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It's a Hollywood blockbuster animation that is set to become one of the most successful and beloved family films ever made. And unlike much of Disney's past output, writes MICHELLE LAW, this film brings positive, progressive messages about gender and difference into the hearts and minds of children everywhere.
S ince its US release in November 2013, Disney's latest animated offering, Frozen (Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee), has met with critical acclaim and extraordinary box-office success. It won this year's Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song (for 'Let It Go'), and despite being released less than six months ago, it has already grossed over US$1 billion worldwide, making it the highest-earning Disney-animated film of all time. At the time of printing, the film's soundtrack has also spent eleven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the US Billboard charts, the most held by a soundtrack since Titanic (James Cameron, 1997). Following the success of Frozen - and Tangled (Nathan Greno & Byron Howard, 2010), Disney's adaptation of the Rapunzel story - many are anticipating the dawn of the second Disney animation golden age. The first was what has come to be known as the Disney Renaissance, the period from the late 1980s to the late 1990s when iconic animated films such as The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1989) and Aladdin (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1992) - films that adopted the structure and style of Broadway musicals - saved the company from financial ruin. Similarly, the Frozen phenomenon will only continue growing and inevitably secure a reputation as one of this generation's defining feature animations for children.
Among other factors, the success of Frozen could arguably be attributed to its progressive portrayal of female characters and their significant life relationships. The film also adopts a modern approach to storytelling that turns the structure and outcome of the traditional fairytale on its head. With castles, princes and princesses to play with and a story centred on the attainment of true love, Frozen succeeds in simultaneously adhering to and challenging conventional fairytale themes, characters and gender roles. But can a fairytale ever be truly progressive in its portrayal of heroines if those heroines are princesses? Are princesses and...