Hollywood vs. Broadway- Into The Woods

Exposition
A week before I saw "Into the Woods," I revisited the Broadway version I'd become accustomed to... not just to refresh my memory, but also so I can argue both sides effectively.
I also mentioned in my theatrical review
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2015/01/theatrical-review-into-woods.html
that the show was our high school musical... and still hadn't lived down the fact I didn't get cast.
But aside from revisiting my case of sour grapes, I will take our production into account as well in my discussion.

Differences: Stage to Screen
Spoilers for those who hadn't seen either
For the most part, the movie was a streamlined version of the play. Several subplots, most of which took place in Act 2, were removed.
The most notable: the reprise of "Agony" where the Princes discover Snow White and Sleeping Beauty and move onto their next conquests.

For the most part, this was a positive in my view. Doing the same song again with some new verses just would have been repetitive. Not to mention there was no way they'd be able to top "Agony" the first time... where Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen were, to parphase a movie quote, "frolicking in the [water] and shit"... puffing out theirs chests, ripping open their shirts... again, we need a Razzie for that scene. Hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

Another positive: we eliminated the death of Rapunzel. The last time we see her, she runs away with her Prince, choosing him over The Witch. I also thought the subplot was ridiculous where she bore twins... unlike with the Baker and his wife, that was just a detail that didn't add anything to the overall plot.

The lone negative, as I made clear in my review, was that the focus fell squarely on Cinderella's Prince cheating and painted him in a pretty horrible light.

The most obvious difference between the two was that Act 2 were severely edited in the film, which helped with the overall runtime, but made some of the action and drama feel rushed.

Two characters were "eliminated," who were coincidentally played by the same guy, the narrator and the mysterious man.
Fans of the play know The Mysterious Man was later revealed as The Baker's father. His father appeared in the film in one scene as a ghost. Some might dismiss it as a Deus ex machine- meaning a plot device randomly thrown in to resolve an otherwise unsolvable dilemma.
And we still had a narrator, but not in a corporeal state-- meaning we wouldn't see one of my favorite scenes from the play-- where all the characters turn on the narrator and feed him to the giant.

Maybe I just enjoy that scene because it was an equally hilarious moment in our high school production. Michael was the perfect casting choice for that role.

A couple of songs were cut- for better or worse.
I kinda missed "No More," which we only heard in the musical score after The Baker confronts his father's ghost. I still remember Ms. Cloak, our choir teacher, drawing attention to the fact the Broadway actor was flat on the final note of the song.

One big difference I noticed: the movie was the first time the role of Jack was played by a young boy. In the wake of NBC's "Peter Pan live" I found out young roles were given to people vastly older due to old child labor laws... which would explain why I'd only seen Jack played by a man in his teens or 20's.
It makes the circumstances of his character hilarious and sad... depending on how you look at it... seeing an older young man rebelling against his mother :P Had it been a modern take on the tale, he'd also been living in her basement... but in a modern take, there'd be no need for The Woods, would there?

Casting

The meat of my entry will focus on this... mainly because the players in a show are where my general focus is. Just as I'd only begun to note directors, producers and composers over the past 3-4 years.

The Witch
Bernadette Peters vs. Meryl Streep

I knew this one would be tough for me to address going into the movie.
To her credit, Meryl Streep brought her own je ne sais qua to this role and made it her own. Thanks to special effects, The Witch does a better job of appearing randomly on the scene, scaring the bejeezus out of the characters... she appears as suddenly as the disappears and it's the perfect combination of terror and comedy. Her rendition of "Stay with me" was also very heartfelt and sympathy is better able to manifest... if only for a split second.


However, Bernadette Peters is still QUEEN at this role she originated on Broadway. Heck, The Witch was my favorite part of the play. As sinister as she is, she has a wicked (no pun intended) scene of comedic timing. She also handled both version of her role with equal care.
I didn't get that with Meryl Streep's version. Whatever appeal she had as this character vanished after the "youthful transformation" at the end of Act 1.
The explanation of The Witch's demise after "The Last Midnight" was better in the movie, but otherwise, Bernadette Peters did the song MUCH better. Her tongue laced with sarcasm and irony, she made every lyric and note mean something.

Sarah, the actress who played her in our musical, did really well around. When I heard she was cast, it wasn't a surprise. Her voice was strong and she played a good villain. And still managed to bring the necessary sarcasm and made both versions of the role count. Although I'm pretty sure she did the "younger" version better.

The Baker's Wife
Joanna Gleason vs. Emily Blunt

Both actresses nailed their role from different angles. Joanna Gleason gave such a great comedic performance, an act hard for anyone to follow (the fact she won a Tony for this is not a surprise).
Yet Emily Blunt made it work for me. She gave this character passion and humanity, making her untimely death all the more upsetting. And her ghost's appearance at the end of the movie all the more bittersweet.

The Baker
Chip Zien vs. Richard Corden

In this case, I have to give it to the originator. Richard Corden's "stage" presence felt subservient to all the strong female leads. With the omission of "No More," that emotional pay-off never happened in the movie. The only place where he comes out on top, thinking again of Ms. Cloak, was vocally. His voice was stronger than Chip's.

Now that I think about it, I might dare to say my friend Drew played The Baker better than both of those guys combined :P that's not entirely favoritism, he really did the role well. He certainly had the perfect vocal range and held his own on stage.

Cinderella
Kim Crosby vs. Anna Kendrick

The "transformation" from rags to ball gowns was more awe-inspiring in the play... namely because Cinderella wore glasses at her father's home and mysteriously got granted contacts for the remainder of the show.
Anna Kendrick's beauty was always apparent. She just needed to get cleaned up and have something nice to wear to the festival.

Overall, I have to give the win to Anna Kendrick. This was a role that felt like she was born to play it... which leads me to wonder why she didn't get the Golden Globe nomination over Emily Blunt.
She brought all the right emotions, making us get on her side immediately. The scene where she's mourning the destruction of her mother's gravesite, I felt something when she did it. Some of this was thanks to script rewrites.
The omission of the line "all my dreams have just been crushed" was a huge improvement because I felt, even for a dramatic scene, it was overly dramatic to the point of being cliché.

Actually, a lot of the script changes were ones that benefitted Cinderella. Like when she's talking to the birds and they tell her, supposedly, about the Prince cheating. Instead of saying "I don't care!" she says "that doesn't matter now." It makes her character less passive.

The Wolf
Robert Westenberg vs. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp more or less wins by default... because it's freaking Johnny Depp.
The changes to the script, detracting from the pedophilia innuendos, came in his favor.
Plus, with his vocals, he made us almost wish his character didn't get killed... even though we all knew it was coming.
Little Red Riding Hood
Danielle Ferland vs. Lilla Crawford

I guarantee if Sophia Grace were here, I'd be giving the win to the Broadway actress.
But since she isn't here, I have to give props to both of the girls.

In the original, this character was feisty and so full of sarcasm that she got a lot of laughs from the audience. She was so good I was afraid, like with The Witch, I had my fears that some would be lost in the translation.
But Lilla brought the feistiness I expected and then some. The only thing missing was the laugh that came with her reaction to Cinderella- "you can talk to birds?" Wasn't quite as funny in the movie as it was in the play.

Conclusion

We're more or less comparing apples and oranges at this point. Per my math, I have a tie between the two versions. I certainly watch both multiple times, although not as often with the Broadway version (because that extra half hour makes it feel like three). For nostalgia's sake, I think I still prefer Broadway.

Per my records, that's 2 for Broadway and 0 for Hollywood so far.

Theatrical Review: Into the Woods

Date: Sunday. January 4. 2015

Time: 1:40 pm
Location: Cinemark Theater in Stroud Mall
Party: 2 (my mom & I)
Director: Rob Marshall (of "Chicago" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" fame)
Type: Stephen Sondheim Musical of Fairytale-retellings
Cast:
The Baker- James Corden
The Baker's wife- Emily Blunt
The Witch- Meryl Streep
Jack- Daniel Huttlestone
Jack's mother- Tracey Ullman
Cinderella- Anna Kendrick
Wicked Stepmother- Christine Baranski
Florinda- Tammy Blanchard
Lucinda- Lucy Punch
Red Riding Hood- Lilla Crawford
Cinderella's Prince- Chris Pine
Rapunzel's Prince- Billy Magnussen
Rapunzel- Mackenzie Munzy
The Wolf- Johnny Depp
The Giant- Frances De La Tour
Duration: 125 (+6 trailers)
Write-up:
Opening RemarksIt always seems like whenever we go to the mall to see a movie, it's a full house. Luckily we found a couple seats towards the back so we weren't in close range like we were with "The Judge" back in October.
Another great lively audience where laughs were in all the right places and there were even a few gasps. Possibly some tears (but that might have just been me 3-4 times).It feels only right to have a Broadway vs. Movie entry comparing this rendition of the show to the stage show starring Bernadette Peters as The Witch. But that's another time.

TrailersAnd like with "The Judge," we had a lot of trailers. Six to be exact.
1) The Minions (of "Despicable ME" fame) get their own spin-off... apparently their life's mission is to follow the most despicable being on the planet, with some unfortunately hilarious results... something tells me all these sheningans with the T-Rex, Napoleon and Dracula all happen within the first 10 minutes of the movie... either way, it was hilarious and may be worth seeing.

2) Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2- when I heard this was one of the movies/scripts leaked by the Sony hack, I thought they were kidding... who would be stupid enough to make a sequel out of this movie? Never saw the original and don't plan on seeing this. I'd sooner waste my money on "The Wedding Ringer," which looks conceivably funny compared to this... the trailer did it a favor, but we all kinda know how the reviews will pan out

3) The Age of Adaline- saw this trailer a few movies ago... I'm still not convinced this "eternal youth" cliché can be salvaged with Blake Lively of all people...

4) The Longest Ride- right away, I knew I smelled a Nicholas Sparks movie coming on- conceptually, it is intriguing. We have a young couple (the boy fancies bull-ridin') who comes across a car accident. They learn from the man inside about his life's story, particularly his own love story. We start to see parallels between the two, particularly where the girl breaks it off with the guy because he's taking too many risks.

5) Tomorrowland- a teaser trailer, really- a girl who just got out of Juvie gets her things but doesn't recognize a button. When she touches it, she's transported into a cornfield that the narrator explains is "another tomorrow"... considering it was Disney, I knew then it was the "Tomorrowland" movie they'd been planning for a couple years.
Not sure how much George Clooney screentime it'll have, but obviously he's there to give it some credibility :P

6) Cinderella- of course this is the perfect tie-in :P I hadn't seen "Maleficent" yet but since I'd already seen plenty of fairytale retellings in recent years, I most likely will see this one too... and begrudge all the changes and differences along the way.

Personal History:
This was the high school musical we did during my senior year. It was probably the year I begrudged the most for a number of reasons.
One of those was the fact there'd be no company in "Into the Woods." I either had to get a role or be forced to view it as an audience member.


I auditioned for Cinderella and thought I had a great audition. Yet I didn't even get a callback, something I will forever believe came down to the fact I didn't deliver "On the Steps of the Palace" with the right attitude. How was I to know without seeing it that it was meant to be sarcastic and flighty?

My mom and I went to see it on the night my friend Drew was playing The Baker.

The Story:


Once upon a time, in a far-off kingdom, there was a childless baker and his wife, Cinderella and Jack and his mother. All of these characters wished for different things. The baker and his wife wanted a baby. Cinderella wanted to go to the ball. Jack wanted adventure and his mother wanted him to sell the cow because she no longer gave milk. We also meet Little Red Riding Hood who visits the Baker's house for bread to bring her sick grandmother.

The most elaborate story comes with The Baker and his wife. The witch pays them a visit asking if they wish to reverse the curse she'd placed on their house. Supposedly, she'd done it after The Baker's father stole from her garden for his wife, and taking their 2nd child (who became Rapunzel).
The items required for this potion include:

• cow as white as milk
• cape as red as blood
• hair as yellow as corn
• slipper as pure as gold

and they ultimately get these items from our other well-known fairytale characters.

They trade the cow from Jack for some magic beans.
Red Riding Hood runs into the wolf in the woods, gets eaten by him at granny's and The Baker saves them both.
Cinderella goes to the festival each of the three nights and each time she runs away... for whatever reason, I guess because she isn't sure if she wants to be with him or stay in her current miserable life with her stepmother and stepsisters.


Meanwhile, one Prince pursues Cinderella and the other discovers Rapunzel.

Soon enough, everyone gets their happy ending, leaving the final third of the movie to explain what happens after the "happily ever after."

Casting News:
Other than some of the edits/exclusions and the fact it got a PG rating (when a PG13 would have been warranted... don't get me started on why G-rated movies are a dying breed), the biggest grievance following "Into The Woods" was casting Sophie Grace as Red Riding Hood.
Lilla Crawford (who apparently played "Annie" on Broadway) came in a week after filming because Sophie Grace's parents decided she was too young to play the role.

Really dodged bullet with that one... lots of people were threatening to boycott if she was in this movie...I doubt I would have, but this recasting is a HUGE relief... Sophie Grace and Rosie have to outgrow those princess outfits some time...Another recasting I completely forgot about involved Rapunzel's prince... originally, he was to be played by Jake Gyllenhaal as Cinderella's prince... but Jake pulled out in favor of "Nighcrawler" (might be a good thing, it got plenty of accolades).

Actors:

Tread Lightly, Spoilers Ahead

While I'm not sure if the Golden Globe nominations are completely warranted, all of the actors did a great job in this. The only singing voice I kinda took issue with was Chris Pine... but then, I take a lot of issue with his character.
Ironically, I kept casting his interviews on the talks shows :P
I should take a quick moment to address Johnny Depp. Yeah, The Wolf is a creepy character. His solo number "Hello Little Girl" had some innuendos (those that verged on pedophilia) edited out. And it's ridiculous to mention him in all the trailers when we know he gets killed early into the movie.
But I was having major "Sweeny Todd" flashbacks hearing him sing again... kinda funny his next onscreen singing gig is for another Sondheim musical.

Meryl Streep, again, I will mention was cast to give this movie credibility... and also give the Academy another excuse to nominate her (I swear, who've is behind her getting these nominated roles, they need to give RDJ some of that mojo)...
But I was much more pleased with her as The Witch than I was with her in "Mamma Mia." The vocal range fit her much better here. She played a pretty good baddie, not to mention an unhinged one when the moments called for it.


...maybe that's worth a Broadway vs. Hollywood entry as well...

I also considered that Christine Baranski was cast because of her Meryl Streep connection (they did "Mamma Mia" together). But she'd also worked with Rob Marshall before on "Chicago." Either way, she played a good wicked stepmother, however much screentime she got.
I couldn't help but wonder if Lucy Punch is suffering from the cruel Hollywood joke of typecasting. I saw her as an evil stepsister in "Ella Enchanted." Which made her comeuppance (along with her sister's) even sweeter.
And between this and "Harry Potter," you'd think Frances De La Tour was typecast as a giant (even stranger is the fact she's only 5' 7"... taller than I am, but I wouldn't think that's enough to warrant two goes as a giant).

One nitpick I had before seeing the movie was the casting of The Baker. I kept asking myself why they didn't cast someone I'd at least heard of. James Corden isn't a newbie to the acting scene, but he's not one I knew before this. I'm still not entirely convinced he stood out compared to all of the strong female presences, but I was pleased with his performance. Not a bad singing voice either.

Daniel Huttlestone is clearly gifted for musicals. This is his second role after "Les Miserables" (where he played the young boy, Gavroche). He played a great Jack.

Mackenzie Mauzy, who plays Rapunzel, has a lot of soap opera credits to her name. And she also played the former girlfriend of the protagonist in "Forever"... she has a great range, which is required of this role, but she isn't given a lot of material to work with as far as making this character three-dimensional.
But I did choked in two of her scenes. The aftermath of The Witch's solo "Stay with me" and when she reunites with her prince and her tears gave him back his sight. Especially during the latter because it was a beautiful moment.

Which just leaves the two leading ladies on the side of good.
Emily Blunt, I'd always enjoyed on screen and this is no exception. Great voice, has a lot of heart and she had great chemistry with James Corden.
During her final appearance, which was a bittersweet moment in the show (between her circumstances and the fact it was towards the very end), I got very teary-eyed.
Maybe that alone IS enough to earn her that Golden Globe nomination.

The moment Anna Kendrick was cast as Cinderella was the moment I decided I HAD to see this movie... next to the fact it was our high school musical, of course.
Her vocal range was REALLY put to the test and she passed with flying colors. She wasn't just an active Cinderella who trekked into the woods to go to the festival, but she portrays her as someone all young women can relate to... one that can talk to birds, but nonetheless... she finds a way out of her circumstances at home and even chooses her own happiness over the prince in the end.

Other highlights and lowlights

Probably the biggest lowlight for me... going back to Cinderella's Prince... I really did not like him... the reason by he cheated on Cinderella was never fully explained... he just felt like messing around with another woman in the woods... who happens to be The Baker's wife.

But to add to that, the "Agony" number between the Princes. Too bad you can't nominate scenes from movies for Razzies because that was terrible :P It looked like something out of a cheesy perfume commercial. Splashing around in a creek, ripping open their shirts as if put their raging hormones on display for us to perceive beyond their voices.
The whole theater roared with laughter, something I doubt was the intention.

The only other big negative I can derive, while keeping my feelings about the original out of the argument, is that the final act felt rushed... it got really dark really quickly (another reason why that PG13 rating would have been a good time).

Considering the vastness of the woods, this is definitely something worth seeing on the big screen. And when the giant is on the loose in the final third of the movie... you felt the tremors, making those scenes all the more intimidating and startling.

Speaking briefly about the production I'm well versed with, I was concerned that the blatant sarcasm would be lost in the translation from the stage to the screen... on most accounts, I was not disappointed. Emily Blunt could have put more effort into the line "I pulled it [it being the yellow hair for the spell] from a girl in a tower," but Lilla Crawford played Red Riding Hood with the right amount of sarcasm required for that character.Clearly, everyone in the theater had fun with this movie and periodically, that showed.
Whether you know the play or not, I'd absolutely recommend going out to theaters to see this one for the overall experience.


Grade: A

Theatrical Review: Frozen

Date: December 22, 2013
Time: 11:45am
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my mom & sister)
Duration: 102 minutes (+2 trailers, an animated short and way too many commercials, lol)

Directors: Jennifer Lee & Chris Buck
Music and Lyrics: Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez
Musical Score: Christophe Beck
Type: Disney animation, fairytale-retelling, musical

Cast:
Princess Anna- Kristen Bell
Princess "The Snow Queen" Elsa- Idina Menzel
Olaf- Josh Gad
Kristoff- Jonathan Groff
Hans- Santino Fontana
Pabbie- Ciaran Hinds

Awards potential

Golden Globes for "Best Animated Film" and "Best Original Song" ("Let it go").

Awards Commentary

It'll be a tight race for best original song. Coldplay is always awesome and their song, "Atlas" on the "Catching Fire" soundtrack sets just the right tone for the audience to leave with (as it plays during the ending credits). But "Let it go" really does deserve recognition.

As for animated feature, "The Croods" was really good and I haven't seen "Despicable Me 2" yet, but likely will soon. Another tight race especially because "The Croods" educates as well as entertains, but I have to give to Disney on this one too.

And I'm really hoping the same will play out for Oscars, particularly if there are wins attached 8-)

Trailers

It was a rainy Sunday morning and this movie was released at least 3 weeks ago, so I expected a small crowd. We were among maybe a dozen. A good amount of those were of the target audience. Only one or two chuckles from them the entire movie (unlike me, lol).

The first trailer was for, get this, a Lego movie. They're definitely playing to a younger demographic with this one, between the animation style and the cultural references. I'm a sucker for all those things, but I doubt it's something I'd pay to go see.

Then there was a trailer for the Muppets movie sequel where a criminal doppelganger of Kermit switches places with him to pull off another heist. Features all kinds of celebrities, but prominently Ricky Gervais (who I've yet to forgive for the Golden Globes a few years back) and Tina Fey (who's bound to be hilarious with this Russian accent).

Animated Short

Before the main feature, they showed an animated short called "Get a Horse."
It starts out as a black & white cartoon featuring Mickey, Minnie, Horace Horse-Collar, and Clarabelle Cow with Pete as the main villain. But when Pete captures Minnie, Mickey does all he can to get her back. This is a task made all the more difficult when Pete literally forces our hero out of the cartoon into the real world where he's in colored, three-dimensional animation.

I won't give too much more away, but clearly this was made for 3D and it was insanely entertaining.

History with the Brand

Disney studios got started in full-feature animated by adapting fairytales. Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty kicked off the "Disney Princess" brand. All of whom aspire to find true love and their happy ending.
Three years ago, my sister and I saw "Tangled" in theaters and loved it. I thought it was a great reimagining of Rapunzel, keeping the essentials in place, but adding a few twists along the way.

Around the same time, TV and movies crossed into [relatively] new territory in a big way.
NBC had "Grimm" (loosely based on tales from the Brothers Grimm). ABC had "Once Upon a Time" (based on fairytale and Disney characters).
Last year, two versions of Snow White were released in theaters and this year had "Hansel & Gretel" and "Jack the Giant Slayer."

I've seen all the above except for "Hansel & Gretel" (I'll get there eventually), but I've found that the biggest successes have been on the small screen. "Once Upon a Time" in particular, I've really grown to love. At the same time, though, it can be frustrating, especially when plots are drawn out and resolutions are unexpected ones.

But "Frozen" did remind me of the things I enjoy about that series. Although it's quote-unquote "loosely based" on the Hans Christian Anderson story "The Snow Queen," it succeeded as an adaption of a story as well as a reimagining... and I believe I read one headline that even said this movie might change the face of Disney movies as a whole.

Notable Cast Members

For the most part, there weren't a lot of recognizable names here.
Kristen Bell was the biggest name by far.
Josh Gad, I'd seen around a few times and giving him the role of Olaf the snowman... he just keeps getting better and better.

A month ago, roughly, Idina Menzel was promoting this movie on Kelly and Michael. I didn't recognize her name, but when I saw her, I knew I'd seen her before.
She played Rachel's mom, Shelby. Two of their most memorable duets was a ballad-ized version of "Poker Face" and Emelie Sande's "Next to Me."

Interestingly, another "Glee" alum made their way into the movie and I didn't recognize him until I looked up the name. Jonathan Groff played Jesse, a member of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline whose character history also included dated Rachel and served as a creative consultant for New Directions.
Thankfully, he gets a much nicer role here as Kristoff, the ice-seller with a reindeer as a companion.

The Story
which I'll try to keep as spoiler free as I can...

We begin when our heroines are just kids. They're the princesses of the royal family of the fictional kingdom Arrendale, which we're led to assume is located somewhere in Norway.
Elsa was born with her wintery powers, which she'd use on many an occasion to entertain her younger sister, Anna. On one of those occasions, Elsa accidentally struck Anna with her powers, turning a strand of her hair white.
The king and queen take Anna to a clan of trolls who offer two bits of advice. Firstly, they were lucky the ice didn't hit her heart because that's not as easily changed and secondly, they might be better off concealing her powers from the world for everyone's protection, including hers.

Elsa spends the rest of this period shut in her room and Anna keeps asking to play with no response. This relationship becomes even more splintered when, in the true Disney fashion, their parents die in a tragic boating accident and Elsa won't come out to help Anna grieve.

Fast-forward and we're at Elsa's coronation to become the new Queen of Arendelle. Anna is excited because it's the "first time in forever" where they've had people at their castle. Elsa, meanwhile, is trying to curb her anxiety so her powers don't reveal themselves.
Anna quickly finds herself in a true-to-form whirlwind relationship with Hans, Prince of the Southern Isles... to the point where she's engaged to him after one quick musical number. Elsa refuses to give her blessing, which unleashes a chain of events that reveals her powers to the kingdom.
Upon running away, she accidentally plunges the region into eternal winter.

Basically, the rest of the movie is spent with Anna, aided by Kristoff and his reindeer Sven, going after her sister to convince her to return.

The Music

According to Wikipedia, there are 10 songs on the soundtrack, including two versions of "Let it go" (the end credits version is sung by Demi Levato, who really can't compete with Idina's in-film version).

Early on, I felt like they were overloading us with too many songs. Points where I asked myself "did we really need a song here?"
"Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" and "For the First Time in Forever" ran a little too long, but sure enough, they did win me over.

"Let it go" was a huge turning point. It plays during the sequence where Elsa runs away from Arendelle, builds an ice palace in the mountains and [both literally and figuratively] lets down her hair, giving her a completely different look.

Then we get shorter, humorous numbers by Olaf ("In Summer"), Kristoff ("Reindeer(s) are Better Than People") and the trolls ("Fixer Upper").

"Tangled" had a really good soundtrack in a sugary-sweet sort of way. I almost hate to say this about Alec Menken, but his work on that film had nothing on the husband-wife Lopez team.
They didn't just provide a good balance of humor and good songwriting, but their songs had the same kind of magic as the visuals and the story. They swept me up, took me on a journey and in the case of "Let it go," I hadn't felt so strongly about a Disney song since... perhaps, "The Lion King." (One critique called "Frozen" Disney's best since that particular film).

Other Thoughts

I loved that we got two Disney princesses out of this. Both of them are strong characters in their own right. But the best part was how much they cared about one another. How they choose to express that love is what ultimately sets them apart. Elsa keeps herself hidden because she doesn't want to be responsible for hurting her sister with her powers. Anna wants to do everything in her power to reunite with her sister and rekindle the relationship they once had.

We have more great non-human characters. Admittedly, it's a little goofy that Kristoff does a funny voice for Sven when the two of them are alone in a couple scenes, but it's pretty cool that they had an actual reindeer character in this movie.
Olaf the snowman (who we see make a cameo in an earlier scene) is just good fun to watch whenever he's on screen. It's even funnier that his dream is to experience summertime. I'm sure Kristoff was saying exactly what the audience was thinking: "Is somebody going to tell him?"

Something else that was also refreshing was that there was no villain in this movie. Sure, the duke of Weaselton kept making comments about Arendelle being a trading partner and wanted to start a witch hunt to go after Elsa, but nothing seemed more threatening to the happy ending than Elsa's own fears...
or so I thought until the third act when a villain did emerge.
Regarding that, they pushed the envelope just enough for the sake of drama, but it never overpowered the story.

Probably the biggest star of the movie was the visuals. I'm not sure everyone will be feeling all the snow and ice, considering the time of year we're in now with all the shoveling and snowstorms we've had so far. To me, it encompassed all the things I find so beautiful about wintertime. I almost hated to leave it when the movie ended :-P
Going outside afterwards reminded me of the Eagles game a couple weeks ago. I got so used to the wintery conditions that I felt blinded whenever they cut to a game on the west coast. It took a few more seconds to get used to the colorized real world.

Grade: A+