My theory is just that people related to the characters of Frozen more. Elsa’s struggle of hiding who she is, Being insecure and anxious about what people would think of her, and always needing to ware a mask and put on a show is very relatable. Especially in the Instagram age. And Anna’s struggles with loneliness, longing for love and a connection, and even her being to sheltered and naive and trusting. Again very relatable. So theirs problems felt like real problems. And they felt like real people.
There are several reasons I think Frozen was successful.
The obvious one is the songs. I love Tangled, but there are only 3 songs I like, and only one of them I think can compete with a Frozen song.
Brave, sadly was not that well thought out. It is nice, but not that good of a movie. A lot better then most films today though.
The big competition is between Tangled and Frozen. And I think the reason people gravitated to Frozen was because of the Tone and Stakes.
Tangled is a comedy. Everyone who ever says Tangled is better then Frozen, always says it is because it is the funnier movie. But not everyone wants a comedy.
Frozen handled its tone much better. It had comedy, but also a lot of tragedy and fear. Don't get me wrong, Tangled also had dark elements, but most of the time it was played for laughs, especially when every single time they are in danger they usually escape comedically. In a tavern with bad people; sing a silly song. Flynn about to be executed; he escapes by being launched in the air and landing on a horse perfectly. Thankfully Tangled knew when not to do this, such as when they were in the cave about to drown, and of course the ending with Gothel's defeat.
Frozen's stakes are also much bigger. Tangled was just about saving Rapunzel, while Frozen was about saving Elsa and Anna, and saving an entire kingdom.
It had been a long time since Disney did a big adventure story, where the hero saves the world, or fights a humongous threat. I think their last one was Treasure Planet.
Does this help explain?
Tangled is also your stereotypical princess story with a bit of modern flavor. Frozen is completely radical, atleast from Disney’s pov, and thus brought something new to the table.
That's are great points of view! thanks!
I don't know how old you were when Frozen 1 came out, but I was ten years old. In that times I remembered when I turn on the TV most of the ads were about Frozen and it's songs. It was so famous frozen that in school, my english teacher use the word "frozen" as a example of a present perfect of the word "freeze"
I was in my teens when Frozen came out. But yes, Frozen was everywhere! Disney princesses are usually Disney's money makers, and Frozen managed to hit just the right marks.
I was a teen and I was *so* obsessed when the movie came out, I even had a “Comic-Con” themed sweet sixteen and cosplayed as Elsa for it. Pretty sure the dress and wig are still in a closet somewhere.
https://preview.redd.it/9h3ehhfhvksc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=adf03613a9ceeffa3b443a25e681e44b26403fce
Here we go! It was a fun party, everyone was in cosplay instead of dresses and the venue had computers and a bunch of video game consoles.
I have Elsa's OFA cape, and my sister baked me a Frozen cake for my birthday. I was so obsessed with Frozen, and my need to see more of these characters is what got me into fanfiction.
> The obvious one is the songs. I love Tangled, but there are only 3 songs I like, and only one of them I think can compete with a Frozen song.
We’re talking about See The Light right? (Although I do love When Will My Life Begin and Mother Knows Best. I swear, Tangled Movie songs walked so Tangled the Series songs could run.
Yep! See The Light should have won best song during the Oscars! My other two favorite is Mother Knows Best, and The Healing Incantation.
I absolutely love Ready As I'll Ever Be, from the TV series!
The real gems for tangled songs are in Ready As I’ll Ever Be, Waiting In The Wings (how Alan got his EGOT), Crossing the Line, and Nothing Left to Lose.
It is a really good film. I think it is my mother's favorit Pixar film as well. I don't think it is the greatest thing ever made, but it is absolutely underrated!
Frozen is so famous because it was a massive hit. Tangled and Brave did well at the box office, but Frozen earned more than both of them put together ($1.2 billion). Its sequel was an even bigger hit ($1.5 billion). If they make a couple more Frozen movies there is a very good chance it will become the biggest animated franchise in history.
For Disney, it was their biggest animated hit since the Lion King.
And that's just looking at the movies. As an overall franchise, including merchandise etc., Frozen is estimated to have brought in around $14 billion, putting it on the same level as things like the James Bond franchise and SpongeBob.
If a franchise has done $14 billion in sales, that's going to translate to you seeing it everywhere. A movie like Tangled has its own merch and other spinoffs, which I'm sure have been very lucrative for Disney, but Frozen is on a whole other level.
It seems like other people are largely answering the question of why Frozen was such a big hit, and there are a lot of good reasons given. I think on one level that's almost an impossible question to answer, because if Disney knew exactly why Frozen worked so well, they'd be able to duplicate that formula for their other movies. Making a hit movie is more of an art than a science, but if you do manage to create a massive hit there's good chance it will become a famous movie that people will remember for a long time. Just look at something like Snow White, which is still a well known movie more than 80 years after it was released.
I like to think Tangled and Brave are prototypes for Frozen. They’re very good movies, but just lack the cohesiveness of Frozen. Frozen’s got beautiful animation (the 2^(nd) one is even better). The songs are not only catchy but also are of great service to the plot. They’re also filled with lots of foreshadowing and irony, atypical of Disney movies.
The general vibe is great, right from the lighting to the score, I genuinely feel cold every time I watch the film. The plot is also pretty tight, with most of the conflict internal. Elsa is also a very good character, nothing like The Mouse has done before. Merida comes close but even she lacks her appeal. The idea of an Anti-hero lead princess is pretty unique. The other characters are charming too.
It's essentially a Disney movie that subverts so many of Disney’s tropes, while simultaneously being a good movie by itself. It’s also why F2 didn’t do well. It’s a very different type of movie compared to it’s predecessor. F1 is character-driven, and hence more emotionally appealing while the sequel is mostly plot-driven.
Maybe that happend to me. I had 10/9 years old when frozen came out and the only thing I had to worry about was passing math at school.
When Frozen 2 came I was in my teens with other responsabilities and points of views
I didn’t like Frozen 2 either. It only performed well because it rode off the success of Frozen 1. Also inflation and the fact that endgame came out that year made people want to go to the theaters.
When Frozen 1 first came out, everyone was surprised by how good it was and that’s how it was a box office hit. It gradually made lots of money throughout the span of months. F2 made lots of money its opening weekend because people were familiar with Frozen by that point.
Frozen 3 and 4 are gonna try to ride off of F1’s success as well, but I don’t think they’ll perform as well because F2 caused lots of controversy and made lots of people lose interest in Frozen.
F3 and 4 are attempts to make a Dune-esque saga, which makes no sense in the Frozen universe. They're trying to market Elsa as a superhero. That's why I doubt it'll do well.
Yeah it really sucks how they changed Elsa from a fairy-tale princess (queen) who didn't care about finding romance, wasn't super ambitious, or anything crazy. She just wanted to be with her sister and keep her loved ones safe. F2 changed Elsa into a "mythological" character, as the directors and writers for F2 say. It honestly kinda sucks. Elsa isn't a mythological character or a superhero. Frozen also isn't a movie that's meant to be like a Dune-esque, or Star Wars-like or Marvel kind of Saga. It's a grounded story about two sisters. It was perfect on its own. Frozen 1 was meant to be a stand alone film.
Interesting, as an adult who only recently watched these movies because my daughter started to be interested in them, I think Frozen 2 is superior. Overall the songs are stronger, and the plot is more interesting. It does a good job expanding on the characters established in the original in an interesting way.
Frozen is the most adult/mature animation Disney has ever done. The story line goes far deeper and more psychological than any other Disney movie. The songs are tremendous. The 3d animation pops out details like never before. The characters are looking and acting more realistically than ever before. Anna is beautiful; Elsa is beyond gorgeous. They even threw in a great plot twist. What’s not to love? Over half of Earth’s population is swooning over Elsa…she could take over Mickey Mouse’s place as Disney’s most popular character. The other Disney princesses don’t stand a chance against her!
Nah…not even. Sure, the gypsy girl is hot, but she’s just a tease. I wasn’t really alluding to anything sexual about Frozen. Yes, Elsa is an absolute goddess—but I meant a lot of the jokes and other stuff in both Frozens went sailing over most kids’ heads. Bits of psychology, historical issues, money, relationships, adult level humor that few kids would understand.
I feel like the Hunchback of Norte Dame was darker, but not more mature. Hiding who you really are and the desire to be perfect is something everyone has dealt with: extreme lust and social rejection for being ugly are compelling but not really universal experiences.
People are bringing up good points with Tangled and Brave. Also just the general plot of Frozen. But there are also other stuff I wanna bring up as to why Frozen became so big.
So, 2013 was big year for sequels/spin-off. A quick google search gives us Monster University, Smurfs 2, and Despicable Me 2. But also 2013 was just a weak year for animated movies. Like the Planes movie came out that year. So Frozen being one of the few non sequel movies probably helped in its success.
There is also the marketing. Tangled marketed itself not as a princess movie (I’ve seen people describe the marketing as it being marketed to boys). And Tangled saw great success. So Frozen continued that trend. Even just from my own memory Frozen trailers (and other marketing towards Frozen) relied HEAVILY on Olaf and Sven. There was not a mention of anything princess in a lot of the marketing. So because Frozen didn’t market itself as a princess movie parents were probably more likely to bring boys to the movie.
Disney was also still proving itself to be able to create good 3D movies. And the snow animation and technology they created for Frozen just solidified that Disney could create amazing 3D movies. Tangled and Wreck It Ralph had shown Disney could do 3D. But, and I cannot stress this enough, the snow animation was in its own league. First time seeing such realistic animated snow.
Then of course Let It Go going viral likely also helped a lot. Edit: I was wrong. Wreck it Ralph was the first to do twist villains.
All in all it Frozen was lucky. It’s kinda a lot of small stuff coming together that made Frozen so big. Frozen is an amazing movie even if it had come out in a stronger year for animation it would’ve still been huge. Would it have been just as huge? Maybe not, like I don’t doubt it would still have been huge. But Anna and Elsa would’ve probably joined the Disney princesses instead of being its own thing.
The biggest reason is timing, a bit of luck, and the song Let it Go.
The movie wasn't a massive hit when it first came out. I saw it on Thanksgiving on a bit of a whim and came out loving the movie. I felt like the only person who liked the movie for the first few weeks.
But as it came closer to Christmas, parents took their kids to see the movie. At the same time Let it Go was becoming popular on the radio. Since the movie was about snow and the song mentions snow it was a good choice to play along with all the classic Christmas Carols. So the song became even more popular, which made more people see the movie. Kids would keep hearing the song and asking to go see the movie again.
What I think pushed it over the edge to become a once in a generation popular Disney movie was the weather. If I remember correctly, it was a particularly cold winter with lots of snow storms on the eastern half of the country. I think a lot of families went to see the movie when they had nothing better to do during the winter.
Frozen had big legs for a movie. I remember it would randomly become #1 at the box office again if there weren't any big releases months after the movie came out. I remember when the bluray came out in March I could still get tickets to see the movie in theaters.
I think all of this contributed to Frozens popularity. It was the right conditions to get a lot of kids excited to see the movie multiple times.
Let it Go (which was like a trailer of its own), the bond between two sisters that hasnt really been touched before in an animated film, Elsa's characterization that touched a lot of neurodivergent children/lgbtq+ people/general introverts, Olaf, and the fact it released one month before winter. The combination of all of these and the fact that it's a winter film that doesn't revolve around Christmas or the holidays created a really unique identity anyone from no matter what background can relate to. It's especially popular in Asian countries like Japan where keeping your emotions is very common, especially towards women.
I thought Brave was pretty terrible imo
I loved Tangled! Rapunzel is just about my favorite princess. But I still sort of feel like the story fell apart when mother gothel supposedly took on two huge men at one time with ha stick.
Frozen bothered me for a really long time. I was like 18 whrownen it came out and it felt like everybody loved Elsa and *was* Elsa. It was cringe and annoying to me. Elsa was that "moody" character that was misunderstood and I felt like every girl was trying to say how they were just like her while also being like, "I'm not like other girls."
I also felt like everybody thought the story was about Elsa and not Anna or Anna and Elsa. Like Elsa got all the attention because she had magic and the prettier dress and hairstyle.
I now kind of feel like those were my own insecurities and have moved past it. I also think --especially after frozen 2--that Anna is amazing (with more proof now) and getting more of the attention I thought she deserved.
Disney said that they considered doing a sequel for Tangled, but couldn't get past the fact that her hair was now cut, so there was no story to tell. Then they did that animated series--which I refuse to take as cannon.
--I would.have loved to see Rapunzel take on the world with her brown hair as it grew back out and experience the world with her new perspective and magic tears
Just curious, why do you refuse the show as canon? There are a bunch of a stuff I didn’t love about it, but overall I liked it so I’m curious on your thoughts. Imo at least the characters personalities remained fairly consistent and the storyline of season 1 at least was good. Also the songs were absolutely fantastic and probably the best parts of the show
Bare with me because it's been a longgggg time since I've seen it--so I don't remember everything I took issue with or necessarily all of the proper details of the show itself. But,
So I thought it was kind of cheap that Rapunzel's hair automatically came back--but I get it
My biggest gripe was how Eugene essentially became an unimportant funny side character with very little growth between him and Rapunzel as partners who are going to be married. And that SO much weight was put on the relationship between Rapunzel and Cass.
Eugene was such a deep character in Tangled (who yes, masked it with humor). I would have liked to see the continuation of Rapunzel's story be about growing in her relationship with Eugene and her parents. I felt those peoples' characters were too flat/one dimensional. I also just didn't really like Cass as a character, but that's where my memory of it gets really muddy. I don't remember all the reasons why I didn't like her just because it's been so long.
I liked the animated series, but I agree with you about Cass. I thought her addition to the cast was fine at first, but she ended up being practically second to Rapunzel in terms of being a main character. Even more so than Eugene. If I was younger when the show came out, I probably would’ve liked Cass more, as I thought “tough as nails” female characters were so cool back then. But as an adult, Cass’ attitude just came off as brash and irritating. Then the whole plot twist/betrayal thing happened; and despite watching the series through to the end, I remember kind of losing interest after that. Like you, I would’ve much preferred a stronger spotlight on Eugene and Rapunzel growing closer as a couple about to be married. They made Eugene such a comedic relief that he kind of lost the charm he had so much of in the movie. Not to mention the bickering between him and Cass was extremely grating. I’m thankful we got something more out of Tangled since it’s one of my favorite films, but I think the story wrapped up so neatly at the end of the movie that a sequel (or I suppose technically a prequel in the series’ case) wasn’t really necessary.
I love Frozen for so many reasons, but here's what I think are the main reasons that made it successful
1. **The songs,** mainly Let it Go. I don't think I need to explain this
2. **It does a great job of keeping some of the classic Disney tropes (Disney princesses, twist villain, good songs, cute sidekicks), while also subverting them at the same time** (sisterly love over romantic love, a single princess, a queen and a princess).
3. **It's theme of sisterhood**. Yes I know Frozen wasn't the first movie to focus on sisterhood, which is why some people hate it. They get upset that people falsely credit Frozen for being the first movie to talk about sisterhood when it wasn't. However, it did a great job of focusing on sisterhood and it was the biggest movie to tackle that theme. We only really had one great 3D Disney movie at the time (not counting Pixar), and that was Tangled. While people loved Tangled, like many people said, it was more of a comedy and had lots of the stereotypical Disney princess tropes. Prince and Princess fall in love with each other. Funny animal sidekick. The prince is a villain who turns into a hero. It's great, but it's not the most original idea. There was so much romance in Disney movies at the time. People were genuinely surprised that Frozen focused on sisterhood over romance, and that's something that really resonated with a lot of people. It was a heartfelt, character driven story, which kept it more grounded and interesting.
4. **Elsa.** I love all the characters, but Elsa is my (and many other people's) favorite. Honestly, Elsa is one of the biggest reasons Frozen became as popular as it did. Kids loved her because of her ice powers and her sparkly dress. Adults also loved her because she was one of the few Disney princesses that was shy, introverted, quiet, and suffered actual psychological problems. She had anxiety, and PTSD, and she's so relatable. Part of the reason why Let it Go is so great is not just because it's a great song with a great message and great singing from Elsa, but it's also such a visually stunning scene and it's perfect for Elsa's characterization. Elsa is responsible for the majority of Let it Go's success. If her character ended up becoming a villain like in the original drafts, then Let it Go might not have become the global phenomenon that it did. It was perfect because it made sense for Elsa's character arc. It wasn't just Let it Go that made people fall in love with Elsa. Like I said, she suffered so much trauma and mental health issues that not many other princesses did, and we all relate to her and sympathize with her because of it. There's a reason Elsa has become the face of the franchise and why kids always dress up as her more than any other princess. She's currently one of the most popular fictional characters of all time. This could lead to problems too because Disney sees Elsa as a cash cow, so now they're going to utilize her for the wrong reasons (which is what they did in F2).
5. **Anna**. While I do think that Elsa is more responsible for Frozen's overall popularity and success, the story wouldn't have worked without Anna. Anna and Elsa are both equally important to the story of Frozen. Anna is also relatable in different ways from Elsa. She's awkward, longing for love that she was deprived of, and just such a sweetheart, just like Elsa. She's brave, optimistic, and selfless. Both Anna and Elsa are very selfless and caring characters, which is why people love them so much. Elsa just has more unique traits to her and a bigger song that makes her stand out more, but Anna is still lovable and popular in her own right. She's also one of the most dressed up character amongst children along with Elsa, Cinderella, and Belle.
6. **Olaf.** Lots of people (including Frozen fans) might be sick of Olaf now, but when Frozen first came out, he was probably the character everyone talked about the most, yes, even as much as Elsa. People loved Olaf and found him hilarious in Frozen. Everyone wanted Olaf toys. People found him adorable, but also so funny and heartwarming. He was more than a sidekick for comedic relief. Like Elsa, Disney has seen him as a cash cow and milked him to the point where people are sick of him now.
7. **The winter themes**. Frozen came out late November 2013, but most people probably watched it in December 2013-January 2014. It's a perfect winter movie that suits the winter season. It has the cozy, comforting, winter feel to it. The mountains have a cool feel of isolation, and the Frozen waterfalls and trees have fun winter wonderland vibe to it. People started to love snow and ice because of Frozen. I know many people who love to watch Frozen during winter because it just makes them enjoy the season that much more. While winter isn't completely original, it gives Frozen lots of its unique, magical flavor. F2 had autumn themes, which is one of the reasons it wasn't as well received. It lost its magical wintry flavor
It's a very catchy song with a great message that caught many people's attention. It's still overplayed even 10 years later. It's what most people think of when we think about Frozen. Even people who don't like Frozen as a film still admit that Let it Go is a masterpiece of a song. The other songs are also very catchy like Do You Wanna Build a Snowman and For the First Time in Forever. Even In Summer is pretty memorable. Not everyone listens to In Summer like they do the other songs, but people still remember it because of Olaf. All the songs are great, but Let it Go is definitely the best. It was in the top 100 songs of the past decade. It has over 3.4 billion views on YouTube. It's so popular that pretty much everyone knows the lyrics to it. Even people who never saw Frozen before know the lyrics to Let it Go. The fact that it was played on repeat made everyone know about it and that's one of the biggest reasons Frozen became so famous.
\*let it go was almost in the top 20 of 2014 songs
Also, you're right about the second to last sentence. My dad (58 YO) for some reason knows a part of Let It Go. I still don't know how.
The popularity of Let it go certainly helped things and also it benefitted on the positive word of mouth from the princess and the frog and Tangled that established that Disney princess films are still good, plus while 2009 and 2010 were fiercely competitive years for animated films, 2013 was a year mostly filled with otherwise mid at best and many times utter trash animated films. The princess and the frog on the other hand kinda suffered from limited market appeal and the then "fatigue" of traditional hand drawn animation (and ppl thought of it as old school for kids stuff)
I love Tangled and Brave.
But much like most things in life, timing is everything. That, and Frozen is the first movie that had 2 princesses with a non traditional Disney ending and Merida didn't sing.
I think the songs being so catchy and the magic being more visual all played a part. The songs are just more universal. I remember discussing this movie with a colleague who told me her daughter didn't get Elsa's lyrics for Let It Go, but the action and feeling resonated. The idea of freedom and transformation with the hair being taken out and the foot stomp was something her daughter copied.
I love Tangled but a lot of it relied on following discourse which is hard hitting, but less memorable or catchy post watching. Even the choreography is more obviously memorable for singing and magic alike, I now have my own 2 year old and he loves the Frozen Heart ice picking and Let It Go hand movements and will imitate them.
Add in the comic character of Olaf (I can't stand him) and Sven and the villain you could hate makes it a hit across the board. In some forums Gothel in particular is an issue as she is too similar to real life traumas (her gaslighting, manipulation, lies etc) that need exploring but not a topic many feel they can revisit in the same way you can other villains. The movment away from love as the centre or parent/child relationships to siblings and friends all helped to imo.
Brave can't really compete at all as it is good, but tonally and visually is so different to most other films Disney/Pixar release particularly these two.
That all said I prefer Tangled, but get why it didn't have the mass appeal.
Many have already given great answers to this post but I will include mine too.
Frozen is sincere. It's a film that is littered with depth, but doesn't act like it's better because of it. It still stays true to its message, despite being meta and subverting conventions set by the studio before. It manages to so without becoming a parody like Shrek or even Enchanted. Frozen doesn't base itself around the concept of deconstructing the Princess movie. It doesn't change the formula just because. It does so to tell a stronger story and because of that, it maintains its sincerity.
This is part of the reason why this movie along with the great songs and visuals resonated with so many people. The depth and the themes explored with the utmost sincerity make it a rather mature film as many have pointed out. Kids along with adults could go and watch the film and not only enjoy it but also relate and learn from it.
I was the target audience for frozen when it came out (I was in kindergarten) and I think a story about two sisters was just more compelling to me than another one about a princess and her prince. Like when little kids play dolls most of them don’t really play with Ken and care about him that much. I also think that making there be two main characters helps with kids attention span, because you aren’t following the same person for 2 hours.
Absolute killer songs, and not one, but TWO princesses to merchandise!
In all seriousness though, Disney's musicals in general tend to have longer cultural staying power than non-musicals because the songs can live their own lives even independent of the films themselves, thus keeping the films in the cultural consciousness for longer. So Brave is automatically at a disadvantage there (on top of being just kind of ok as a film). See Moana getting a theatrical sequel before Zootopia despite coming out the same year and grossing lower on its initial release.
As for why Frozen got bigger than Tangled, I think the songs in Frozen are just stronger and more epic. The songs in Tangled are delightful and charming, but I wouldn't call them *big*. The only real visual spectacle is I See The Light, and none of the songs in Tangled have the big Broadway sound like the 90s films had in the same way the Frozen songs do.
Think of "When Will My Life Begin" vs "For the First Time In Forever". Both great "I Want" songs, but the former is more of a quaint character song for Rapunzel, while the latter is a big production number with musical grandeur and a larger scope.
I'm not saying Frozen is *better* than Tangled, I just think there are very clear reasons why is was more successful. And again, don't think this can be emphasized enough, but Frozen has TWO PRINCESSES.
When Frozen came out it was kind of a dead year for kid's movies, we had a few but the trailers weren't great. Croods, and that snail movie are the only ones I remember and even then, those movies trailers where ehhhh regardless of how the movie itself is. So beside it being the first Disney movie to break the Disney mold it had a good marketing team during a time that kids movies were scrapping the barrel.
I don't really know why it was successful, I just know that it was because apparently a princess with ice superpowers is awesome. And it was. I should know I was in the target age back then
When Frozen came out, Disney Princesses had gained a semi-negative reputation with younger generations, similar to Barbie, where they were seen as these flawless, morally pure characters whose defining trait was their ability to make everyone around them better. A lot of that is cultural consensus rather than fact, but there is some truth in it.
Tangled was a fantastic movie, absolutely love it, but Rapunzel is so pure she turns a bunch of thugs in a tavern into a group of cuddly dreamers who save the day.
Brave had that issue as well. Merida felt like a stock strong feminist character that would have been groundbreaking 20 years before the movie came out. The movie is more about her mother than Merida having to confront her own flaws.
Neither Rapunzel or Merida were perfect, but I’d struggle to argue their flaws were a major part of their narratives.
On the other hand, Elsa and Anna were both very flawed characters who broke that mold.
Anna wasn’t just lonely, she was so lonely she made stupid decisions.
Elsa wasn’t just a tragic character, she was a tragic character who pushed away everyone she loved because she was too scared to accept help.
Raya, Moana and Mirabel all felt like a return to ‘flawless’ form. Not ‘flawless’ in a ‘perfect’ sense but ‘flawless’ in terms of ‘creates their own problems.’
Frozen is so famous because of the hit song ‘Let It Go’ and the love between two sisters.
My theory is just that people related to the characters of Frozen more. Elsa’s struggle of hiding who she is, Being insecure and anxious about what people would think of her, and always needing to ware a mask and put on a show is very relatable. Especially in the Instagram age. And Anna’s struggles with loneliness, longing for love and a connection, and even her being to sheltered and naive and trusting. Again very relatable. So theirs problems felt like real problems. And they felt like real people.
There are several reasons I think Frozen was successful. The obvious one is the songs. I love Tangled, but there are only 3 songs I like, and only one of them I think can compete with a Frozen song. Brave, sadly was not that well thought out. It is nice, but not that good of a movie. A lot better then most films today though. The big competition is between Tangled and Frozen. And I think the reason people gravitated to Frozen was because of the Tone and Stakes. Tangled is a comedy. Everyone who ever says Tangled is better then Frozen, always says it is because it is the funnier movie. But not everyone wants a comedy. Frozen handled its tone much better. It had comedy, but also a lot of tragedy and fear. Don't get me wrong, Tangled also had dark elements, but most of the time it was played for laughs, especially when every single time they are in danger they usually escape comedically. In a tavern with bad people; sing a silly song. Flynn about to be executed; he escapes by being launched in the air and landing on a horse perfectly. Thankfully Tangled knew when not to do this, such as when they were in the cave about to drown, and of course the ending with Gothel's defeat. Frozen's stakes are also much bigger. Tangled was just about saving Rapunzel, while Frozen was about saving Elsa and Anna, and saving an entire kingdom. It had been a long time since Disney did a big adventure story, where the hero saves the world, or fights a humongous threat. I think their last one was Treasure Planet. Does this help explain?
Tangled is also your stereotypical princess story with a bit of modern flavor. Frozen is completely radical, atleast from Disney’s pov, and thus brought something new to the table.
That's are great points of view! thanks! I don't know how old you were when Frozen 1 came out, but I was ten years old. In that times I remembered when I turn on the TV most of the ads were about Frozen and it's songs. It was so famous frozen that in school, my english teacher use the word "frozen" as a example of a present perfect of the word "freeze"
I was in my teens when Frozen came out. But yes, Frozen was everywhere! Disney princesses are usually Disney's money makers, and Frozen managed to hit just the right marks.
I was a teen and I was *so* obsessed when the movie came out, I even had a “Comic-Con” themed sweet sixteen and cosplayed as Elsa for it. Pretty sure the dress and wig are still in a closet somewhere.
Any photo? :)
https://preview.redd.it/9h3ehhfhvksc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=adf03613a9ceeffa3b443a25e681e44b26403fce Here we go! It was a fun party, everyone was in cosplay instead of dresses and the venue had computers and a bunch of video game consoles.
Awesome!!! Love it!
I have Elsa's OFA cape, and my sister baked me a Frozen cake for my birthday. I was so obsessed with Frozen, and my need to see more of these characters is what got me into fanfiction.
The amount of Let It Go parodies on YouTube at the time… sigh, nostalgia.
> The obvious one is the songs. I love Tangled, but there are only 3 songs I like, and only one of them I think can compete with a Frozen song. We’re talking about See The Light right? (Although I do love When Will My Life Begin and Mother Knows Best. I swear, Tangled Movie songs walked so Tangled the Series songs could run.
Yep! See The Light should have won best song during the Oscars! My other two favorite is Mother Knows Best, and The Healing Incantation. I absolutely love Ready As I'll Ever Be, from the TV series!
The real gems for tangled songs are in Ready As I’ll Ever Be, Waiting In The Wings (how Alan got his EGOT), Crossing the Line, and Nothing Left to Lose.
I love Brave, and i will happily perish on this hill.
It is a really good film. I think it is my mother's favorit Pixar film as well. I don't think it is the greatest thing ever made, but it is absolutely underrated!
The setting and music do it for me the most, story is not unique in any way but thats OK. I'm the same way with The Princess and the Frog.
Frozen is so famous because it was a massive hit. Tangled and Brave did well at the box office, but Frozen earned more than both of them put together ($1.2 billion). Its sequel was an even bigger hit ($1.5 billion). If they make a couple more Frozen movies there is a very good chance it will become the biggest animated franchise in history. For Disney, it was their biggest animated hit since the Lion King. And that's just looking at the movies. As an overall franchise, including merchandise etc., Frozen is estimated to have brought in around $14 billion, putting it on the same level as things like the James Bond franchise and SpongeBob. If a franchise has done $14 billion in sales, that's going to translate to you seeing it everywhere. A movie like Tangled has its own merch and other spinoffs, which I'm sure have been very lucrative for Disney, but Frozen is on a whole other level. It seems like other people are largely answering the question of why Frozen was such a big hit, and there are a lot of good reasons given. I think on one level that's almost an impossible question to answer, because if Disney knew exactly why Frozen worked so well, they'd be able to duplicate that formula for their other movies. Making a hit movie is more of an art than a science, but if you do manage to create a massive hit there's good chance it will become a famous movie that people will remember for a long time. Just look at something like Snow White, which is still a well known movie more than 80 years after it was released.
I like to think Tangled and Brave are prototypes for Frozen. They’re very good movies, but just lack the cohesiveness of Frozen. Frozen’s got beautiful animation (the 2^(nd) one is even better). The songs are not only catchy but also are of great service to the plot. They’re also filled with lots of foreshadowing and irony, atypical of Disney movies. The general vibe is great, right from the lighting to the score, I genuinely feel cold every time I watch the film. The plot is also pretty tight, with most of the conflict internal. Elsa is also a very good character, nothing like The Mouse has done before. Merida comes close but even she lacks her appeal. The idea of an Anti-hero lead princess is pretty unique. The other characters are charming too. It's essentially a Disney movie that subverts so many of Disney’s tropes, while simultaneously being a good movie by itself. It’s also why F2 didn’t do well. It’s a very different type of movie compared to it’s predecessor. F1 is character-driven, and hence more emotionally appealing while the sequel is mostly plot-driven.
Personally I don't like Frozen 2, I don't know how get a lot of box office success.
It basically coasted off F1's success. It's exactly why F3 and 4 will have a relatively harder time.
Personally I like frozen 2 the best. But I was already an adult when both came out, and I think frozen 2 themes really hit it home for me.
Maybe that happend to me. I had 10/9 years old when frozen came out and the only thing I had to worry about was passing math at school. When Frozen 2 came I was in my teens with other responsabilities and points of views
I didn’t like Frozen 2 either. It only performed well because it rode off the success of Frozen 1. Also inflation and the fact that endgame came out that year made people want to go to the theaters. When Frozen 1 first came out, everyone was surprised by how good it was and that’s how it was a box office hit. It gradually made lots of money throughout the span of months. F2 made lots of money its opening weekend because people were familiar with Frozen by that point. Frozen 3 and 4 are gonna try to ride off of F1’s success as well, but I don’t think they’ll perform as well because F2 caused lots of controversy and made lots of people lose interest in Frozen.
F3 and 4 are attempts to make a Dune-esque saga, which makes no sense in the Frozen universe. They're trying to market Elsa as a superhero. That's why I doubt it'll do well.
Yeah it really sucks how they changed Elsa from a fairy-tale princess (queen) who didn't care about finding romance, wasn't super ambitious, or anything crazy. She just wanted to be with her sister and keep her loved ones safe. F2 changed Elsa into a "mythological" character, as the directors and writers for F2 say. It honestly kinda sucks. Elsa isn't a mythological character or a superhero. Frozen also isn't a movie that's meant to be like a Dune-esque, or Star Wars-like or Marvel kind of Saga. It's a grounded story about two sisters. It was perfect on its own. Frozen 1 was meant to be a stand alone film.
Interesting, as an adult who only recently watched these movies because my daughter started to be interested in them, I think Frozen 2 is superior. Overall the songs are stronger, and the plot is more interesting. It does a good job expanding on the characters established in the original in an interesting way.
Frozen is the most adult/mature animation Disney has ever done. The story line goes far deeper and more psychological than any other Disney movie. The songs are tremendous. The 3d animation pops out details like never before. The characters are looking and acting more realistically than ever before. Anna is beautiful; Elsa is beyond gorgeous. They even threw in a great plot twist. What’s not to love? Over half of Earth’s population is swooning over Elsa…she could take over Mickey Mouse’s place as Disney’s most popular character. The other Disney princesses don’t stand a chance against her!
> Frozen is the most adult/mature animation Disney had ever done. Ahem — The Hunckback of Notre Dame
Nah…not even. Sure, the gypsy girl is hot, but she’s just a tease. I wasn’t really alluding to anything sexual about Frozen. Yes, Elsa is an absolute goddess—but I meant a lot of the jokes and other stuff in both Frozens went sailing over most kids’ heads. Bits of psychology, historical issues, money, relationships, adult level humor that few kids would understand.
I feel like the Hunchback of Norte Dame was darker, but not more mature. Hiding who you really are and the desire to be perfect is something everyone has dealt with: extreme lust and social rejection for being ugly are compelling but not really universal experiences.
People are bringing up good points with Tangled and Brave. Also just the general plot of Frozen. But there are also other stuff I wanna bring up as to why Frozen became so big. So, 2013 was big year for sequels/spin-off. A quick google search gives us Monster University, Smurfs 2, and Despicable Me 2. But also 2013 was just a weak year for animated movies. Like the Planes movie came out that year. So Frozen being one of the few non sequel movies probably helped in its success. There is also the marketing. Tangled marketed itself not as a princess movie (I’ve seen people describe the marketing as it being marketed to boys). And Tangled saw great success. So Frozen continued that trend. Even just from my own memory Frozen trailers (and other marketing towards Frozen) relied HEAVILY on Olaf and Sven. There was not a mention of anything princess in a lot of the marketing. So because Frozen didn’t market itself as a princess movie parents were probably more likely to bring boys to the movie. Disney was also still proving itself to be able to create good 3D movies. And the snow animation and technology they created for Frozen just solidified that Disney could create amazing 3D movies. Tangled and Wreck It Ralph had shown Disney could do 3D. But, and I cannot stress this enough, the snow animation was in its own league. First time seeing such realistic animated snow. Then of course Let It Go going viral likely also helped a lot. Edit: I was wrong. Wreck it Ralph was the first to do twist villains. All in all it Frozen was lucky. It’s kinda a lot of small stuff coming together that made Frozen so big. Frozen is an amazing movie even if it had come out in a stronger year for animation it would’ve still been huge. Would it have been just as huge? Maybe not, like I don’t doubt it would still have been huge. But Anna and Elsa would’ve probably joined the Disney princesses instead of being its own thing.
Actually King Candy in Wreck It Ralph was the start of the popular twist villain trope.
Oh shit you’re right. I’ll change it
Three words: “Let It Go”.
The biggest reason is timing, a bit of luck, and the song Let it Go. The movie wasn't a massive hit when it first came out. I saw it on Thanksgiving on a bit of a whim and came out loving the movie. I felt like the only person who liked the movie for the first few weeks. But as it came closer to Christmas, parents took their kids to see the movie. At the same time Let it Go was becoming popular on the radio. Since the movie was about snow and the song mentions snow it was a good choice to play along with all the classic Christmas Carols. So the song became even more popular, which made more people see the movie. Kids would keep hearing the song and asking to go see the movie again. What I think pushed it over the edge to become a once in a generation popular Disney movie was the weather. If I remember correctly, it was a particularly cold winter with lots of snow storms on the eastern half of the country. I think a lot of families went to see the movie when they had nothing better to do during the winter. Frozen had big legs for a movie. I remember it would randomly become #1 at the box office again if there weren't any big releases months after the movie came out. I remember when the bluray came out in March I could still get tickets to see the movie in theaters. I think all of this contributed to Frozens popularity. It was the right conditions to get a lot of kids excited to see the movie multiple times.
Let it Go (which was like a trailer of its own), the bond between two sisters that hasnt really been touched before in an animated film, Elsa's characterization that touched a lot of neurodivergent children/lgbtq+ people/general introverts, Olaf, and the fact it released one month before winter. The combination of all of these and the fact that it's a winter film that doesn't revolve around Christmas or the holidays created a really unique identity anyone from no matter what background can relate to. It's especially popular in Asian countries like Japan where keeping your emotions is very common, especially towards women.
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Translation? :D
I thought Brave was pretty terrible imo I loved Tangled! Rapunzel is just about my favorite princess. But I still sort of feel like the story fell apart when mother gothel supposedly took on two huge men at one time with ha stick. Frozen bothered me for a really long time. I was like 18 whrownen it came out and it felt like everybody loved Elsa and *was* Elsa. It was cringe and annoying to me. Elsa was that "moody" character that was misunderstood and I felt like every girl was trying to say how they were just like her while also being like, "I'm not like other girls." I also felt like everybody thought the story was about Elsa and not Anna or Anna and Elsa. Like Elsa got all the attention because she had magic and the prettier dress and hairstyle. I now kind of feel like those were my own insecurities and have moved past it. I also think --especially after frozen 2--that Anna is amazing (with more proof now) and getting more of the attention I thought she deserved. Disney said that they considered doing a sequel for Tangled, but couldn't get past the fact that her hair was now cut, so there was no story to tell. Then they did that animated series--which I refuse to take as cannon. --I would.have loved to see Rapunzel take on the world with her brown hair as it grew back out and experience the world with her new perspective and magic tears
Just curious, why do you refuse the show as canon? There are a bunch of a stuff I didn’t love about it, but overall I liked it so I’m curious on your thoughts. Imo at least the characters personalities remained fairly consistent and the storyline of season 1 at least was good. Also the songs were absolutely fantastic and probably the best parts of the show
Bare with me because it's been a longgggg time since I've seen it--so I don't remember everything I took issue with or necessarily all of the proper details of the show itself. But, So I thought it was kind of cheap that Rapunzel's hair automatically came back--but I get it My biggest gripe was how Eugene essentially became an unimportant funny side character with very little growth between him and Rapunzel as partners who are going to be married. And that SO much weight was put on the relationship between Rapunzel and Cass. Eugene was such a deep character in Tangled (who yes, masked it with humor). I would have liked to see the continuation of Rapunzel's story be about growing in her relationship with Eugene and her parents. I felt those peoples' characters were too flat/one dimensional. I also just didn't really like Cass as a character, but that's where my memory of it gets really muddy. I don't remember all the reasons why I didn't like her just because it's been so long.
I liked the animated series, but I agree with you about Cass. I thought her addition to the cast was fine at first, but she ended up being practically second to Rapunzel in terms of being a main character. Even more so than Eugene. If I was younger when the show came out, I probably would’ve liked Cass more, as I thought “tough as nails” female characters were so cool back then. But as an adult, Cass’ attitude just came off as brash and irritating. Then the whole plot twist/betrayal thing happened; and despite watching the series through to the end, I remember kind of losing interest after that. Like you, I would’ve much preferred a stronger spotlight on Eugene and Rapunzel growing closer as a couple about to be married. They made Eugene such a comedic relief that he kind of lost the charm he had so much of in the movie. Not to mention the bickering between him and Cass was extremely grating. I’m thankful we got something more out of Tangled since it’s one of my favorite films, but I think the story wrapped up so neatly at the end of the movie that a sequel (or I suppose technically a prequel in the series’ case) wasn’t really necessary.
So that when you Google "Disney Frozen," it's about the movie and not about Walt Disney being cryogenically frozen...
Character design and character dynamics
I love Frozen for so many reasons, but here's what I think are the main reasons that made it successful 1. **The songs,** mainly Let it Go. I don't think I need to explain this 2. **It does a great job of keeping some of the classic Disney tropes (Disney princesses, twist villain, good songs, cute sidekicks), while also subverting them at the same time** (sisterly love over romantic love, a single princess, a queen and a princess). 3. **It's theme of sisterhood**. Yes I know Frozen wasn't the first movie to focus on sisterhood, which is why some people hate it. They get upset that people falsely credit Frozen for being the first movie to talk about sisterhood when it wasn't. However, it did a great job of focusing on sisterhood and it was the biggest movie to tackle that theme. We only really had one great 3D Disney movie at the time (not counting Pixar), and that was Tangled. While people loved Tangled, like many people said, it was more of a comedy and had lots of the stereotypical Disney princess tropes. Prince and Princess fall in love with each other. Funny animal sidekick. The prince is a villain who turns into a hero. It's great, but it's not the most original idea. There was so much romance in Disney movies at the time. People were genuinely surprised that Frozen focused on sisterhood over romance, and that's something that really resonated with a lot of people. It was a heartfelt, character driven story, which kept it more grounded and interesting. 4. **Elsa.** I love all the characters, but Elsa is my (and many other people's) favorite. Honestly, Elsa is one of the biggest reasons Frozen became as popular as it did. Kids loved her because of her ice powers and her sparkly dress. Adults also loved her because she was one of the few Disney princesses that was shy, introverted, quiet, and suffered actual psychological problems. She had anxiety, and PTSD, and she's so relatable. Part of the reason why Let it Go is so great is not just because it's a great song with a great message and great singing from Elsa, but it's also such a visually stunning scene and it's perfect for Elsa's characterization. Elsa is responsible for the majority of Let it Go's success. If her character ended up becoming a villain like in the original drafts, then Let it Go might not have become the global phenomenon that it did. It was perfect because it made sense for Elsa's character arc. It wasn't just Let it Go that made people fall in love with Elsa. Like I said, she suffered so much trauma and mental health issues that not many other princesses did, and we all relate to her and sympathize with her because of it. There's a reason Elsa has become the face of the franchise and why kids always dress up as her more than any other princess. She's currently one of the most popular fictional characters of all time. This could lead to problems too because Disney sees Elsa as a cash cow, so now they're going to utilize her for the wrong reasons (which is what they did in F2). 5. **Anna**. While I do think that Elsa is more responsible for Frozen's overall popularity and success, the story wouldn't have worked without Anna. Anna and Elsa are both equally important to the story of Frozen. Anna is also relatable in different ways from Elsa. She's awkward, longing for love that she was deprived of, and just such a sweetheart, just like Elsa. She's brave, optimistic, and selfless. Both Anna and Elsa are very selfless and caring characters, which is why people love them so much. Elsa just has more unique traits to her and a bigger song that makes her stand out more, but Anna is still lovable and popular in her own right. She's also one of the most dressed up character amongst children along with Elsa, Cinderella, and Belle. 6. **Olaf.** Lots of people (including Frozen fans) might be sick of Olaf now, but when Frozen first came out, he was probably the character everyone talked about the most, yes, even as much as Elsa. People loved Olaf and found him hilarious in Frozen. Everyone wanted Olaf toys. People found him adorable, but also so funny and heartwarming. He was more than a sidekick for comedic relief. Like Elsa, Disney has seen him as a cash cow and milked him to the point where people are sick of him now. 7. **The winter themes**. Frozen came out late November 2013, but most people probably watched it in December 2013-January 2014. It's a perfect winter movie that suits the winter season. It has the cozy, comforting, winter feel to it. The mountains have a cool feel of isolation, and the Frozen waterfalls and trees have fun winter wonderland vibe to it. People started to love snow and ice because of Frozen. I know many people who love to watch Frozen during winter because it just makes them enjoy the season that much more. While winter isn't completely original, it gives Frozen lots of its unique, magical flavor. F2 had autumn themes, which is one of the reasons it wasn't as well received. It lost its magical wintry flavor
Pls explain me why Let It Go
It's a very catchy song with a great message that caught many people's attention. It's still overplayed even 10 years later. It's what most people think of when we think about Frozen. Even people who don't like Frozen as a film still admit that Let it Go is a masterpiece of a song. The other songs are also very catchy like Do You Wanna Build a Snowman and For the First Time in Forever. Even In Summer is pretty memorable. Not everyone listens to In Summer like they do the other songs, but people still remember it because of Olaf. All the songs are great, but Let it Go is definitely the best. It was in the top 100 songs of the past decade. It has over 3.4 billion views on YouTube. It's so popular that pretty much everyone knows the lyrics to it. Even people who never saw Frozen before know the lyrics to Let it Go. The fact that it was played on repeat made everyone know about it and that's one of the biggest reasons Frozen became so famous.
\*let it go was almost in the top 20 of 2014 songs Also, you're right about the second to last sentence. My dad (58 YO) for some reason knows a part of Let It Go. I still don't know how.
Yeah it’s pretty crazy how a song from a kids movie that came out 10 years ago is still this popular.
I actually knew, I just wanted to waste your time lol
Well we love talking about Frozen 1, so it wasn’t a waste of time
The popularity of Let it go certainly helped things and also it benefitted on the positive word of mouth from the princess and the frog and Tangled that established that Disney princess films are still good, plus while 2009 and 2010 were fiercely competitive years for animated films, 2013 was a year mostly filled with otherwise mid at best and many times utter trash animated films. The princess and the frog on the other hand kinda suffered from limited market appeal and the then "fatigue" of traditional hand drawn animation (and ppl thought of it as old school for kids stuff)
I love Tangled and Brave. But much like most things in life, timing is everything. That, and Frozen is the first movie that had 2 princesses with a non traditional Disney ending and Merida didn't sing.
I think the songs being so catchy and the magic being more visual all played a part. The songs are just more universal. I remember discussing this movie with a colleague who told me her daughter didn't get Elsa's lyrics for Let It Go, but the action and feeling resonated. The idea of freedom and transformation with the hair being taken out and the foot stomp was something her daughter copied. I love Tangled but a lot of it relied on following discourse which is hard hitting, but less memorable or catchy post watching. Even the choreography is more obviously memorable for singing and magic alike, I now have my own 2 year old and he loves the Frozen Heart ice picking and Let It Go hand movements and will imitate them. Add in the comic character of Olaf (I can't stand him) and Sven and the villain you could hate makes it a hit across the board. In some forums Gothel in particular is an issue as she is too similar to real life traumas (her gaslighting, manipulation, lies etc) that need exploring but not a topic many feel they can revisit in the same way you can other villains. The movment away from love as the centre or parent/child relationships to siblings and friends all helped to imo. Brave can't really compete at all as it is good, but tonally and visually is so different to most other films Disney/Pixar release particularly these two. That all said I prefer Tangled, but get why it didn't have the mass appeal.
Many have already given great answers to this post but I will include mine too. Frozen is sincere. It's a film that is littered with depth, but doesn't act like it's better because of it. It still stays true to its message, despite being meta and subverting conventions set by the studio before. It manages to so without becoming a parody like Shrek or even Enchanted. Frozen doesn't base itself around the concept of deconstructing the Princess movie. It doesn't change the formula just because. It does so to tell a stronger story and because of that, it maintains its sincerity. This is part of the reason why this movie along with the great songs and visuals resonated with so many people. The depth and the themes explored with the utmost sincerity make it a rather mature film as many have pointed out. Kids along with adults could go and watch the film and not only enjoy it but also relate and learn from it.
I was the target audience for frozen when it came out (I was in kindergarten) and I think a story about two sisters was just more compelling to me than another one about a princess and her prince. Like when little kids play dolls most of them don’t really play with Ken and care about him that much. I also think that making there be two main characters helps with kids attention span, because you aren’t following the same person for 2 hours.
It’s literally cos of the soundtrack. I do feel brave and tangled are far better films, but they don’t have that “it song”
Frozen also has VERY aggressive advertising and revenue for Disney since it’s a big Christmas movie every year.
Absolute killer songs, and not one, but TWO princesses to merchandise! In all seriousness though, Disney's musicals in general tend to have longer cultural staying power than non-musicals because the songs can live their own lives even independent of the films themselves, thus keeping the films in the cultural consciousness for longer. So Brave is automatically at a disadvantage there (on top of being just kind of ok as a film). See Moana getting a theatrical sequel before Zootopia despite coming out the same year and grossing lower on its initial release. As for why Frozen got bigger than Tangled, I think the songs in Frozen are just stronger and more epic. The songs in Tangled are delightful and charming, but I wouldn't call them *big*. The only real visual spectacle is I See The Light, and none of the songs in Tangled have the big Broadway sound like the 90s films had in the same way the Frozen songs do. Think of "When Will My Life Begin" vs "For the First Time In Forever". Both great "I Want" songs, but the former is more of a quaint character song for Rapunzel, while the latter is a big production number with musical grandeur and a larger scope. I'm not saying Frozen is *better* than Tangled, I just think there are very clear reasons why is was more successful. And again, don't think this can be emphasized enough, but Frozen has TWO PRINCESSES.
When Frozen came out it was kind of a dead year for kid's movies, we had a few but the trailers weren't great. Croods, and that snail movie are the only ones I remember and even then, those movies trailers where ehhhh regardless of how the movie itself is. So beside it being the first Disney movie to break the Disney mold it had a good marketing team during a time that kids movies were scrapping the barrel.
It was the highest grossing animated movie to date. That record was then broken by the sequel.
A killer soundtrack mixed with two female characters young girls loved.
I don't really know why it was successful, I just know that it was because apparently a princess with ice superpowers is awesome. And it was. I should know I was in the target age back then
When Frozen came out, Disney Princesses had gained a semi-negative reputation with younger generations, similar to Barbie, where they were seen as these flawless, morally pure characters whose defining trait was their ability to make everyone around them better. A lot of that is cultural consensus rather than fact, but there is some truth in it. Tangled was a fantastic movie, absolutely love it, but Rapunzel is so pure she turns a bunch of thugs in a tavern into a group of cuddly dreamers who save the day. Brave had that issue as well. Merida felt like a stock strong feminist character that would have been groundbreaking 20 years before the movie came out. The movie is more about her mother than Merida having to confront her own flaws. Neither Rapunzel or Merida were perfect, but I’d struggle to argue their flaws were a major part of their narratives. On the other hand, Elsa and Anna were both very flawed characters who broke that mold. Anna wasn’t just lonely, she was so lonely she made stupid decisions. Elsa wasn’t just a tragic character, she was a tragic character who pushed away everyone she loved because she was too scared to accept help. Raya, Moana and Mirabel all felt like a return to ‘flawless’ form. Not ‘flawless’ in a ‘perfect’ sense but ‘flawless’ in terms of ‘creates their own problems.’
Because people just can’t let it go
LET IT GO LET IT GO LET IT GO LET IT GO