ANI-MOVIES, *Frozen

First intended to be a full-length animated adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, Disney instead decided to take a spin on it similar to their take on Rapunzel in Tangled. Where as the titular characters was a standard fairy tale villainess set to steal the heart of a young boy whose sister defeats all odds to rescue him, Frozen shows an enchanted romantic comedy focusing on family ties. Directed by Chris Buck(whose previous Disney work was Home On The Range), and Disney's first female director Jennifer Lee, this CGI movie brings together a fantasy story with modern social views of what is considered to be "love".

Two princesses grow up in the mountain kingdom of Arendelle, but after their parents die on their way to Rapunzel's wedding(no kidding!), the older sister Elsa eventually grows up to be its reluctant queen. Elsa's conflict is that she has uncontrollable cryomancy powers that her younger sister Anna wasn't aware of, so Elsa kept herself secluded for most of her teenage years. The castle is eventually opened up for Elsa's coronation, but her powers are revealed after she disagrees with Anna's "brilliant" decision to wed a visiting prince she just met. Elsa's departure leaves the kingdom cursed with an ongoing blizzard during summer, so Anna sets out to bring her sister home. Along with the help of the iceman Hans, his reindeer, and a living snowman brought to life by Elsa's power, Anna confronts Elsa who accidently freezes her heart. Hans brings Anna to his troll friends who tell him only an act of true love can break the curse.

Frozen was a real record breaker in theatres, with a sequel already on the way, along with a short movie follow-up, and an extended holiday special that was met with mixed results. The production value was set even above Tangled for Disney's non-Pixar CGI movies. This is one of those "must see" features no matter the viewer's age!