Why Frozen is My New Favorite Disney Movie of ALL TIME!

    If you have read my blog before you probably know that I have a problem with most Disney princesses. However, a couple of weeks ago my husband and I took our kids to see Frozen at the theater and Anna and Elsa have redeemed my love for Disney princesses. Please note that this blog will contain spoilers and if you do not wish to have the greatest Disney movie of all time ruined for you, then read no further and please click that lovely red X in the top right hand corner of your screen. I will understand, really. For those of you who have experienced Frozen in all its glory, please read on for the reasons why this is my new favorite Disney movie of all time.

Disney Frozen (2013)

       1. The Music!
           As soon as the very first song started in the movie theater, I leaned over my children and whispered to my husband, "Can we please buy this soundtrack?" I was in love from "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" The songs kept getting better and the music behind the lyrics did such a lovely job of emoting what was happening on the screen. Not to mention, the story was written in true musical fashion, which I absolutely love. My entire family loves to sing along and we carry the soundtrack with us everywhere!! Not only did Disney give us some pretty spectacular music, they also had the brilliance to cast Idina Menzel as Elsa which was simply pure genius. When she sings "Let It Go" it is pure gold. Menzel has always done such a beautiful job of emoting with her voice and she brings such beautiful dimension to the character of Elsa. My only issue with the music was that Jonathan Groff, the voice of Kristoff, did not sing more. I love his voice and I am disappointed that his only song was a goofy number, that while entertaining, did not display his true abilities.

     2. The fact that "love at first sight" is portrayed as ridiculous.
          Early on in the movie, teenage Anna meets Hans at a party. They sing a little number, Hans proposes and Anna accepts.When Anna asks for her sister Elsa's blessing on the engagement and Elsa plainly tells her, "you can't marry someone you just met." Later, after Anna has met Kristoff and is telling him her story, he is shocked and appalled at the idea of getting engaged to someone you just met. Even the trolls dismiss her engagement as not being real. Of course, towards the end we learn just how dangerous it is to commit yourself to someone you just met when we discover that Hans is actually a power hungry villain who is willing to kill both Anna and her sister just so he can be a king. People can pretend to be anyone for a little while, but the truth always comes out and unless you spend time getting to know someone, you can't know the truth about them.

     3. You can't change someone.
          When Kristoff takes Anna to the trolls, they immediately try to set the two of them up and they sing a fun little number titled, "Fixer Upper". The trolls keep telling Anna that even though Kristoff is a little bit of a fixer upper, all he needs is a little love. My favorite part of this song is the bridge when one of the trolls tells Anna that you can't actually change someone, but that instead love is a powerful force that can bring out the best in people. Throughout the movie, the undercurrent is there that people make poor choices when they are frightened or stressed or angry, and that if they could only experience true love, they would act differently. This is so contrary to what Disney has portrayed in the past and it is much more like real life. You cannot change someone simply by loving them, however, the love of the right person (and especially the love of Jesus) can give someone the courage and strength to try harder to be their best self.

     4. True love is not confined to romantic relationships.
         When Anna is shot through the heart with ice, the troll tells her that only an act of true love will melt the ice. Of course, we all assume that this means she needs true love's kiss. Kristoff rushes Anna back to Hans so that his kiss can save her, however,  Hans is the bad guy. Later Kristoff, rushes back to save Anna, because we are still assuming that only true love's kiss can save her. Then Anna sees Hans preparing to kill her sister Elsa. Instead of rushing to Hans to save her own life, Anna shields Elsa from Hans' sword, thus sacrificing her life to save her sister's. Anna is the one who exhibits the act of true love. It is the act of true love between sisters that melts Anna's heart. This is a really powerful statement that Disney is making. So often in the past, princesses have been quick to give up their families to get their Prince Charming. But Frozen shows that true love has many forms and it's not always about "getting your man."

     5. The unintentional portrayal of the Gospel.
         I must give my husband, Aaron, a lot of credit for this part as he pointed out many of the ways that this movie portrays the Gospel of salvation. He and I have discussed this movie quite a bit and hopefully he won't mind me sharing what we discovered. I know that Disney did make this movie with the intent of portraying the gospel and more than likely they were just trying to tell a good story; which just goes to show how creativity is truly a gift of God and how God can be glorified by his creation, even without the knowledge of the creation.
         Throughout the movie you see Elsa being captive to her fear and having to always perform. Elsa always has to be the good girl and when she can't perform any longer, she runs away and chooses to live isolated. She says that she is free, but in actuality that is far from the truth. She is still consumed by her fear and it is not until she realizes the power of love that she is truly set free.
         You also see how sin has far reaching consequences. We don't like to talk about our sin and we don't like to admit that we are sinners. We prefer to think that as long as we are not hurting anyone else that our actions don't matter. However, it is very rare that our actions only effect us; more times than not our actions have far reaching consequences. We see this when Elsa sets off the eternal winter. Elsa believes that as long as she stays by herself that she can do whatever she wants and no one will be effected, however that is not the case. Elsa's actions, though innocent, set off a chain reaction that quickly effected the lives of everyone and most severely effected her sister. Now, I know that Elsa really did not do anything wrong and to call her setting off an eternal winter a sin is a stretch, however, think back to her parents. Her parents misheard the trolls and taught Elsa that she was not to feel anything and that she had to conceal her gift and never let anyone know her power, and that was wrong, or a sin. The sin of the parents effected Elsa's choices and those choices effected everyone.
        Anna never gives up on her sister. I think anyone else would have simply written off someone who never acknowledged her presence, but not Anna. When Anna realizes why Elsa has remained closed off for all of these years, she seeks out her sister. She believes that her sister can fix everything. Elsa repeatedly sends Anna away, or rejects her, and every time Anna comes back. Anna never gives up on Elsa, much like Christ never gives up on us.
        The final, and I think most obvious correlation to the gospel is the sacrifice of Anna for Elsa. Anna did nothing wrong in this whole situation. Anna is the innocent one and for all intents and purposes, Elsa is the guilty one. Elsa's actions are the cause of Anna's deteriorating condition and even Elsa believes that she deserves to die. However, Anna's love for her sister is so strong that she gives her life to save Elsa. This is what Christ did for us on the cross. Jesus lived a perfect life, was completely blameless before the Father, and in his love for us, the guilty ones who deserved death, he went to the cross in our place. Jesus took the judgement that we deserved and his love, death, and resurrection sets us free and enables us to live changed lives.

     I hope that you will take the time to watch Frozen, either in the theater or when it comes out on DVD in March and I hope that you will love it as much as my family did. But, I also hope that you will see past the well written story and see the glorification of God and will seek Christ.