From a Mermaid to an Ice Queen: Is Frozen Better Than Beauty?

These days Sarabeth and I go to the movies about three times a year. Once in the summer to catch the newest Pixar movie, and twice in December for the latest Hunger Games and Hobbit installments. Since there will not be a Pixar movie released this year (insert ultra-sad face here), I insisted we catch Frozen because of all the hype (thanks to many of your comments).

We all remember the glory days of Disney when they repeatedly put out hits such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. There were some other good ones that followed, but none that held a candle to the greatness… flawlessness… no, majesty of the Phenomenal Four. Somehow that majesty just couldn’t be recaptured, though Disney filmmakers searched far and wide for it: from the age of dinosaurs, into the depths of space, on the Hawaiian islands, down to the depths of the lost city of Atlantis.

Disney, it seemed, just couldn’t quite recapture that African sunrise, or convince audiences that carpets can fly.

It seemed that the great entertainment empire had thrown in the towel when it released the horrendous Home on the Range, an embarrassing cartoon not even worth a slot on TV (Sarabeth and I turned it off after ten minutes – but the soundtrack is surprisingly good, to Disney’s credit).

And then Disney, apart from Pixar, debuted its first CGI movie, Chicken Little. This was a far cry from the best, but it was a step in the right direction, set in a town where Mickey and the gang could very well live. Suddenly it seemed the Mouse wasn’t out of the game just yet.

Then came Meet the Robinsons – the first of Disney movies to open with Mickey Mouse at the helm of Steamboat Willy, which communicated one thing loud and clear: The Mouse is back. Still a far cry from the majesty of the great fairytales of 90s, it touched a soft spot in audiences, and especially in me, since the theme is based on adoption. It’s a movie I cannot get through the end of without crying.

The Princess and the Frog came hopping into theaters with even louder drums and cymbals (and a great soundtrack, to boot!). Not only was the Mouse back, but the enchanting fairytale world Disney had created was expanding.

And man, was there ever a greater uproar than when Tangled hit silver screens across the world less than a year later, screaming Disney is back for good! That magic, that music, that humor, everything old Walt himself would have approved of a thousand times over!

And now, Frozen.

Wow.

First off, let me just say that the short before the film was the most inventive cartoon since Roger Rabbit! (It’s not as emotionally-charged as Wreck-It Ralph’s “Paperman”, but it certainly was a fun treat.) It was so nice to see Mickey Mouse on the big screen for once.

Frozen, without a doubt, will breed a whole new generation of Disney enthusiasts. Frozen makes you believe in happiness and magic and music all over again. Frozen, I am pleased to say, has recaptured that long-lost majesty. 

It will be a long time before we see another movie as good as Frozen. 

Is it as good as Beauty and the Beast? It’s too soon to tell. It certainly had its share of flaws that Beauty lacks, but I can say without reservation that Frozen has earned its place on the same shelf as the mermaid, the Beast, the street rat, and the king of Pride Rock. 

Welcome, Ice Queen, to the most prestigious Disney family in history.

And may that family continue to grow for our children’s children to enjoy all their lives.

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