Frozen

The people who work in the marketing departments for Hollywood studios are supposed to be the best and brightest minds in the business, so why do they produce commercials that make you think Frozen is a big, dumb slapstick movie sure to rot the brains of anyone sitting in the audience and taking in this spectacle of stupidity?

You have been misled! Frozen is one of the most magical movies of the year.

In this animated film based on/inspired by The Snow Queen from Hans Christian Anderson, Idina Menzel provides the voice of Elsa - a princess with the power to control snow and ice. While young, she uses the power to amuse her baby sister, Anna (Kristen Bell), but tragedy strikes, and Elsa is told to hide her powers at all costs.

Eventually, the two sisters grow up, but separated by parents trying to protect each young lady from the other, until Elsa reaches the age of ascension to the crown. During her coronation ball, her powers are revealed, it frightens the citizens, and Elsa disappears into the wilderness, leaving the land covered in ice and snow that will destroy the kingdom if it remains in eternal winter.

Can Anna find her sister and bring her back?

Will the people forgive Elsa and welcome them back?

Can they melt the ice and snow?

It’s a musical!!!!!!!

Yes, Frozen, that goofball romp of a movie you think it is based on those dreadful commercials, actually is a warm, loving musical sure to melt the ice and snow around your frigid heart!!!!!!

Oh, how emotional it is. Menzel and Bell have great chemistry together and create an amazing bond between the two sisters that comes across as one of the best displays of family love you will ever see in a movie. It’s free of phony, confectionary fluff and full of honest feelings.

And, you get some goofy, too. Kids will be thrilled with oddball snowman Olaf (voice by Josh Gad), who provides more kid-friendly antics than an entire season of SpongeBob Squarepants, while we also get animated hijinks from lonely, soon-to-be unemployed ice salesman, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), and his best pal, a reindeer.

Sure, you might find some of it juvenile, but writers/directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee masterfully balance the heavy, more emotional stuff with the kiddie entertainment, so everyone feels they are getting the movie they always wanted in Frozen. Kids can laugh at Olaf and Kristoff as they stumble and bumble around, while the older teens and adults can appreciate the beautiful music and themes about love and family.

Frozen could be one of the best post-Pixar movies in Disney history, and I hope you see the pre-show feature, Get A Horse, which stars a 3-D Mickey Mouse! From what I can tell, this is the first time Mickey has appeared on the big screen in 3-D as Get A Horse features a story occurring in traditional black and white and in the style of an early Mickey Mouse feature, then it transforms into a 3-D spectacular, which is all mixed in with the black and white. You have to see it to believe it, and enjoy hearing Walt Disney doing the voice of Mickey Mouse as they pulled some old recordings and used those to celebrate Mickey’s 85th birthday with this feature.

Frozen is rated PG for some action and mild rude humor.