Frozen

It is my new goal in life to get everyone educated if not pumped about the latest Disney movie coming out this November since Disney doesn't seem to find it necessary to do it themselves. Unless someone has mentioned it to you already, you probably haven't even heard of this movie! Despite the fact that it comes out in approximately three months, there has been hardly any mention of it anywhere. When The Princess and the Frog, and Tangled, and Wreck-It Ralph were in the works, their advertising began like a year in advance! And there was tons of it! What's up with this one? It's frustrating me beyond belief! Anyways...

Frozen. That's the title. It's very loosely based on Hans Christen Anderson's fairytale The Snow Queen. I had never even heard of this fairytale before when I first found out that Disney was adapting it, so naturally I looked it up. Basically, it's about a boy who gets taken by the Snow Queen and his friend/girlfriend (I'm not really sure) goes on an adventure to find him (because everyone thinks he drowned in the river, but she's told otherwise). There's a troll, a witch, and robbers involved, and a broken magical mirror that can pierce your heart and eyes to make you cold-hearted and hate everything you see. Eventually, a reindeer takes the girl to the Snow Queen's palace where she finds the boy trying to solve a puzzle (so he can go free), but he's been pierced by the mirror. She cries on him and it melts away the mirror in his heart, then he cries and it melts away the piece in his eye. Then the puzzle is solved and he can go free. And it's all happily ever after!

Like I said before, Frozen is very loosely based on that. Emphasis on "very". Again, Disney is holding out on us and being kind of vague with the plot but what I've gotten out of it (after digging around here and there) is that it's about two sisters, princesses. One is crowned queen, but on her coronation day, her dark secret is revealed: her ice powers that are triggered by her emotions. She is declared a monster, and when she accidentally curses the land in an eternal winter (and something about cursing or hurting her sister too), she banishes herself to live a life of solitude. Her sister teams up with a mountain man to go find her and bring her back. They encounter "Everest-like conditions", trolls, and a giant snow beast on an epic adventure to find the Snow Queen and save the kingdom.

Very Disney-esque plot, but I'm intrigued and excited. There's also a Duke, whom I believe is going to be the main antagonist. And a prince, who I am still not 100% clear on. I'm pretty sure he serves as a possible love interest, like forming a love triangle with the younger princess and the mountain man. Then there's a friendly little snowman and the mountain man's reindeer.

The characters of Frozen

So, what has Disney given us to get us excited for this movie? Well, NOT a trailer for one thing. I KNOW, right? Actually, they gave us a "teaser", but that's exactly what it is! It reveals absolutely nothing about the plot! You can watch it here:

It seems like every other country has gotten a trailer except for the english speaking ones. What is up with that? Like seriously? So for a while, I was watching the Japanese one, just enjoying the view and not understanding it. But eventually I found a French one with subtitles! You can see it here:

UPDATE: Someone dubbed the trailer in English. It's not the original voices, but it's better than reading subtitles.

I liked the official Facebook page. It hasn't given me much, except for one post in particular has presented me with more information than anything else combined: "MEET THE CHARACTERS OF FROZEN":

From the outside, Elsa looks poised, regal and reserved, but in reality, she lives in fear as she wrestles with a mighty secret—she was born with the power to create ice and snow. It’s a beautiful ability, but also extremely dangerous. Haunted by the moment her magic nearly killed her younger sister Anna, Elsa has isolated herself, spending every waking minute trying to suppress her growing powers. Her mounting emotions trigger the magic, accidentally setting off an eternal winter that she can’t stop. She fears she’s becoming a monster and that no one, not even her sister, can help her.

Anna is more daring than graceful and, at times, can act before she thinks. But she’s also the most optimistic and caring person you’ll ever meet. She longs to reconnect with her sister, Elsa, as they were close during their childhood. When Elsa accidentally unleashes a magical secret that locks the kingdom of Arendelle in an eternal winter, Anna embarks on a dangerous adventure to make things right. Armed with only her fearlessness, a never-give-up attitude and her faith in others, Anna is determined to save both her kingdom and her family.

What the Duke of Weselton lacks in stature, he makes up for in arrogance and showboating. He’s determined to get close to the new queen—that is, until Elsa’s magical secret is revealed. Then he’s the first to call her a monster and try to turn her own kingdom against her—anything that might help him exploit Arendelle’s tradable goods.

Hans is a handsome royal from a neighboring kingdom who comes to Arendelle for Elsa’s coronation. With 12 older brothers, Hans grew up feeling practically invisible—and Anna can relate. Hans is smart, observant and chivalrous. Unlike Elsa, Hans promises he’ll never shut Anna out; he just might be the connection she’s been waiting for all these years.

Kristoff is a true outdoorsman. He lives high up in the mountains where he harvests ice and sells it to the kingdom of Arendelle. Rough around the edges, Kristoff’s the strong, no-nonsense type, who follows his own set of rules. He may seem like a loner, but he always has his best friend by his side—a loyal and extremely mangy reindeer named Sven.

He’s Olaf and he likes warm hugs. Sprung from Elsa’s magical powers, Olaf is by far the friendliest snowman to walk the mountains above Arendelle. His innocence, outgoing personality and uncanny ability to disassemble himself at good and not-so-good times lead to some awkward, albeit laughable moments. He may also have the world’s most impossible dream, but what he doesn’t know won’t melt him—or will it?

A reindeer with the heart of a Labrador, Sven is Kristoff’s loyal friend, sleigh-puller and conscience. He makes sure his mountain-man companion is the stand-up guy Sven knows and loves, and does so without saying a word. A few emphatic snorts usually get his point across. Life would be perfect if only Kristoff would lose that ridiculous reindeer voice he likes to use when speaking for Sven (as if reindeers really talk that way).

Oaken runs Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna. But since Elsa’s massive winter storm hits in mid-July, he finds himself with a surplus of summer supplies. Deal-seekers beware: though he’s good-natured and helpful, if you cross him, Oaken won’t hesitate to throw you out of his humble establishment.

Marshmallow is an enormous icy snowman born from Elsa’s powers. He serves as a brute bodyguard charged with keeping intruders away from her ice palace. The menacing white beast doesn’t say much, but he packs a powerful punch.

Also from the Facebook page. This picture just amuses me on a number of levels:

Anna's first meeting with Kristoff

That's basically all the general public has been given besides some promotional pictures, movie posters (of course the really awesome ones are the foreign ones), and some concept art. Since I can be obsessive, I have managed to uncover a few other things...

Not necessarily spoilers, but if you like going into a movie completely fresh, then go no further. They released a short clip on their animation app for the iPad. (I used to think it was shown at DC23 [a sort of comic-con for Disney]). They got to actually see a short clip from the movie! You can watch it at this link HERE.

Lastly, since this is a Disney fairytale, it is going to be a musical. I only just found this out the other day. They have not promoted this fact one single bit! For the longest time, I thought it was just going to be a regular movie. I only found out on accident while browsing Tumblr and someone mentioned that a "leaked" song was a fake. So it piqued my curiosity on whether there were any real songs. I investigated and found out that there were some out there. Then the next day, one popped up on my dash... it just about made me cry. It was only a preview, but it was truly epic. You can listen to it HERE.

UPDATE: They just released part of the opening song (not like a musical song, but like a soundtrack song). I get a sort of The Lion King vibe. Listen HERE. (Also be sure to read the description on the video).

I'm telling you, this movie is going to be amazing! There are lots of people bashing it already, but I'm on the other end of the rope. I think it's going to be great! I mean, the entire cast are broadway singers. Idina Menzel voices Elsa! Freakin' Elphaba is the Snow Queen! And then there's Kristen Bell who plays Anna (I really only know her from When In Rome, but apparently she's a really good singer). I haven't heard of any of the other actors, but lots of people are flipping over them, so they must be good. We'll see if I actually see this one opening day! (I didn't see any of the other Disney movies that I listed above opening day and it just about killed me). I'm just really looking forward to this, OK?

(And it comes out only four days after the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special. I might actually die before November ends!)