1. Who is your favorite Frozen character (or characters) and why?
ELSA. My homegirl.
Usually, when I really connect with a movie/book/play/show, it's because I have found one character to latch onto and really care about. I can forgive sloppy plotting or bad visuals if I am invested in a character – the technical sins of the Harry Potter series are many, but I kept reading because I cared about so many of the characters and wanted to see what happened to them. Conversely, the best-executed plot or most delicate turn of phrase or coolest visual effect won’t matter, if I don’t have that investment.
In Frozen, Elsa is the character that I latched onto, because she easily has the best character arc in the movie. She stumbles, she grows, she changes, she hits bottom, and she grows some more. She’s scared and proud and fierce and has an absolutely wicked sense of humor and all these different things rolled into one person, and are you getting why I love her? I found myself sitting through the scenes of Anna and Kristoff’s Really Really Snowy Road Trip just thinking “can we get back to Elsa now?”
2. Which is your favorite Frozen song (or songs) and why?
Let's be real, "Let It Go" is not only the best song in Frozen, it is the best song to come out of Disney Feature Animation in years. It has one of my favorite qualities in a soundtrack piece - not only does it serve to enhance the story on screen, but it stands on its own. The onscreen story isn't necessary to get the message of the song.
(And let us be clear, I am talking about the Idina Menzel version. The Demi Lovato version, while it gains points for some cool rhythmic guitar stuff, loses far more points for its repetitive lyrics and the changes to the melody that are meant to disguise Demi's relative lack of vocal range.)
3. If you could make one change to the movie, what would it be?
Oh. Oh, dear. Just one change? Because I had a lot of issues with the movie, much as I enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, one of the things I'd love to change about the story would derail the entire thing. See, much as I loved how Frozen turned some time-honored Disney Movie Tropes on their heads (True Love's Kiss, for starters), it still fell smack into one of my most hated narrative tropes ever: Poor Communication Kills. (That is a TV TROPES link, you have been warned, don't blame the wasted hours on me.)
Poor Communication Kills is when a plot issue would be solved with a simple honest conversation between characters, and it is Grand High Poobah on the list of tropes that annoy me. It’s the reason I hate “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” so much – if all the “good” characters had sat down with a cup of tea and talked, honestly and openly, for half an hour, that entire book would never have happened, and one of my favorite characters wouldn’t have died and yes that still bothers me after ten years, shut up.
These two are holding the Idiot Ball just out of frame.
I get not wanting to let five-year-old Anna run around telling people her sister is magical – good way to get said sister burned for witchcraft – but 15-year-old Anna? If the King and Queen had just sat their daughters down and said “Anna, you're old enough now to know, here is why we’ve shut you and your sister away from the world”, it would have solved so much. (Well, given Anna's complete and utter lack of thinking-ahead skills, maybe not.) But now I have this great image in my head of Anna dragging Elsa off on a hiking trip into the mountains, to let Elsa blow off steam the night before the coronation, or laughing hysterically as they sneak away from the coronation ball so Elsa can make unflattering ice sculptures of the Duke of Weselton and shatter them in increasingly inventive ways, and it's a good thing I'm not a writer because then I'd spend all my time writing elaborate alternate-universe fanfiction.
As for a change that wouldn't derail the entire plot...give Anna a better character arc. She starts off fun, impulsive, and naive....and she ends the movie fun, impulsive, and slightly less naive. And yes, that means ditching the Anna/Kristoff at the end. Let them be friends, let them have a hint of something more...but when you spend an entire movie belaboring the point that Anna was foolish for rushing into a relationship with a man she just met, and then end the movie with her kissing a man she doesn't know that much better...it kind of undermines that message.
4. Would you want to see a Frozen sequel? What would you want it to be about?
...Maybe? I tend to be distrustful of Disney sequels - a lot of them seem like excuses to squeeze money out of undiscerning children and unwary parents, rather than stories that need to be told. So, my first requirement is that it is a story that is compelling in its own right, rather than riding the coattails of the first. Aside from that...if they were to do one, I want some badaaaaassss Elsa.
And now I'm going to link to this fanart of Elsa in armor, because YES PLEASE KICK SOME ASS, YOUR MAJESTY.
5. Ice Palace or Arendelle Castle?
Arendelle Castle, because I have Reynaud's Phenomenon and the cold really bothers me anyway.
6. If you could choose a sidekick from the movie, would you choose Sven or Olaf? Why?
Sven. Amusing as Olaf's deadpan observations can be, Sven is just more handy to have around.
7. Do you think all men pick their noses, as Kristoff claimed?
My husband claims it is true, and I have no reason to doubt him.
8. Which Frozen character is the most like you (or the one you relate to most) and why?
Probably Elsa, because I was once a reserved elder sister to a much more fun, outgoing younger sister. I also have a tendency to be closed-off and isolated from others. I do have Anna's general disorganization and...lack of ladylike graces. And now I've realized that (Isolated - Elegance) + Uncouth Tendencies = Kristoff. So perhaps Kristoff is the better choice here.
9. How many times have you seen Frozen so far?
Three - once in theaters, once on our new Blu-ray copy, and once on a pirated DVD that some friends gave us, when I was home alone and bored on a snow day. (It reinforced my disdain for pirated copies - the quality was awful - and my resolve to fork over cash for artistic endeavors, because lots of people work very hard on these movies and artists need to get paid.)
10. In keeping with my overall blog theme, ;) which of the Frozen dolls that have been released is your favorite? (e.g. the Disney Store fashion dolls, Disney Store Disney Animator's Collection and Toddler dolls, Limited Edition Disney Store dolls, Mattel dolls, etc)
The only Frozen doll in my house as of my writing this is the Disney Store Classic Anna, and I have to say I was quite impressed with her. I thought she was so cute that I bought her even before I saw the movie (and spent quite a bit of time in the theater thinking "curses, I bought the wrong one"). I also really like the Disney Store Singing Elsa - her face is amaaaazing - I only wish that she didn't have the creepy blue hands that make her look like a White Walker from Game of Thrones, and I hate noisemaking toys in general. But that face sculpt is so perfect! If only there was a way to plonk her head onto an Ellowyne body or something, I'd do that in a heartbeat.
I do have two Classic Elsas and another Classic Anna on the way (one Elsa is for the Pie, and the other two are for me - eventually, their clothing will be stolen by Pullip customs), so I'll have to update when they arrive!
So, many thanks to Belle for hosting the Frozen Blog Party, and I hope my answers were sufficiently amusing. :D
4 comments:
Fun answers, Jen...thanks for taking the time to do them. :)
It's funny, I was so frustrated with Elsa and Anna's parents for making Elsa's fears worse by their uber excessive, over-protective parenting that I didn't even think about the fact that 15-year-old Anna could have handled the truth, especially since she was shut off from everyone. I don't know who she would really tell. :} I like the movie enough that I can ignore such issues, but as a writer, I always like getting reminders like this for my own stories. :) *Note to self: no "Poor Communication Kills". ;)
It's so interesting seeing all the different opinions on the movies and characters. You came to some different conclusions than I did, and brought up some things I hadn't even thought of. That's what's so fun about Frozen, though: there's something for everyone. ;)
Hope your interview goes well!
P.S. LOVE all the GIFs! :D
Me again...just had to mention that I completely agree with you on Elsa's version of "Let it Go" versus Demi's. There's just no comparison. Plus, you get really tired of the phrase "Let it Go" by the time she's done with her's. ;)
Also, Oldest Gal shared your opinion about Singing Elsa. She really wanted one until she saw the glowing blue hands. ;) Maybe they'll come out with a different singing one later on with regular hands! :)
Okay, I'm done now. Really...I think. ;)
Thank you for the great questions! It was good to sit and think about not just what I liked/disliked, but *why*.
I've seen a lot of fans label the King and Queen as abusive in the way they handled Elsa and Anna. While I hesitate to go that far (there's no actual malice in their actions, just a lot of dumb), they certainly are a couple of poster children for What Not To Do With Your Special-Needs Kid and Her Neurotypical Sister. (As I said to my husband, "I don't say this often, because I've read the works of Roald Dahl, but boarding school would have been a really good option for Anna.")
As for the gifs, I was wandering Google Images and trying to find fitting ones! I do wish I had found one of Kristoff looking suitably unimpressed when I equated him with Isolation and Uncouth Tendencies. Sadly, all I could find was fanart of dubious quality and, er, appropriateness. o_O
Thanks again for the questions, and comments!
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