Saturday, December 28, 2013

Frozen made my daughters cry

As the father of two young girls, I am fully immersed in the world of Disney princesses. Go ahead. Test me. I know them all, from the classics like Snow White and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty to the uninitiated) to the modern heroines like Mulan and Merida. The latest to join the sorority are Elsa and Anna from Frozen, which we went to see today. I admit, I rather enjoyed it, except for the music which was annoyingly modern and not at all in keeping with the ambience of the film. However, my daughters, especially the younger, were not pleased. [Minor spoilers ahead] The usual themes of betrayal, estrangement, and tragically premature parental demise that we've come to expect from Disney animated features were present in full measure. There were sequences that were very intense and probably not appropriate for younger children. My two daughters are very close and the forced estrangement of the two princesses was particularly unsettling for them. The happy reunion at the end did little to alleviate their anxiety. Just a word of caution if you have sensitive children (especially girls).

One more thing, what's up with the new naming trend of one-word adjectives for Disney princess movies? First there was Rapunzel in Tangled, then Merida in Brave and now Anna/Elsa in Frozen. I think we could retroactively rename older pictures similarly. How about Snow White in Gullible or Cinderella in Oppressed?

-Rognar-

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