I Dream of Arendelle
Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at 10:00AM Last night, surely prompted by Frozen's Golden Globe win and upcoming Oscar run, I dreamt that I discovered a magical threat to Arendelle. I helped Queen Elsa find enemy spies who were watching her every move through carefully planted glittery baubles placed around the kingdom. Since Disney princesses veritable sweat glittery knickknacks, you can imagine how difficult the foreign objects were to discover and destroy. [more...]
I basically saved Elsa's ass so all I ask in return is that I be hired as a consultant on both the upcoming stage musical and the inevitable direct-to-dvd spinoffs. My only goal on the latter is to convince them not to do it. My first task on the former is to demand more songs for Krystoff because Jonathan Groff.
Should Disney pursue a stage version, they will have to do something about that last act which is song free. Boy would that land on Broadway with a thud. It'd be a disaster. It's kind of a miracle that it even works in movie form, that frontloaded song scoring. The most likely change will be an added love duet between Krystoff and Anna, to deliver their future romance rather than implying it. But I'm not sure that's the way to go.
The ending of Frozen, wherein you're surprised to find that the love story is actually about the sibling bond rather than romance, is such a singular move. It's the key to why Frozen feels so fresh and not at all like Disney Princess: The Musical Part 8 That final love duet? Let it go to Elsa & Anna.
Reader Comments (10)
the movie is not fantastic, but some of the musical moments are so good (I loved "do you want to build a snowman"). the characters could have been better developed though, especially elsa.
The movie's not without flaws but it surely is one heck of a beauty. Plus, it's refreshing to see sibling love instead of true love in a Disney movie. As for the stage, it definitely would do with more musical numbers. And please no direct-to-dvd sequels.
"The ending of Frozen, wherein you're surprised to find that the love story is actually about the sibling bond rather than romance, is such a singular move. It's the key to why Frozen feels so fresh and not at all like Disney Princess: The Musical Part 8."
That and the refusal to make Elsa the villain of the piece is why Frozen is my 6th place Best Screenplay.
I have one other problem with the film, and that is the treatment of Hans. Not that I mind him being the villain, it's just that given the way he was portrayed throughout the film as a reasonably decent guy who maybe just wasn't Anna's true love, it seemed really abrupt to suddenly see him as this villain. If they wanted to make him a villain, make him sketchy to begin with so the twist makes sense (I like an unexpected twist as much as the next guy, but it needs to make sense). By the way, Nat, look con Youtube and you'll find demos of all the songs that were cut from the film. There are some good ones they might be able to use on Broadway ir they want to do that....
You should write a fanfic. :)
Now, in all seriousness, I completely agree with you about the new musical numbers. I love the movie, mostly because of how singular it is, but I did feel like the point between Anna's sacrifice and Elsa figuring it all out and ending winter is so swift, it was like they were in a hurry to end the movie. I think that would be a great spot for Elsa/Anna song.
There was a video going around a few weeks ago where someone recorded a reprise to Do You Want to Build a Snow Man? to use at the end of the ice storm that would work well onstage. There's obviously room for a reprise of For the First Time in Forever and another song for Hans.
I'm not worried about the songs. There are so many songs that were written for the film in the same style that can just get new lyrics to expand the score. I'm worried about the film having so much action and spectacle. If they can't build that castle live onstage during Let it Go, it's game over. They'd have to reconceive For the First Time In Forever since the gag with jumping in front of all the paintings wouldn't work onstage.
On the plus side, Disney Theatricals can finally get some money out of those horrible plexiglass "underwater" panels from The Little Mermaid. Just call them ice and no one will know they weren't made for a show about the world freezing over.
The B'Way musical would be SOOO inappropriate. How the hell are you going to show crystal-clear ice growing during Elsa's rages? Unless you hire the infamous and dreadful, curse-driven Julie Taymor, it's be doomed from the get go. This concern about a songless third act is spurious. OF COURSE the adapters would add hundreds of new songs (well, maybe that's an exaggeration...) for the third act, and have a power duet as a finale. It's Disney, after all!
Lion King is pretty front loaded with songs. Circle of Life, Just Can't Wait to be King, and Be Prepared all appear early in the movie and Hakuna Matata is basically the halfway point of the story (although I guess further than halfway through the movie?)
The only second half song is Can You Feel the Love tonight. All the other songs in act 2 of the stage musical are written for the stage: One by One, Madness of Scar, Shadowland, Endless Night, He Lives in You Reprise.
whilst I really liked Frozen, my issue with the movie was that the screenplay seemed like it was stripped down to ensure it made sense to preschoolers. The characters had close to no development, every obstacle was resolved so quickly.
but on the plus side, Idina Menzel'scasting = GOLD- I loved the fact that Elsa had these powers just because. no heritage thing, no magic flowers, that for me was a super plus!
I think Elsa had the powers naturally as symbolism for being born "different." Whether it's a physical deformity, a mental disorder, LGBT, etc. While it's not as serious as real world afflictions Elsa is most definitely Disney's first handicapped princess.