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[tab title="Movie Review"]

Frozen - Blu-ray Review

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5 stars

Inspired in part by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, Walt Disney’s impressive reign over everything considered princess-worthy and cute continues with the magnificent Frozen. It continues to melt hearts and now, with today’s Blu-ray debut, it does so in high definition. It’s true, the Walt Disney of our youth is making a comeback and, might I add, it is a welcomed comeback indeed.

This is a story about the love – the true love, that is – that exists between siblings. It’s a fantastic approach and screenwriter Jennifer Lee (who co-directed with Chris Buck) deserves to be recognized in that she puts females (and family) first and doesn’t give audiences a been-there and done-that romance-driven story through yet another magical kingdom. The Disney farm-fed princess gets a long overdue update in Frozen. While the men and love interests are there, they hang out more on the peripheral side of things, adding a nice chemistry to the story when needed.

Once upon a time ago, two close sisters, Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) and Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel), were suddenly forced apart by their parents. Elsa has some strange ability to control the winter elements and accidently almost killed her sister while the two were playing. The parents made the decision to separate the girls until they are much older. And, on Elsa’s coronation day, the two sisters are suddenly face to face again. Yet, Elsa still can’t get her nerves to stop toying with her frozen abilities, and when she unknowingly puts her kingdom in a state of eternal winter, her younger sister must go and find her to reverse the situation with the help of Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and a cute snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad).

Feeling in tone and in spirit similar to The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, Frozen is already a classic. The strength in Disney’s animation skills are continuously on display and, minute by minute, the film feels fully engaged. It definitely does not run out of energy before the finish line is crossed. Nor does it unnecessarily tax its audience with hammer-to-the-head messages or unnecessary exposition. It’s breezy and magnificent animated fun for the entire family.

No princess needs rescuing from a prince in the Academy Award-winning Frozen (Best Original Song “Let It Go” and Best Animated Feature). But you will need rescuing from the couch and from how many times you’ll want to see it. There simply isn’t a flaw and, as the tension mounts, the story really delivers in a film that continues its domination with a worldwide box office gross in excess of $1 billion.

Frozen is as good as its seemingly unending hype.

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[tab title="Film Details"]

Frozen - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: PG for some action and mild rude humor.
Runtime:
102 mins
Director
: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Writer:
Jennifer Lee
Cast:
Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel
Genre
: Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family
Tagline:
Frozen
Memorable Movie Quote: "Hi, everyone. I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!"
Distributor:
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Official Site: http://movies.disney.com/frozen
Release Date:
November 27, 2013
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
March 18, 2014
Synopsis: In Frozen, Anna (voice of Kristen Bell), a fearless optimist, teams up with extreme mountain man Kristoff and his sidekick reindeer Sven in an epic journey, encountering mystical trolls, a funny snowman named Olaf, Everest-like extremes and magic at every turn in a race to find Anna’s sister Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), the Snow Queen, and save their kingdom from eternal winter.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Frozen - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Collector's Edition

Available on Blu-ray - March 18, 2014
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles
: English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit); French: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); iTunes digital copy; DVD copy
Region Encoding: Region-free

Disney blus always look good and this one is another good-looking release. Right from the beginning, the crystal clear video makes you feel like you are in the theater again, and each song sounds like listening to it for the first time. This 1080p, AVC-encoded high definition presentation is sterling in every way. Razor sharp and boldly colorful, the hoary cliché “feast for the eyes” certainly applies to Frozen. The digital animation is wonderfully detailed and inventive to begin with, and on Blu-ray the wide array of textures and atmospheres can be fully appreciated. The DTS-HD MA 7.1 mix is every bit its equal, with a focus on full-bodied dialogue and bright music. Simply put, Disney did an amazing job bringing this home.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

Unfortunately, the special features on the Blu-ray leave a little to be desired. You learn, rather interestingly enough, that Disney’s Frozen journey was started by Walt Disney himself. You’ll find out why and how in the opening featurette “D’Frosted”. The next featurette is an atypical making-of short that has the cast singing, yes, singing about how the film was made. There are four deleted scenes and all are told in storyboards and introduced by the directors. Mickey Mouse gets his own animated short with “Get a Horse!” and four music videos over “Let It Go” round out the collection.

  • D’Frosted: Disney’s Journey from Hans Christian Andersen to Frozen (7 min)
  • The Making of Frozen (3 min)
  • Deleted Scenes (7:08):
  • Animated Short: Get a Horse! (6 min)
  • Music Videos

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