Friday, January 24, 2014

How Frozen Should Have Ended

Have you ever watched a movie or a TV show that you really, really liked? Probably. At least, I hope you have. If you're only watching things that you DON'T enjoy, then the terrorists have already won, haven't they? Now, have you ever watched a movie or TV show that you really, really liked and thought, "Man, that was great, BUT...I wish they'd done so-and-so differently instead"?

If you answered yes to the question above, then you'll know exactly how I feel going into this blog post. I recently took in the new Disney movie, Frozen, and I'm happy to say that it was mega-awesome (I'd make some kind of pun about the movie being "cool", but some sins are just unforgivable, folks). It was a stellar, well-rounded, beautifully-animated feature that harkened back to the glory days of Aladdin or Beauty & the Beast, when Disney was the reigning champion of cartoons everywhere and our childhoods were rife with plush Abus and "Under The Sea" sing-along cassette tapes. But, having said that, there was one part of Frozen that totally fell flat for me, and that was the way it ended. Well, lo and behold, a few days after watching it, I came up with an idea for how it SHOULD have ended that is so maddeningly better than the ending they actually used that it makes me grind my teeth to think that I'm not working for Disney right now.

I'll tell you what it is, but f you want to fully appreciate the ending I came up with, you'd best see the movie first. Needless to say, what I'm about to tell you is gonna be deep in the heart of spoiler territory. So if you haven't watched Frozen yet, watch it: It's great. Watch it, then come back here and finish reading this. And if you HAVE seen it, then settle in, grab some popcorn, and let me regale you with how this one humble writer thinks Frozen SHOULD have ended.

And if anyone from the Walt Disney animated studios happens to be reading this: I'm available. I'm very, very available. And my last name is Fantasia, for crying out loud, I'm practically gift-wrapped for you.


XXXXXXXXX     SPOILERS FOR FROZEN AHEAD   XXXXXXXXX



Okay, boys & girls. So, at the end of the movie, Elsa (our ice-slinging anti-heroine) is accepted by the townsfolk of Arendelle. Her sister, Anna, shares a first kiss with her new hubby, Kristoff. Then we pan away from the castle, a snowflake glitters in the foreground, and that's about it. Cut to credits.

Well, in the ending I came up with, we get one final scene after all of that. It's the middle of the night. Anna is lying in bed. The door to her room opens, and Elsa tiptoes inside. She sits on the edge of the bed, leans in,  and sings one line of dialogue in a soft voice:

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

Anna smiles and opens her eyes. Cut to black. The end.

I just think this would be such a sweet, beautiful way for the girls to come full circle. Frozen is, after all, their story. It's not the typical princess romp that revolves solely around finding true love, heck no. It's a tale of a broken family, and the two sisters left to pick up the pieces and try to salvage what's left of their childhood. Ever since accidentally hurting her younger sister at the beginning of the film, Elsa has shut herself away from life. She stopped having fun. She stopped showing emotion. She stopped living, in a sense. As kids, it was always Anna who would approach her for nighttime adventures like building snowmen and ice skating in the castle ballroom. So to have ELSA be the one to instigate that -to have her rouse Anna on a quiet night so that the sisters can have fun and enjoy one another's company -is a perfect way for her character arc to complete itself. I honestly can't imagine how Elsa's story could have ended any other way. It would have been a beautiful close to an absolutely wonderful movie.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to share. And if you DO work for Disney, like I said: Very. Very. Available.

Stay cool (sorry, I just couldn't resist that time).