An ice film

Today I went to see Disney's Frozen. I'd put off watching it because it's only being shown here dubbed, but the combination of its continued release (and thus popularity, including with children in some of my other classes) and a couple of viral videos convinced me to give it a go.

The first of the latter was this multilingual version of the headline song Let It Go (which has now won the Oscar for Best Song), which I became aware of thanks to an episode of the Fine Brothers' Kids React series. (You can tell that I watch a lot of their videos!)

The second was this homemade (well, car-made) video entitled Good Looking Parents Sing Disney's Frozen in which they perform Love Is an Open Door, perhaps the film's next most prominent song. While they are indeed good-looking, I find it rather self-centred of them to describe themselves as such, since they are the ones who uploaded the video.

The couple, who as you can see seem to be far more into the film than their young daughter, are in fact not singing but lip-synching, although they do do it extremely well. It's great that they are such fun parents for their children, but perhaps not so great that the husband frequently takes his eyes off the road and at a couple of points both his hands off the steering wheel. Worst of all, the wife bizarrely seems to have her seatbelt behind her back! Perhaps ominously, the couple who sing the song in the film (highlight the following text for a spoiler) turn out not to really be in love.

I normally loathe dubbing (films in foreign languages are always subtitled in Great Britain, as well as in Poland where I have also lived), but it does not seem so bad for cartoons. On top of that, the first video made me feel reassured that they had made a lot of effort to do it well, and the React version that it was for a good reason (for kids all round the world to be able to enjoy and sing the songs). I read the plot synopsis when I got home and was glad that I hadn't missed any details; I also watched a couple of the songs and had actually enjoyed them more in Spanish. Neverthless, I still feel that it would better for Spain and the Basque Country to end dubbing, at least for films aimed at adults and teenagers.

Anyway, I really liked the film as a bit of escapism. The characters, especially Elsa (the Snow Queen) are more developed and complex than in most Disney offerings. It also has a good message of balacing self-sacrifice with being true to oneself. Best of all, it sets a good example for little girls as there are two heroines who (again, scroll over the following text for a spoiler) save each other in sisterly solidarity rather than relying on a Prince Charming to rescue them. I guess that most of the class may not be into this sort of animation at the moment but, trust me, it's only a few short years between childhood and enjoying them again as an adult.