STAFF WRITER

Disney’s 53rd animated feature Frozen is a surprisingly enjoyable retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale, “The Snow Queen.” With an amazing soundtrack and beautiful animation, Frozen takes successful risks to deliver a welcomed film to the Disney canon.

Do not expect a typical princess tale from this movie. The movie’s main focus is not romance, but rather the relationship between the two leads, Anna and Elsa, two sisters who are the princesses of a kingdom called Arrendale. Since birth, Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel, Enchanted) is plagued with the power of manipulating ice and snow from her fingertips — think Bobby from X-Men or Fro-Zone from The Incredibles. When Elsa’s abilities go haywire, she flees from the kingdom, leaving Arrendale in an eternal winter and Anna is on a mission to retrieve her.

Frozen’s biggest strength the music. The songs are upbeat and bring the film to another level.Menzel’s Broadway voice is not wasted during her powerhouse solo in “Let it Go.” The art direction also is a high point for the film, each shot capturing the astonishing beauty of Arrendale’s Scandinavian landscape.

Shrugging off helpless princess stereotypes, Anna is a feminist-friendly character despite being occasionally ditzy. She fashions a slingshot from a spruce tree to defeat a colossal ice monster, jumps off a 200-foot cliff and even punches a guy off a ship at the film’s end. There are no weddings in Frozen, no quick engagements or a true love’s kiss; the film actually offers a cautionary message of love at first sight.

Despite a few plot holes, Frozen makes up for them with a feel-good film full of comedy and lovable characters. It is not of the same caliber as certain Disney renaissance films like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, but it certainly has the potential to usher in another golden era for Disney’s animated pictures.