The rapid ascension of Disney's Frozen in the cultural zeitgeist has been, to put it mildly, totally unprecedented. Being the latest addition to the House of Mouse's line of animated features (the 53rd, by the official tally), it was counted on to be a success when it opened in theaters this past Thanksgiving. But since then, this so-called "princess movie" has taken off in a huge way, having spoken to both boys and girls, resonated with adults as much as with children, and become the highest-grossing cartoon in history. Frozen is surely Disney's biggest deal since The Lion King ruled over my generation back in the day -- but as it began to stockpile its acclaim, the question of why the flick was met with such an incredible reception kept nudging into mind. The movie's merits are plain to see, as it offers everything from some of the studio's most ravishing animation ever to a radical spin or two on the usual fairy tale formula. But the production is also marred by more than a few spots of problematic storytelling, ultimately giving us a fine film that's far from a modern classic.

Once upon a time, there lived two princesses in the kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel) and Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) were close as children, until an accident involving the former's magical ability to create and control ice drove them apart. Fearing that she might harm others, Elsa became withdrawn and attempted to suppress her gift, only for a dramatic display of said powers at her coronation to get her branded as a monster. Her worst nightmare having come to life, she retreats into the wilderness and plunges Arendelle into perpetual winter in the process. In hopes of freeing her kingdom from the curse, Anna treks into the wild white yonder to talk things out with Elsa, accompanied by ice merchant Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff), his loyal reindeer Sven, and sentient snowman Olaf (voice of Josh Gad). But with forces conspiring to take over Arendelle in her sister's absence, Anna has little time to find her and persuade her not to be afraid of who she is inside.

Frozen is the textbook definition of a film I admire more than I enjoy. Don't get me wrong, it's still plenty of fun, but the things it does differently from the typical Disney outing overshadowed the movie as a whole. For one, there's no real villain, in the classic Jafar/Gaston/etc. mold; the big bad this time around is insecurity, and entertaining kids when talking about grown-up stuff like emotions is always dicey. But Frozen makes sure things are at a simple enough level for the little ones to understand, while letting them enjoy the magic and wacky jokes. It's all right there in the movie's smash song "Let It Go," which powerfully reflects the story's lessons about being happy and unafraid to be yourself. Without giving too much away, Frozen's premise hinges on the expression of a different kind of love, and for Disney -- the studio that specialized in creating formulas that it stuck to til the bitter end -- to deviate so from their game plan is a fairly big deal. Of course, if a plain old good time is what you're after, the film has you covered there too, with a flurry of humor, adventure, and exquisitely-designed animation (including Elsa's awe-inspiring ice palace).

Everything about Frozen more or less falls into place as it intended -- so why is it that the rest of the world seems to have gone gaga over it, while I sit here having merely liked it? In spite of all the film does to shake up the Disney fairy tale norm, there are a few hints of sterility to be found here, elements of the story that do their jobs without exercising their full potential. Save for "Let It Go," the tunes each serve a basic function (the "working is great" song, the "puppy love" song, etc.) and don't leave a terribly big impression otherwise, easily forgotten and dwarfed by the Oscar-winning anthem. The one-liners and non sequiturs can be funny, but they feel awfully pre-planned, feeling included more as a response to the popularity of random humor with kids than a naturally-occurring part of the plot (though Olaf possesses a surprising amount of charm). Speaking of which, the storytelling here can get seriously rushed, glossing over certain sections that could've deepened the characterizations with too many conveniences. The first ten minutes seemed as if they needed to be thrice as long, and as affectionately as Menzel and Bell perform their roles, Elsa and Anna's childhood scenes are missing a lot of nuances that might have really hammered home their struggle to reconnect later on.

Still, there's a billion bucks in ticket sales saying that Frozen hit the spot with someone else, so I'm in the minority here. Though I do consider Tangled and The Princess and the Frog to be among the finest and most well-rounded of Disney's modern animated efforts, I can't deny how much this has enchanted today's generation and made itself a staple of family movie collections for years to come. While it may not have entirely pierced my curmudgeonly heart, Frozen was still a peppy, gorgeous, and all-around cool show.
 
BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

-Get a Horse!, an Oscar-nominated short that shows what happens when an old-school Mickey Mouse cartoon enters the third dimension.

-The Making of Frozen, a humorous "behind-the-scenes" video performed in song by members of the film's cast.

-D'Frosted: Disney's Journey from Hans Christian Andersen to Frozen, the real making-of featurette that traces Frozen's fairy tale origins.

-Deleted scenes, introduced by directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee.

-Multi-lingual music videos featuring various artists performing "Let It Go."

-The original teaser trailer.

-A DVD copy of the feature film.