Disney's FROZEN

[EricMontreal22]

"it was really nice to hear an animated film that was that well-sung. "

I can't think of even one subpar animated film in the past few decades that had less than stellar singing--I mean even the Barry Manilow score for Thumbelina had Barbara Cook and Jodi Benson (and I believe Carol Channing won a Razzie for her magnus opus Marry the Mole.)

[Jonwo]

I really like Vuelie which opened the film and was used in Elsa's coronation.

I think Disney will alternate between musical and non musical for their films rather than every film being a musical, Giants is likely going to be a musical and perhaps Moana, the Polynesian film from Clements and Musker. Wonder if Disney will go and try and develop Don Quixote as that seems to one of those Disney projects that have been in development hell for so long, other ideas include Rumpelstilkin or The Three Musketeers, the latter would be great to see in the vein of Aladdin.

[C. C Baxter]

One USA Today article said that the Lopezes are working on an unannounced Disney project. It's possible that it's a Frozen-related short film to be released at some point down the line but I really hope they get to do more feature-length musicals with the company.

[Jonwo]

Hoping it's either Giants or Moana. I imagine a Frozen short or spin-off is likely, Olaf and Sven could sustain a short film in the vein of Tangled Ever After

[disneybroadwayfan22]

^I'm guessing Giants because I believe that it's coming in 2016 and Moana is coming in 2018. That'd be too soon for Moana. Unless it's another thing like FINDING NEMO: THE MUSICAL at the Disney Parks...or the Broadway version of Finding Nemo

[Jonwo]

I doubt Finding Nemo will go to Broadway, I think it'll stay as a theme park attraction. I think it's either a film like Giants or perhaps a theatrical project like Princess Bride.

[CapnHook]

Disney, traditionally, has been able to charm its audiences with great music, great characters, and great animation --
While one could nitpick about what they didn't like, I want to address one element of FROZEN that completely unengaged me: the animation itself.

I have no issue with computer-generated animation. But the design and even execution in FROZEN is so off-putting that instead of helping to draw me in to the story, it was distracting. I felt no connection to the human characters whatsoever. They looked like living barbie dolls. Their eyes were too bulging, their lips were too disconnected to the words, and the hair was poorly crafted.

The background animation and the special effects were great, and at moments spectacular. The character animation, however, nearly ruined the film for me. The most successful characters were the non-human ones: Olaf and the reindeer.

Aside from my qualms with the character animation, I want to mention one other distinct issue I have in FROZEN: the songs. In each song, the setup is rather smart and the songwriting is phenomenal...with the exception of the closing. They don't let the songs land and instead choose to jump right into the next moment. I felt that this choice didn't allow the music to stand above the moment, as it was building up to do. The ending of an Alan Menken song has a button to it, which allows the audience to appreciate the moment that just occurred. The Lopez's songs choose not to do that, and instead we jump into what is next. After each song, I thought "Wow, that was great-ohwaitwhat'shappeningnow?"

FROZEN was a nice film, but I liked THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG better.

[JohnyBroadway]

Giants makes the most sense. It's jack in the beanstalk from the giants point of view.

[SporkGoddess]

I saw it yesterday and loved it. Thought the score was fantastic, and the singing too (Kristin Bell sounded even better than she did back in the Reefer Madness movie, IMO). Wish Jonathon Groff had been able to sing more, though!

[SomeDude]

I just saw it today and I was actually very underwhelmed. I have heard such great things about it but was ultimately dissatisfied with the final product. The songs weren't very good except for the Build a snowman song. First time in forever and Let it Go. The rest just fell really flat. People seriously think this is the best Animated Disney film since Lion King? Hmmm....

[Liz7]

'They don't let the songs land and instead choose to jump right into the next moment. I felt that this choice didn't allow the music to stand above the moment, as it was building up to do. The ending of an Alan Menken song has a button to it, which allows the audience to appreciate the moment that just occurred. The Lopez's songs choose not to do that, and instead we jump into what is next. After each song, I thought "Wow, that was great-ohwaitwhat'shappeningnow?" '

In the two times I've seen Frozen so far what was said above didn't seem like an issue to the audience. At both showings there was applause after 'Let it Go' and 'For the First Time in Forever- Reprise' And lots of 'awwwws and poor Ana's after 'Do you want to Build a Snowman

[disneybroadwayfan22]

This is Santino's audition song for Frozen

http://caroleking.tumblr.com/post/69555437057/santino-fontana-on-auditioning-for-frozen-so

He would be a fantastic Gaston in the future

[degrassifan]

"I just saw it today and I was actually very underwhelmed. I have heard such great things about it but was ultimately dissatisfied with the final product. The songs weren't very good except for the Build a snowman song. First time in forever and Let it Go. The rest just fell really flat. People seriously think this is the best Animated Disney film since Lion King? Hmmm...."

That's sort of how I felt too. I loved it, but I wanted justification as to why everyone was saying this was the best Disney movie ever in a long time, because I think it's equal to both Princess and the Frog and Tangled. Maybe my expectations were really high with all the hype it was getting? I do agree that Do You Want to Build a Snowman?, For the First Time in Forever, and Let It Go are the film's best songs, but I still love listening to In Summer and Reindeer(s) are better than People. The little girl troll in Fixer Upper is my favorite!

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Well, one month of release and it might get a stage musical already.


“Frozen” musical may replace “Aladdin” stage show at Disneyland, concept art shows icy Hyperion Theater makeover

I think the reason for all the praise is the songs. People absolutley adore them, myself included.

Of course it is an opinion, so different people will think differently about it.

[Jonwo]

Given the success of the film, a stage adaptation in the theme parks was a no brainer, I imagine the Lopezes will write a new song or two or use the songs that were cut from the films.

[C. C Baxter]

They said in an interview that they've got a big ballad on their computer waiting for Kristoff (Jonathan Groff's character) that was cut due to time issues but was meant to be sung when SPOILER he decides to go back because he realizes he's in love with Anna END SPOILER. I'm sure we'll get to hear it one day.

[darquegk]

Josh Gad deserves all the praise he is getting and more. He had an unenviable task. NO ONE wants to play the Scrappy, the grafted-on comic relief character seemingly designed solely to appeal to small children and sell merchandise. It's one of the least enviable roles imaginable, but Gad took what could have been a grating and saccharine role and, with the help of a very clever charm song, stole the show out from under the main characters.

Has there EVER been a similar case, when critics and audiences alike not only praise, but prefer the Scrappy?

[dramamama611]

While I agree with your assessment, I totally disagree with it being unenviable. When you do a movie for kids, who WOULDN'T want to be adored by them?

Besides, one of the beautiful things about animation, is your fans could actually care less about YOU, but only the character you voice. I would think that would be incredibly satisfying.

[darquegk]

That's to be debatable- consider if Olaf had proven not as winning of a character. Consider, perhaps, a Jar-Jar Binks level of pandering. Would we envy Ahmed Best his role as Jar-Jar Binks the way we would Josh Gad his role as Olaf?

[dramamama611]

but isn't that true of ANY role? when it is well-received it's great, and when it falls on its face, we ridicule?

[Jonwo]

The sidekick role in any animated film are hard to pull off, sometimes they succeed like Donkey in Shrek, The Minions in Despicable Me and Scrat in Ice Age but sometimes they fail e.g Scrappy in Scooby Doo so for Olaf to succeed is a good thing and TBH I wish he was in it a little bit more, I'm sure we will see him in future either in a short or a TV special

[BroadwayBenny]

Newest David Kawena Disney Hero art!

[ohjustjake]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiAra6zlQ-A

Around the 11 minute mark you can see the chorus being recorded with many familiar faces from Broadway.

[eatlasagna]

i so enjoyed this movie very much but prefer Tangled just a wee bit more... but I also enjoyed that movie as well

did anyone else feel it sounded odd when Idina Menzel sang? specifically, i thought she sang well and i definitely loved her when she spoke the role of Elsa... but when she sang, it just sounded and felt like a completely different character or that voice wouldn't come out of that character.... did that make sense?

[BwayGeek2]

I absolutely loved this! The music was fabulous! Truly, a wonderful film.