Trailer Tuesday: Frozen

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Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies.

We’ve been given a third trailer for Frozen, at the end of which all fans of musicals shout, “Hallelujah.”  Or, maybe we sing “Hallelujah,” since we’re talking about music.  Feel free to choose your favorite musical instance of the word, whether it’s Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” or Handel’s “Hallelujah” Chorus.  But regardless of your chosen form of angelic singing, celebration is in order because Disney is finally marketing Frozen as a musical.  Before I get too far ahead of myself, take a look below at the new trailer, which features many scenes we’ve seen before but is also full of new goodies:

First and foremost, we finally get a good look at Elsa, the Snow Queen, who has the power to create and control snow and ice.  Elsa struggles to keep her power in check, and apparently for good reason.  We see her magic leaking out during some sort of ceremony, and she’s met with fear and anger at her powers.  She flees the town and her powers take over, causing the perpetual winter we’ve seen in the other trailers.  There’s definitely an aspect of Elphaba from Wicked to Elsa, of a person who is feared based on something that was not their fault and based on snap judgments rather than understanding.  It’s pretty fitting that Elsa is voiced by Idina Menzel, given the Elphaba connection.

The bulk of the trailer is full of scenes we’ve seen before, though with greater emphasis on the relationship between sisters Elsa and Anna (Kristen Bell).  The sisterly relationship is one we haven’t seen a lot of in Disney animated films.  Sure, some characters have had sisters or stepsisters, but Disney has focused more often on romantic relationships or parent-child relationships.  The only other sister story I can think of is Lilo & Stitch, but the age gap between Lilo and Nani gave it a different feel than Frozen.  We get some new glimpses of the villainous Duke voiced by Alan Tudyk, along with some familiar moments involving Anna, Kristoff and Olaf the snowman (I’m still a fan of “feistypants”).  There’s one cute new scene where Anna realizes her hair is turning white (possibly related to Elsa’s magic), and asks Kristoff’s opinion, only for Olaf to criticize him when he hesitates in his answer.  As usual, your enthusiasm for Frozen is probably directly related to your opinion of Olaf in the trailer.

But the best part of the trailer comes near the end, as the trailer highlights “The Adventure”, “The Magic”, and, to the joy of people like me, “The Music.”  We’re treated to a brief segment of “For the First Time in Forever”, a duet between Elsa and Anna.  We’ll have to wait for the big screen to know, but one issue for the film will be how it handles matching up a vocal powerhouse like Idina Menzel with a relatively inexperienced singer like Kristen Bell.  Regardless, it’s refreshing to see Disney actually promoting this as a musical, given how it handled Tangled.  I realize that there’s some sort of weird anti-musical sentiment out there, which seems pretty prominent online, but there are still many people who enjoy them.  I wish studios didn’t feel like they had to lie to audiences in order for their films to be successful, but unfortunately that seems to be the way the industry operates these days.  I long for the day when a trailer can open with the words “A new musical!” without being greeted with a chorus of groans from the people in the theater.

What do you think of this new trailer?  Happy to see Elsa get more screen time?  Could Sven the reindeer be any cuter?  How gorgeous is Elsa’s ice and snow magic?  Is Olaf growing on you, or has he killed any chance the film had with you?  Are you thrilled to see Disney admit that Frozen is a musical?  Let me know in the comments!

7 thoughts on “Trailer Tuesday: Frozen”

  1. Well, this turned into an epic answer………

    …”a person who is feared based on something that was not their fault and based on snap judgments rather than understanding.” …this is a familiar riff for many of us in fandom…as in something we relate to (Mutants, Avengers, Jedi, Harry Potter, random Hobbits who go on adventures), characters who are somehow “different”. Gifted or cursed; it’s the same thing in the viewpoint of the Muggles. I’ve just read “Attention Deficit Disorder in Adults: A Different Way of Thinking” by Lynn Weiss Ph.D. (I digress with a purpose). She points out that ADD wired people are not disabled or impaired, it is simply another brainstyle… one not accepted in our linear thinking, structured, cubicled, clocktimed and industrial-aged culture. Older cultures (think farming or hunter-gatherer… or, yeah, Norse Vikings) would have appreciated and needed the ADD brainstyle as part of their diversity, as part of their box of tools for survival. Wolves are perfect, but they don’t fit in your living room, accipiters are fantastic falconry birds, but lousy “lecture birds” (carried into a roomful of screaming 3rd graders, they freak out), you can’t run the Iditarod with pugs, or herd sheep with Siberians. Point is, as Harry Potter, the X-men, the Avengers, Spock, and Sherlock, and every other beloved character we know, have pointed out, the villagers will come out with torches and pitchforks when they find out we are different.

    “The sisterly relationship is one we haven’t seen a lot of in Disney animated films. Sure, some characters have had sisters or stepsisters, but Disney has focused more often on romantic relationships or parent-child relationships.” IT’S ABOUT FREAKIN TIME!!! (pardon my shout)(yes, that was 464601736917634 decibels). I’m done with Yet Another Sappy Romance. I’m done with Let’s Tell Young Girls That All They Need Is To Obsess Over The Boy and It Will All Be Happily Ever After. We do not need to tell them that story (their hormones are bad enough as it is). We need to tell them the Be Your Own Hero tale. We need to tell them that there are (as it seems here) other kinds of Important Relationships in your life. That all quests require courage and epic endurance, but not necessarily big guns. This seems to be leaning in the direction of Brave, in that we have a family issue, a sister relationship, that needs mending. Everyone (even those of us without actual sisters) can relate to this. I can’t tell what the relationship to the guy is but it would be nice to see a partnership/friendship instead of automatic romance for a change.

    And it appears that perhaps we are leaning farther from Formula here. My issue with Tangled (which had some gorgeous animation and moments and a great villainess) was that it seemed so (yaaaaaaawn) formulaic; Evil Stepmother, Innocent Girl, Bad Boy (who isn’t really bad), ho hum.

    I’m still neutral on the snowman. Depends what they do with him. The reindeer is brilliant. And yes, people in some parts of the world do actually ride them. Having real issues with attacking wolves; like we need to continue the Big Bad Wolf fairy tale some more, real wolves have enough real world issues. And the Frozen North is full of enough dangers without throwing in some stupid Dark Ages wolves. If you follow one week of the Iditarod, you’ll note that the North has bigger challenges than wolves (which melt away at your approach anyway); cold, ice, wind, places that should have ice but don’t, bare ground which makes sledding (and travel) nearly impossible and impassable, wind, running out of food/water, wind, keeping water not-ice, moose (inarguably the most dangerous animal in the North), howling wind, creating fire, keeping it going, wind, frostbite, frozen feet…

    No bears, they’re hibernating.

    AND WHYTHEBLEEP IS NO-ONE WEARING A HAT?!?!?!?!?!?

    Oh, it wouldn’t look cute.

    OH COME ON… YOU’RE DISNEY FERGAWDSAKES!!!! (see; the little girl in Despicable Me: whole time, wears adorable hat).

    Fantasy works best when it is grounded in reality. Put your bleepin’ hat on Rapunzel……..

    …or whoever you are. Which brings me to; why do they all look alike????? Please Disney, you’ve designed actual different looking princesses in the past. I know there was a huge row over Merida’s design, and the designer won, leaving us with a unique and doughty and brilliant “princess”. Disney seems to be in the business of producing Barbie dolls.

    I’ve enjoyed the music in most Disney films (and bought soundtracks), but I don’t especially care whether it’s there or not. Musical? Meh, whatever. Won’t turn me away, or get me there. I have no idea what the rest of the audience thinks. I do think that parents of little boys should not avoid a perfectly good musical because nothing is blowing up every five seconds… and a well-designed musical adds another dimension of storytelling with the songs.

    Flynn Rider: the only Disney character to ever question why everyone is singing…

    The trailer is gorgeous (I expect perfection, you’re Disney). There are some lovely moments. I will surely go see it. Hope it’s as awesome as it could be.

    I see stuffed reindeer in my future………

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    • The best comments are the epic ones!

      I think the “different” characters are my favorites, because I’ve often/always felt like I don’t belong. They’re the stories that seem to resonate most with me, and I know I’m not alone in that. I know that sort of story has been told in a lot of different ways, and Wicked was just the first that came to mind given the Idina Menzel connection. But you’re right about how many of the big fandoms fit into that category. I hadn’t thought of the ADD angle, but that makes sense to me. There’s such a stigma on anyone and anything that’s different, and I think that’s really a detriment to our society.

      I’m thrilled about the sisterly side of Frozen. I’m an only child, but as such have created sibling-like relationships with several of my closest friends, so I can’t wait to see that sort of relationship portrayed in this film.

      I love a sappy romance, but I agree that we need to be teaching kids to find their own strength rather than waiting to be rescued (though it is ok to be rescued too, and important to realize that not everything can be done alone). I actually really like Tangled, because I think it presents a unique view of the parent/child relationship, as Mother Gothel is far more manipulative of her “daughter’s” feelings and intentions than the standard “evil stepmother” trope. If I ever write that Tangled/Brave comparison, I hope I can explain my thoughts in a way that actually makes sense.

      I agree with you that wolves have been overused as villains, and that their real world reputation has suffered as a result. I’d like to see Frozen discuss how the change in the environment (clearly caused by a human) affects the wolves, and may have driven them to attack our characters out of desperation, but I’m not going to hold my breath for it. As for the characters not wearing a hat, I’ve got no excuse for that. It’s pretty silly.

      I’m a big fan of musicals, but I know some people who can’t stand them. I grew up seeing lots of stuff on stage, and watching lots of classic musicals from the 50s, so it’s in my blood at this point. I think there’s a tendency these days to dismiss movies simply because they’re a musical, which I saw from some people who refused to see Les Miserables.

      HOWEVER, Flynn Rider is not the only Disney character to question why everyone’s singing, as Robert in Enchanted does it several times. Flynn Rider might be the only animated character to question it, but definitely not the only Disney character.

      It is gorgeous, though. Let me know if you get a Sven reindeer!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. THIS is the trailer I’ve been waiting for…THIS is the trailer that refueled my desire to see “Frozen”!

    It just looks amazing! I love Elsa and feel sorry for her, the animation is gorgeous, the music and songs seem amazing which is good since I wasn’t a fan of what the husband/wife duo did in “Winnie the Pooh”, and the fact that they’re promoting this as the best animated event since “The Lion King” just makes me so much more pumped for it! I can’t wait!

    And I honestly don’t find Olaf annoying and actually praise Josh Gad’s voice performance.

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    • I felt the same way, that this is most definitely the trailer I’ve been waiting for. I wasn’t particularly impressed with what the songwriters did with the new Winnie the Pooh, but I’m not sure how much creativity they were allowed with that movie. I’m also not annoyed by Olaf, but I know lots of people who are. I have a pretty high tolerance for “annoying” characters (as I’m one of the few people who will defend Jar Jar Binks), so Olaf doesn’t bother me at all. I think seeing him as a creation of Elsa will give him a bit more depth than just being a random talking snowman.
      Thanks for the comments! It’s always great to hear from you, and you’re more knowledgeable about animated films than anyone else I know!

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