hans proposes on the spot to Anna and she accepts his proposal. However, Elsa refuses to bless their marriage and get in a heated argument, which exposes Elsa's powers to the public.

Elsa and Anna run away in hot pursuit. The deal is that whenever Elsa is panicking more and being more stressed, the weather starts turning colder and snow falls. As Elsa makes it to the North Mountain where she eases her stress and relaxes where she is pleased to make a snow man, an ice palace and an ice dress. The next morning, Anna tries to find Elsa but she is at Oaken's Turning Post where she meets Oaken and Kristoff (Chris Williams and Jonathan Groff). Anna convinces Kristoff to go with her to North Mountain and after a wolf attack, the pair meet Elsa's snow man, Olaf (Josh Gad), who wants to experience summer and is glad to guide them to Elsa.

Anna and Hans.
I must admit that I really enjoyed this movie because this movie reminded me of the films of the Disney Renaissance. My childhood was full of Disney films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, etc. I say that because of this: the movie has a story about sisterly hate and love and usually most movies are about brotherly hate and love. It is refreshing. The movie, finally in a long time, has some really good songs. It reminded me of the great songs in the Disney Renaissance from the late great Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. I would not surprised if at least one was nominated for Best Song.

The story is crafted beautifully while it has superior Broadway entertainment and it deserves to be produced in Broadway because of the good set-up and story. It is not entirely original as it was based loosely on the story of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen. The movie also produces some memorable characters such as the sisters and Olaf. I liked that the filmmakers did not linger too much on Olaf with his physical snow-man humor.

Disney has created a winner and they are still on a roll elevating their game. It is no question they are back with great stories. Also, the movie finishes with a classic ending that is parallel to again, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. The middle portion of the movie was a little uninteresting with the characters trying to stop a snow monster. That's basically the only criticism that prevented me to give a perfect rating. But, the whole movie is magical (no pun intended). It is definitely appropriate to release this movie on Thanksgiving break because it will be a hit with families throughout this holiday season.

***1/2

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