What if ... "Frozen"

I've recently been very impressed and consumed with Disney's latest Oscar winning masterpiece, Frozen. It truly was a step up from some of the latest films like Wreck it Ralph and Tangled, and it was also a step back to the movies that we remember so fondly from the 90's such as Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Lion King.

As a 3d artist I was blow away by the quality of work that went into the film. As a lover of music, I enjoyed the songs greatly. And as a lover of stories, there were so many subtleties that I appreciated.

So what is the purpose of this blog? Well, as much as I love this movie, and as much as I truly believe it deserved the Oscar, there a few things that I wanted to talk about that I think may have made at the least story more air tight.

Let me first start of by saying I can think of four movies I judged too early:

"You can't make a movie about on a Disneyland ride"

 I was being way to literal when I first told myself I wouldn't watch a film based on a ride. Disney was smart enough to make a film inspired by a ride theme. Johnny Depp's performance was definitely the highlight of the film, but it was so different from Disney's usual films that it came as a breath of fresh air for action movie lovers, kids and adults.

"That look's dumb"

I think the trailers were to blame for why I did not want to see this at all. I couldn't tell what was going on, it had silly effects, and despite having a few familiar faces in it, I couldn't figure out why anyone would want to see this, partially because I had no idea there was a comic it was based on. Reluctantly I went and saw it in theatres as part of  a fund raiser and by the time I saw the Universal logo in the beginning, and had almost completely changed my mind about the film. The rapid comedic timing, video game themes, and overall ridiculous nature of this movie won me over and it is now one of my favorite films that I can watch just about any time.

"I think I'm too old to watch this"

As a former lego lover, this was a very nostalgic movie for me. I absolutely will buy this the second it comes out on dvd.  This hilarious movie is not just full of gags, and the story was so creative it kept me on board the whole ride. Before I really took a look at this film, I very ignorantly joked about how hard the look dev artist must have had it making one plastic shader for the whole movie. If you haven't seen this yet, take a moment to appreciate the tiny little scratches, bumps, dents, decals, and partlines that one little lego man has. My sincerest apologies and shout outs to the look dev team!

HD legos

So That brings us to my first impression of Frozen.

"Uh oh"

I will preface this section by saying that I now have no dislike for Olaf. He was an adorable and enjoyable character in the film. At first glance however this little guy at first seem like the epitome of everything I couldn't stand about today's kid/adult friendly films. There's always some slightly dumb, wise cracking, plot distracting, and silly little character made to sell toys and dispense gags. I do not like being overwhelmed with gags and the abundance of them makes me want to gag. I also don't like seeing a lot of cliches and the Frozen teaser was full of them. Olaf walking by a flower, amazed by it, stopping to smell it, and taking a moment to revel in its beauty followed by an allergic sneeze. This may work for an animation exercise or a student film, but people have greater expectations for a Disney film. However,  I'm glad that this teaser in no way reflected the story quality of the movie to follow.

Old Elsa concepts

 Not many know this, but Disney has been working on Frozen on and off since Pixar's Toy Story (1995). One of the things I respect about Pixar is their willingness to look at a story and if it isn't working, they will throw it out and start over again. Check out the earliest iterations Toy Story. Thank goodness they didn't go down the first road they stumbled on. Film is a very expensive thing to make. It takes hundreds to thousands of people, and years of time so its easy to understand the desire to just settle for the first thing created so that you can move on to the next feature. But the great masters of the craft know that sometimes, though it is expensive, a little time is needed for things to mature. So I am not at all surprised that all the time and dedication paid off and allows me to hold a movie like Frozen up at the same level as some of my favorite Pixar films. Again Bravo Disney. I'm incredibly proud of you!

spoilers ahead

So at long last we come to the "What if" section of this blog. I think Disney did a fanastic job of making a few misleading cliches to further drive their story. The old bait and switch main villain was beautifully executed. The audible gasp I heard from the audience at the moment of reveal was so satisfying, it goes into my list of favorite movie reveal moments, right next to Kaiser Soze.

the bait

the switch

There are two major things I would have changed about this film. I'll admit, the stone guys are cute. The rock and mushroom humor and slightly medieval fantasy vibe about them was entertaining, but they belong in another movie because I feel they caused a huge contradiction in the story.

the "love experts"

First of all, I'd love to ask the writers if they believed that these creatures were indeed "love experts", because personally, I don't see it. These little guys raised Kristoff and seemed to teach him a little common sense about love. We know this because of the way he reacts when Anna is explaining how she got engaged to a man she just met. Then a little while later his foster parents are trying to marry him to Anna in a song that seemed like a last minute addition to the film.

There's another crime these guys commit. Right at the beginning of the movie, they warn Elsa about how dangerous she could potentially become, and they do so in such a way that they end up steering her down a path a fear rather than a path of love. This fear is further nurtured by her parents who, though out of love, try their very best to hide and contain her powers entirely. They close all their doors and Elsa does the same. And whats odd is after the second visit and the attempted irrational marriage, we never see these guys again. They don't seem very wise or trustworthy anymore, so do they really need to be there in the first place?

Starting from the very beginning, I'd completely remove Kristoff. It always bothered me how he didn't recognize Anna with the same problem she had as a child, especially considering he must have known who she was based on her royalty and fame alone. His sudden adoption while the healing scene was taking place had almost no weight to it anyway, and it seemed well established that he was a loner based on his interaction with Sven, his social awkwardness, and even his bitterness, probably due to years of feeling abandoned by people.

The "love experts" should be totally redesigned and renamed. They should be more like wise but detached magical sages. It's important that they heal Anna and warn Elsa, but they should also be a little more detached from the situation. For the design, I would make them tall, intimidating, and give them pupil-less eyes. They should dispense warnings, wisdom, and reluctantly use their powers of healing without emotion.

No pupils make a character uneasy to look at and difficult to read

What this does is put most of the responsibility of the following events on the parents. Fear is often a learned thing. We learn not to mention certain subjects around certain people. We learn not to stare if someone is disabled. A lot of these actions are rooted in fear. My favorite example of this is the first couple minutes of Aimee Mullins' Ted talk:
 http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics

Aimee Mullins

So now we have the parents who set a bad example for Elsa, dividing the family and thus properly setting the stage for the lesson about true love that will eventually take place. Kristoff and Anna should still return to the "Stone Sages" as done before where they are unable to her help and tell her a carefully worded prescription of using true love to save her. Again, I applaud Disney for the bait and switch with the definition of true love. It was an important lesson for Anna and Elsa to learn, which brings me to the second thing I would change about this film.

The ending. As if flipping a switch Elsa suddenly goes "Aha!" and melts all of the ice in the kingdom. The message is right but the execution fell a little flat. Elsa has been carrying around a huge burden, guilt for abandoning her sister, and wearing a mask for most of her life. Backing up a little bit, though it would not be terribly "Disney" of the film to do this, I'd love to see Elsa about 5 minutes after she creates her big frozen palace. She thinks she free and she can finally be happy but I have a feeling that after she finishes her big song, if the camera kept rolling it would feel a little bit like the ending of the graduate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14pdNYXY3Zo

was it worth it?

The point being she created an even bigger gap between her and her sister, as well as her new responsibilities as queen. Her gloves, though they seem small, are basically her biggest piece of armor. Its another barrier, perhaps the final barrier that she needs to cross.

If I could rewrite the melting scene, I would have a short conversation between a thawed Anna and a new reborn Elsa. Elsa would apologize for shutting her out, for not supporting her through her parents death, and for failing to show her love as Anna had just done for her. Anna's sacrifice is very interesting. Armorless, she put herself between Hans and Elsa, and thanks to Elsa's magic she was saved. They simultaneously saved each other. The finishing touch to the moment leading up to the big melt would be Elsa taking her sister's hand, no longer afraid, in complete control, and the two of them channeling the power of love into the city and saving it, making the physical contact represent the most important part of the scene.

That's just my 2 cents. I love looking at stories and seeing if there's anything that might make them better. I currently am working on my own stories right now and since they are not yet ready to be shared, this is more of an exercise to see if  I'm making any sense or just full of it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think Frozen would have stood up better with these changes?