Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

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Jabroniville
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Elena

Post by Jabroniville »

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ELENA, PRINCESS OF AVALOR
Played by:
Aimee Carrero
Role: Teen Heroine, Young Ruler, Nosy Neighbor
PL 7 (91)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 6 (+7)
Deception 2 (+6)
Expertise (Royalty) 3 (+4)
Expertise (Singing & Guitar) 6 (+10)
Insight 2 (+4)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Ruler of Avalor), Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"The Scepter of Light" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [11]
"Blaze!" Blast 8 (Flaws: Tiring- Half-Effect) (12) -- (18 points)
  • AE: "Glow" Environment 2 (Light) (2)
  • AE: "Reveal" Senses 4 (Vision Penetrates Concealment) (4)
  • AE: "Envision" Illusion 5 (Visuals) (Quirks: Must Speak Aloud -2) (8)
  • AE: "Illuminate" Senses 2 (Vision Counters Concealment- Hidden Writing) (2)
  • AE: "Vanish" Concealment 2 (Visuals) (Extras: Affects Others, Ranged) (8)
  • AE: "Farsight" Remote Sensing (Vision) 10 (Flaws: Distracting) (10)
"One With The Amulet of Avalor"
Senses 1 (Spirit Awareness) [1]
Comprehend 2 (Speak to & Understand Spirits) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Blaze +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +2, Fortitude +4, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Avalor)- Elena is the leader of Avalor, and its peoples are her responsibility.
Relationship (Isabel)- Elena is very protective of her little sister.
Relationship (Grandparents)- Elena considers them the wisest people she knows.
Relationship (Mateo, Gabe & Naomi)- The three are Elena's best friends and closest confidantes.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 16 / Defenses: 9 (91)

-Elena is a pretty spirited character, avoiding some of the "Boringly Perfect" stuff in Sofia the First by being somewhat in need to learning and training herself. She frequently overexerts herself, putting herself in bad situations over her desire for revenge against Shuriki (exhausting herself with her scepter's power, for instance, trying to blast the witch). And her methods of trying to convince others are sometimes suspect, with her being a little too pushy, or screwing up in trying to help. One time, one of the lead village businesswomen/ambassadors actually pointed out that it's HER JOB to welcome other people to Avalor, and that Elena was interfering and simply running on instinct instead of doing tried-and-true methods.

-Elena is notable in that she has such good interactions with her three best friends, with none of the snarkiness or nastiness known to many TV shows (since this is for kids), that people can't agree on whom would be the best romantic match- it's actually kind of adorable, because the "rival factions" in these "Shipping" wars are actually thus rather congenial with each other, as pretty much everyone can see the point of the others. Gabe is more solid and upstanding, and the two are paired well maturity-wise. Mateo is younger and more desperate for reassurance, making Elena a maturing influence. Naomi is more snarky and wise to the world, contrasting Elena's more "wide open" gaze. Not that the show features ANY indication that anyone is attracted to anyone else- even Sofia the First features more romance! Hell, in one episode, the three friends all argued and childishly competed over who was Elena's BEST friend!

-Elena is a newbie at this whole "Princess Thing", but is likeable and earnest, despite occasionally being pushy or stubborn. She also features a magical Scepter of Light, which has some impressive powers, many of which have only just now become unlocked. She can also speak to, see, and understand Spirits, owing to the years she spent trapped within the Amulet of Avalor.

About the Performer: A pretty unknown actress, Carrero is still young, and appears largely in children's programming in stuff I've never heard of. HOWEVER... she's also the voice of She-Ra in the new Princesses of Power Netflix series, so she's got a lot of balls in the air.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Apr 20, 2021 6:32 am, edited 3 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Cassandra! Varian! Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo!)

Post by Jabroniville »

squirrelly-sama wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 2:36 am Elena of Avalore? Aw hell yeah! It wasn't my childhood but it was a good show, I put it on for my niece and nephew whenever they came by. But the songs, man they had some amazing songs. Gift of Night and Can't Catch Me of my favorites.
Oh thank God an actual comment, lol :). I was thinking I was either gonna get a lot of "WTF? Come on, Jab" comments, or NOTHING. Though posting Ever After High and Monster High back in the day was actually good for some discussions.

Yeah, I was never much for the song sequences in these shows (having a "song a day" means they have to churn out a LOT more music, meaning a lot of it is filler), but Can't Catch Me was fun.

There's actually a solid number of villains with real powers on Elena, but I never really watched it with the intention of statting the characters up, and I doubt there's much demand for it in my thread, but some of the baddies have real power. The evil magic dude and the pair of crooks who turned into Malvagos, Shuriki, the Night Fairy, etc.- very potent baddies.

Sofia felt like it was KIND OF leaning that way, but ultimately they kind of lacked the ability to do real fight scenes- the show's animation is pretty low-key (VERY detailed, but limited movements), and the target audience so young, that proper battles were a bit iffy. Elena, meanwhile, had some FIGHTS. I did the builds right before watching Song of the Sirenas, which actually caps off the "Shuriki Arc", and MAN! I don't think I've ever seen Sofia shoot an evil witch in the GODDAMN FACE with a firebolt before! Mateo and the Evil Wizard had a hell of a fight, too, complete with wall-runs, blasters, and more.
Jabroniville
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Frozen

Post by Jabroniville »

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FROZEN (2013):
Written by:
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee & Shane Morris

And now, FINALLY, we come to Disney's biggest Sleeper Hit of all time- Frozen was supposed to be "Just Another Movie" and ended up turning into a cultural phenomenon. I've seen this like six times now, and as a quick review let's just say OH MY GOD IT IS F***ING MAGNIFICENT EVERYONE MUST SEE IT!!!!

Granted, I decided I was going to like it as soon as Idina Menzel was cast as Elsa, so I may be biased, but let's get into it :). Taken from a liberally-adapted version of The Snow Queen (A Hans Christian Andersen story), Frozen got basically altered into something totally different, after Disney went a dozen different routes with it (an early 2002 version saw Glen Keane- animator of Belle and others- leave in a huff), changed the hand-drawn animation to CGI (since Tangled did about a billion times better than The Princess and the Frog- which WAS STILL A HIT MIND YOU- this is probably going to be the status quo for forever until someone decides to be artistic and change things), then changed the title to better reflect the gender-neutral titling of Tangled, so boys wouldn't be turned off by the female-focused plot (this came up in a great book by one of the main guys at Pixar, as he pointed out that they ignored the Marketing Department's warnings over the name of The Princess and the Frog, and ended up paying for it with a lukewarm hit compared to most of the other animated features that year). Advertising was focused more on the wacky Snowman and the Emotive Reindeer than either of the Disney Princesses, too. You could bitch and moan about Disney disrespecting women or something by going so boy-focused on the promotions... but these people make films that do hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office, so their methods CLEARLY WORK. I mean, this movie made more in ONE F***ING WEEKEND than Ender's Game made in its entire run around the same time. Just saying.

The movie was liberally based off of The Snow Queen, but pretty much departed the concept immediately- first, the "Evil Queen" character (Idina says that when she got hired, "I was still blue, and wore a dress made of live minks") was changed into the main heroine's sister. Then their relationship was softened. And then the songwriters (the husband/wife team of Robert Lopez and Kristin Anderson-Lopez) wrote Let It Go, heavily inspired by Idina's Defying Gravity... and necessitated the IMMEDIATE CHANGING OF THE ENTIRE PLOT, as they realized it was too beautiful, and made their villain too sympathetic. And so Elsa was turned good, and we had our movie. But not before they dropped a major plot about Elsa being the feared "Prophecy" of their Kingdom, and several bits about the sisters being really immature and catty with each other.

So Frozen is now the story of two sisters- the goofy, sweet Princess Anna and the responsible, closed-off Princess Elsa. Elsa was born with the magical power to create ice and snow, but lacks proper control- after a childhood accident in which Anna was injured (leaving a lock of hair permanently white), Elsa was forced by her parents (under advice from some Rock Trolls that live in the mountains) to teach Elsa to "Conceal. Don't Feel" and hold her emotions back, lest they unleash her full powers. So the Princesses, once wonderful friends and playmates, are now forced apart, with Elsa usually hidden away in her room. Anna, whose memory was wiped as part of the Trolls' solution, doesn't understand why her sister now hides behind a closed door (doors are a frequent metaphor in the film, along with concealing gloves), and longs to play with her again (Do You Want To Build a Snowman?). Elsa, meanwhile, can still barely control her powers, living in fear that every time she lets an emotion out, she freezes something.

Now with the helpful exposition out of the way, we get a true rarity- a Disney Princess is now crowned QUEEN (after their parents are conveniently killed, and we get a quick shot of them grieving and then a "Three Years Later" tag), as Elsa is now ruler of the Nordic-looking Kingdom of Arendelle. However, Anna and a handsome, clumsy, shy boy named Hans fall in love in a single day (Love is an Open Door- oh hey see the metaphor?) like Disney Princesses tend to do. Elsa, who was initially happy and getting to talk to her sister after so long, gets pissed at the idea of Anna deciding to marry him so soon (her infamously blunt statement "You can't marry a man you just met" is a huge catchphrase, and made my sister laugh her ass off when she saw it the first time), and unleashes the full fury of her storm in a rage. Running from the Kingdom and forming her own Castle of Ice, Elsa hides away, leaving Arendelle in an "Eternal Winter" thanks to her abilities. Princess Anna teams up with a quirky, weird Ice Salesman (tough to make a living NOW...) to find Elsa and convince her to drop the wintry goodness.

There's a lot of the Usual Disney Tropes and Cliches in this one, of course: Love At First Sight (though it's commented on and subverted, there's still some Quick Relationship Advancement going on), Bickering Boy & Girl Of Course Getting Closer, the I Want Songs (though it's more "I Have Finally Got It"), the True Love Conquers All thing (Will True Love eventually save the day? Spoiler Alert- it totally does!), the songs, the Comic Relief, The Hyper-Intelligent Animal, etc. Anyone who's seen a Disney film before can guess at a lot of the stuff you'll be seeing.

Of course, they also subvert things, and pull some unique tricks out. How many Disney characters even HAVE siblings, much less having it be the core of the film? The relationship between Anna and Elsa is EXQUISITELY done here- Anna's sad, desperate attempts for a playmate (Do You Want to Build a Snowman? is very much this film's version of Castle on a Cloud from Les Miz), Elsa's inability to be close to her beloved sister out of guilt and fear, Elsa's responsibility versus Anna's playfulness and excitement... there's nothing else in Disney like this- I can't even think of many ANYTHINGS like that- most stories have the heroes be only children to make it simpler! Hell, they even tease a True Love's Kiss thing and subvert THAT. And yet, all throughout, there's none of that cynical, snide "heh-heh recognize THIS trope?" stuff or Pop Culture humor that's become so big in CGI movies & cartoons these days.

There's not even a concrete VILLAIN here for the longest time- Elsa's basically an antagonist since she's causing all the problems, but there's fairly little overall villainy till the end of the film- no Villain Song or nothin'. THE BAD GUYS AREN'T EVEN HAMMY ACTORS WHAT THE HELL!?!? And ELSA- oh my GOD what a character. A lot of Disney characters are outsiders and quirky types (it helps to build audience sympathy- especially amongst young girls, where stories like this really resonate), but Elsa has this INTENSE sense of loneliness because it's brought on by guilt, fear and lack of control. The moment where she fully lets loose and unveils her emotions (Let It Go) is one of the greatest moments ever, and if it doesn't get placed up there with "Simba Is Confronted by His Father's Spirit" and "Belle and The Beast Dance in the Ballroom" in terms of "Holy Freaking God Disney Kicks Ass Like No One Else" animated sequences, then there's something wrong with the world.

Another crazy thing: You know that whacky Snowman character they hyped exclusively in the beginning? Who comes across like an annoying twerp and a mistake on the level of Jar-Jar Binks in the trailers? Who EVERYONE seemed to be dreading? Well he's ACTUALLY VERY FUNNY and totally doesn't ruin the movie at all! He even provides some much-needed comic relief during intense moments, and barely takes up any screen-time at all! Now I was gonna totally have a pre-concieved bias against the guy, but little Olaf is actually GOOD for the movie!

The voice acting is stronger than in many Disney films, thanks to focusing on Broadway-trained actors, and others in animation. Even Kristen Bell (Anna) got her start in some Broadway stuff and can actually sing, so that's good- there's very little Stunt-Casting involved (I mean, most people didn't even know who Johnathan Groff and Idina Menzel WERE, and the Comic Relief Snowman is just an actor from The Book of Mormon who was on The Daily Show once or twice), too. Disney has had issues with talented actors pulling in half-assed deliveries (even Tangled had this issue), and a lot of it's because voice acting is QUITE a lot different from regular acting- you can't act with your face like most actors do- ALL of your emotion has to come from your vocal cords. Now everyone can do that, which is why Animation Specialists (Maurice LaMarche barely disguises his "Brain"-like voice as the King) and Broadway Performers (who have to reach the back seats who can't see their faces) are ideal.

The animation is a vision to behold, as you'd expect from a Disney film. It's definitely better CGI than Tangled (though not as wildly dramatic with character movements), with elaborate ice scenery and more. The character designs (with one notable exception) aren't as good, and neither is the Kingdom of Arendelle compared to many other Disney Kingdoms (it looks more like a small town with a large hall at its centre than a Kingdom), but when they crank the animation up to the nines, you will be goddamn entertained, that's for sure. I still woulda preferred Traditional Animation (it helps with the Character Designs- both Princesses look a tad too skinny to be able to move), but it's hard to deny the CGI snow looks frickin' amazing. The sheer technical mastery of the snow here alone is incredible.

The metaphors are pretty surprising, too- they don't beat you over the head with them, but there is a HUGE recurring thing with stuff being hidden/kept away/blocked off. The castle is closed off from the outside world when the Princesses are young (when Elsa's powers unleash themselves); Elsa hides from her sister behind a door; there's a big to-do about the gates opening at Elsa's coronation; Elsa wears a confining hairdo and tight gloves to disguise her powers, and there's a big bit in Let It Go, where she tears off the last glove and unleashes her braids- it's all a big thing about how Elsa deliberately closes herself off, while Anna wants to be open (even going with Love Is An Open Door as the key Love Song). It's a pretty simple metaphor, but hell, those are usually the best kind.

There's also a metaphor with the gloves representing a withholding of oneself. Elsa wears gloves to conceal her true nature. Hans wears gloves for the whole movie, until he reveals his real personality in the end. Anna, who is guileless and without secrets, has totally bare arms and hands for the whole thing.

The songs were a little dull on first listen, with one major exception. A couple are funny, and Love Is An Open Door is quite cute and charming (and even cynics might appreciate it a bit later on). But the big For the First Time In Forever one just seems like Generic Disney to start, and it keeps getting reprised. Given that they had a powerhouse team of songwriters, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who'd worked on both The Book of Mormon (Hasa Diga Eebowai) and Avenue Q (The Internet Is For Porn!), producing some of the funniest damn songs that ever existed, it was a bit disappointing. But like the other songs, it grew on me, especially how Elsa had a Dark Reprise of it every single time, contrasting Anna's hopefulness. Though it still makes me laugh that the people who wrote lyrics like "Grab your dick and double-click!" and "Fuck you God in the ass, mouth and cunt-ah!" have now written songs for a movie from the Walt Disney Company.

(next up: the Plot Hole Argument, Reception & Cultural Impact, and a "Live Watch" where I comment on every little bit)
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by Jabroniville »

And hey!! Check it out: I'm now published on a website partially run by a longtime online friend of mine!! https://gotstratosphere.com/2018/10/20/ ... odes-1-11/

Now I just have to wait for that sweet internet money to roll in :).
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by catsi563 »

In a thought on Elsa I often wonder if the parents closing her off was a mistake on their part, The trolls advice was to help her learn to control her emotions because they were part of her powers but her parents in the nature of parents took the advice too far and insisted she shut herself off from the world, a case of good intent but bad judgement that led to Else being fearful of contact with others which leads to the climatic scene where she lashes out at Anna who doesn't understand her sisters reaction.
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

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Jabroniville
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Perceived Flaws

Post by Jabroniville »

The "Plot Hole" Argument:
Among the movie's only flaws is a general lack of exposition- they basically PLOW through a few explanations early on ("Cursed with the powers, or born?"), hit us with three songs, then it's right into the main plot. This means that fans have a THOUSAND questions about the plot, and even call things Plot Holes (though using that term when it's merely stuff that isn't explained is an annoyance of mine- like when fans whine about "How did Bruce Wayne- the smartest man alive- get back to Gotham after leaving that Prison?"), filling various forums with "Well why did it happen like THIS?" For example, people wonder just WHY Anna was kept from knowing about Elsa's Ice Powers- the movie doesn't actually SAY IT, but you can generally INFER it by Grandpabbie Troll's explanation of "FEAR will be your enemy!", showing a group of people freaking out and attacking her in fear of her power- the idea being that having anyone know about her secret would be bad, until she can control it, and naturally a toddler like Anna would be quick to spill the beans.

Elsa also gets this brilliant moment, creating her castle, then... she has an argument with Anna, boots her out, and is then attacked by soldiers. And then we're back in Arendelle. The castle on screen for like SIX MINUTES and then it's gone! We barely get a look at its insides!

A lot of the behavior of Hans is a bit confusing as well- knowing ahead of time what's going to happen, a lot of stuff is questionable. There's basically NO HINTS about the "Big Twist", save for one quick look at a big, fancy chandelier... And I mean, a lot of what goes on seems a bit weird unless you REALLY think about it. The loving look he gives Anna in the beginning of the movie is a TOTAL CHEAT, and the fact that things like "Why does he just chain Elsa up? Why did he save her life if his plan was to kill her anyways?", and more just drives people NUTS over the years, because they leave it all up to your imagination. And there's some questions as to what Anna & Elsa's lives were like AFTER they got split up- Elsa wasn't REALLY locked in her room the whole time (she's seen at the foot of the stairs during the interlude to Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?), but we never see if she had any interactions with others, and Anna's only seen outside the castle once (the book, A Sister More Like Me, shows more of Anna's out-of-Castle adventures, but the movie seems to imply she's been forced to be a shut-in, too). I think an extra ten minutes would have helped this film- but they probably didn't have the time to make it longer.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by M4C8 »

When I saw Frozen I kept waiting for Kristoff to say something like 'Oh yeah, I was there' or 'I remember that girl' to Anna after learning about Elsa, especially after he takes Anna to meet his 'family' but from what I remember, it never happens.
'A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it'
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by Thorpocalypse »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:59 am And hey!! Check it out: I'm now published on a website partially run by a longtime online friend of mine!! https://gotstratosphere.com/2018/10/20/ ... odes-1-11/

Now I just have to wait for that sweet internet money to roll in :).
Step one: Write rambling character build comments.
Step two: Get Sailor Moon review posted on the internet.
Step three: WORLD DOMINATION

BU-WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Congrats, Jab. I might even read it. ;)
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Spectrum
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by Spectrum »

Frozen was a great movie. I keep coming back to the brilliant How Frozen Should Have Ended video, showing how the advice of the ancient troll was completely misunderstood. And well.. I love the idea of Elsa of the XMen.
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Spectrum wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:17 pm Frozen was a great movie. I keep coming back to the brilliant How Frozen Should Have Ended video, showing how the advice of the ancient troll was completely misunderstood. And well.. I love the idea of Elsa of the XMen.
^_^ I was just about to post that...
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by Jabroniville »

M4C8 wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 7:54 pm When I saw Frozen I kept waiting for Kristoff to say something like 'Oh yeah, I was there' or 'I remember that girl' to Anna after learning about Elsa, especially after he takes Anna to meet his 'family' but from what I remember, it never happens.
He did say “I’ve seen them do it before” when Anna asks how he knows the Trolls can fix the problem.
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by Spectrum »

FuzzyBoots wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:30 pm
Spectrum wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:17 pm Frozen was a great movie. I keep coming back to the brilliant How Frozen Should Have Ended video, showing how the advice of the ancient troll was completely misunderstood. And well.. I love the idea of Elsa of the XMen.
^_^ I was just about to post that...
Took too long ;) I'll let you make the much deeper comment?
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
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Reception & Cultural Impact

Post by Jabroniville »

RECEPTION & CULTURAL IMPACT:
-Hahahahahaha Jesus Christ. WEELLLLLLLLL... yeah, let's just say it was a hit. The highest-grossing Animated Film of ALL TIME, in fact- and currently #12 on the ALL-TIME Box Office list, WORLDWIDE. This movie was HUGE. "Biggest Animated Movie Ever" huge. That it was a hit surprised no one- Disney wasn't putting out any stinkers any more. But that it turned into a massive cultural phenomenon that is going nearly equally as strong FIVE YEARS LATER is absolutely beyond anyone's wildest expectations- in an era where sequels do the biggest business, it's still #1 (and the only one of the top six animated features ever that WASN'T a sequel). That I was a HUGE Idina Menzel fan and was shilling the film months before it even came out made this a HUGE thing for me.

The movie is still the biggest money-maker in the history of animation (though 101 Dalmatians and especially Snow White are bigger thanks to inflation), which is insane given that it's not a big-ticket sequel like many of its contemporaries. And though it was a huge hit in the U.S., it was far more modest there (well below the top-tier animated movies), and is far bigger overseas, where believe me, the fanaticism is incredible. Japan especially considers it a cultural touchstone, and I found countless things about it in both England & France. It was THAT big- it's one of the first big Disney movies to hit huge in absolutely every single market, where even China and Japan (which, as anime snobs often don't tell you, loves the crap out of Disney- it's much more popular there than any anime), ate it up. Let It Go viewings in Disney Fireworks Shows in every park I've seen have resulted in mass-singalongs and HUGE cheering- louder in both Paris & Tokyo than in the U.S. Granted, if you ADJUST the all-time Domestic list, it falls to #119, but a lot of the top movies there are due to multiple re-releases (Gone With The Wind, amongst others- any movie before 1980, really). Even so, it was a MONSTER smash.

The movie's rise to the top was really interesting to watch. It came out around the same time as The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and was thus only the #2 movie in America for its first two weeks, as Catching Fire was just slowing down, and then The Hobbit came out. It therefore seemed like it was gonna be another Tangled -level hit- a money-maker and a success, but nothing more. But then? Then both movies fell off the face of the Earth (as is normal for big blockbusters- a huge opening week and then a quick drop-off), and a weird thing happened. In one of the few times this has ever happened to this extent, the movie got WORD OF MOUTH advertising, which basically consisted of Jab-like "OMG HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS, YOU MUST GO SEE THIS!!!!" from people who'd absolutely had their minds blown. The movie was more or less advertised on the appeal of the snowman, reindeer and Anna herself, but the arrival of ELSA had basically shocked the world, and the movie started gathering steam.

The movie was so popular that it hit #1 on its THIRD WEEK, soon annihilating The Hobbit, and demolishing its closest competition (a Walking With Dinosaurs CGI Family Movie, and Saving Mr. Banks, another Disney tale). It ruled the entirety of December, and ran in theaters for so long that the movies advertised in its trailers (like The Nut Job) actually had to be SWITCHED OUT, because some of those movies had arrived in theaters already! Let It Go became a mainstream smash hit at the same time, with Idina's original version destroying the "Pop Crossover Hit" by Demi Lovato, and becoming a moment of cultural relevance for anyone who's ever felt that they had to hide her true nature. Idina herself saw it as an artistic person letting herself be free to be creative after hiding her powerhouse voice in her youth, but gay and trans people connected with the empowering anthem for THEIR personal struggles, creating a big cultural touchstone.

The movie had the kind of run in theaters that can only happen via Titanic-like repeat viewings. And like Titanic, it got known for a huge female fanbase that repeatedly saw the thing. "Sing-A-Long" versions were placed in theaters. The album sold like crazy. It was clear that everyone was hearing about it, and everyone was telling their friends to go see it. I remember this happening at work, with a few of the girls who'd seen it freaking out and telling their co-workers.

And the best part was, Disney didn't even THINK it was going to be big! They, and everyone else, imagined a solid Tangled-level hit. And the MERCH... Disney, again expecting a Tangled-level hit (after being left with hundreds of unsold Rapunzels after overdoing it last time), basically made just enough stuff to supply that kind of expected demand. Notably, the dolls sat aimlessly on Disney Store toy shelves for HALF A YEAR before the movie came out, with employees going like "I hope the movie's GOOD...". And then... the phenomenon hit, and stores EVERYWHERE ran out of stuff. Little girls the world over wanted to dress like Elsa, and that damn see-through cape wasn't gonna come cheap. Dolls disappeared in weeks. The giant-sized ones? Also gone. Costumes? Forget about it.

I went to Walt Disney World the year it came out, and believe me- it was EMPTY of Frozen stuff. It was so bad that all they could advertise were cheaply-made Frozen-themed cookies and the DVDs & CDs. They had NOTHING ELSE. The movie was such a smash hit that DISNEY actually lost money by under-producing merchandise! Though people accused them of forced scarcity, it was legitimately a mistake by them, and they scrambled to fill toy shelves.

The movie was so big that a Theatrical Short was quickly made, entitled Frozen Fever, and placed in front of their live-action Cinderella remake. And THAT became a huge hit, which inspired a new legion of dolls. By this point, Disney was good at re-printing the stuff. A TV-length film was produced called Olaf's Frozen Adventure, and was about to be put on TV until they thought it was so good that they threw it in front of Coco in theaters. That one didn't go over so well- people complained about the length, and it was pretty quickly removed from the shows.

It was also immediately placed into the canon of Once Upon A Time, and played more straight than in most exampls on that show (which repeatedly subvert the original tales, like making Rumplestiltskin the Beast). They had a thing with the Snow Queen (of the Hans Christian Anderson tale) as Elsa's aunt, with similar powers, played by the GORGEOUS Elizabeth Mitchell (with mandatory Evil Once Upon A Time Cleavage). Unfortunately, Elsa wasn't used very well- she trapped Storybrooke in ice because Anna was missing, but then she spent a half-season just sitting around the Sheriff's office never doing anything. ANNA, however, was a revelation, played adorably by Elizabeth Lail, learning swordfighting, and even stymying RUMPLESTILTSKIN with her cleverness.

Other Crazy Things: That the DVD was the top-seller the year it was released was no surprise. But that it was in the Top Five for *2015* as well?!? That's INSANE. Frozen was in fact so big that the characters are STILL not "Official Disney Princesses"- while it's ordinarily customary for a character to be inducted into the Official Princess line-up a few years after the movie comes out (both Rapunzel and Merida got this treatment), this never happened with Anna & Elsa? Why is that? Because Frozen is such a merchandising moneymaker that Disney can now boast at having the number one AND number two "doll lines" in the world. It DOESN'T NEED that line's push, because it's already just as big on its own. So now Disney has a Princess Line, AND a Frozen Line.

Frozen's popularity at the Disney Parks is a bone of contention. Meet & Greets typically involve BOTH girls, making them a big deal, and they take over some pretty popular areas, drawing attention away from the other Princesses. The ancient dark ride Maelstrom at EPCOT's Norway pavilion was hastily renovated to become Frozen Ever After, with some of the most advanced audio-animatronics on Earth. The ride has proven to be a HUGE draw, but breaks down pretty often, given the AA figures actually have nearly fully-human movements. In addition to the girls, Olaf meet & greets are a big thing, and various parts of the Parks were quickly given Frozen-themed dressings and renamed temporarily. The very popular Aladdin musical at California Adventure was replaced with Frozen, which was a bit controversial, as peope REALLY liked that one (Aladdin is also easier to squish into an hour than Frozen- which already suffers from a lack of exposition- is).

Many other Parks have attempted Frozen theming as well- both Disneyland Paris and Tokyo DisneySea are boasting the addition of big European-themed lands that will prominently feature Elsa's ice castle and the kingdom/city of Arrendelle.

One particular gag on a Jungle Cruise ride, when they encounter some animatronic animals that aren't working: "Here are some _____- like everything else in Disney World, they are FROZEN".
Jabroniville
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Frozen’s Bigness

Post by Jabroniville »

Why Was It So Big, Anyway?:
-The interesting question is WHY? I mean, the initial hype was all about the damn Snowman! The reasons just WHY it got so big are numerous, but- and you'll forgive me being pretentious for a moment- I think a huge part of it is that the character of Elsa captured a fundamental aspect of the human spirit. This is the kind of thing that doesn't happen very often, nor does it usually happen on purpose, but they absolutely hit a cultural zeitgeist at the exact right moment. Elsa, through a scant amount of screen-time, exhibits sisterly affection, mortal terror, fear, guilt, shame, hesitancy, duty (to her kingdom and the memory of her father), and, finally, pure, unadulterated freedom. Which comes crashing down into sheer guilt and horror once again (made worse by the aforementioned freedom- the fall is now steeper), before FINALLY things are set right- the character is legitimately only happy for a minute or two tops.

The biggest reason, of course, was Queen Elsa herself- see, ANNA was the star of the picture, and Disney thought she would be the biggest hit. Elsa has like FIFTEEN MINUTES TOTAL screentime in the movie! But much like Maleficent owning her ten minutes in Sleeping Beauty and becoming the most-enduring thing there, Elsa became Frozen's surprise breakout hit- not only did she get the most epic, powerhouse song, but she gave us a sad, endearing heroine COMPLETELY UNLIKE anything seen before- everyone who's ever felt abandoned, alone, introverted or like an outsider saw something of themselves in that character- she thus became a powerful symbol who appealed to a broad spectrum- much like Wicked was cheered on for telling the story of what it's like to be "The Other", Elsa could be said to represent nearly ANYONE.

And don't underestimate the DRESS- Elsa's appearance instantly made her the favourite of every little girl in the world- demand for Elsa-related dresses and fabrics set off a MASSIVE shortage all over America, which, combined with a desire for more Merch from the films, actually left Disney in the odd position of SCRAMBLING TO MAKE MORE STUFF- suddenly parents were FURIOUS at them!

A great podcast interview with the Bancroft Brothers (great animators in their own right) and Brittney Lee, the character designer for Elsa, was quite illuminating, as the character had undergone so many shifts (many images appear of a snarky-looking black-haired girl being mean to Anna, back when Elsa was more villainous). And of course there were the "Evil Queen" types. But Lee describes sitting down, coming up with this blonde-haired woman in an ice-blue dress, and actually tears up when she describes the realization that "People are going to LOSE THEIR MINDS over Elsa...". And lose their minds they did- combining powerhouse pipes with the most gorgeous, Toyetic character ever, then throwing THAT SONG into things? Lee's own description of the character design changes.

Christ, lines to meet two girls dressed as the Princesses grew to FOUR HOURS IN LENGTH at the various Disney Parks- little girls LOVE them! Elsa INSTANTLY unseated the mom from Goof Troop as the most-commonly-seen sight on DeviantArt, and oddly enough, it wasn't JUST the perverts drawing her- Men AND Women alike were obsessively-recreating Elsa and her dress in various glorious scenes (though the men seemed to NOT draw it as often as not).

But I think Word Of Mouth is a huge part of the movie's success in the early days. EVERYONE seemed to come out of this recommending it to everyone else (a small minority of bungholes said it was overrated, but they're obviously awful people who deserve to die alone). The movie was talked-up as Feminist, which is great, because it doesn't fall on a lot of the tired "Feminist Tropes" like Brave did with it's useless, goofy men and successful, marriage-hating girls. The female characters are intensely flawed yet are STILL able to succeed, which is a better message than the usual "Men SUCK" stuff you normally hear about these days.

Moreover, Let It Go, a song in the style of Menzel's Defying Gravity, hit at the same time, and became the "Biggest Omnipresent Song" since f*cking Titanic came out and Celine Dion sang a power-ballad in honor of it. The song proved to have the mainstream edge that a Wicked song known to comparatively-few Broadway nuts, could not find, and ended up becoming one of the biggest hits of the year, turning MENZEL into a star! John Travolta's famous bungling of her name at the Oscars only made her MORE famous (thankfully, since she actually didn't sing the song too well at the ceremony).

So with the perfect storm of events, Frozen became a smash. It took the emotional impact of Elsa, the Toyetic character design she sported, the explosion of "the song everyone's listening to" Let It Go, a slow movie-going season (they had clear sailing almost from November until February), and then fame over BEING such a huge hit... but it was a monster.

The Best Ten Frozen Moments:
1) Let It Go- 'nuff said. Pretty much the triumphant moment of the film, and a huge part of the reason for its success. This is what you freaking hire Idina Menzel for your movie to do.
2) Anna & Kristoff's snipe-fest in the sled- Adorable and hilarious, especially when he makes her list off what she knows about him ("Eye Colour?" "*sigh* DREAMY!"), the disgusted look on her face when he suggests Hans eats his own boogers ("ExCUSE me, sir, he is a PRINCE."), and when he shushes her and she just does that "MMMMMMMM!!!" close-mouthed scream that only an angry woman can do.
3) Olaf's "Oh look- I've been impaled."
4) The Frozen Heart climax of the film. John Lasseter told the animators they'd done something that's never been seen before, and it got them a standing ovation when they showed the animatic.
5) "You can't marry a man you JUST MET." Every girl I know laughed their asses off at this line, because it's SO TRUE and Disney did it SO OFTEN. Idina Menzel's stern, lecturing tone just makes it even MORE hilarious.
6) Elsa damn near killing the two Weselton soldiers in an instant, despite having no combat training whatsoever.
7) That moment when Anna shudders due to her frozen heart, and Kristoff is about to put his hands on her to warm her/comfort her, but holds them back RIGHT AT THE LAST MINUTE, because NOW you realize that he's in love with her.
8) Olaf: (whispering, to Anna) "He's cr-aaaaaaaaaazy!" Apparently that's a Lassetter original- he even mimicked the "side mouth" thing the went with.
9) During In Summer- "I'm gonna tell 'im!" "Don't you dare!"- Anna is SO CUTE here, just scolding Kristoff's more pragmatic (but dream-destroying) decision.
10) The whole party sequence- right from Elsa's curt "It just CAN'T", Anna's heartbroken reaction, the lovey-dovey Love is an Open Door song, then Anna's freak-out, leading to Elsa's horrific revelation and her fleeing the kingdom to an Eternal Winter (my friend's wife was really impressed when they got the sound of cracking ice down PERFECTLY).
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds (Wreck-It Ralph! Turbo! Sofia & Elena! FROZEN!!!)

Post by Ares »

Haha, oh Lord, we knew this was coming. I remember how it took me forever to actually see Frozen, and pretty much every other time I interacted with Jab, he'd ask me "Have you seen Frozen yet?" Which as the above demonstrates, is actually Jab using a modicum of self-control and not asking me every single time. I think I strained my friendship with Jab because, after a few months of "Ares, have you seen Frozen? / Why haven't you seen Frozen yet Ares / Ares, you are literally missing out on the best movie ever", I finally watched it with my nieces and basically thought, "This is a pretty good Disney film". I didn't really get why it became the world wide sensation it did, but I could see why it was popular, especially with it's target audience, and thought it was pretty good. Not my favorite one by a long ways, but definitely not bad.

Jab was eventually able to forgive me to some extent for my comparatively low feelings towards the film.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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