Wonder, Subversion, and the Radical Filmmaking of Frozen
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
- Animated Oscar winner Frozen was a phenomenon, and in this channel’s opinion, deservedly so. For not only does it have great music, amazing characters, and a wonderfully subversive story, but its message is quite powerful. We all know Let It Go and its embrace-your-true-self statement, but the film as a whole goes much deeper than that. Frozen is actually pretty radical, going against decades of storytelling to deliver a new message, one that contradicts almost everything said by Disney films of old.
Movies Under The Surface is a series of video essays that explores what makes great films great. The videos are about understanding movies at a deeper level, beneath plot and story, at their heart.
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Footage From:
Frozen (2013), Dir. Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck
To Have and Have Not (1944), Dir. Howard Hawks
The Sword and the Stone (1963), Dir. Wolfgang Reitherman
Pinocchio (1940), Dir. Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpersteen
The Lion King (1994), Dir. Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers
Music From:
Frozen Soundtrack - Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, and Christophe Beck
For educational purposes only.
I love you!! Thank u for making a video essay like this for Frozen--for my favorite movie of all time (even if many people hate it)!! I've watched the film 10 times and even now, Let it go and its other songs still manages to captivate me. I can really tell that the main person behind this essay really loves frozen and your love for it really went pass my screen! Love you!!
I love Frozen. It is a great movie.
Frozen is amazing and entertaining. When I watched Frozen for the first time, I could felt something different than other Disney movies and you describe it very well. Glad you made essay video about Frozen.
Thanks! I definitely feel it is different from other Disney movies. Personally, It's my favorite Disney movie ever made!
This has me seeing Frozen in a whole new light. I am amazed.
thanks for your comment! How did you find this video though? I havent made it public yet.
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface Scrolling down whatever screen pops up on the mobile app as soon as I open it. I guess it was a recommendation.
Glad there is a new video. Good subject matter.
thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
I knew frozen was great from the moment I watched it but this just explained exactly why
thanks for your comment, but how did you find this video? I havent made it public yet.
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface I have no clue.. I couldn't even reply to your comment until after it was public!
@@hannahn3240 weird! so glad you liked the video though!
Fantastic video, good to see Frozen getting some love ♥
heck yes! I love this film.
Hey man, fan from India here! I really like your videos, they are very well written and relaxing.
I have realized that I like thoughtful, philosophical and down-tempo content in general, so I also like channels like:
-Thunk
-Deep Focus Lens
etc. Thanks
thanks for your comments. I'll check those channels out!
I watched frozen for how many times i dont remember
A great perspective. Disney definitely delivers new and exciting formulae that digress from the traditional good vs evil dichotomy and/or seeking true love narrative. Although I agree that Frozen asserts the notion that "good things will generally arise from situations when approached with wonder and positivity", I believe previous Disney films have already paved the way in spreading the word. Moana is a great recent example, where a historic negative event instilled fear into the tribes people to the point where further exploration was prohibited - leading to the eventual rotting of the island vegetation. The entire film revolves around both Moana's sense of wonder and positivity in restoring Te Fiti's heart, and the negativity and fear she deals with when faced with her father and Maui. Also interesting to note, Moana does not feature a love interest at all for the female protagonist. If you haven't watched Moana, I highly recommend it.
Anyways, just food for thought. Keep up the great work!
I actually missed Moana, but I do want to see it. What I've noticed though, is that what I discuss in my video is true of most of this era's animated Disney movies (which Moana is included in). It's kind of what unites them, even though in other aspects they are radically different.
We had seen plenty of princess fairy tale movies about love before, but Frozen showed love in a whole new light. In a way we'd never seen in a Disney movie before. It's just amazing.
I completely agree!
I love this! I feel like the people who dislike Frozen just see it as a cheesy Disney movie for kids, but the lessons are ones that everyone can learn from. Great video.
thank you! I agree that most of the Frozen haters are hating a cheesy Princess movie, not seeing that the actual film is much more than that.
Love this video! I feel like this essay explains and understands so many aspects of Frozen that I have not seen any other video essay understand. So many times during your video I thought "Finally someone is saying what Frozen is about!" There were also things that I didn't realize and I got a new look on Frozen. Absolutely amazing video.
Having said that... what was said about the song "Fixer Upper" doesn't do the song justice. The majority of the song is about Kristoff but the last third of the song relates more to Elsa than it does to Kristoff.
We're not saying you can change him
'Cause people don't really change
We're only saying that love's a force
That's powerful and strange
People make bad choices
If they're mad or scared or stressed
But throw a little love their way (throw a little love their way)
And you'll bring out their best
True love brings out the best!
Everyone's a bit of a fixer upper
That's what it's all about
Father! Sister! Brother!
We need each other
To raise us up and round us out
Everyone's a bit of a fixer upper
But when push comes to shove
The only fixer upper fixer that can fix a fixer upper is
True, true, true, true, true, true, true
True love, true love, love, love, love, love, love
Love, true love (True...)
The lyrics "people make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed" speaks to the theme that "good is anything guided by wonder and positivity". In this part of the song "true love" can mean the familial love between Anna and Elsa. The song even equates true love with familial love. Saying in one part "True love brings out the best" then "Father! Sister! Brother! We need each other to raise us and round us out" If the song was only about Kristoff and Anna's "true love" then those mentions lyrics would not make as much sense. But put those lyrics to Anna and Elsa's "true love" (familial love) then the lyrics make sense. In the end, Kristoff wasn't the one to change from true love but Elsa was.
thanks for your comments! I'm glad you enjoyed my video.
Regarding Fixer Upper, I like your interpretation of the lyrics, however, the visuals during the song and the actions the characters make while singing do not match this interpretation (rewatching my video, I realize I only call out the lyrics; I should have called out the lyrics combined with the actions and imagery). To me, this means either your interpretation of the song is not what the trolls were trying to say, or the trolls didn't know the true depth of what they wanted to say. Personally, I think the latter option is a little forced and not in keeping with the techniques of the rest of the movie. At the same time, you make a really good point about the song specifically mentioning "Father! Sister! Brother!
We need each other to raise us up and round us out". Maybe the trolls really were singing something deeper than even they realized.
One of the best Disney movies of all time! Loved the video. Positivity and wonder. Beautiful!🌈
I think it is the best!
Wonderful analysis
thanks!
This melted my heart 💟
:)
I knew as soon as the film started when I saw it back in 2013 that it would be something different than any other Disney film I’d seen up to that point. By the time the film ended, I knew it was my favorite Disney film.
its my favorite too!
I didn´t realise before that do you want to build a snow man was the last song of the film
not just the last song, but literally the last moment of the film (minus the end credits of course)
You need more likes and more subs
thanks! I agree!
Your comments are so amazing!
:)
People who don't like frozen are lying to themselves! Its truly a fantastic movie.
I cant speak for others, but I love it!
I can recognize the good aspects of Frozen and still not like it, that's not lying to myself.
How many copyright strikes did you get?
her sisterly love WAS true love
What did you think of Frozen 2?
unfortunately, I did not think it was very good. It was a glorified straight-to-video release in my book
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface yeah I like the music but story wise the first is much better imo
Pls do one day a video on frozen 2
unfortunately, I found that Frozen 2 didn't have the same depth that Frozen had. I don't know that there's much in that film for me to make a video on.
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface I thought it had more depth than the first one in like the message off show yourself Anna's Arc and Elsa and her mother
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface I agree with Rex Besong. There is so much depth in Frozen 2.
I think the whole idea of embracing your inner self is probably the most important part of the movie. Your argument about the villains or side characters "embracing" their true selves isn't really true as they never show themselves to "embrace" anything. Hans is essentially just a twist villain. Essentially, he's always been that way, and was merely using his kind nature as a facade to get what he wanted. As for the others, none of them embrace much. They simply have an outlet to act normally. Embracing who you are implies that you once pushed away that aspect of yourself, which embodies Elsa's character pretty well. So idk if your argument works very well.
The main theme of Frozen is love. The type of love it focuses on is vague whether it's familial love or romantic love. It likely uses both, but familial love is put at the forefront, being the first and last form of love shown in the movie.
It's about more than love. Elsa and Anna's parents clearly love Anna, and yet they raise/treat her horribly (not on purpose, but still). The point of Frozen isn't just love or embracing your true self, it is embracing the part of you that is governed by love. That's what I say in my video
rofl no
oh well. thanks for watching!