Disney's "Frozen"

[Nepenthe]

Snow White was actually a critical hit for its serious story elements, the acting and romance, and the inspired use of German Expressionism in the art, none of which has anything to do with the technological leaps it made (although those were relevant.) It was the highest grossing film of the year four times over. It was instrumental in kickstarting the viability of American feature film animation. It doesn't hold up as well merely because it's boring as fuck by today's standards, not because it's a musical. Tangled is one of the most entertaining animated films in years- I'd argue more so than Ralph- and it's a musical.

Fair enough though that these things bother you depending upon the degree and quality, but I go back to my original statement: we don't know the extent to which the snowman and reindeer will feature. All this trailer told us is that they exist. We cannot make that accurate a value judgement of the rest of the story as a result, because the trailer has little to nothing to do with the story. It's almost like judging a game from a CGI trailer.

And frankly, Disney is more grown-up than you realize. The thousands of people who have worked there over the years producing the kind of artwork at a breakneck pace necessary to make any of these films- 2D or 3D- come to fruition so we can sit our asses in a theater for an hour and a half have a bona fide passion for the quality of entertainment the company has been providing to families over the years. People go to work for Disney because they remember the joy those movies provided when they were younger, and they want to provide those same memories in turn for future generations. I want to do the same. These artists, this company, are not immature. They don't need to grow up by eschewing the musical. They are grown up already. Maybe it's you who needs to mature.

[pppp]

Honestly, I'm gonna have to agree with Nepenthe here. Disney is never faithful to the source material they adapt. If you guys want a faithful adaptation you're looking in the wrong place. As for the "evolving into more than family entertainer" thing, well whenever they tried that people didn't like it(Hunchback comes to mind).  Breaking out of the box can be a bad idea if it only ends up reminding people of how much they like the box.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Tetsuya Nomura

[iDEATH]

The snowman has generic dopey Disney face, and the elk is literally an elk, no worse than Maximus or Rut and Tuke. Ugly? How?

 

I just....don't like them....they're emulating a cartoon style that I've never been massively fond of. Just my opinion.

 

*shrugs*

[KittyNakajima]

I think one reasons people are getting upset is the source material is not all that entirely dark that they would have to sanitize it. Someone basically streamed the plot a page or two back: a boy and girl are friends, and some magic element (i.e. evil mirror shards created by the Devil) turn the boy into a dick. He runs off with the Snow Queen, and the girl goes on a journey to bring him back to his senses.

 

I've studied it for a Children's Lit course back in uni, and it's very tame compared to other works by the same author, Hans Christian Andersen or that of his contemporaries. No one dies or gets maimed, and the title character herself actually steps aside or seems fairly neutral depending on how you interpret it.

 

Secondly - there have been plenty of works that have adapted this tale that have turned out beautifully without straying too far the source material. The best example that comes to mind is Snezhnaya Koroleva, the 1957 Soviet Union animated film:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8jN0oOvYi0

 

Apologies for it being in Russian, but you should be able to find an English dub quickly as it's now public domain. Aside from this, they've also had multiple plays, movies, and anime that draw from this tale while staying faithful to it.

 

Finally, I'm probably falling in the group that's irked that Disney went and added their special brand of "twist" to make it appeal to modern audiences. I don't care for the dopey snowman/reindeer sidekicks, obvious romantic tension/politically correct action or the very, very base sampling they seem to have taken from the source material to hammer out their plot. What's wrong with a story about childhood innocence & friendship with a struggle over good and evil? Or better yet, a proactive heroine, as that character goes out to actively seek out her friend despite others mistaking him for dead?

 

That isn't to say that Disney hasn't done some beautiful work, or that this movie can't be great despite what's been shown so far. I will concede to folks saying that Disney never is 100% faithful to the source material, but that doesn't mean they didn't overthink/take for granted something that could very well have appealed without getting a modern brush up.

Edited June 20, 2013 by KittyNakajima

[Sean]

That was a cute teaser, although it felt more like a short film? I wanted to see the female leads. :c

[Indigo Rush]

Imagine teasing off The Lion King with the scene with Timon and Pumba singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

 

This is a trailer to that effect.

[Mauro Fonseca]

I'd say it's more "Here's that Kimba film we've been promissing for years!"

 

*Trailer showing only Timon dancing the Luau*

[Sean]

Kind of makes me groan to be honest because it makes me think it's another result of animated movies not wanting to show off the girls in marketing, trying to draw in audiences through other methods. Say what you will about Epic, but at least they had the balls to put the female lead front and center on the poster.

And I've been seriously dying to see the female designs in this movie so yeah I was pretty let down by this.

[Conando]

Now that's an issue, yeah. They did a similar thing with Tangled's advertising, and definitely with it's teaser trailer, if I'm remembering correctly. I don't really get it, because people KNOW this movie has a female lead. At least, I'm pretty sure they do.

[Mega]

It's because they think little boys won't want to see a film with a female lead, so they market the male characters to try and get more "general" appeal.

[Mogtaki]

I can see people's fear in this animation.

 

I mean, it could turn into The Black Cauldron-esque film but the annoying fuzzball is an annoying talking snowman.

 

Also, I think people tolerated Maximus from Tangled a little more probably because he also couldn't talk.

[Johnny Boy]

I can see people's fear in this animation.

I mean, it could turn into The Black Cauldron-esque film but the annoying fuzzball is an annoying talking snowman.

Also, I think people tolerated Maximus from Tangled a little more probably because he also couldn't talk.

Tolerated? If I remember correctly people freaking loved Maximus.

[EuroMIX]

For me, Tangled improved as Maximus' involvement in the plot escalated.

[Mogtaki]

Tolerated? If I remember correctly people freaking loved Maximus.

 

If you heard the reaction after the first trailer, then they tolerated it enough to see the film before ultimately judging him.

[...]

 

We've finally got an official picture of the lead characters. Yiss.

[Mogtaki]

I thought that was the fake picture from tumblr?

[...]

Nope. It's official.

[Johnny Boy]

Wow. The villain doesn't look the least bit intimidating. But then again, neither did King Candy (at first).

[RK64]

 

We've finally got an official picture of the lead characters. Yiss.

 

They look very similar to each other, its that by accident or something?

[Johnny Boy]

They look very similar to each other, its that by accident or something?

No. They're sisters.

[RK64]

No. They're sisters.

 

Sorry, I guess I fully understand what the film is about then. Hope its good, as I heard the guys behind Wreck it Ralph and Tangled are working on the film (and I like the Snowman trailer for the film that came out a few weeks ago).

[Nerfuffle]

New Japanese trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh959s_xj90

 

So from what I interpret, in this version,

Gerda "Anna" has to rescue her sister from herself after said sister turns into the ice queen instead of Gerda saving her boyfriend, Kai, from the ice queen; twisting the story away from its gender reversed damsel in distress roots...hmmm.

 

On the other hand, I think previous synopsis suggested Anna had to to save her kingdom as well as her sister so in a way you could say that her accomplishments and importance have increased in scope; possibly focusing on an ethical decision between Anna reaching out to a family member or protecting her kingdom. 

 

I still can't help but draw comparisons to that recent tinkerbell movie tho...

[Ferno]

...Dats some good animation right d'air.

Edited July 3, 2013 by Inferno

[Mauro Fonseca]

I thought that was the fake picture from tumblr?

 

It was said from the start the fake part was the posters- the renders were real.

[Your Vest Friend]

Clean version of the trailer above.