‘Frozen’ brings a classic fairytale to life

What’s the story?
“FROZEN” very loosely borrows from the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of The Snow Queen: in a Scandinavian-like kingdom, two young princesses frolic in the first snowfall. The older sister Elsa has the magical power to conjure ice, so she creates a winter wonderland for her adoring little sister, Anna.

But when Elsa accidentally hurts Anna with her freezing magic, her royal parents decide to shutter Elsa away from the kingdom.

The sisters grow up separated from society — and each other— a strategy that works until the king and queen die in a shipwreck and Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) must be crowned the new queen.

During the coronation festivities, Anna (Kristen Bell falls for a visiting Prince Hans (Santino Fontana) who immediately proposes. When they ask Elsa for her blessing, she scoffs, loses control of her powers, runs up a mountain, and sends the kingdom into an eternal winter.
Guilty, Anna sets out to find Elsa with the help of unlikely allies — a loner ice deliveryman Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his loyal reindeer Sven, and a goofy, sentient snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad).

Is it any good? Make room for two more wonderful Disney Princesses. “Frozen” is a perfect combination of the best Disney has to offer: catchy, show-stopping musical numbers, empowering heroines who discover the strength within themselves, stunning animated visuals, and scene-stealing sidekicks.

There are worthy messages about everything from sisterly unconditional love to being true to yourself to not getting engaged to someone you literally just met.

In addition to the the pithy songs like “For the First Time in Forever”, “Let It Go”, “In Summer”, and “Fixer Upper” — fabulously composed by couple Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez — the sweet themes of sisterhood and self-identity make for a delightfully funny tale.
Musical theatre stars Menzel, Groff, Fontana, and Gad provide an awesome line-up of singers who make Frozen sound like it’s already headed for Broadway.

The always adorable Bell doesn’t disappoint as the plucky and industrious Anna, who refuses to let Elsa stay away and believe herself a monster.

Groff is perfectly cast as Kristoff who challenges and surprises Anna, and in turn is challenged and surprised by the brave princess.

Their romance is a refreshing counterpoint to Anna and Hans’ (which, as it turns out, isn’t the swoon-worthy love at first sight she imagined) without taking away from the central story line about the lovely sisters who discover their power.