The Frozen Phenomenon ...?...

I was over Frozen from the beginning. I am a Frozen Grump. I still haven't seen the whole thing and (in my Grinch voice) I hate, I hate, I hate "Let It Go". I think adding Frozen to Norway is a crime, as the beauty of Epcot is it's authenticity and the setting of Frozen is actual fictitious. They better have a brilliant plan for the line because otherwise no one is going to be able to get through that area. I also agree that social media and today's marketing is the reason behind it. Convince the kids they need it, and parents give in.

Made my DH go to the Frozen Sing Along when we we were there a couple of weeks ago and he actually admitted that he enjoyed it. The MCs on the stage were hilarious, cracking a lot of jokes that went completely over the heads of the little darlings. Highly recommend it and would do it again!

Frozen Sing Along was very enjoyable.

Disney, more than any other company really knows how to pump up a movie and milk the crap out of it. It is a concerted effort from top to bottom.

I love Frozen! In fact, I think I'm overdue to watch it again. However, I don't think Frozen belongs in Epcot. Keep it in HS or add something to MK. I'd love to see more of Tangled and other movies represented in the parks too besides Frozen.

I like Frozen. I own the movie, and hubby has a Sven stuffed animal. But yeah, they've really gone overboard with this one.

If Disney "truly" had the Formula for having a movie "strike lightning" like Frozen did, they would be be producing films in that "cookie cutter" formula, which in itself, would kill the popularity of the films.

Ultimately, as with any film, the heart of people being drawn to it is (a) great story (b) strong characters, actors, performances. Any filmmaker will say it comes down to story, story, story.

And with Animated films, you often have two additional elements of magic (c) great music; and (d) great art

----While I agree with others that Disney had the help of social media on this one--after all, the popularity of Let it Go even caught Disney off guard--the story was pretty solid, with compelling characters, music and art

--- the story starts with a hans christian andersen tale
--- I think Disney finally had a recent princess movie with likeable, adorable funny sidekicks in Olaf and Sven (reindeer)
--- "Let it Go" hit popularity with the music, as well as "Do you want to build a snowman??
--- two princesses instead of one.
--- Finally, a story that was more about two sisters than about getting the guy.
--- Cool graphics.... Elsa's ice dress is awesome, and the Ice Castle is spectacular.

As a movie, Frozen hit a lot of the right notes.... and Disney ran with it in terms of Merchandising, which is what Disney does best... I was in High School when Disney had a series of hits with the The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and Aladdin followed by the Lion King a few years later... These movies had similar elements... great story, great music & art, compelling characters (especially in lovable, humorous sidekicks) powerful graphics (Under the Sea Production Number, Our Guest production number, Belle/Beast Ballroom, Cave of Wonders, Savannah scenes in Lion King) (Sebastian, Chip, Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Lumiere, Genie, Timone & Pumba, Rafiki, Zazu).

Also, the fact that Frozen was a princess movie, only adds to the madness... The Princess thing has really become a full on thing at Disney in more recent years, even more so since the early nineties with The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. When I visited the Parks in the late 70s/early 80s as a kid, it was about meeting Mickey & Minnie (and not through "meet and greet" locations), and certainly not about dressing up as a princess.

In fact, according to the Disney Parks blog, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique didn't open until 2009! Its only recently that Disney has focused SO MUCH on the whole princess thing... Add a popular Princess movie and Whoah!

Add to that, that the fact that comparatively, Disney doesn't really have all that many princess films. Of Disney's many films (54 or 55, not counting the Pixars), there are relatively few "princesses" overall - not to mention the fact that they're spaced out over the years.

Snow White, 1937
Cinderella, 1950
Aurora, Sleeping Beauty, 1959
Ariel, The Little Mermaid, 1989
Belle, Beauty & the Beast, 1991
Jasmine, Aladdin, 1992
---------------------------Pocahontas, 1995 (not really a princess movie)
---------------------------Mulan, 1998 (not really a princess movie)
Giselle, Enchanted, 2007 (mostly live action, Amy Adams)
Tiana, The Princess and the Frog, 2009
Rapunzel, Tangled, 2010
Anna & Elsa, Frozen, 2013

So then, take the magical elements for a popular animated film (story, character, music, art), add in "let it go" and the soundtrack striking platinum; add Disney Merchandising, multiply against the centrality of "princesses" to the Disney Parks and overall merchandising strategy; and you have Frozen MADNESS.

Its not just DISNEY that does this...

----I remember a time in the 70s when all of my cousins had star wars toys, light sabers, pajamas, bedsheets. And now Star Wars is just as big as ever - ahem, star wars weekends at hollywood studios borders on craziness.
----Universal has similarly capitalized on the popularity of SHREK and princess fionna - What, there are 4 or 5 Shrek films now plus "Puss & Boots" ????
----I've seen tons of kids carrying around "minions"
--- I also seem to remember a time when everything was about cabbage patch dolls.

Different Movies are going to Come & Go in popularity. Disney is always aiming to find the next "timeless" classic. And anytime they strike gold, or maybe platinum with a film and its music, they're going to merchandise the heck out it (Both In and Outside of the parks)

So until the next princess movie hits popularity...

I guess we just have to "Let it go"

Well, movie wise, it's the first Disney movie to have two primary female leads. Some have said it's the movie with two "princesses" though technically, Elsa isn't a princess, she's a queen but still, her character resonates greatly. Young children like her because of her cool ice powers. Adolescents, teens and adults like Elsa because of her personality and can easily relate to her with the whole conforming to other people's standards and expectations at the expense of not being true to yourself and being what you want to be. People also can relate to Anna since she's the "awkward" one but isn't passive and shows compassion with a bit of fierceness in her. Then, there's Olaf. While I don't think he's in the same class as Hades and the Genie in terms of humor, he wasn't the annoying sidekick people thought he might become. Other than that, there's no prince charming to save the day like it was for many other Disney movies and the whole villain not being so clear cut from the beginning makes it more "realistic" so to speak. But the interesting thing was that, Frozen wasn't number one at the box office on its opening weekend in the States. (It was behind Hunger Games: Catching Fire) but apparently, the story spread of how good it was and then, a lot of families went back to see it again and again so that's how it made so much money.

Yes, it is true the Frozen soundtrack also was popular. Everyone knows by now Let It Go's popularity and its deep meanings. There were so many viral videos of Let It Go covers, parodies and a Let It Go video of the song being sung in 25 different languages by the voice actresses of Elsa around the world. It wasn't just Let It Go making the headlines on YouTube. You also had Do You Want To Build A Snowman covers and parodies and also a video of parents lip syncing Love Is An Open Door in the car go viral, as well. I'm really starting to think people would sincerely say they would listen to Small World or Rebecca Black's Friday a thousand times in a row than listen to Let It Go once.

I also agree social media played a role in its fame. It wasn't just Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. 5 years ago, no one heard of Pinterest, Vine and the mac daddy of them all, Instagram. Now I would argue that the three latter sites I mentioned are more popular than they ever were. All social media sites do is provide more outlets for people to express their fandom that they couldn't do in the past.

I do agree it's overkill and they are milking it but Disney has always catered to the princess lovers in a way. Think about New Fantasyland, having Anna and Elsa move their meet and greets to the big areas in the Magic Kingdom or California Adventure or the fact that practically every Disney princess has their own meet and greet spot in Disney World. And when Disney was in its dark days, it was the Little Mermaid that led to the Disney Renaissance and made Disney more profitable. Disney has always been about princesses and that was set with Snow White and it hasn't stopped. I read somewhere online that Disney princess merchandise grossed $4 billion in sales! That's money most of us will never make in a lifetime!

I think the real question is how much staying power Frozen will have when the sequel is released. Assuming they're working on it right now, then the earliest release date is 2018 or 2019 because animated movies take at least 4 years to make. Assuming the core audience was girls in the 3-9 range who saw it in the theaters, they will be in the 8-14 range by the time the sequel is finished so who knows if they will outgrow Frozen and find other obsessions in their life.

From the music to the story, the film resonated with its intended audience. The first time I saw it, my reaction was...meh. We were lucky enough to be headed to WDW three days after the film was released and the energy in the parks at that point (the addition of Let It Go to Celebrate the Magic in particular) was what really turned my head. Of course, I'm spend 12 hours a week with 17 gymnasts ages 7-11 and their enthusiasm definitely made the movie more relevant to me. In fact, it actually helped me because we were at a point where I had to start teaching them some basic ballet and the music from Frozen created a bridge that has them STILL looking forward to choreography day even though I've long since abandoned that soundtrack. (This is my first group to actually embrace choreography day--Frozen for the win.)

Still, even with the musical quality (although some of the lyrics are rubbish) and the dual princess hype, the movie should have faded into the background by the time the next release hit. Personally, I lame the weather. Do you all remember what that winter was like? I blame the proliferation of Frozen on the polar vortex that kept most of the US deep in sub-zero temps all winter long. Social media pinned the weather on Elsa and the snowball just kept rolling.

Personally, I still like the soundtrack. I use it as part of my running playlist. The tempo is nice and it keeps me motivated to keep going. I still don't love the movie. I've probably seen it fewer than 10 times--mostly because I find the plot holes to be gaping and irritating. I'm much more likely to reach for Big Hero 6 or Wreck-It Ralph. The story development and continuity are much better in those films.

To all of you, some people love Frozen, some just like and some hate. To all of you LET IT GO!