This is Jacob from the Wisecrack channel and welcome to Film Legends: Where the most renowned films of our age
battle to be crowned the greatest of all time
We'll be analyzing and awarding points for every single thing a movie does right
Many will compete, but in the end, only the strongest will have what it takes to become
FILM LEGENDS
Today's challenger, Frozen, which will be scored according to the Film Legends rules here. Got it? Let's go.
The traditional Sámi Joik chant establishes Frozen's Norwegian locale before even the credits roll. Cultural Respect!
The ice workers' lament doubles as a statement on the Fair and foul, Elsa
And if you listen closely, this entire opening number pretty much spells out what's about to happen for the next 90 minutes
NARRATIVE FORESHADOWING!
King Agnaar: Help, my daughter.
Grand Pabbie: Lucky It wasn't her heart; the heart is not so easily changed
Unchangeable and frozen hearts are referred to throughout the film:
Grand Pabbie: There is ice in your heart
Anna: The only frozen heart around here is yours
... reflective of the biblical "hardened heart".
Per Scripture, a hardened heart marks spiritual decay
and is nearly impossible to break.
Elsa is forced to hide her icy powers...
King Agnaar: Conceal it?
Elsa: Don't feel it.
... setting up the central narrative dilemma of the film:
Should Elsa be true to herself and use her powers freely?
Or should she hide her powers from the rest of the world?
CHARACTER ARC SETUP!
Elsa and Anna's confinement in the castle is a classic literary device:
Women are confined, often by men, in houses or rooms
A metaphor for the subjugation of women in patriarchal society
DEEP THOUGHTS!
Like in every Disney film, parents live a long and happy life watching their children age into adulthood
[Laughs] Just kidding
Remember, you're watching a Disney movie!
Parents of course always die in horrific and devastating fashion, leaving behind
emotionally shattered orphans
THINK OF THE CHI -
PARENTS?
D'you wanna build a snowman?
[Sniffles] No, I will not cry in an animated children's film.
It's not gonna happen this time!
TEN BUCKS SAYS JACOB CRIES AT THE END OF THIS EPISODE
Anna: It's coronation day!
Wait a second!
Who's been ruling Arendelle in the three years between the king's death and Elsa's coronation?
This seems like an egregious omission,
since so much of the plot hinges on the power vacuum in Elsa's absence!
Anna: I need you here to take care of Arendelle
Prince Hans: She left me in charge
Yet there's no mention of who was ever ruling beforehand
NARRATIVE CONFUSION!
As in all classic musicals, when emotions run too high
Characters break into song
Be it Gene Kelly singing in the rain after his goodnight kiss,
or Anna singing for the first time in forever
as she's freed from the confines of the castle
A MUSICAL TRADITION!
During Anna's grand number, she reenacts many famous paintings:
Bruegel the Elder's "The Peasant Dance"
Serrure's "The Picnic"
ter Borch's "Dancing Couple"
Sargent's "El Jaleo"
Fragonard's "The Swing"
and van Leyden's "Potiphar's Wife Shows Josef's Gown to Her Husband"
Nice job sneaking in an art history lesson Disney!
A blink and you'll miss it cameo by another confined Disney heroine, Rapunzel
Disney, you sneaky bastards
Anna: Hey!
Prince Hans: Are you hurt?
Meet cute alert!
As is the case in many romantic comedies,
our young lovers first meet under embarrassing, slapstick conditions
Anna: This is awkward
Frozen gently pokes fun at the typical
Disney "love-at-first-sight" trope
hinting in lyrics that Anna and Han's single-day courtship
isn't all it's cracked up to be
Hans: I mean, it's crazy.
Anna: What?
Hans: We finish each other's
Anna: Sandwiches!
TROPE K.O!
The film constantly plays against the tropes of Disney films past
Kristoff: I don't trust your judgment
Anna: Excuse me?
Kristoff: Who marries a man she just met?
Anna: It's "True Love"!
Our so-called prince charming ain't all that.
A true love's kiss?
Anna: Hans, you have to kiss me
Hans: What?
Anna: Now!
Well, let's just say this ain't no sleeping beauty
TROPE K.O SMASH!
Many in the LGBTQ community have embraced Elsa as a queer icon
She's born different
Yet told to hide her true self from the world
Later her powers are publicly outed and shamed in front of the whole kingdom,
a tale many in the LGBTQ community know all too well
IT GETS BETTER!
Elsa, who spent her entire life hiding her powers,
finally embraces them;
but in the process,
Anna: You kind of set off an eternal winter
A consequence of unchecked personal choice
Note from witer:
NO. I refuse to write the lyrics of this song.
Hmmm... This song sounds vaguely familiar
Yeah, "Let it go"' is a juggernaut
Shaping modern-day pop culture and
inspiring little girls everywhere
Be honest, even you, jaded YouTube viewer
have hummed it in the shower.
Yeah. YOU.
BOW TO THE SONG!
The song also showcases Elsa's metamorphosis from scared girl living under her parents rules
to an empowered woman,
finally making her own choices
CHARACTER TRANSFORMATION!
Frozen uses magic to tell a classic coming-of-age story
As Elsa embraces her power,
she lets her hair flow down and downs a revealing gown,
fully embracing her own sexuality for the first time
SEXUAL AWAKENING!
A nice callback to Elsa's parents shutting the castle door on her
I'M THE ONE WHO KNOCKS!
Doors are used throughout Frozen to symbolize Elsa and Anna's emotional relationship:
When Anna seeks to reconcile with Elsa
the ice palace door immediately opens
And later, Anna implores Elsa to -
Anna: Please don't shut me out again
[Singing] Please don't slam the door
Which, by the end of the film, both sisters, reunited,
will agree on
Anna: I like the open gates
Elsa: We are never closing them again
Kristoff chooses to live a life of isolation,
Kristoff: I don't take people places
much in the same fashion as Elsa
Elsa: You should probably go
Frozen rejects this isolationism:
Both Kristoff and Elsa yearn for companionship, even if they refuse to admit it
IT'S LONELY BEING A DISEMBODIED (and a caption writer) VOICE TOO!
Who doesn't love Olaf,
a snowman in love with the summer?
Such a simple yet clever idea
Aye, a nice tip tip of the hat to Mary Poppins
SWEET VIS!
Anna and Elsa are visually represented by two primal elements;
ice and fire, showcasing their opposing personalities
Elsa's internal struggle reflects the age-old "nature versus nurture" debate
Elsa's parents attempt to nurture her into controlling her powers and acting like a queen,
yet Elsa's true magical nature constantly pokes through this facade
THOU, NATURE, ART MY GODDESS
Kristoff: Meet my family!
A nice play on the boy taking his girlfriend to meet his parents for the first time,
except here, -
Anna: They're trolls!
GEUSS WHO'S ROLLING TO DINNER!
There's even an overly protective mom surrogate
MOOOOOOM!
The trolls song plays against the cliché that women need to fix a man;
instead, according to the trolls,
everybody needs a little fixing
men and women alike!
[Singing] Everyone's a bit of a fixer-upper
[Singing] We need each other to raise us up and round us out
This advice reflects philosopher arthur Schopenhauer's view on romantic love, who once stated,
"Love comes when two people perfectly complement one another."
DR. DRUID!
Grand Pabbie: Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart
Troll: A true love's kiss, perhaps?
Oh, true love's kiss!
A Disney trademark since 1937
SOMEDAY MY PRINCE WILL COME!
Hans: Oh, Anna.
If only there was someone out there who loved you.
When hans reveals his sinister motivation, his face reflects through a window
showcasing the characters two-sided nature
SWEET VIZ!
Hans extinguishes the fireplace, metaphorically putting out the fire of love between he and Anna
Kristoff to the rescue!
Yet Frozen again subverts the trope of the shining knight to the rescue
Kristoff here arrives seconds too late to actually save anybody
Wait a second!
Isn't Frozen supposed to be a musical?
The fact that there isn't a single song for the film's entire third act
is a major miscalculation
Especially considering how great the other numbers are
MUSICAL FAIL!
Olaf: Love is putting someone else's needs before yours
Olaf here sites "altruistic love", in which a person puts the needs of their partner above their own,
LOVING YOU!
which we see play out not five minutes later,
as Anna chooses her sister's life over her own
SISTER! SISTER!
[Sniffs] Nope, don't do it Jacob. Keep it together. Keep it togeth- [crying]
GIVE ME THAT SWEET, SWEET MONEY, JAKEY BOY!
A terrific subversion of the old "true love's kiss" trope
It's not romantic love that saves the day, but sisterly love
TROPE K.O!
TOKEN UNLOCK!
Hey-o! Frozen subverted so many Disney tropes,
it's unlocked a hidden bonus!
KILLING IT!
Nice payoff to the Troll King's premonition:
Elsa's powers sure are beautiful
Throughout Frozen, Elsa struggles with whether to use or hide her powers,
but her motivations have always been for her own self-interest
Only now by using her magic for the good of others
is Elsa finally able to use her powers freely and gain the respect of the kingdom
CHARACTER ARC COMPLETE!
Aww, even the giant snowman monster gets a happy ending the clap
A DISNEY CLASSIC!
All right, Frozen, let's see how you did!
Nice, consistent base values in every category,
with an obvious standout in Technique!
And when we factor in all the multipliers and streaks,
Fuego! (fire)
Ain't nothing chilly about these scores, Frozen
And by letting go of all the old cliché Disney tropes, Frozen earned itself a special bonus
But could Frozen shut the door on its competitors?
Let's take a look at the leaderboard
Frozen rising, rising!
Could it actually be the one to topple the Matrix?
Come on! And Frozen settling in at number three
Just not quite enough magic to take that number one spot
But hey, that score ain't nothing to scoff at -
Frozen, the bona fide Disney Classic
Be sure to come back next time as another competitor "dreams" for the title of Film Legend
It probably implanted that idea in my head...
IS THE NEXT CHALLENGER READY!
If you love exploring the deeper meaning of movies, TV shows, and more,
you'll probably love the Wisecrack Channel
Click here to check it out, and if you can't "let it go",
you'll find our hilarious video on the hidden meaning in Frozen
And of course, be sure to check out the other episodes of Film Legends here
Until next time, theorists.