Our Spring Break Disney-cation, Part 2

After a sound night's sleep, all of us rose refreshed and ready to party at Disneyland! Besides getting a hotel further away from the theme park, there were other differences in this Disneyland trip from our last visit. For one thing, we had to pay for tickets for all family members this time...ugh! Since this made for a slightly (aka "a lot") more expensive trip than last time, we decided to save money by passing on the Park Hopper passes. The Park Hopper pass allows Disneyland guests to freely move between the Disneyland and California Adventure parks for the duration of the trip. Instead, we bought the slightly cheaper "one park per day" passes, which would require us to choose only one park (of the two) to visit each day.

Aurora WAS excited, I promise!

And our last big change...we left our big tandem stroller at home! With an eight-year-old and a six-year-old and a four-year-old, we decided a smaller umbrella stroller would be sufficient to give our younger girls periodic rests. We felt almost "naked," pushing around just a single tiny stroller. We also brought in a fairly large bag filled with treats & other essentials, but other than that, we felt very unencumbered, compared to our last trip to the "Happiest Place On Earth."

The girls were way too excited to be riding in public transportation. I don't know why they love buses so much, but they do. It's a good thing the bus wasn't too crowded on our way in, because they were crawling over every available inch of the place. That excitement, of course, paled in comparison to entering Disneyland!

After our trip, Nathan managed to compile a pretty accurate spreadsheet of everything we did on each day of the trip. I won't bore you with all the nitty-gritty, but here are some of the highlights of our first day in Disneyland:

That Peter Pan ride in Fantasyland was our first stop. I am actually the only member of our family who rode the Peter Pan ride at our last Disneyland trip. Every other time we've been near it, we've taken one look at the long line (and the line for this ride is always long, no matter what time of day it is!), and quickly given up hope. But now that our girls are big fans of Jake and the Never Land Pirates, not to mention the original Peter Pan movie, I knew that skipping this ride was no longer an option. So we decided to get it out of the way first thing! We got in line at 8:30 in the morning or so, and we still waited 45 minutes. UGH!

But I guess it was worth it, because the kids loved it. I do have to say, it's a really beautiful ride, which simulates Peter Pan's flight over the nighttime London streets, as well as Never Land. It's the most interesting of all the Fantasyland rides (admittedly, this is kind of a low bar). I eventually took Celeste and Aurora on the ride a second time on our third day at the park, but we went as a family this time, and seeing Aurora's awestruck face as we took flight was a good reminder of why we came to Disneyland in the first place.

We managed to scare Aurora pretty early on. Our poor youngest daughter was not a big fan of the next few rides we visited...namely, the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. The rest of the family was in seventh heaven because neither of these rides had a line when we got there! Yay! And this was Nathan's first ride on Splash Mountain (since he doesn't always like water rides), and he loved it too! Yay! Unfortunately, the one-two punch of Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain proved too intense for our four-year-old, who was crying after exiting each ride.

However, our Splash Mountain "reaction shot" photo was priceless, and with any luck will go on our wall someday...as long as I remember to Photoshop that single rider dude out of the top of our "family picture"...

It was really interesting for me to see the girls' reactions to all the rides. Lorelai, for instance, loved the Haunted Mansion...it may have been her favorite ride of the whole trip. She enjoys ghosts, goblins, and spooks, and she has never really been scared by movies featuring any of those things. Celeste, on the other hand, was bothered by the Haunted Mansion because of the spooks & creepy crawlies...yet she loved Splash Mountain because of all the big drops, while Lorelai didn't like those as well.

It seems Lorelai was a bigger fan of the "imagination-fueled" rides, regardless of how scary they were supposed to be. For example, Lorelai also loved Pirates of the Caribbean, which is thematically very similar to Haunted Mansion. Celeste, on the other hand, preferred the pure adrenaline rush of the more intense rides. She loved all the rides that were coasters, that featured drops, spins, and other death-defying motion.

Speaking of coasters...

I was beyond thrilled to revisit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, probably my favorite ride in Disneyland. It had been closed for over a year for refurbishment, but as luck would have it, it reopened the week we arrived in town! Hooray! Luckily, the whole family loved this one...except for poor Aurora, who thought the ride was going to be a "cute choo-choo ride," and ended up being rudely surprised when it turned out otherwise.

Thank goodness for Disneyland's many milder rides, such as the Winnie the Pooh ride and the Carousel in Fantasyland; those managed to cheer up our shell-shocked youngest child.

Celeste will not be the next King of England

And Aurora did enjoy some of the more exciting rides, such as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...

Of course, I really don't know what the girls are doing to poor Mr. Toad here. Looks disgusting.

...and of course, the Mad Hatter's Teacups. Really, who doesn't like that ride?

Longest line of the day? Definitely the Matterhorn. Ugh. We waited for over an hour. And there were no FastPasses for the ride. Boo! Worst of all, the sled car design had been changed, so the ride had newer, more stringent height requirements, so Aurora couldn't ride it at all (not that she really wanted to). For this trip, once down the Matterhorn was plenty.

Most pleasant surprise? I'm sure the answer is different for each member of our family, but since I'm writing this blog, I'm going to say Star Tours. Nathan and I went on Star Tours when we visited Disneyland before our children were born; I remember it being a little outdated and hokey. It was under renovation last time we brought the family, so this was our first time visiting the newly updated version. It was much improved. Apparently, there are dozens of mission combos you can experience on the ride, so we went twice and got a completely different mission each time. It was a lot of fun, and the motion simulation technology was much better than it used to be. I'm no engineer, but I would love an explanation sometime of how it simulated extreme acceleration, when we were clearly still sitting in a little box that was shaking around.

Part of the reason this was a "pleasant" surprise was because our family essentially got free FastPasses for the ride, thanks to a nice Disneyland employee who noticed us planning out the rest of our afternoon. He handed us the extra FastPasses and sent us to the front of the line with a smile, telling us that "Magic Moments" like this were handed out at Disneyland all the time every day. Well, we were grateful to have it!

Aurora likes shooting at aliens. Our youngest may not have been the biggest fan of the thrill rides, but she got a huge kick out of the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride, in which the riders get to use their little "ray guns" to shoot at targets throughout the ride. She really loved all the rides with that kind of interactivity, and I believe she went on the Buzz Lightyear ride several times during our stay, each time getting more and more proud of all the aliens she killed.

We didn't see any princesses, but we did get to see Iron Man! I am soooo glad my girls are not so "girly" that they have to wait in line for hours just for the chance to say hello to an actress dressed up as a princess. They were (thankfully!) much more interested in going on lots of rides. Ironically, though, I was tempted to wait in a character line in a very different setting.

Innoventions is a large discovery/science interactive center in the middle of Tomorrowland. If it was anywhere but Disneyland, it would probably be packed with kids every day, but since there's so much other stuff to do at Disneyland, Innoventions is relatively free of crowds. As luck would have it, a bunch of Marvel Comics superheroes have also decided to squat there:

Those little boys (or girls...or their fangirl moms) who don't want to wait in a line to see Tinkerbell or Princess Jasmine now have another option! Thor was available to meet inside Innoventions, and so was Captain America (mainly due to the imminent release of his newest film). I have to admit, as a Marvel movies fan (and as a lady who has a bit of a crush on Cap), I was tempted to get in one of those lines. But Lorelai had other ideas...

...like meeting Jarvis, Tony Stark's superintelligent AI, and virtually "trying on" one of Iron Man's suits. She stood in place while the program was keyed to her movements, then she was able to "fly" the Iron Man suit around Tony's lab, and practice her target shooting as well. She loved it, and it was fun to watch her goof off with a multimillion-dollar piece of superhero hardware...virtually, of course.

 

I'm not sure which part of Disneyland the girls liked best. We did get to spend a lot of time in Tomorrowland (although Celeste was the only one who accompanied Daddy to Space Mountain, the centerpiece of that area). However, the girls also enjoyed stretching their legs at Tarzan's Tree House in Adventureland, and they all loved the Jungle Cruise (even though the line to get into it was crazy long):

Poor Nathan followed the girls up and down in the tree house, and his calves were screaming in protest for the rest of the day. Both Nathan and I wore tennis shoes ("good for walking," we assumed), but our feet were still killing us by the end of the day. We are just too old to have fun anymore, I guess.

We traveled back to the hotel briefly to have dinner (Crock Pot dinner in the hotel room for the win!!), but we managed to get back to the park in time to catch something we hadn't seen before...

The "princess" float, which featured Rapunzel's tower as the dominant feature.

...the parade! Usually we are off riding rides by this point, but the girls were happy to sit still for a while and watch all the big, expensive, carefully crafted whimsy on display. The music was really loud, but other than that it was pretty cool to watch. Simba the Lion King was on one of the floats, and I was pretty impressed at how articulated and animated he was...at least, for a fake lion perched high up on a float.

Tiana (from The Princess and the Frog) got her own float, though! She and Merida were the only two princesses we saw wandering randomly around the park for the whole trip.

We squeezed in a few more rides after the parade, then headed to our beds for the night, tired but excited about the day to come in Disney's California Adventure.

Our Spring Break Disney-cation, Part 1

EEK! It's been almost a month since I blogged anything. We have been very lax bloggers for the last month or two. In fairness, our family has been very busy; on the other hand, that means I have a ton of blogging to do in the next few weeks. Here goes nothing.

As I may have mentioned a few months ago, our family was planning its second trip to Disneyland. We had been meaning to take this trip for close to a year, with one thing or another putting us off. Last summer was difficult for us financially (we needed to treat the house for termites, our A/C unit went out, our garage door opener needed repairs...you know, "life" stuff that is annoying but necessary), and we had been playing "catch-up" ever since. We were worried that a trip to Disneyland would be more than our wallets could bear.

Unfortunately, Nathan and I are both the "worry a lot about money" types of people. Fortunately, only one of us seems to be in "freak-out" mode at a time; somehow, we manage to balance each other out and give each other the support, perspective, and encouragement we need. Over the course of a few months, both of us ultimately came to the same conclusion: yes, the Disneyland trip would be expensive, but the whole family would really enjoy it and we would have a lot of great memories from the experience. We have learned over the years that we will always have struggles with money...everyone does, after all! However, there is also something to be said for splurging once in a while and creating some awesome memories with our family. This was (hopefully) going to be one of those times!

We decided to take this trip during the first week of our kids' Spring Break. We'd leave on a Monday morning, spend three whole days at Disneyland, and head home that Friday. Since our school has a two-week Spring Break, that would give the girls an extra week to rest up after all the Disney excitement. So we packed our bags, got our affairs in order (haircuts, piano tunings, laundry, you name it!), and impatiently waited for Spring Break to come. And on Monday, March 17th, we hit the road!

We decided to take Interstate 8 west into San Diego, before turning north and heading into Los Angeles. We love San Diego for many reasons, so we were excited to take our "lunch break" there. Nathan found a beautiful city park, Mission Point Park, surrounded by water on three sides, with a little playground for the girls to play in. After driving through desert for several hours, it was a beautiful, welcome sight, and a good chance to stretch our legs.

 

After that lunch, we told ourselves we'd take our sweet time heading north. Turns out, our desire had nothing to do with our speed...driving between San Diego and Los Angeles is always going to be long, congested, and tedious. To break things up a bit, we decided to find a nice beach and take a stroll before getting to the hotel. The good news? We found a beautiful beach, Doheny State Beach, that was relatively deserted. The bad? It cost us $15 just for the privilege of parking there! Welcome to California, indeed.

In the end, we deemed the money well-spent; the view was spectacular and spiritually refreshing after a long dusty drive. It felt great to take our shoes off and get a little sandy between the toes. Well, it did for most of us: once again, our girls ended up scared of the ocean!

On our last trip to California, Aurora got caught in a wave and flipped over, soaking her through. She was traumatized by it, and apparently has never forgotten it, because she didn't want to get near the water this time! She warmed up to the beach experience over time, but she rarely ventured close enough to the water to get the least little bit wet.

This time, Celeste and Lorelai got to experience the mighty power of the ocean. In her eagerness to play on the beach, Celeste ran a little too fast (and too recklessly) toward the water's edge. As luck would have it, she was knocked on her face into the water by an oncoming wave. She was soaked. After that, she was more cautious about venturing near the water; she still looked like she was having a great time, for the most part.

Lorelai was also enjoying herself...until the waves almost washed one of her Crocs out to sea. That terrified her more than it should, and she thereafter viewed the ocean with distrust.

I guess our kids just aren't beach people! That may sound shocking to many who love the beach, but Nathan is no fan of the beach either, so maybe it's partly hereditary. I was raised in Colorado, and prefer mountains to beaches. Oh well, to each their own. At least they enjoyed playing in the sand, in a large mound well up the shore, away from the water...

 

After our "dangerous" beach trip, we finally drove the rest of the way to our hotel. This was a different hotel than the Anaheim Del Sol, which was our destination last time. That hotel was directly across the street from Disneyland's main entrance; you couldn't beat the location! This time, we got a better deal at the Stanford Inn & Suites, about a mile south on Harbor Boulevard. We got bus passes, though, so we didn't feel too far away from the action.

Since we weren't entering the park until the following day, we decided to take a quick visit to Downtown Disney, the large shopping complex just outside the park. Just like our last trip to Downtown Disney, our favorite stop was the ginormous Lego Store:

 

 

The Sleeping Beauty tableau outside the store was amazing! I love Dragon-Maleficent!

We enjoyed walking around for a bit, but we tired out quickly. We headed back to the hotel and snagged some Taco Bell to tide us over until the morning (we did not eat like kings on this vacation!). The hotel room wasn't especially large, but it was cozy and met our needs just fine. We all went to bed excited, eagerly awaiting the adventures to come the next day.

Disney Movie Showdown: "Frozen" Vs. "Tangled" (SPOILERS AHOY!)

So...there's this movie called Frozen that you may have heard of. Newest Disney movie...Academy Award-winner...highest-grossing animated film of all time...adored with cult-like fervor by millions of young girls all across the world. My girls are no exception: for the past three months, I have been forced to read Frozen tie-in books to my kids hundreds of times, listen to the soundtrack on YouTube thousands of times, and generally be bombarded with Frozen minutiae daily.

Every time my girls go to the playground and ride the swings, they start singing "Let It Go" to energize themselves. They squealed with delight when they received Frozen T-shirts and action figures at Christmastime. They beg me to buy them almost every bit of Frozen merchandising that we see. Lorelai has been writing a stage adaptation of Frozen, with her sisters & friends playing all the parts (perhaps I should explain copyright law to her?). And when we visited Disneyland a few weeks ago (more on that later), the girls ooh'd and aah'd over the animatronic Olaf, who greeted visitors who were waiting in line to meet "Princess Anna and Queen Elsa":

(I drew the line at actually waiting in that line, though. A two-hour wait, to see some ladies in costume? No thanks! Luckily, the girls were distracted by other things).

So as you can see, Frozen has become kind of a big deal. Not just for my kids, but for lots of people, everywhere. Its message of love, family & tolerance has really struck a chord with adults and kids alike, and it's become the movie sensation of the year.

And yet...and yet... *I kind of think Frozen is overrated*. And maybe...just maybe...*I actually like Tangled (the last "Disney Princess" film) a little bit MORE than Frozen*

Hopefully, this viewpoint won't have me labeled an outcast by my resident Anna/Elsa fangirls. But while I do enjoy Frozen, I think its virtues have been overstated, and some of its faults ignored. I think the movie's soundtrack (which is quite good!) has tricked the general public into thinking Frozen is a better film than it really is. And when the hype has died down in a few years, I suspect Frozen will be remembered as a good film...just not the BEST FILM EVAR that many people think it is today.

I'd like to take this opportunity to sing some praises for Tangled, a movie that's been somewhat forgotten in all the Frozen hoopla...and yet is a superior movie to Frozen in several ways. Since I enjoy sports as well as movies, I'm going to convert this blog post into a "side-by-side comparison" of the two films, in the style of a game preview on ESPN.com or something similar. I'll compare similar elements from both films, then give my opinion on which movie does what better. Then, my friends, it'll be up to you to decide whether you agree with me or not.

Let the comparisons BEGIN!! Warning: spoilers ahead for both Tangled and Frozen

PRINCESSES

from disneyinfinity.wikia.com

Let's start with perhaps the toughest point of comparison between the two movies: their lead characters. In all honesty, Rapunzel, Anna, and Elsa are all pretty great. All three princesses are clever, kind, determined, brave, and beautiful. In addition, these princesses have a distinct feminist bent; they have life goals separate from "finding their one true love," and they don't expect a man to solve their problems for them (Anna falls victim to romantic yearnings on occasion, but it's not her defining characteristic). I wouldn't mind at all if my young daughters idolized any of these three!

Since Rapunzel "flies solo" in her movie, she gets more time to develop on-screen (and reveal a more complex personality) than the princesses in Frozen. Rapunzel has spent her life developing a multitude of talents (art, cooking, exercising, etc.), and we get to see some of those talents put to good use on her journey. Rapunzel seems to be a more thoughtful, reflective character than either Anna or Elsa; the audience gets to see Rapunzel carefully weigh her decisions, and have spontaneous outbursts of both regret and joy. In contrast, the Frozen sisters (particularly Anna) sometimes behave more like "character types" than people. Anna sometimes feels like nothing more than a bundle of quirky cliched character beats, while Elsa goes missing for large portions of the film and is thus cheated of additional character development. Their actions sometimes feel more dictated by the plot than by their personalities (ie, "Now Elsa has to do this, to cause Anna to act this way, which will then cause this to happen, etc.")

from disney.wikia.com

Elsa does deserve special mention, though, because she is a Disney princess unlike any other. Elsa doesn't prance through the forest singing to animals and dreaming of romance. She hides behind locked doors, filled with self-loathing and fear of herself and her powers. She tries to run away from her loved ones, and comes very close to walking down a dark, evil path. She's practically an X-Men villain in the making! However, she is saved from that fate by goofy, sweet Anna, and the unconditional love Anna has for her older sister. Whatever Anna and Elsa lack in unique characterization is made up for by their great sisterly relationship. I actually wish the film had spent a little more time fleshing this relationship out; it feels somewhat short-changed but I'm glad it's there nonetheless. The love of one sister for another can be a powerful, life-changing force, and it's a dynamic that doesn't get portrayed often enough in film. Plus...Elsa has awesome ice-creating powers. That counts for something, doesn't it??

WINNER: FROZEN (by a snowflake)

 PLOT

In this section, I'm mostly considering the mechanics of the story...how the story progresses, if events come together naturally, that sort of thing. Frankly, I think this is the area in which Frozen suffers the most. I've read more than once that early on in Frozen's script process, Elsa was intended to be the villain of the story. Then, the producers heard "Let It Go," Elsa's signature song, and decided to rework Elsa into a heroine instead. Which was the right move, in my opinion! However, you can tell by watching the story that they never managed to make the plot reflect this shift in character. After Elsa's big musical number, she vanishes for much of the rest of the movie, either from hiding in her giant ice castle or from being thrown in jail back in Arendelle. Hiding (and plotting) are okay things to do when you're a villain. When you're a heroine and you vanish for most of the story, the writers have to insert a lot of filler. And so instead of Elsa being in conflict with Anna, we get...lots and lots of scenes of Anna & her friends walking/climbing/sledding around. Not a lot of import happens in the middle third of Frozen, and the climax had to have a different villain added at the last minute to heighten the stakes. It all feels very disconnected & slow.
 

from livingoutsideofthebox.com

Tangled isn't a masterpiece of plotting, but at least stuff happens in a logical sequence. The prologue (about Gothel's origins, her kidnapping of Rapunzel, etc.) nicely set the scene. Rapunzel's desires, combined with Flynn's arrival, facilitate her departure from the tower (and Gothel's frantic pursuit). Rapunzel & Flynn have experiences & meet characters who have an effect on the plot later on (I'm looking at you, residents of the Snuggly Duckling!). Rapunzel's journey is logical, makes sense, and doesn't ever drag (despite a back-track to the tower, which sets up the film's climax). Her journey to "see the floating lights" ends up having big consequences for her and for the other characters, and helps Rapunzel discover who she really is and what sort of life she wants. It's standard fairy-tale/adventure story stuff, but it all works.

WINNER: TANGLED

THEME/MORAL 
 

from rotoscopers.com

 Despite having its slow spots, Frozen does have a lot to say about love and acceptance, and that's no small thing. There's a reason so many people have fallen for Elsa and love her character: her struggle with her powers mirrors that of many people who have disabilities/preferences/struggles they keep to themselves. When Elsa decides to embrace her differences and begin to love herself for who she is, it's a triumphant moment, and signals a new beginning for someone who has spent most of her life in uncertainty and fear. Ironically, the "Let It Go" sequence only marks the beginning of Elsa's journey; she still has to unfreeze Arendelle and accept her role as queen. Thankfully, her loving sister is there to defend her, protect her and support her. It's a simple but powerful statement: love and family do matter, and they can help you overcome your weaknesses & obstacles. It's a positive, uplifting message and even though Frozen isn't perfect, it gets a pass on a lot of things because it makes its point effectively.

from weeatfilms.com

Tangled shares a few themes with Frozen (moving from youth to adulthood, responsibility, becoming happy with who you are, love being a powerful force, etc.), but they're portrayed in a lighter, more superficial manner. Mostly, Tangled is focused on telling a good story. And it does that very well! Tangled is less concerned with sharing a "moral" of the story, and more with having fun and putting a slightly modern spin on a classic fairy tale. In fact, with Flynn Rider's reformation being totally glossed over at the story's end (he was a well-known criminal, and we never really saw him change in the movie!), I suspect Tangled wants to "moralize" as little as possible!

WINNER: FROZEN

LOVE INTEREST

I realize that Frozen is not really a movie about romance. However, it does try to trick the viewer into thinking a romance will be forthcoming. And it uses not just one, but two guys to pull this trick off! Too bad they both end up being red herrings, to one degree or another.
 

from thetoryparty.com

Kristoff is a nice fellow; handsome, strong, funny, noble of heart. True, he has an abnormal attachment to his reindeer Sven, but that can be forgiven. But is Kristoff really necessary to the movie? If you were to remove Kristoff from the film entirely (even taking Sven with him!), the plot would barely change at all. Anna could have acquired a sled/supplies/etc. from Wandering Oaken. Heck, she could have taken Wandering Oaken up the mountains with her instead of Kristoff. The end result would probably have been about the same. Now that would have been an interesting movie to make...but not all that different, I bet. The movie's climax could also have happened without Kristoff present, since his love for Anna ended up being unnecessary. All we would have lost by losing Kristoff was a superfluous musical number by those darned trolls (more on them later). Hans is a more stereotypical fairy-tale love interest; handsome prince, charming, brave, a good singer and dancer, and a good leader. Too bad he also turns out to be calculating and very cruel; suffice it to say, his romance with Anna would never have worked out for a variety of reasons.

And then there's Tangled's Flynn Rider (aka Eugene Fitz-Herbert, which is what my girls call him all the time). He's a handsome rogue who has more charisma than Kristoff and Hans put together (sorry, guys!). Flynn is brave, streetwise, and very funny. Plus, he can sing (and dance, when threatened at sword-point). True, he has some legal issues and a clouded past, and his redemption is pretty glossed over at the film's end. But hey...at least he didn't try to murder one of the main characters (looking at you Hans!). As Flynn himself says at the beginning of the movie, "This is a good story, and it's not even mine." He wisely cedes the story to Rapunzel, and plays comic relief sidekick for most of the movie. Most important of all, Flynn is actually important to the plot of Tangled (unlike Kristoff, and Hans for most of Frozen). He discovers Rapunzel's hidden tower, thus inspiring her to finally escape. He helps her find her way back to her kingdom. And at the end, he "frees" her from her bondage to Gothel by slicing off her hair. He dies for his troubles, but not to worry...Rapunzel magically revives him and "saves" him as payback for him saving her! Theirs is a pretty equal relationship, as cartoon characters go.

Plus...HE'S GOT THE SMOLDER. From sideshowcollectibles.com

WINNER: TANGLED

SUPPORTING CAST

If/when Frozen becomes a Broadway play, it will mostly be a two-woman show, a la Wicked. After the sisters and the various men in their lives, Olaf is probably the next most important character. His design is cute and his song "In Summer" is hilarious. Olaf manages to be funny while not being snarky or obnoxious. Without exception, he is friendly and loving to everyone. He's even important on a narrative level; he is a physical representation of Elsa & Anna's childhood love for each other. It's important to remember that as they struggle to reconnect.
 

from insidethemagic.net

So, Olaf's great. Unfortunately for Frozen, the supporting cast thins out dramatically after that. Can you name any of the townspeople in Arendelle? Yeah, me neither. The Duke of Weselton is sleazy and bigoted, but he only appears in a handful of scenes and doesn't end up doing much. Sven is loveable, but he is mostly an appendage to Kristoff. And don't even get me started on those darn rock trolls.

Yeah, yeah, trolls are an integral part of Norse fairy tales...whatever, I don't care. They are probably my least favorite part of Frozen. At best, they are terribly unhelpful to our heroes. Their "Fixer-Upper" song is the worst song in the film; worse, it's the last song in the film! Why couldn't we have had a triumphal final song, or at least a reprise of "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?"? ANYTHING? No, we get a bunch of ugly trolls singing about what a catch Kristoff is...this, after a dramatic confrontation with Elsa that leaves Anna fighting for her life. Ugh...what an anticlimactic final number!

Dumb trolls! From cartoonpapers.com

But the trolls are worse than unnecessary; you could even argue that they are the cause of most of Elsa's problems. At the beginning of the film, the old troll wizard guy warns Elsa and her parents that her powers could be used to do others harm. This scares the snot out of poor Elsa, and it inspires her (also scared) parents to lock her up in the castle and isolate her from everyone for the rest of her childhood. It's because of the old troll's advice that Elsa is so terrified and nervous all the time. Thanks a lot, trolls! And then, the most puzzling & frustrating thing of all to me: The troll wizard erases Anna's memories of Elsa's powers. WHY does he do this? It doesn't matter plot-wise; Anna "re-discovers" Elsa's powers about 15-20 movie-minutes after she was made to forget about them. Keeping Elsa's powers a secret from her sister don't protect anyone; that action drives a deep emotional wedge between the sisters that takes the whole rest of the movie to overcome. Maybe if Anna remembered Elsa's secret as a child, she would have been a lot more sympathetic to her struggles as they grew up, and been less likely to antagonize her at the coronation, which led to Arendelle getting frozen over...et cetera. Darn trolls...they caused all the conflict in the movie!
 

from fanpop.com

Thus, Olaf is cancelled out by the trolls, and Tangled wins the supporting cast battle. Unfair, you say? Well, Tangled's supporting cast has a lot of things in its favor! It has not one, but two cute animal sidekicks, each with very distinct personalities. Maximus is actually an antagonist for most of the movie, but is finally won over by Rapunzel's charm. His antipathy towards Flynn is some of the funniest stuff in the movie. Pascal is Rapunzel's animal companion, who is generally very friendly but not opposed to a frying-pan beatdown, if the situation warrants it. Besides the animals, we have Flynn's partners in crime, the hulking Stabbington Brothers, whose last name alone makes them worthy of mention. Rapunzel's parents aren't very prominent characters (they don't even have any lines!), but hey! A Disney movie in which both parents are alive! That is a rare thing indeed. And last but not least, we have all these guys:

from disney.wikia.com

The ruffians in the Snuggly Duckling tavern get their own (great) musical number, "I've Got A Dream," which is a chance for them to both reveal their sensitive sides and to remind children watching that we shouldn't judge people based on outward appearances. Because of the goodwill built up in this scene, they even help Flynn bust out of jail later in the movie, so he can go save Rapunzel! And then they all attend the coronation, and they find love, and play piano, and collect ceramic unicorns, and dreams just come true all over the place...sigh. So uplifting!

WINNER: TANGLED

VILLAINS

 Neither of these movies has a Major Villain in the moustache-twirling, world-dominating vein, but both movies do have villains who manage to ruin a lot of other people's lives while chasing their selfish goals. But which villain is the most dastardly?

from fanpop.com

I'm going to go with Mother Gothel in Tangled! Even though she has no plans to rule the world, it's pretty clear she'll do whatever it takes to prolong her life, even if it's at the expense of Rapunzel's freedom or Flynn's life. On a more personal level, she's also horribly manipulative, selfish and cruel, always doing her best to keep Rapunzel docile, insecure, and contained. She is skilled in hurling veiled insults; her big musical number "Mother Knows Best," is a masterpiece of passive aggression. She is also devious and double-crossing, and manages to swindle her way back into Rapunzel's good graces for a time, by making her think Flynn has abandoned her. In short, she's very easy to hate and fun to root against!

He was...in the SHADOWS...this whole time! from fanpop.com

While not every movie needs a villain, sometimes Frozen seems a little confused as to who (or what) their villain actually is. Having Elsa as a villain may have enlivened the slow middle act, but that wasn't an option after the script was finalized. In many ways, the main conflicts in the film are internal (Elsa struggling with her personal demons, for example), or else simplified into man vs. nature (like Anna & Kristoff fighting off the wolves or climbing the mountains). But it seemed like the writers made it to the end of the movie and realized there wasn't much tension in the last scene. So bam! Hans suddenly reveals his true colors and becomes a Villain Of Convenience for the last ten minutes or so of the film. It's not completely out of the blue (his family situation seems like obvious motivation, and he mentions it early in the film), but it still feels inserted mainly for shock value (I heard audible gasps in the theater when his "evilness" was revealed). Up to that point in the movie, Hans had done nothing remotely suspicious or dangerous, so his evilness felt spontaneously generated. He is undeniably a threat to Anna & Elsa, but his comeuppance lacks some weight since his betrayal happened almost too fast to process.

WINNER: TANGLED

SETTING
 

from badassdigest.com

Here's another element that both films do pretty well; the worlds are both great to look at! In fact, they are somewhat similar; the kingdoms in Frozen and Tangled are both set alongside large bodies of water. While Tangled's location appears more temperate (northern Meditteranean, perhaps?), Frozen's Arendelle clearly borrows heavily from Nordic culture, which influence its costumes, climate, and architectural design. Tangled is undeniably more colorful (lush forests, blue waters, and of course the vibrant purples & yellows in the kingdom itself), but I'm giving Frozen the edge for its more daring, exotic atmosphere.
 

from thestar.com

The writers and animators reportedly took multiple trips "up north" to get a sense for what life in snowy climates would be like. Then they infused their still, snowy landscapes with weird magical flourishes (the beaded ice drops on the tree branches, the "forest" of horizontal icicles, etc.) that manage to both unnerve and amaze the characters and the viewers. I live in Arizona, and watching Frozen made me feel cold on several occasions.

from theglobeandmail.com

WINNER: FROZEN

HUMOR
 

from guidetostuff.com

I realize humor is a hard concept to measure. I also realize this may be a bit unfair, since Frozen is ostensibly a more "serious" movie and isn't trying to constantly hit the punchline. But too bad; this is my list, and part of what makes a movie entertaining for me (animated movies in particular) are their ability to make me smile and/or laugh. And Tangled is much more fun (and funny!) than Frozen. Its style is much more loose and free-wheeling; the witty banter between the characters feels a lot less forced, and the action is much more slapstick.

from dettoldisney.wordpress.com

 Rapunzel's journey is more personal and the stakes are lower; the fate of the kingdom isn't at stake. Essentially, she's trying to attend her own birthday party! This gives Tangled the freedom to let loose and have more fun with its premise. Frozen definitely has some laughs (mostly supplied by Olaf and Sven), but a lot of the back-and-forth between quirky Anna and her various love interests feels a little strained at times, like they're trying too hard to be cutesy. But maybe that's just me?

WINNER: TANGLED

MUSIC

Poor Tangled. It has some good, under-appreciated songs that lots of people don't seem to remember. For some reason, Disney tried to hide the fact that it was a musical as they were promoting the film. Perhaps they were afraid audiences would stay away if there was singing? At any rate, many people didn't realize Tangled was a musical until they sat down to watch it in theaters. Sometimes, the movie itself seems unsure of its status as a "musical"...there are only four musical numbers (well, six, but two of them are reprises of earlier songs). And the songs are each unique and delightful ("Mother Knows Best" is probably the best of the bunch, but "At Last I See The Light" is beautiful and "I've Got a Dream" is toe-tapping). They have a very "pop music" feel, but they are easy to sing along to, and suit the movie quite well.

from jandmranch.com

With that said...the music of Frozen is on a whole different level than Tangled. It's big, it's expansive, it's catchy, it's ambitious. It's easy to sing out of context, and the lyrics are within a very sing-able range for average folks. It feels very "Broadway" (with good reason: the songs were written by Broadway veterans, and it's very likely the film will eventually be adapted to the stage with additional songs). Frozen knows it's a musical, is proud of it, and will tell it to anyone who will listen. 

It seems Disney was right to be confident about their musical formula this time, because Frozen's soundtrack is a major part of the film's success. Although there are several well-loved songs throughout the film, the most popular by far is "Let It Go," the song Elsa sings just after fleeing the kingdom. It's THE watershed moment for the character; through the course of the song, Elsa goes from sorrow to shame to relief to excitement to decisiveness to triumph, all as she really lets loose with her magical powers. The music and lyrics, in tandem with the animation, are truly electric; it's a high emotional point of the film and probably one of the best musical animated sequences Disney has ever created.

The words of "Let It Go" are just generic enough that countless people can adapt them to fit their own personal circumstances. Many in the gay & lesbian community have adopted it as a "coming-out" anthem; others have praised it as a song that inspires victims of abuse and repression. Still other interpretations of the song include overcoming physical illness, psychological disorders, or simple loneliness & isolation. It's been fascinating to me to see how many different interpretations can be applied to "Let It Go"--and most of these intepretations work! And of course, the little girls all love singing it too; it makes them feel grown-up, strong, and in control. What a good way to feel! I am happy that this song (and the movie containing it) have inspired my little girls to be happy with themselves and live their lives the best way they can.

WINNER: FROZEN

 And...because you all asked for it...my final category:

PRINCESS DEATHMATCH

Bwahahaaa! After all the critical analysis, it's time to shove all three of our princesses into a cage and force them to fight to the death. Who will be left standing?? (feel free to skip this part if you don't like gory descriptions)

Since Anna is the only one of the three princesses without magic powers (unless you count "nervous babbling" a superpower), I'll assume she'll be the first to bite the dust. Either Elsa will freeze her heart (again), or Rapunzel can strangle her to death with all that hair. Anna, sadly, will be a non-factor in the battle.

So it comes down to Rapunzel, the girl whose long golden hair has magical healing powers...
 

from accioyabooks.wordpress.com

...and Elsa, the queen who can conjure snow and ice from thin air with nothing but her hands.
 

from disney.co.uk

I'm sure that Rapunzel could wrap her hair around herself and sing her healing song to take care of her more superficial wounds, but it'll be pretty hard to sing if there's a huge icicle sticking through her neck. Or if Elsa conjures another Marshmallow-type giant snowman who can shatter every bone in Rapunzel's skinny little body. Elsa was able to handle the two Weselton guards with relative ease when they trespassed into her ice castle; if she went full-throttle and full-speed with her ice-making, poor Rapunzel would be a bloody mess in minutes.

All hail the victorious Queen!

WINNER: FROZEN

So there you have it, folks; my final score is Tangled=5, Frozen=5. Hmmm...a tie?? Well, it just goes to show you; each movie has its pluses and minuses. In terms of personal preference, I slightly favor Tangled, but I really enjoy Frozen as well, and I'm glad they're both in my family's DVD library. Last weekend, I held a Frozen viewing party for some friends of our girls; more than twenty people showed up, and they were all glued to the screen throughout. It was great fun to share the fun with others.

What do you all think? Which movie is your favorite, and why? Happy viewing!