“FROZEN” Icy Hot on Blu-ray (Video Review)

FROSEN boxart

 

Disney goes back to its roots with Frozen a show tune filled animated adventure for the whole family.  Now in a 2 Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack the Oscar Winner for Best Animated Film and Best Song the animated feature is filled with song, action and comedy. Featuring memorable characters that are bound to attract both young girls and boys, but it’s also a family affair.  

The story involves young Anna and Elsa the daughters of the King and Queen of Arendelle.  Fun loving and gleeful as children, the only difference between them other than age is Elsa’s gift of being able to protect her with a power to turn things into ice.  Unfortunately for the two girls, Elsa nearly freezes her sister to death and she retreats into solitude away from Anna to protect her.

Anna, Oalf, Kristoff and Sven in FROZEN

Anna, Oalf, Kristoff and Sven in FROZEN

Years pass and Elsa turns old enough to be anointed the queen of the beautiful and lively Arendelle.  Being presented to the people Anna gets to see her sister all grown up. She’s mesmerized by her beauty but still wonders why she has hidden away from her.  At the celebration Elsa’s emotions run high and during a frightful moment she turns Arendelle into a snow and ice covered kingdom.  Not wanting to hurt anyone anymore she retreats to an ice castle in the mountains.  When Anna sets out to find her, the adventure begins.

Directors Chris Buck (Tarzan) and Jennifer Lee (screenwriter for Wreck-It Ralph) keep the Hans Christian Anderson inspired film (The Snow Queen) moving along.  Here we find Anna teaming up with ice merchant Kristoff and meeting a very funny snowman called Olaf.  The two along with Kristoff’s puppy like reindeer Sven, keep the laughter and adventure alive as they trudge up the mountain looking for Anna’s sister Elsa.

Anna catches a glimpse of her sister Elsa in the Ice Castle

Anna catches a glimpse of her sister Elsa in the Ice Castle

The voice talent has a number of familiar actors in the major roles. Kristen Bell lends her voice to Anna while Indina Menzel (Enchanted) gives Elsa her strong personality.  The two main characters reconnect at an older age and very good together creating a close bond until it’s shattered by a quirk of fate. The two actresses have the perfect voice acting skills to carry out the determination and empathy that make the film work. Creating the personality of the comical Olaf is Josh Gad (voice of Louis in Ice Age: Continental Drift) who puts on a very good show bungling his way up the mountain and losing his head and nose along the way.  His snowman reminded me somewhat of Sid in Ice Age who always finds himself in a mess.

The movie features a balance of laughter with drama much like most of the Disney animated films.  And with Frozen there are songs that express the feelings of the characters.  Much like the hit romance driven Tangled the melodies are show tune based with a lot of movement and flare. It’s what Disney does best from Lion King  to Beauty and the Beast to Mulan intertwining orchestra backed songs that are memorable and contagious. The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez wrote the music and lyrics to the eight main songs in the movie including “Frozen Heart”, “For the First Time in Forever” sung by Kristen Bell and Indina Menzel and Oscar Winner “Let it Go” sung by  Indina Menzel and later Demi Lovato during the credits.

The Blu-ray has a number of very good extras for the whole family.

A scene from the Bonus Feature "Get a Horse"

A scene from the Bonus Feature “Get a Horse”

BONUS FEATURES:
“The Making of Frozen” Learn the secret of how the movie was made in this musical extravaganza.
“D’frosted: Disney’s Joruney From Hans Christian Andersen to Frozen” Here we find out about how Frozen came about starting 75 years ago.
“Deleted Scenes” Four deleted scenes narrated by Chris Buck and Jennefer Lee
“Let it go” Music Videos by Demi Lovato, Martina Stoessel sings “Let it go” in Spanish and Italian, and Marsha Milan sings in Malaysian.
“Get a Horse” The Mickey Mouse short that was shown before the film at movie theaters.

Frozen has been rated PG by the MPAA for some action and mild rude humor.  The kids will love the characters and adults should get the fun puns that go over their children’s heads.  If you like the music from Beauty and the Beast or Tangled, there’s new thrills in Frozen.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  A charming film that conjures up memories of Disney’s delightful past animated features. (A)

Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Maurice LaMarch,
Directed by: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Genre: Adventure, Family, Kids, Animated
MPAA Rating: PG for some action and mild rude humor    
Running Time: 1 hr 48min
Video Release Date: March 18, 2014
Original Film Release Date: November 27, 2013
Language: English
Format: Blu-ray, DVD
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 and DVS 2.0 Dolby Digital
Video: 1080p HD Aspect Ratio 2.24:1
Subtitles: English SDH, and Several Others
Number of Discs:  2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) & 1-Disc DVD
Distributed by: Buena Vista Home Entertainment

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