Disney's Frozen: Quick Review (1 Viewer)

[RolandL]

Yeah, it is unbelievable how expensive the prices are, and only seems to go higher each year. I went to Disney World the last 2 years, and each time, paid about $350 for a 5-day pass that included a Park Hopper (which is about $50 in itself, a necessity for those going solo, like myself). And even at my attempts to save money by packing a lunch each day, which tends to be bland after a while, and relying on water fountains, I just can't resist the Mickey Mouse ice cream bars, and the water from the fountain tastes like metal (probably done deliberately by Disney, to get people to buy the overpriced bottled water). I probably eat about 3 per day. Still, I don't regret going at all, and would be crazy enough to go back again, though I may try to visit another Disney park for a change this year.

Yes, it can be expensive. But I found ways to save. I paid $250 for a week at a timeshare, $300 for a 7-day base ticket, bought food at a grocery store for breakfast and lunch meals. Dinner was at someplace inexpensive.

 

[Mark-W]

I agree with your arguments for the most part. I think how quickly it cuts to and away from the family, and the fact that most of us missed it fuels the notion that it is his husband. A causal watcher of the movie is going to miss it. Disney knows who is in their talent pool; Pixar is very LGBT friendly...even Woody from Toy Story is in an "It Gets Better Video" for LGBT youth:

and Disney did one themselves, too:

So, Disney has already "come out' in support of the LGBT community.

And, of course, if there was heat about this, they could say who is in the sauna is open to personal interpretation, which it is.

The article states that its clear that Oaken is gay. I have to disagree. While this interpretation may be correct, it don't think it's the slam dunk the writer says it is. The guy in the tub could be his brother.However, when I think about how much storyline and images are discussed before ink is applied to paper (metaphorically), its not an accident that there are kids and one adult in the tub.The one thing that keeps me from accepting thus interpretation is that this is a Disney movie and this is not a one frame inside joke. I have a hard time believing Disney would do this, though I would be pleased if they did.

 

[Ejanss]

"When you're in love, the whole world is gay!"

I have Minnesota relatives, so I pretty much knew where they were going with the Nordic = Funny Swedish jokes.
If that wasn't his big-family brother, I'll eat my tuque. Ohh yah.

 

[Citizen87645]

The article is too harsh towards the parents, in a lazy, over-simplified way. The parents screwed up, that's obvious, but the writer completely dismisses their actions as abusive, when it's more complicated than that. If anything, the writer should have pointed out that Frozen explores the implications of another fairy tale trope (locking someone away as a protective measure) and lets the audience feel the complex mix of emotions that comes when someone makes a mistake based on good intentions.

 

[Johnny Angell]

The article is too harsh towards the parents, in a lazy, over-simplified way. The parents screwed up, that's obvious, but the writer completely dismisses their actions as abusive, when it's more complicated than that. If anything, the writer should have pointed out that Frozen explores the implications of another fairy tale trope (locking someone away as a protective measure) and lets the audience feel the complex mix of emotions that comes when someone makes a mistake based on good intentions.

Yes, I agree. They were more misguided than abusive. I guess you could argue that their best intentions resulted in abuse. To be isolated like she was. It should also be noted that the parents were more a plot device than an integral part of the movie. It took them probably less than a minute to kill them off.

 

[Jason_V]

The thing is, their actions (as much as they tried to be good parents), resulted in not only harm to Elsa, but also to Anna and to everyone else in Arrendale. Sure, it all turned out okay in the end, though Elsa and Anna will not get back those years they were together and we don't know the "side stories" of what happened during the freeze.

And yes, I know this is animation.

But if an old person died because of the prolonged cold or a farmer had to sell the farm because there were no crops...that all goes back to the parents decision as well. I know they were trying to protect people, but the moral here, at least for me, is to be honest and true to yourself. Don't hide and life will be AOK.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I don't think it's fair to apply every potential result of a decision or action taken, in judging a character, especially in an animated film. Many films ask us only to consider what's occurring on the screen. At the end of this movie, the populace is happy, but if we are to really consider all the consequences of all that cold, then there would have to be some pissed off citizens.

My point is that the article went to far in condemning the parents. They weren't more than a plot device, IMHO.

 

[Jason_V]

I don't think it is either, Johnny. The direct impacts-the effect on Anna and Elsa growing up-they should have seen, though.

I was using those side stories as an extreme example.

 

[Citizen87645]

I agree with everything Johnny and Jason have said, I guess I bristle at the use of 'abuse,' which I view as intentional and malicious. I guess if we call it abuse then we'd have to define categories like with murder, so her parents would have committed the equivalent of manslaughter.

 

[Mark-W]

I agree, too, with what Johnny, Jason and now Cameron have said.

I think the term "abuse" is loaded and as it can include everything from telling your child they ought to get plastic surgery to locking them in a room and physically assaulting them for years.

Regarding how briefly the parents are in the film reminded me very much of James and the Giant Peach, where one moment they are there and then all of a sudden they vanish and the narrator tells the audience they were "gobbled up" by a monster rhino. The story just needs to get James into the hands of his terrible relatives and build in a fear of the rhino.

Frozen needed Elsa to hide her talent and have a reason to isolate herself out of self-fear. Her parents were the obvious choice and killing them off early meant they had no chance to reconsider their stance nor go extreme on her and start seeming more like the villain in Tangled.

I agree with everything Johnny and Jason have said, I guess I bristle at the use of 'abuse,' which I view as intentional and malicious. I guess if we call it abuse then we'd have to define categories like with murder, so her parents would have committed the equivalent of manslaughter.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Okay....

I just removed remarks that I consider to be homophobic.

Same person....as always....doesn't get it that these kind of comments don't belong here.

Keep the comments up and you'll find your account removed.

Of course, since the comments have been removed, only the poster of the comments knows
who I am referring to.

 

[Ejanss]

Okay....

I just removed remarks that I consider to be homophobic.

Same person....as always....doesn't get it that these kind of comments don't belong here.

Keep the comments up and you'll find your account removed.

Of course, since the comments have been removed, only the poster of the comments knows
who I am referring to.

Okay, but did you have to cut the part about how children's/fairytale authors always advise losing the parents out of the picture (either through death, divorce, travel, working late, or just not mentioning them) for story economy, and how Dahl's rhino in James/Peach was accomplishing just that in as quick and silly a Chuckles-the-Clown manner as possible to make our hero a poor, pathetic orphan at the story's earliest convenience?
That, at least, would have helped reason down some of the more, erm, personally subjective "Those repressive parents got what they deserved!" comments, from....(shrug)....whichever posters felt a little too much perceived connection with the studio.

 

[Mark-W]

Just to add to the "Is that Oaken's life partner or not?" in the sauna discussion and
whether or not Disney would deliberately include such content in a family show,
see the link below to something I stumbled upon today.
The Disney Channel has some kids' show that just introduced a lesbian couple as parents
on "Good Luck Charlie."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/27/good-luck-charlie-lesbians_n_4675943.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

While these are completely separate divisions within Disney, it demonstrates that this is something Disney has
now, at least once (in the case of "Good Luck Charlie"), put in their family programming deliberately.

And with "Good Luck Charlie," Disney not just sneak it in. There is a whole "Taylor has two moms" exchange between Charlie's parents.

 

[Ejanss]

They are separate divisions, and I repeat: Is Taylor Swedish?If not...I think that's Oaken's brother. Some of us know these things.

 

[MatthewA]

Did they ever even give their country a name? At any rate, Hans Christian Andersen, whose sexuality was very complex, was Danish.

And as for Good Luck Charlie, hasn't that show already hit the 65 episode mark, meaning Disney will cancel it? But it's a step in the right direction after all...

 

[Ejanss]

Did they ever even give their country a name? At any rate, Hans Christian Andersen, whose sexuality was very complex, was Danish.

Who cares, say the animators, it's comedy--If they're in the snow and everything's rustic and woodcarved, it's Swedish. Know any Danish/Norwegian jokes?

And as for Good Luck Charlie, hasn't that show already hit the 65 episode mark, meaning Disney will cancel it? But it's a step in the right direction after all...

Many Disney Channel shows are not only not connected with Disney, they're not even produced by Disney, apart from the cable funding. ("Phil of the Future", for ex., was a Canadian series, and oh brother, was it ever.. )

"B-but...somebody associated with the movie and/or corporation is gay, that PROVES it!"
Forgive my mentioning it, but: YOU'RE GRASPING AT STRAWS. Please leave the straws alone, and don't grasp them. They're not bothering you.

 

[Hanson]

Unless you worked on this film, you have zero extra credibility, just a whole lot of bluster. Just because "you say so" means doodley squat. You are grasping at the same straws. Also, it is clear you have zero connection with the film. Production based much of the look on Norway, not Sweden.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

To the member that has been banned: You can return in two weeks.

After that, we will not tolerate any more "lifestyle" comments being introduced into
these threads. The next ban will be permanent.

My apologies to the members that have had to continually tolerate this behavior.

 

[Will Krupp]

To the member that has been banned: You can return in two weeks.

After that, we will not tolerate any more "lifestyle" comments being introduced into
these threads. The next ban will be permanent.

My apologies to the members that have had to continually tolerate this behavior.

My new hero!!!!

 

[John Kilduff]

I love "Frozen". I've seen it 3 times, once last year, and twice on my most recent trip to Walt Disney World, first the Sing-Along version and then as part of AMC Theatres' Fork and Screen at Downtown Disney. I think it's a fantastic movie with great songs, excellent characters and a wonderful story. While it does subvert tropes of Disney's past like "Enchanted" did, it did so in a far less cynical and blatant manner, and I'm hoping it wins both of the Oscars it was nominated for.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff....

I may have already posted in this thread, but I think that "Frozen" is one of Disney's best movies, and a reminder of the joy Disney bought me when I was a kid.