THE LATEST product from the Disney princess factory is "Frozen," which does its best to honor tradition while pushing the genre in new directions.
Yes, there are handsome princes and magical kisses, and, yes, there are Broadway-ready tunes. But "Frozen" makes sure to build the emotional core of its story around two sisters, and it's shopped the music out to Robert Lopez, whose credits include the cheeky musical "Book of Mormon."
The movie is very loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" - in a tiny Nordic kingdom, princess Elsa (Idina Menzel) learns that she has the power to freeze objects with a touch of her hand. Since she cannot control this power, she withdraws from her subjects and from her spunky redheaded sister, princess Anna (Kristen Bell).
When Elsa's powers get the best of her, she flees into the wilderness, leaving Anna to devise a way to thaw out a frozen kingdom, and the relationship with her reclusive sister.
In this, she's aided by a visiting prince (Santino Fontana) and by a handsome woodsman (Josh Gad).
The movie itself takes a good while to thaw out - the story takes forever to set up. The early song selections aren't particularly interesting, or helpful in illuminating character. Elsa's frosty rage and ice-olation never make much sense.
"Frozen" doesn't really warm up until it gives Anna a funny snowman sidekick and the movie acquires some desperately needed comic energy.
Though the movie is pure Disney, it's worth noting that it comes with a PG-13 rating - Anna gets hit with black magic that slowly freezes her heart, threatens to kill her and, worse, slowly turns her into a blonde.
The remedy is the kiss of true love, and there are a couple of handsome-prince options available. But if you think that either fellow figures in the outcome, you haven't noticed how Disney/Pixar stories have been trending.
Before Disney returns to that formula, it will be a cold day in hell.
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