Frozen parents guide

Frozen Parent Guide

Although "Frozen" might warm the hearts of older girls, parents of little princess wannabes may choose to chill out a while before introducing this new Disney royal.

Overall B

There has long been a chill between princess siblings Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel) and Anna (voice of Kristen Bell), but it gets even colder when the eldest sister turns their entire kingdom to ice. Now it is up to the younger Anna, with the help of a mountain man (voice of Jonathan Groff), to try to thaw their relationship and break the spell of eternal winter.

Release date November 27, 2013

Violence C+
Sexual Content A-
Profanity A-
Substance Use B+

Why is Frozen rated PG? The MPAA rated Frozen PG for some action and mild rude humor.

Run Time: 108 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

Anyone who lives where snow really falls knows Hollywood has a romantic notion of winter in the movie Frozen. It’s ridiculous to watch a young girl traipse up a mountainside in conditions that would have left her frostbitten, or worse, long before she reached her destination.

However that’s not the only misleading thing in this animated flick. A little snowman named Olaf (voice by Josh Gad) may have gotten most of the attention in the movie’s trailers but he is only a secondary character in this story. The title roles go to Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) and Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), two sisters that will appear on store shelves in toy form just in time for the Christmas shopping season.

Frozen loosely retells the story of The Snow Queen, the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. As a child Elsa discovers she can create snow and ice with a flick of her wrist. Her younger sister Anna often begs Elsa to whip up a winter wonderland inside the family’s castle. However as Elsa grows older, she struggles to control her power. After a mishap injures Anna, the girls’ parents shut Elsa away while she tries to master her unusual abilities. Yet when the Mom and Dad are killed (creating the classic Disney orphan storyline), Elsa is forced to come out of her room for her coronation as the new Queen of Arendelle.

Following the ceremony, Elsa must mingle among the people while trying hard to keep her icy hands under wraps. Unfortunately when Anna announces her engagement to a man she’s just meet, Elsa reacts with a frosty response. Escaping into the mountains, she leaves a trail of ice and snow behind her. And before long the entire kingdom falls under the curse of winter. But Anna wants to bring her newly crowned sister back, so she sets off to find her with the help of an ice seller named Kristoff (voice by Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer.

While there’s both a prince (voice by Santino Fontana) and a handsome woodsman in this story, don’t count on these guys to save the day. Frozen, like Tangled, Brave and The Princess and the Frog, is aimed at a generation who is more interested in girl power than in stories featuring charming gentlemen. Still this story has a positive sibling twist at the end.

The script, like most princess movies, is relatively free of content concerns. Yet there are moments of peril. A pack of hungry wolves attack some travelers. A couple of thugs with crossbows also try to kill Elsa in hopes of breaking the wintry curse. And there are some terrifying moments with an abominable snow monster that resembles something more like a Transformer than the lovable Frosty the Snowman.

Although Frozen might warm the hearts of older girls, parents of little princess wannabes may choose to chill out a while before introducing this new Disney royal.

Directed by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee. Starring Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Idina Menzel. Running time: 108 minutes. Theatrical release November 27, 2013. Updated

Frozen
Rating & Content Info

Why is Frozen rated PG? Frozen is rated PG by the MPAA for some action and mild rude humor.

Violence: The short film preceding this movie features frequent cartoon violence such as mean-spirited bullying, pitchforks and other common objects used as weapons. Brief moments of peril are included in the movie. A child is scared after being left alone in her room. Parents die at sea. Wolves chase and attack two travelers. Characters are impaled, attacked by a huge snow monster, and fall from a cliff. Characters shoot at a person with a crossbow. A character falls under a magical spell. A girl punches a man in the face.

Sexual Content: Characters fall on top of each other by accident. A woman wears an off-the-shoulder dress with a high slit. A character takes off clothes in non-sexual context.

Language: Some crude comments and name-calling are heard.

Alcohol / Drug Use:Drinks are served at a social event.

Other: A woman is accused of sorcery. A reindeer sticks his tongue to cold object. Some rude bathroom humor is used.

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Frozen Parents' Guide

How does Elsa’s wardrobe change when she decides to free her powers? How do moviemakers use clothing, hairstyles, etc, to depict the emotional changes of a character?

During one song, Kristoff is referred to as a “fixer upper”. Does this film promote a battle of the sexes? Should men be put down in this manner? Does this message do anything to portray the importance of both genders?

Disney movies often use the orphan scenario. (See Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Bambi.) Why is this so scary for children? What positive family relationships are portrayed in this animation?

This movie is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, The Snow Queen.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Frozen movie is March 18, 2014. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Frozen

Release Date: 18 March 2014

Frozen releases to home video (Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy or 3D Blu-ray) with the following extras:

- The Making of Frozen

- D’frosted: Disney’s Journey From Hans Christian Anderson to Frozen

- Breaking The Ice: The Real Making of Frozen

- Four Deleted Scenes with introduction by Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee

- Original Theatrical Short: “Get A Horse”

- Let It Go” Music Videos by Demi Lovato, Martina Stoessel & Marsha Milan Londoh

- Frozen Teaser Trailer

Related home video titles:

The life of Hans Christian Andersen, the author of the fairy tale this movie is based on, was adapted into a live-action movie: Hans Christian Andersen: My Life As A Fairy Tale. Another land is trapped in an eternal winter in The Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Rise of the Guardians features another character with the ability to create cold weather.

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