Disney's Frozen as an Intercultural Artifact - Assignment Example

Disney`s “Frozen” as an Intercultural Artifact When Disney announced a new computer-animated film called “Frozen”, a free adaptation of Anderson`s “Snow Queen” in November 2013 nobody paid much attention to it. Why? Because Disney is one of the oldest, the most reliable studios in the world that makes a couple of good musicals for kids every year. They usually have a good box office, children make all possible and impossible to get their parents to the cinema and buy thematic toys but everybody eventually forgets about them in a few months. Frozen was not innovative and revolutionary, it was a typical fairy tale. Walt Disney`s personages are often charming, attractive, and mostly traditional: princesses, princes, animals with extraordinary powers, villains. Disney chooses not to risk as Pixar producing films about an old man mourning his late wife or about a lonely robot cleaning the planet Earth from trash. So it was another good old story about a beautiful big-eyed and wasp-waisted princess who was waiting for true love to get rescued. But something went wrong… In a couple of months after the release of the animation film the world got literally infected by “Frozen”-mania. The name of the main character became one of the most popular baby-girl names in Scandinavian countries and in Britain (not to mention America). YouTube got flooded with the videos in which the whole families, including toddlers and grandfathers, sing the songs from the animation film. I personally was impressed by the video of the head of the school who announced winter vacations with his own variant of “Let it go”. Children were ready to wait for more than five hours to meet Elza, Anna, and Olaf in Disney World. The hashtag #TheColdNeverBotheredMeAnyway got incredibly popular in so unexpectedly different groups and communities in Twitter and Instagram. The main theme of “Frozen” got a number of interpretations starting from divorce and autism and ending with the concept of homosexuality and transgender ( Lynskey). The answer why children are obsessed with “Frozen” seems obvious at first sight. It is the Walt Disney studio, it does not make bad movies, the company invests thousands and millions of dollars to make its animation colorful and realistic and attracts the best composers to create incredible soundtracks. But that is their general policy, and the number of films they produced before “Frozen” were made according to this high standards. I looked through the movies Disney created last five-six years and realized that I did not know the name of a single one. Was “Brother Bear” released in 2003 less moving and touching? Were the characters in “The Princess and the Frog” less attractive and archetypal? Why Stich from “Lilo and Stich” which was much funnier and much more exotic than Olaf, the snowman, did not hit the touch auditory? So obviously Disney producers managed to create something extraordinary, some cultural phenomenon comprehensible to all people regardless of sex, age, and nationality. Just as a curious fact, “Frozen” became the most visited film in 2013 in such culturally opposite countries as Malaysia, Ukraine, Brazil, China, and Russia. I guess that in order to make something that would go viral in several hours or to create the image that would inspire thousands of people to make parodies and to record their own interpretations it is necessary to create something that would be clear and close to everyone regardless of financial status, social position, age, sex, religion belief, language. Something that can be interpreted in all the languages, something abstract that unites all the people in the world. Like you need to explain the person on the other side of the planet what the love to your sister means to you or what sacrifice signifies. Something that does not depend on time and geographical location. And though pop culture is often considered to be low culture it still reflects the mood of the masses and masses can be united only with the help such intercultural, human concepts. So obviously the success of the film must be attributed to the ability of Disney to create cultural artifact that appeared in the right time. In order to understand what was so special about it I decided to watch it as an adult and to be honest, the story touched me deeply and I was humming “Do you want to build a snowman?” for several days. What I understood is that “Frozen” had two levels of interpretation: on the one hand, it was bright, positive, and ironical that is why it got popular among the smallest kids. On the other hand, it raised the topics acute for most teenagers and young people: alienation, otherness, the meaning of true love. The animation film does not have a typical villain, and it is very noticeable for Disney stories. No witches trying to ruin young princess`s life, no dragons, just one cunning prince who wants power and tries to deceive a naïve girl with the promise of a marriage. The most serious and fearful villain in the story is the main heroine who is forced to keep her cryokinetic powers in secret. After many years spent behind the closed doors Elza becomes reclusive, detached and unable to feel any emotions. It is rather unexpected plot even for a Disney fairy tale, never before the main hero was the main enemy to herself. That is why the song Elza performs after her powers are revealed is such a hit: it appeals to anyone who has ever felt how it is to feel shame and hide his/her true personality from the judgment of society. Color of skin, religious beliefs, background, profession, hobby, sexual orientation- everything that falls out of the category of “normality” imposed by social rules (Konnikova). That is why “Let it go” became the hymn of all oppressed and got catchy instantly: “Its time to see what I can do To test the limits and break through No right, no wrong, no rules for me, Im free!” Internal liberation from fears, social pressure, and shame is probably one of the most inspiring feeling in life of every person. That is why the song and Elza`s transformation are so magnetic for the viewers of all ages. That is how “Frozen” managed to capture the spirit of classic stories about magical transformation (like “Cinderella” or “Beauty and the Beast”) but has probably become the first animation film that showed that sometimes the worst enemy you fight all your life and the who postpones your transformation is you. Another factor that makes “Frozen” such an important international cultural phenomenon is new and, I would even say, alternative depiction of true love. I must say that I was surprised in a positive way to find out that there were no princes involved. To explain what I mean I will refer to the plot. Anna accidently got struck with a piece of ice and it turns out that only the “act of true love” can save the girl from turning into a piece of ice. After this formulation I as well as most boys and girl in the world was waiting for the beautiful prince Charming to come and save the princess. But “Frozen” exceeds the expectations and indulges viewers with unrespectable plot twists. In the final scene Anna sacrifices her life without thinking (another element-saving herself by a sacrifice!) to save her beloved Elza and this act becomes the one representing true love. Unimaginable! In the story with two beautiful princesses it is not that kiss between a man and a woman that “saves the world” (the movie even mocks this old stereotype) but the act of love in the sense of care between two siblings. This was an instant success of “Frozen” as it managed to create something equally close to people around the world. So the film teaches that true love is not necessarily what most people expect it to be; it is powerful connection, flaming desire to see your close person happy under any circumstances. Metaphorically it becomes clear when Elza understands that love is the only method that can help her to control her powers which literally means her “dark side”. And again this is what makes this image complex but very common for every person, it is what some psychologists claim to be unconscious. How an animation film could dig so deeply and reach the target so craftily? Maybe because the Wald Disney studio is never afraid of taking risks and experimenting with new plots and images. And most viewers claimed that watching a strong woman in the animation film was important for young girls because it empowers them. I remember when Anna who was raised in royal castle when faced with obstacles and challenges fights instead of whining and giving up. However, even many boys and adult men were charmed by “Frozen” (the example of a head of a school). Probably, feminists would consider the animation film empowering and motivating. Another important image created in this story was Olaf (a favorite personage of many and mine as well). This charming, all-forgiving, relaxed snowman that dreamt about summer so sincerely and so truly that you could not ignore him. Thanks to his mild humor and irresistible charm Olaf literally conquered the hearts of young girls. What was so peculiar about Olaf? It was clear from the very beginning for everyone in the movie and outside the screen that snow and sun cannot be combined. But Olaf continued to believe and what is most important… to dream! And that what lacks in modern world where there is no more place for dreaming and relying on your dream. And eventually the snowman`s dream came true. That is probably what we all miss in our adult life- the power of phantasy and the inspiration to dream and that what what Olaf taught us. So after all the above mentioned it is no wonder that “Frozen” became a real success among young children, more experienced and disappointed adults and inspired so many. It has become a beautiful artifact of culture belonging to the whole world. The reason is that the topics it raised such as love, sacrifice, liberation from oppression, the power of dreaming are those topics that unite people in the whole world. And it is not even important that it is an animation film targeted for children because Disney knows this secret- children are the most thankful and picky viewers and they instantly recognize the real masterpiece like they recognized the intercultural value of “ Harry Potter””, a book which to me seemed really similar to Elza`s story. They both suggest that you should not bend under the pressure of the world that wants to change you and make you “normal” so much, it is the world that should bend under your power. Works Cited Konikova, M. “How the Frozen Took Over The World”, The New Yorker, 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/how-frozen-took-over-the-world Lynskey, D. “Frozen-mania: how Elsa, Anna and Olaf conquered the world”, The Guardian, 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/may/13/frozen-mania-elsa-anna-olaf-disney-emo-princess-let-it-go Read More