Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical Stage Show Review

It's really safe to say that Frozen is perhaps one of if not Disney's biggest animated franchise and the fact that it's only got two films to it does show that Disney is more then willing to take there time to get the next film right. However the franchise does have a stage show with the company just releasing a filmed version of the London West End version of the show and well you all just knew that yours truly had to check out this filmed version of the show the very first chance that I got and so then join me as I review the stage show that proves that even with nothing more then just two theatrically released movies and a handful of specials Frozen really is here to stay with the stage show in question being called simply just "Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical" enjoy.

The plot of this stage show is when her sisters powers accidentally put there home town of Arendelle in the middle of a deadly snowstorm it's up to Anna and her new friends Kristoff , Sven and Olaf to try and convince her sister to set things right before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very stage show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very stage show was in all honesty really good which is something that does make alot of sense as it's literally just the first films plot only now it's being told in the form of a stage show and not a film with the plot translating surprisingly well from screen to stage with there not really being any changes to the plot of the show which is something that could make seeing this stage show seem pointless as afterall why would you want to see the same story when you can just see the original story told in the way that you know it to be which would be a fair point but at the same time tho this plot is one that does hold up really well with the stage show not only containing all of the key themes that made the plot of the film work but adding just enough to them that it makes those themes seem fresh and new all other again something that Disney did try to do in there live action remakes but failed because they did them so bad there but here what they do add to those themes oddly work well enough in the shows for with the plot of this stage show also being really rather entertaining and as swell as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this stage show is Samantha Barks as Elsa , Laura Dawkes as Anna and Craig Gallivan as Olaf. Also starring in this stage show is Jammy Kasongo as Kristoff , Oliver Ormson as Hans , Richard Frame as The Duke Of Weselton , Ashley Birchall as Sven , Mikayla Jade as Sven , Martha Bailey Vine as Young Anna , Elizabeth Lyons as Young Elsa , Tabitha Storton as The Hidden Folk Child , Ben Irish as Pabbie and The Ensemble , Lizzy-Rose Esin-Kelly as Bulda and The Ensemble , Jak Skelly as Oaken , Bishop and The Ensemble , Jacqui Sanchez as Queen Iduna and The Ensemble and Ashley J. Daniels as King Agnarr and The Ensemble.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very stage show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that thew actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very stage show was in all honesty really good. With this shows acting being alot more better then what it really had any right to be as by all rights this shows acting should have been really bad but for one reason or another this shows actors really just hit it out of the park with all of them giving us some really top notch acting with the same thing also being true for the shows kid actors as well as they come across as bein quite natural when they very easily could have been seen as being quite annoying with that especially being true for Martha Bailey Vine who is quite honestly one of the more entertaining actors in this show as even tho she only plays the young version of Anna she manages to get lots of big laughs every single time that she's on stage with the shows best actor being Samantha Barks as Elsa if you've seen either the stage version of the 2012 film version of Les Misérables then you'll know just how good of an actor that Samantha Barks can be and she really knocks it out of the park in this show from both an acting point of view and a singing point of view with the acting that's really in this very show really being helped by the fact that this shows script is just so good that all this shows shows actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very show.

To be frank there are times when during this stage show it does look cinematic which is something that does work to the shows advantage. As it does show that the creative team behind the show did put in alot of effort into making this world come to life and the fact that they don't quite give away just how it was that they managed to pull off alot of the effect for Elsa's powers outside the use of LED screens only helps to make the show look more cinematic as does the fact that they manage to get some shots that would have been quite hard to do with a live audience there which is something that does work against the show as this show was meant to have been filmed live and yet they are getting shots that make this look like a feature length film which is great if your trying to make a film but here what they should have been doing is trying to put across the experience of what watching this show live is like and not going out of there way to make it look like a film and heck they even have a scene transition effect for when Elsa's dress is revealed at the end of "Let It Go" which don't get me wrong does look good but at the same time tho it would have been nice to see just how they would have pulled that off as that is something that they could have done for real just by having the actor ware the dress underneath another one of Elsa's costumes which you can then just her very easily snap that dress off to reveal her dress which is something that wouldn't work for a film but it's something that would have felt right at home in a stage show which makes you wonder why they chose to add in a scene transition effect there as it is something that's kind of distracting and while it doesn't take away from the experience it is odd that they added it in there tho.

Whilst this particualr version of the show is billed as a version of the broadway show it's actually a filmed version of the West End show. Which is way all of the shows actors are from that show and it's something that makes you wonder why Disney would market it as being a a filmed version of the broadway show when there alot more people that not only know that London exists but also know of London West End as well but at the same time tho they might just be borrowing the tagline of the original broadway show which I guess does make sense but at the same time given that this version was made because of the fact that the West End version was closing up shop three years after it first premiered wouldn't it make more sense just to called this filmed version Frozen: The Musical but with that little nit pick aside this show does sadly not have that many main sets when compared to even the original film which granted didn't have that many main sets either but they still somehow managed to make the world of Arendelle both look and feel alot more bigger then what it really was and here with this show it has the opposite effect as it makes this world feel alot more smaller and compact now to be fair tho this could be for a practical reason as the show does have a rather small stage and so to hit on alot of sets plus all of the actors would have been a huge ask but given that the show was already using some LED screens around the edges of the set of Elsa's powers anyway they usually could have done the same thing and have some new sets just to help the world of Arendelle feel alot more bigger then what it already is in the first place.

As for how they managed to do some of the films animals and Olaf this is wear they kind of get creative as Sven is literally just to people in a reindeer suit and the rock people are now just people which is great as there's no way that you could do those characters on a stage show budget. However it's how they do Olaf that's the most interesting as they take the same approach that was perfected in The Lion King musical where the character is basically a puppet here designed to look like his animated counterpart with a live actor behind him both controlling the character and voicing him which does look really good as it does allow for Olaf to have those really wide range of emotions on his face be it joy to even sadness of confusion and those are things that would have been lost if you did the character in any other way as the only way that you can do this character in a stage show format is to keep him in his snowman form as that's what the audience would expect him to look like and so you can't really do what they did with the live action Spongebob musical and have all of the characters be humans as that just wouldn't work for Olaf given the fact that he's meant to be a snowman and to be fair tho the actors in the show do have alot of fun with it with them even having the actor who plays Anna control the head of Olaf for one brief scene during the shows second act with even the actor playing him Craig Gallivan quite clearly having a blast playing him with the only thing that lets down this way of doing the character being the fact that we don't get to see Elsa making him during the "Let It Go" song sequence which is a small thing but it's also something that does show that she can create life with her powers even if she doesn't quite realise it yet.

As is to be expected this show is a musical with songs of course written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez with their being one new song written for the show being written by Christophe Beck and Frode Fjellheim. With the show featuring all of the songs from the original film alot of which are done really well but at the same time they are out of order in what they appear in the original film so like now example "Let It Go" happens after "In Summer" rather then it bein the other way around and while it would be super easy to say that "Let It Go" is the best song in the whole just due to how fantastic that Samantha Barks sings it the best song in the show is actually one of the newer songs that being "Colder By The Minute" just because of the fact that it's an excellent ensemble song that brings together alot of the characters and ties them all together rather beautifully but that song was very closely followed by "Dangerous To Dream" as that song just hit home the sisterly bond that both Anna and Elsa had for each other and that Elsa still carries for Anna even tho she can't really say it due to her own fears of loosing control of her powers with alot of this shows newer songs not only complimenting the films original songs really well but also being able to stand out on their own and while it was quite hard to say what the best song of the show is because there's so many that could take claim to that honor there's only one that's the worst song of the show and that's "Hygge" as it's just a pointless comedy song that's only there to given Oaken something to do and that's really it and even as a comedy song it still doesn't work as we've literally just had one in "In Summer" so it was really pointless to have "Hygge" in this show.

Now then this show has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and fifty one minuets and forty two seconds. Which to be fair is a pretty solid running time for this show to have as the show does have the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time and while this show really doesn't cover that running time all that widely as it doesn't develop it's plot or characters all that well it very well could be argued that it really doesn't need to develop either the plot of the characters due to both of them being so well known anyway or in the case of the plot quite literally just being the first films plot only now it's told on a theater stage and not on the big screen but at the same time tho if your going to go to the trouble to not only include new scenes with the parents and Young Elsa and Young Anna and include a bunch of new songs then you might as well go the extra mile and take the time that you needed to take to further develop your plot as while yes the plot of the show was covered really well in the film here you have the chance to include things that didn't make it into the film and to show us new plot beats that we perhaps hadn't quite considered yet with the same thing also being true for the shows characters and while they don't come across as being one dimensional characters with them all being as well written as they were in the movie given the fact that the show does have extra songs in there then the makers of the show could have taken the time to add new things to the characters like for example they show us that Anna is a bit quirky and that Elsa is very stand-offish but they both still love each other but that's all we get to find out about there characters and even then those came more from the film then they do the stage show but I really will admit that this show really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. With the actor that played Young Anna getting alot of laughs every single time that she was on the stage as she was just that funny and while Olaf could be seen as being annoying alot of the time in the film here he's around just long enough to get in a few decent jokes and while his big "Some People Are Worth Melting For" scene doesn't have that big of an impact in this show just because of the fact that they can't actually show him starting to melt the character still does get a few decent laughs every now and then with it actually being quite hard to say just what the best joke in the show is as both Young Ann and Anna herself do get some decent jokes in this show with really the only two characters that don't manage to get some good laughs or Kristoff and Elsa and that's really it with alot of what makes Anna funny in this show being what always made her funny in the film and that's the fact that she's this quirky character who hasn't been around people for years and so she has now idea on how to act around them but if push did come to shove i'd say that the best joke in the whole entire show is the very fact that Anna only recognizes Olaf from the fact that she gave him a big backside which whilst it is a dumb joke it one that works really well because of the fact that the set up with Young Anna was also really well done as well with all of this films jokes being just straight up really good and really funny in there special and unique way as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this show was a shockingly fun time and this is coming from someone who actively avoided the original film when it first came out but has since seen both it and it's sequel and all of the specials as well with this show being sure to not only set people over until Frozen III in 2027 but also please them as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very show in this review and as such that really does mean that this very show really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review rom the official Disney fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Disney fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with really alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and really all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Disney fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Once Upon A Snowman Disney + Short Film Review

 

The never ending franchise that is Frozen is back with another short film but unlike Frozen Fever or even Olaf's Frozen Adventure this film isn't set after the first film but is set during the first film. I fully admit I was skeptical about the premise behind this short film just because there's not alot they can really do in terms of story or suspense but none the less I was looking forward to seeing what the makers behind this short film would pull off and so here is my review of the new Disney + Frozen short film called "Once Upon A Snowman" enjoy the review.

There is no real plot to this short film with the basic premise for the film being just after Olaf is created during the "Let It Go" musical number from the first film Olaf then sets out to find his true meaning. That's honestly it in terms of plot which I kind of suspected would be the case since this is only a short film but even so the story is at best weak but it is still a fun little story to see being played out even if the story and this short film are pointless since we already know how things are going to end due to this short film being set during the first film.

Now this goes without saying but all of the main actors from the first two Frozen films are reprising their roles in this short film. As such I won't bother to separate any new actors from the returning actors since there are no new actors in this short film and so starring in this short film is Josh Gad as Olaf , Kristen Bell as Anna , Idina Menzel as Elsa , Jonathan Groff as Kristoff , Frank Welker as Sven and Chris Williams as Oaken.

Since every actor apart from Josh Gad and Chris Williams appear pretty in archive audio from the first film in the Frozen franchise which is called Frozen (duh) it would be pointless for me to judge those performances. However I can judge the performances of both Josh Gad and Chris Williams since they appear in new scenes and there acting is honestly pretty much what I expected which was passable since it's clear that both actors are having fun playing these characters in this short film the script still doesn't give them alot to work with and so they can only turn in a passable performance to due to the script being pretty bad.

Now I cannot find who did the animation for this short film but the closest company I could was for obvious reasons Walt Disney Animation Studios. Walt Disney Animation Studios might not be the company did the animation for this short film tho but they are the closest company I could find so make of it what you will. As for what I thought about the animation it was honestly a lot better then it had any right to be no one would have blamed Walt Disney Animation Studios slightly OK animation since it's only a short film that will be forgotten about ten minuets after it's watched but nope they actually gave this short film some really good animation which I honestly wasn't expecting to be the case at all and i'm glad that they did give this film good animation since the Frozen feature films are known for having great looking animation and so that should also be the case for any Frozen short film at least in my opinion it should be the case anyways.

As mentioned this short film takes place during and slightly after the "Let It Go" musical number from Frozen. Which to me is a pointless thing to do because we already know how the story is going to end because of the fact that all of the characters debut in Frozen if anything it would have worked to this short film's advantage if it was set after Frozen 2 since then anything could happen and nothing would be predictable but that makes to much sense.

This short film does answer some questions like why does Olaf like summer and how he remembered his name. Which I have to admit is a great reason to make this short film but if that was the only reason to make this short film then I have to ask why bother making it since those two things could have been included in either of the first two Frozen films ort Frozen Fever or Olaf's Frozen Adventure they didn't need a whole short film just dedicated to answering those two questions.

Honestly there's no point in me making this a spoiler free review since like i've said this takes place during the "Let It Go"musical sequence from the first film. As such it should come as no surprise that the film ends with Olaf seeing Anna and Kristoff while they are on there way to save Elsa which honestly isn't how I personally would have ended the film I would have ended this short film with Olaf meeting Anna and Kristoff and joining them to save Elsa but the ending here works as well since it's a kind of sweet moment.

When I say this is a short film I mean it it's only seven minuets and thirty five seconds long so you could watch this short film and still have plenty of time wot write up your opinions on the short film (hrmm that sounds familiar nah lol) that's if you want to of course. I personally liked this running time since there's not really alot that they can do in terms of the story since we already know how it's going to end and so making it a short film honestly makes the most sense to me plus this short film doesn't have alot of story for anything longer then the seven and a half minuet running time anyways and so anything longer then that would just be filled with scenes that are filler and nothing more.

Now then boys and girls since this is still a comedy that does mean that we have to talk about the jokes that are in this short film. Which is honestly where this short film succeeds the most since Josh Gad is freaking hilarious in this short film as Olaf the character of Olaf gets so many funny lines and Josh Gad just makes them work yes alot of the jokes in this short film are aimed at little kids but that doesn't mean that adult fans won't find some of these jokes funny either.

Overall this is a passable short film but at the same time it's something that little kids will find both enjoyable and entertaining. I really can't be to hard on this short film since it is made with little kids in mind but at the same time the issues that I had with the film are very fundamental issues and are ones that the makers of this short film should have taken into account when making this short film as such this short film gets a 6 out of 10 from me. As for where I got the images that I used in this review well I got them from both the official Disney fandom wiki page and Google Image with my preferred choice of website to use for images being the official Disney fandom wiki page just because the images there are more higher quality then the ones found in Google Images.

 

 

Some Animated Films Coming Out Next Year

Guys there is no doubt that this year has so far been a big year for animated features but i'm not looking at films for the second half of the year oh no i'm going to so something that in a few months time a lot of people will be doing and that's looking ahead at some of the films that are going to be coming out next year so here we go.

Frozen 2

This sequel has been a few years in the making and it's finally due out sometime next year but the franchise hasn't been dormant by any means since we've had a short film and a christmas special and to add more hype to this film all of the original main actors are coming back.

 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Now unlike Frozen 2 we do actually have both a poster and some footage from this sequel and I have to say they've taken the story in a way that could only work for a lego movie and it's direction does have me slightly intrigued but at the same time i'm also worried because of the fact that both the first Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie were huge hits so there's a lot of pressure on this follow up to be as good if not better then those two.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

I make it no secret that i've not seen that much from this franchise i've seen the first film and a few episodes from the series and that's it but I know that this franchise does have a lot of fans and i'm sure they'll be happy to see this sequel.

Mavka, The Forest Song

Now then unlike the previous films featured in this post this film isn't being made in America it's being made in the Ukraine and I have to say that based of the little promotion that's been released for this film it does look like it will be a beautiful but of course looks can be deceiving but if your a fan of animation from other countries then this is one you might be interested in.

Minecraft

No you've not misread that there is in fact an animated Minecraft movie coming out next year and I just have to ask why is this getting a movie it has no story and no characters since it's world is something that you the player make that really doesn't lend it self to a feature film but if we get a trailer i'll check it out just to see if it looks good or not.

The Secret Life of Pets 2

This is a film that has had some controversy because of the fact that the lead actor for not only this film but the first film was Louis C.K. who admitted to inappropriate sexual conduct with five women and that meant that he had to be replaced by the funny Patton Oswalt so far tho no details in terms of what the plot will be have been revealed but it's been confirmed that pretty much all of the cast from the first film will be coming back and since I loved the first film so will I.

Toy Story 4

Again with this film I have to ask why not because it's based on a video game that has no story but because the story has already wrapped up and was wrapped up really well in the third film so what's the point in this fourth film since there's no story left to tell I will see it since i've seen every film in the franchise and all of the actors are coming back but I have no idea if it will be as good as the previous three.

My Personal Top 5 Animated Disney Films

Hello there Disney fans Walt Disney Pictures have made some of the best animated films of all time there's no question about that but i'm sure your all wondering what my top 5 disney films are and before i tell you i want to lay down some ground rules first i'm only counting there animated movies since that's what there most famous for second it has to have gotten a cinematic release  third i'm not counting any of the Studio Ghibli film's that the company has released over here nor am i counting any of the PIXAR movies since they could get a list to them selfs and fourth it has to be feature length.

5) The Little Mermaid

i recently did a review on this movie so i won't go into to much detail here but for me the songs were good and the animation was great but the romance wasn't that great and neither was the story but it's a still a classic film none the less.

4) Zootopia / Frozen

i'm not gonna lie i couldn't pick one of these two movies to be at fourth place because of the fact they are good movies and unlike The Little Mermaid they have really solid stories that may be because of the fact that the writer of Frozen also wrote Zootopia but when you also add in the fact that i kinda liked these characters as well you'll see why this was a tough choice.

3) Beauty and the Beast (original)

i really enjoyed this film it's characters were fun and likable it's story was interesting and it had great animation the only real issue i have with the movie is the fact that Belle pretty much does nothing for most of the movie and when you think about she boils down to the typical Disney Princess.

2) Moana

i've made it no secret that i truly love this movie and what's not to love it has a great story , great characters and great songs there's nothing more i can really say about this movie that hasn't already been said.

1) The Lion King

This movie has all the things that Moana has so what makes it number one i here you ask well it has a memorable storyline, a memorable storyline and memorable songs and like Moana i can't really say anything about this movie that hasn't already been said it's a classic for a reason