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Frozen (I) (2013)
7/10
Frozen Emotions
27 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Well, I got a chance to see Disney's "Frozen," and I must say, it's pretty cute, but the story did not provide enough details to the lesson(s) that can be learned between Elsa and Anna. The only problem with the story is that it pays too much attention expressing emotions between Elsa and Anna, plus the characters show off with sing-a-longs and a few gags just to bring laughter and joy. However, the animation is overall tremendous and the 3D effects are amazing. And as for the songs, none of them kept on pace with the story. Most of the songs show off, except 1½ of the songs such as "For the First Time since Forever (1)" and "Let It Go (½)." Even though the movie does show some lessons to learn, but it was not descriptive enough to support the lessons.

The story did not live up to its momentum. It only expressed emotions between two sisters Elsa and Anna. Plus, there's a bit of a slip up. In the scene "The Party is Over, Close the Gates," Elsa should've used her other hand with her GLOVE on, instead of her bare hand which revealed her icy powers. This slip up proves that the story pays too much attention to the emotions. When you look at the whole story, you can almost see a retelling of Disney and Pixar's "Brave" based on character references, besides the story.

Speaking of the betrayal of Prince Hans, there are twists in the story. What is twisted about the betrayal of Prince Hans is that prince charming was supposed to save the princess, but instead betrayed the princess for her kingdom. Another twist is Anna choosing between Kristoff, since they love each other, and her sister Elsa who was about to be killed by Prince Hans with his sword. She chose her sister since she truly loved her.

The animation has a lot of snowflake effects, especially when you can see a floating snowflake in 3D. You can almost capture it and see it melt upon your hand, but noticed that it's all 3D and not real. Disney is an expert on creating real 3D effects to make it look real. The icy power strongly reflected Elsa's emotions, but did not comply with the story. But for the record, the animation on her icy powers was fascinating, especially for self defense against the Duke of Weselton's bodyguards.

The characters in the story truly kept on pace with the story, but sometimes show off from each of their point of views. Of course, there's one character who truly supported Elsa and Anna, and that is Olaf the snowman. Despite his purpose to spend time with summer in his song "In Summer," not only he gives warm hugs to people, but also gives hope to keep them going. Some minor characters, such as the Duke of Weselton and trader named Oaken, almost even the odds but provided small gags. The main antagonist, Prince Hans, brought the twist at the last half of the movie. He provided the climax for the story. The Abominable Marshmallow was Elsa's snow guardian. The king and queen in the story were quite short, but did provide a bit of drama in the beginning. The trolls played an important role in the story since they help restore people from any kind of danger. But throughout, the trolls mostly helped Anna since she's the only person who got help by the trolls (except Kristoff kind of raised by the trolls). The main characters in the story are Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf. Elsa is almost the main protagonist in the story since she possessed the icy powers within her, but the real main protagonist was Anna since it is up to her to bring Elsa back to her kingdom and bring summer back as well. Kristoff, with his reindeer Sven, not only saved Anna from a pack of wolves after they left Oaken's place, but more importantly brought her to the trolls after she got a frozen heart. Speaking of Sven, he reminds me of Maximus from Disney's "Rapunzel (Tangled)," since it acts like a dog than an actual deer. Olaf is a supporter to Elsa and Anna. He helped Anna escape from the library to get to Kristoff and Elsa.

When characters sing their songs, most of them show off, but Elsa and Anna provided an important song, "For the First Time since Forever," and a bit of Elsa's song, "Let It Go." The song, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman," almost stayed close to the story based on the age shift from young to adult on Elsa and Anna, but more on a relationship between sisters after Elsa was forced to conceal her icy spell from Anna's sight after her accident when she was young. However, the last part of the song was a bit sad after their parents' death at sea. Most songs are showing off.

The movie does show lessons, such as love conquers fear, give more time to know each other before acceptance of marriage or other, and ALMOST controlling fear. If the trolls give Elsa training to control her fear (despite her icy powers growing), then she would succeed and overcome fear. But the movie didn't quite provide enough details to represent the lessons that can be learned. They are only partial lessons just to keep the story going. Again, the story didn't live up to its momentum. It strongly reflected Elsa and Anna's emotions than providing details that represent their emotions. But for the record, it will be entertaining for children and their parents everywhere.

Grade: C+
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10/10
Have you ever watch the YouTube version provided by Russian Fellow?
22 November 2013
Despite the original English version which did not live up to its momentum, a new English version, except it is a Russian feature with English subtitles, definitely lived up to its momentum. It provided background information for each of the characters featured in the movie. The English subtitles easily matched the lips of the characters about 90%-96%. Even though a few scenes are a bit confusing, but the new English version made it reasonable.

The English subtitles are obviously not a Russian translation, and I guess the same for the original English version, but it truly represented the animated feature very well. Even though some scenes are a bit confusing, but the new English version made it reasonable.

Based on the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen in modern perspective, the plot, scenes, and characters are adaptable with additional characters to make it modern. Wizart Animation has shown great qualities in the animation business.
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