Taking a skip forward a few decades, Disney is at the cusp of what to many seem to be calling a new golden age for the company (most refer to this as what would be the 3rd golden age, following its initial introduction to the market between the 30s and 50s, then again in the late 80s/early 90s). But is this at all justified? What qualifies a golden age? And to that end, what would be different about this one (should it exist)?
I’ll readily admit that after seeing Tangled–quite literally–dozens upon dozens of times, Wreck-it-Ralph about a half dozen times, and Frozen 15 times (to be exact), that it can be a bit difficult to remain as objective as I was after watching these movies only a few times, as the films have now been embedded into my conscience to the point where to their suggestion, sharp disdain wouldn’t entirely be an unexpected gut reaction. That said, I’ll also readily admit that even after all of those times seeing the movies, I still enjoy them quite a bit. In fact, I doubt I’d be able to say that about any other consecutive 3 Disney releases since the company’s inception.
To understand what makes Frozen what it is, we have to understand a bit about this new so-called golden age itself, which means we need a little back story on its eminent predecessor. While Frozen is to be taken and appreciated on its own, independent of other films, unfortunately its pivotal place in Disney’s animated feature release history weighs upon its value to one degree or another. As always, the way I understand movies is independently to the movie itself first, without allowing outside factors like hype or expectation factor in. It’s important to take those sorts of things into consideration in some facet, of course, but it shouldn’t ever allow your opinion of the work itself to be colored.
TANGLED AND THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN DISNEY FILM
Released in 2010, Tangled was heavily marketed and hyped even directly following another princess film, and it’s not too hard to guess why. Even adjusted for inflation, Tangled is still the 4th most expensive movie ever made, and a huge investment for the post-Eisner company. Fresh off the heels of Bolt, A Christmas Carol, and Princess and the Frog, it can be argued that even with Eisner leaving in 2005, Disney Animation didn’t have a decent movie since Lilo & Stitch almost a decade earlier in 2002. And while Princess and the Frog masqueraded as a fairy tale for modern audiences, Tangled actually pulled it off. It really, very subtly, combined almost everything folks loved about the Disney films of the earlier golden ages while trying its best to exclude everything that made them unacceptable. It has a fun, 90s-Disney soundtrack courtesy Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty & The Beast, Little Mermaid), a lush and vibrant art style, a strong female lead, a solid re-imagining of a classic fairytale for its story, and the “lantern scene”, which I still say is likely the prettiest scene in any Disney film yet released.
Where I argue Tangled always fell short, was in the depth department. While the story itself was very good and well-paced, much like the characters themselves, the story lacked substance beyond what was already being presented. There was no room for interpretation because what you saw is what you got. And to that end, what you got was a rather safe princess story. When the only real lesson you’re presenting is “follow your dreams”, you’re pretty safe from damage. So is it bad that it’s safe? No, not really, and at the end of the day that’s what Disney is really doing with this movie: playing it safe. The story structure itself, and the tale of our protagonist longing to explore the world is something Disney literally can’t screw up at this point. They did it with Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahontas, and probably Home on the Range (though it’s impossible to know that one for sure). It’s in their blood. Tangled follows that grand tradition delicately, and even throws in an “evil stepmother” figure to boot.
Again, this isn’t bad, but it’s safe; it’s what we remember from the former golden age.
What it also does, though, is it sets up Disney for its assumed rebirth, laying the financial ground to start churning out some really important movies should it choose to.
THE ANTI-DISNEY STANCE
Almost immediately, Frozen makes itself pretty clear on what it’s doing with its thematic takeaways. A lot of what it’s trying to teach its audience is told directly, either explicitly in song or spelled out in dialogue. And what it’s teaching is tragically stuff that hasn’t been addressed in other Disney works, or at least not enough. What Frozen quite successfully does, is sets up the stage for all the old, antiquated lessons to march on out, then executes them as they stumble across the stage. In a lot of ways it’s pretty cathartic, seeing actual progress being made. Whereas in the past you’d have The Little Mermaid because Disney stated they were trying to make up for the staunchly misogynist films of the 30s-50s, end up being an intensely misogynist film in the 90s, you now have a movie that hits you over the head saying no really this time, we’re not doing the misogyny thing. And to that effect maybe it turned some people off. For really the first time in Disney’s history, you have a movie that celebrates sisterhood and women who don’t end up saved by men, and goes out of its way to condemn prior Disney films that did, and oddly a swath of viewers suddenly can’t relate. It has almost a reverse effect which is a tad unsettling to say the least. When things don’t line up in their classic Disney princess schematic, some people suddenly have a hard time buying into the story. Fascinating? Yes. Tragic? Also yes.
ONE SMALL STEP
Of course, you can’t leave it all behind. It’s still a Disney movie and they still have to market it as one, so unfortunately some of the old tropes are destined to remain. I wouldn’t say I’m an Olaf apologist, but as far as Disney requirements go, he definitely could’ve been a lot worse. Some of his lines/situations are genuinely funny, which automatically makes him better comedic relief than Mushu in Mulan. But when the dust settles, he’s there to make the film more marketable, and as a film, Frozen would’ve been a lot better off with 80% less Olaf. It’s weird, too. Watching the movie there are multiple scenes in which Olaf just kind of does something, then it suddenly fades into the next scene. Yes it’s poor editing, but it also gives the impression that even the directors didn’t really know what to do with him to keep him from cramping everyone else’s style.
The trolls are also an odd comedic necessity. While their roll is ultimately serious, there are more than a few scenes that end up feeling awkward and out of place with everything else.
Comedy mishandling aside, the only unfortunate trope carryover comes with the Duke of Weselton character rather unmistakably portraying the classic Jewish scrooge. I guess the only fortunate thing here is that his screen time is limited and he’s not the primary antagonist.
BOLD LESSONS
As I mentioned earlier, the big thing with Frozen is the risks it takes alienating its own audience by attempting to finally tear down decades of established Disney morals and replacing them with actual humanity. What’s nice, too, is unlike Tangled, there is more than a handful of morals on display, so I’ll try my best to mention all of them:
1. True love doesn’t mean falling in love with a complete stranger in a day.
One of my favorite scenes in the movie is the wolf chase sequence (I know, evil wolves, I know), during which Christoph chastises Anna for getting engaged to Hans the same day that she meets him. This is literally calling out the following films as being totally wrong: Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Princess and the Frog, and Tangled. All of these movies feature the leading man and woman falling in love almost instantly (or within a few days) and end up married. In this movie, not only is this called out as being completely idiotic, but when Anna does this it almost costs her hers and her sister’s lives.
2. Love doesn’t change people.
Taken from the otherwise silly trolls’ song, “We’re not saying you can change him, because people don’t really change.” Again, almost a direct call out to films like Beauty & The Beast which attempt to say otherwise.
3. Relationships are complex and layered
Anna’s relationship with Elsa is defined by who they are as people, and the film illustrates that family relationships—relationships where true love is at play—can be tumultuous and anything but simple. It was bold to try and show multiple layers of the sisters’ relationship and risky to try and do correctly, but in pulling it off it adds a depth to the characters and to the film that’s otherwise lacking in other Disney films.
4. You should be yourself, but it will have consequences
The song Let it Go is catchy enough, and it would be just another throwaway “don’t be afraid to be yourself” sort of thing until we realize that truly being herself while excluding everyone else was incredibly damaging to everyone around her. The lesson ends up morphing into “be yourself, but be prepared for how that affects those around you”.
5. Don’t shut people out of your life, regardless of your reasons
This is probably the most obvious lesson in the movie, and it’s completely valid within its context. Often times the people you are trying to protect by keeping them from getting close to you are the ones that can help you the most.
This is actually quite a lot for any film, let alone a Disney film, and when laid out like that it’s all the more impressive that they were able to pack all that into an hour forty-five. It’s almost like the writers saw their opening and just went for it, not knowing if they’d get another chance.
Unfortunately, the downside to having an ensemble character piece that tries to do all this in under 2 hours is that the pacing seems rushed. There’s a lot of story in there to tell, too, and the entire second half of the movie races rather quickly through a bunch of plot that really should’ve had more time devoted to each of the points. Naturally you can’t risk having an animated Disney film go over the 2 hour mark, but one wonders what that extra time could’ve added to establishing the characters and the world in which they live.
ODDS AND ENDS
While most of my praise does indeed come from the morals it successfully conveyed, there’s more that went into making it a success. The soundtrack—originally commissioned to Alan Menken again—works as a Broadway-style opus in its own right. Breaking even further away from Disney tradition, they decided to go with a Broadway composer instead of the safe-bet Menken and it paid off huge. Not only did its centerpiece Let it Go become instantly popular everywhere, but the entirety of the musical playbill is thoroughly enjoyable and fits the movie like a glove. After watching it, you’re left sort of saying “wow, I’m glad Menken didn’t do the music for this one,” not because he’s not talented, but because his style wouldn’t fit the film at all.
And, as I may have already mentioned, the film is absolutely gorgeous. The snow effects alone are pretty mind-blowing in their realism, and the fantastic way in which they portray the geography of Norway is surprisingly beautiful as well. What’s nice about Disney in this supposed new golden age is that it seems to have developed a unique style of its own (much in the same way different periods of Disney films have in the past), that’s definitively different even amongst other 3D animated studios including Pixar and Dreamworks. Frozen stands up at the top of any of these studios’ best works easily.
Overall, the film isn’t perfect. Pacing issues and limitations that come with the territory (ghosts of Disney past) ultimately keep it from being truly great. However, it does go a long way in cementing our current generation of Disney family movies as one far better than probably any in memory. Between Tangled, Wreck-it-Ralph, and Frozen, we already have a stronger line-up for this age than anything the 90s could’ve thrown at us, which is a bit of a relief to say the least. And, while it’s possible that Tangled might’ve been an overall more enjoyable movie at face value, Frozen’s sum of its parts put it in a bit of a different class.
Now all they have to do is undo decades of racism, classism, and everything else.
The Glass City 