News

Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud has won the 2025 Berlinale Golden Bear for Dreams, a queer love story that completes his verbally explicit, but visually chaste Sex, Love, Dreams trilogy.

The deceptively ambitious drama follows a teenage girl’s infatuation with her female teacher, told mostly in retrospect, as the teen recounts her memories through a novel she has written about the events. In his review, The Hollywood Reporter‘s chief film critic David Rooney called the film “tender, captivating and often very funny,” noting the fact that Haugerud has made “three thematically related but narratively distinct features in a year is remarkable enough; that they are all terrific, even more so.”

The Berlin jury, headed by Carol director Todd Haynes, picked Dreams from the 19 titles in competition at the 75th Berlinale.

Rose Byrne and Andrew Scott won top acting honors at this year’s Berlinale film festival, with Byrne winning...

Beloved heroine Elsa has a great new song as she heads into the enchanted forest in this funny, likable but underpowered sequel. Is it time to let her go?

Do you wanna build a franchise? Maybe Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck didn’t realise this was what they were going to do in creating their sensational Disney animated musical Frozen in 2013, with its lethal Broadway-style show tunes written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and scored by Christopher Beck. It was all about Elsa, the beautiful blond princess with supernatural icy powers, a story based mostly on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, along with the still unacknowledged influence of Frozone from The Incredibles. Now its fiercely anticipated sequel is here.

In 2013, parents of young daughters didn’t realise how their every waking moment and all of their disposable income was going to be dominated by Frozen, with Elsa toothbrushes,...

Cinema"Most fairytales don't feature two girls. Also, the two girls look totally different from each other," says 10-year-old Pranaya. Sowmya Rajendran"Elsa, the past is not what it seems." Thus begins the trailer of Frozen 2, the sequel to Disney's hugely successful 2013 animated film Frozen directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. The line is typical of stories in the fantasy genre where the protagonist learns something new about their past in subsequent installments. However, it's also a befitting comment on fairytales about princesses that seldom allow their "good" female protagonists any agency. The ones who are powerful are immediately characterised as wicked and are defeated or killed. Frozen was hailed as an important feminist film when it released, though some were not really convinced about Disney's intentions. The film was inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's fairytale, The Snow Queen. While the titular Snow Queen in the story is the chief villain,...

It’s the glue in many father-daughter relationships, with its earworm anthem and empowered princesses. Can the most successful animated film of all time do it again?

If we go by Disney’s in-house lore, the idea of making a movie of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen had been kicking around for more than 70 years by the time it was green-lit. Andersen’s chilly fable, brightened for a modern audience with original songs and a narrative spin that put the relationship between two sisters at its core, was renamed Frozen. At its premiere in 2013, Disney’s chief executive, Bob Iger, wept behind his 3D glasses. And why not? Within weeks the movie had made more than $800m in worldwide bums-on-seats. Its soundtrack was No1. The DVD sold 3m copies in a day. Though a sequel has been slow in coming – Frozen II is in cinemas later this month...

KollywoodThe film is scheduled to hit the screens on November 22.Tnm StaffFrozen 2 is one of the most awaited animation films world-over and the makers are ensuring that the Indian audience is catered to as well. While announcements were made earlier that actor-cousins Priyanka Chopra and Parineeti Chopra will be voicing for Elsa and Anna respectively in the Hindi dubbed version of the film, actor Nithya Menen was signed up to lend her voice for Elsa in the Telugu dubbed version. Now it has been announced that the Tamil version of Frozen 2 will have actor Shruti Haasan voice-act Elsa. The announcement was made on Friday via Walt Disney Studios India’s Twitter handle. We're thrilled to announce that the versatile @shrutihaasan will be voicing Elsa in Tamil! ❄ Welcome to the Disney family! #Frozen2 pic.twitter.com/KN6Sn6htdP — Walt Disney Studios India (@DisneyStudiosIN) November 8, 2019 Shruti too confirmed the news on her social profiles.

The Russian animated franchise The Snow Queen has sold to Japan and Indonesia.

Japanese distributor The Klockworx Co. has picked up the franchise's third installment, The Snow Queen. Fire and Ice, production company Wizart Animation announced.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's largest theatrical distributor Cgv Indonesia acquired the fourth part, The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands.

"We are delighted to be working with Wizart Animation, especially releasing The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands because we see a high audience potential," said Karina Mahadi, Cgv Indonesia's head of acquisitions.

Under earlier deals, The Snow Queen 4 will be released later this year in China by Hy Media and ...

The Russian animated franchise The Snow Queen has sold to Japan and Indonesia.

Japanese distributor The Klockworx Co. has picked up the franchise's third installment, The Snow Queen. Fire and Ice, production company Wizart Animation announced.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's largest theatrical distributor Cgv Indonesia acquired the fourth part, The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands.

"We are delighted to be working with Wizart Animation, especially releasing The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands because we see a high audience potential," said Karina Mahadi, Cgv Indonesia's head of acquisitions.

Under earlier deals, The Snow Queen 4 will be released later this year in China by Hy Media and ...

The Snow Queen Written by Matt Opatrny Directed by Jessica Burr Presented by Blessed Unrest at New Ohio Theatre, NYC December 31, 2017-January 14, 2018

It seems fitting that The Snow Queen opened against the backdrop of New York's most frigid New Year's Eve in decades. Luckily, it deserves a very warm reception. Developed with the aid of a residency at the New Victory Theater and the advice of a class of fourth-graders, The Snow Queen entertainingly adapts Hans Christian Andersen's 19th-century tale, to which it adheres fairly closely in its major events while refocusing a few of its key elements, including the symbolic subtext of its central characters' journeys. The final product is a delightful balance of comedy, adventure, and just a tinge of melancholy.

The protagonists are two children, Gerda (Nancy McArthur) and Kay (Todd Grace), the depth of whose friendship is represented by the way that even their clothing and movements echo one another.

Once may be formulaic, but it's a winning formula, says Kylie. Here's her review of Rocky Road...

This review contains spoilers.

4.3 Rocky Road

This week’s episode takes the typical Once fare, groan-worthy moments and all, and turns it into a winning formula. It’s a fast-paced, streamlined offering that doesn’t linger in one place long enough for excess padding or melodrama. Rocky Road makes me think that Once doesn’t need a major shake-up to improve. Its flaws would be negligible if its overall execution were better, as it was this week.

That’s not to say that focusing on one character or issue is a bad thing, but in this case, jumping around works very well. Snow is trying to balance motherhood and her new job as mayor. Rumple is still actively lying to Belle about the dagger, but Hook knows his secret. Hook is having drama with Emma,...

Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Sunday’s episode of Once Upon a Time. The Snow Queen has arrived! During Sunday’s episode of Once Upon a Time, a chill continued to hang over Storybrooke—but Elsa (Georgina Haig) wasn’t to blame when Maid Marian (Christine Laing) suddenly turned to ice. Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Charming (Josh Dallas) discovered that the real culprit worked at the local ice cream parlor, thanks to the help of cunning thief Will Scarlet (Michael Socha). But Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) and Elsa found the source first, discovering the Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell...

Welcome to the Spoiler Room, a safe place for spoiler addicts to come on a weekly basis to learn what’s coming next on their favorite shows and, hopefully, get a few of their own questions answered. If you want scoop on a specific show, send your questions to spoilerroom@ew.com. The Walking Dead is coming back! What can you tease? — Derek The season premiere is a nail-biting, jaw-dropping, stomach-turning, fast-paced—shall I go on?—hour that will leave you on the edge of your seat. While I can’t give too much away, I will say that the...

Frozen is being targeted in a $250 million (£154m) plagiarism lawsuit.

Peruvian writer Isabella Tanikumi claims that the Disney movie is closely based on her life, citing 18 instances in which the film steals from her memoirs, reports The Guardian.

Living My Truth and Yearnings of the Heart detail Tanikumi's experiences as a youngster living at the foot of the snow-covered Andes.

The memoirs feature two sisters who become closer after an earthquake strikes and causes the death of a loved one, as well as suitors named Hans and Cristoff.

One sister injures the other and hides herself away through shame, while one of the Frozen DVD covers is said to share similarities with the cover of the memoir.

It has previously been suggested that Frozen is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale The Snow Queen.

Frozen earned more than $1 billion at the box office and is the highest-grossing animated movie of all time.

Well, this is something of a stretch... A New Jersey-based author named Isabella Tanikumi has filed a lawsuit against Disney claiming that their animated blockbuster "Frozen" incorporated elements from her books, "Living My Truth" and "Yearning of My Heart," both of which are autobiographical. Please keep in mind that "Frozen" is adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Snow Queen" that was originally published in Denmark in 1844.

The lawsuit, detailed by Entertainment Weekly (via E!), was filed on September 21st and features 18 instances where "Frozen" supposedly mimics Tanikumi's work. She is suing for a whopping $250 million. These instances vary from the incredibly vague ("Younger Sister Falls in Love" and "Two Male Characters") to things that are both specific and totally insane ("Hands to the Sky With Sprinkles," something that she claims is an image from her books that is replicated on the DVD cover).

Other things to keep in...

Uh, is there a real-life Olaf the talking snowman somewhere?!

Sing with us: Do you want to file a laaawsuit?

An author named Isabella TaniKumi has filed a $250 million suit against the Walt Disney Company saying that Frozen was not actually based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, The Snow Queen, but her 2010 autobiography about growing up in Peru.

Yes, this woman claims Frozen stole her life story.

This is crazy for two reasons: 1) The obvious, and 2) Did Isabella just see Frozen? How is she only getting around to it now? Is that even possible? The movie has literally been everywhere.

News: Find out about the Frozen ride coming to Disney World!

There have been discrepancies in the details, with some outlets saying the plagiarized book is eBook Yearnings of the Heart (the only title listed under Isabella’s name on Amazon) and others say it is Living My Truth under a pseudonym, L. Amy Gonzalez...

You might have thought Walt Disney's "Frozen" was about an ice princess and a talking snowman ... but it's actually one woman's true-life story -- or so she's claiming in a new $250 Million lawsuit.Isabella Tanikumi claims the movie is Not based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, "The Snow Queen" ... but rather her 2010 autobiography -- about growing up in the Andean mountains of Peru.Tanikumi claims Disney plagiarized and copied the story, characters, and...

Exclusive: Universal Pictures to release in Aus/Nz following Toronto deal.

Russian animation house Wizart Animation has finalised Toronto deals for The Snow Queen (2012) and The Snow Queen 2 (2014) for Australia, New Zealand and Africa.

The films will be released by Universal Pictures in Australia and New Zealand following an acquisition by Odin’s Eye Entertainment while TWC (Transworld Television Corporation) has picked up The Snow Queen for Africa (excluding South Africa).

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale and co-produced by Timur Bekmambetov, the franchise follows a troll whose victory over the Snow Queen gives his fellow trolls a taste for freedom.

The English-language voice cast on the latest film includes Sharlto Copley, Bella Thorne, Isabelle Fuhrman and Sean Bean.

“Odin’s Eye and Universal are very excited about the prospects for this animated franchise in Australia and New Zealand,” said Odin’s Eye CEO Michael Favelle.

“With great storytelling and world class animation, we are extremely...

20th Century Fox

There’s no telling what, exactly, will allow a motion picture to cross the billion dollar gross mark – there’s no set formula or a pre-determined set of rules that can predict a movie’s success at the box office. It just happens. When a movie does successfully manage to cross the billion dollar line, though, it’s never anything but impressive – a billion dollars is a hell of a lot of money, and for an “entertainment” product to pull in that much cash… well, it qualifies said entertainment product as something of an unmitigated success.

Given the way that pretty much every single billion dollar movie has left its mark on popular culture on a global scale, then, we’ve decided to take a look through all of the flicks that managed to do so to bring you a list of the most iconic scenes contained within.

In case you're wondering what caused a sudden spike in Frozen trivia this week, ABC aired a special called "The Story of Frozen: Making a Disney Animated Classic" Tuesday night that gave a legion of fans a look into the film's path to blockbuster success. Given the heights that Frozen fandom has reached, we don't doubt that more than a few viewers were nudging the people on the couch next to them bragging, "I actually already knew that." For all but the top-tier Frozen-philes, however, the special offered a ton of trivia. Here's what we learned. 1. Disney had been...

Once upon a time, Disney released an animated film called Frozen, a musical comedy (loosely) based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen; upon arriving in theaters, it performed well above studio expectations, breaking 1994′s The Lion King previous opening weekend record. If Disney’s long term goals for Frozen are loose for the time being, though, their short term plans for Jennifer Lee – who wrote the film’s script and co-directed it alongside Chris Buck – are beginning to crystallize.

In Lee’s case, Frozen has given her room to leverage her follow up project, which happens to be an adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 science fantasy novel, A Wrinkle in Time. (So sayeth Variety.) Reportedly, Lee has already stirred the interest of Disney executives with ...

Click to continue reading Disney Adapting ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ With ‘Frozen’ Director...

ABC's “Once Upon a Time” can chill now that it has found its own Elsa for its upcoming Season 4 “Frozen” storyline. Georgina Haig will play Queen Elsa of Arendelle, also known as the The Snow Queen, a show representative told TheWrap. Elsa is the older sister of Princess Anna and was next in line for Arendelle's throne, until her powers over ice and snow led her to become the famous Snow Queen, ruler of winter. She was voiced by Idina Menzel in the movie. Also read: ABC's ‘Once Upon a Time’ Finds Its Kristoff and Anna From ‘Frozen’ Haig has appeared in recurring.

Ready to meet the real live Queen Elsa of Arendelle?

ABC’s Once Upon a Time has filled the coveted role, the show’s version of Disney’s snow queen from last year’s animated mega-hit Frozen.

Actress Georgina Haig has landed the part, sources say. She’s probably best known to TV viewers from her arc on Fox’s Fringe (playing Henrietta “Etta” Bishop, the daughter of Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham). She can also currently be seen on the CBS summer drama Reckless.

The character is loosely based on “The Snow Queen,” the Danish fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen.

Walt Disney Animation’s Frozen was in development for many years. In fact, even Walt Disney had trouble bringing the character to life. The adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1845 fairytale The Snow Queen has gone through many versions over the decades. Disney was developing a hand-drawn version of The Snow Queen before The Princess and The […]

The post Frozen Concept Art Shows What A Hand Drawn Movie Could’ve Looked Like appeared first on /Film.

It turns out not everybody wants to build a snowman.

A woman in Japan has asked her husband for a divorce because he admitted that he didn't like Frozen.

The wife, 29, became entranced by the Disney musical and made several trips to the cinema to catch the film without her 31-year-old other half.

He initially resisted her offers to come and see the musical, but realising she wouldn't let it go, he relented and came along to watch the box office hit.

At university the husband had studied Danish Literature, so the fact that Hans Christian Anderson's tale The Snow Queen served as inspiration for Frozen would suggest he'd embrace the film. Not so.

According to Japanese website Kikonsha no Hakaba (which ominously translates to 'The Gravesite of Married People'), he reviewed the film to his wife thusly: "It's an okay movie, I guess, but I didn't really care for it personally.

Hit Disney film Frozen is to become a live ice skating show.

The production based on the movie, which has become the sixth highest-grossing movie in box office history, will begin touring in September 2014.

Producer Nicole Feld said: "While it might seem obvious that Frozen is well suited for the ice, this Disney On Ice production will touch audiences emotionally through innovative show elements and world-class skating."

Tickets are already available for Disney On Ice presents Frozen, which will feature Mickey and Minnie Mouse taking the audience through the film's plot.

It was announced in January that Frozen would also be adapted into a Broadway musical.

Meanwhile, Disney chairman Alan Horn recently said that there have been no talks yet about a sequel.

The movie - which was loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen - featured the voices of Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Idina Menzel.

I'm not going to lie. I just watched Frozen last weekend, which was pretty ironic considering my city has been experiencing a wicked heatwave. Southern California could use a Queen Elsa, that's for sure. Shortly after I finally shook "Let it Go" from my head, I caught up with my long-time Disney love, ABC's Once Upon a Time and was happily shocked by the last few minutes of the season 3 finale. Maid Marian isn't the only Disney character Emma and Hook accidentally brought back. It looks like The Snow Queen (Aka Queen Elsa) has been released from Rumplestiltskin's vase and is making use of some long-overdue, icy powers. What's in store for Storybrooke now?...

[Warning: Spoilers ahead for Sunday’s season-three finale of Once Upon a Time] Once Upon a Time is welcoming a chilling icon to Storybrooke. The ABC fairy tale drama introduced a new character from the Disney vault, as revealed in the closing seconds of Sunday’s two-hour season-three finale: The Snow Queen, also known as Elsa, will make her way to the canon in the new season. Q&A: 'Once Upon a Time' Bosses on Finale: 'Epic Wish Fulfillment' The decision to bring the Snow Queen into the fold is a timely one, as the character was most recently featured

read more...

Update: The full recap is live!

Dear Once Upon a Time,

You did it. You managed to completely shock me. Hats off to you!

I’ll admit, I’ve stuck with this show for three seasons — despite an increasingly silly family tree, deaths that don’t stick (except when they do), an absurd amount of loyalty flip-flopping, an unnecessary amount of attention paid to the most ill-matched couple on television (give it up, Belle; nobody’s buying it), and other mind-boggling headscratchers (like where Smee gets his beanies) that make me question whether I really want to admit in public how much I love Once.

Frozen has surpassed The Lion King to become the longest-running No.1 soundtrack by an animated film on the Us Billboard chart.

The Disney hit, which has now spent 10 weeks at the top, took advantage of Easter shopping and achieved its strongest sales week yet. It shifted 259,000 copies in the week ending April 20, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

To date, Frozen has sold 2.3 million copies.

Meanwhile, Disney chairman Alan Horn recently said that there have been no talks yet about a sequel.

It was also announced that Frozen has become the sixth highest-grossing movie in box office history, moving ahead of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The movie - which was loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen - featured the voices of Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Idina Menzel.

Watch a performance of 'Let It Go' below:...

Disney chairman Alan Horn has said that there have been no talks yet about a Frozen sequel.

Frozen has become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time since its release last year. It has also won two Academy Awards.

Horn told those in attendance at the Bloomberg Business of Entertainment Breakfast on Tuesday (April 22) that a Frozen sequel has not yet been discussed.

He added that Disney's primary focus now is adapting the blockbuster into a Broadway spinoff.

It was recently announced that Frozen has become the sixth highest-grossing movie in box office history, moving ahead of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The movie - which was loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen - featured the voices of Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Idina Menzel.

Watch a performance of 'Let It Go' below:...

Disney's 3D musical-comedy Frozen is officially the highest grossing animated film of all-time, climbing over the billion-dollar mark after a strong opening weekend in Japan. The Oscar-winning flick has now grossed $1.072 billion worldwide, which breaks down to $398 million domestically and $674 million internationally. To reach that jaw-dropping top spot, Frozen had to ice out some friendly competition – the 2010 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 3, which previously grossed $1.063 billion.

Oscars 2014's 25 Best and Worst Moments: Idina Menzel Oversings 'Let It Go'

The film, directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (and loosely...

It's official! After weeks of smashing one record after another, Disney's Frozen has become the highest-grossing animated film of all time! The musical about two sisters/princesses took the crown from Toy Story 3, bypassing its worldwide total of $1.06 billion with $1.07 billion. And that number will continue to rise as Frozen is still in theaters around the world in 2D, 3D, and Sing Along variants. Frozen broke its first record on its opening weekend, when it became the #1 all-time Thanksgiving debut with $67.4 million over the three-day weekend, but $93.6 mil over the five-day. That title was previously held by Toy Story 2, which boasted $57 million on its Thanksgiving release. Tackling two Toy Story titles is all the more impressive when you consider that it toppled two franchise movies with widely established and beloved characters. Yes, Frozen is very loosely based on "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, but it's doubtful...

Washington, March 31: Disney's 'Frozen' has become the most successful animated movie ever after raking in 1.07 billion dollars this weekend.

According to the Verge, the movie, which has grossed over 650 million dollars in 27 territories over the past few months, left behind 'Toy Story 3', which was the previous record holder for highest grossing animated film.

The film, which is loosely based on fairytale 'The Snow Queen' by Hans Christian Anderson, has been a huge success worldwide and was the first non-Pixar 3D animation from Disney to win the Oscar. (Ani)...

Disney’s animated megahit Frozen is officially the highest-grossing animated film of all time. After opening in Japan — its final market — this weekend, its total sales now reach $1.072 billion.

The tally bumps the fairy tale over Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3, which held the top spot since 2010, when that film grossed $1.063 billion. It is the first billion-dollar title from Disney Animation studios; domestic receipts of $398.4 million and $674 million internationally earned Frozen that distinction. In 27 territories, it is now the No. 1 Disney or Pixar film, which helped buoy it into the Top 10 of all films globally at the box office.

Frozen is in the history books at No.1! The heartwarming Disney film became the highest grossing animated feature this weekend, Walt Disney Studios announced in a press release. The fun-loving flick earned an estimated $398.4 million domestically and raked in an additional $674 million internationally, making a grand total of $1.072 billion worldwide. Frozen is also the first billion-dollar film for Walt Disney Animation Studios. This highly impressive feat surpasses the mark Toy Story 3 set in 2010. In case you haven't seen Frozen and don't know every word to "Let It Go"... The film is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, The Snow Queen, and features the...

Stars: Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk, Edie McClurg | Written and Directed by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen and apparently inspired by the scenery of Norway, Frozen is the tale of a pair of royal sisters, the reclusive Elsa (Idina Menzel), who has X-Men-style ice powers and Anna (Kristen Bell), who is slightly dippy and outgoing. When Elsa accidentally reveals her wacky mutant talent at her own coronation to a shocked general public, she runs away into the wilderness and ensconces herself in a quickly whipped-up fortress of solitude, in a scene not dissimilar to Dr Manhattan’s construction of his Martian palace in Watchmen. Anna, with grumpy ice salesman Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer Sven and a living snowman called Olaf (Josh Gad) give chase to try and bring her home and sort everything out.

The success of Disney’s animated behemoth Frozen is something that was hard to imagine last November. The studio had not put a lot behind the film’s marketing campaign (save a misleading trailer that focused on comic relief characters Sven and Olaf) and sandwiched the release between two major box office guarantees, the sequels to The Hunger Games and The Hobbit. But, audiences of young girls and their parents could not get enough of the touching story of two sisters, as well as the delightful musical numbers. (We really need to let it go with all of the “Let It Go” videos online.) Word-of-mouth quickly spread and at the time of the film’s Blu-Ray and DVD release, it still lingers in the lower part of the weekend box office Top 10 – 16 weeks after it opened. Also, the film is the biggest animated hit in Disney’s history, internationally (although...

Frozen has captured the hearts - and ears! - of the world, but it was almost a very different movie. "When we first joined the project there was a script that was a live-action sort of Romancing the Stone kind of adventure," songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez tells People about working on what would go on to become the Oscar-winning animated Disney film and the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It is now available on Blu-Ray/DVD. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen, Frozen had a long road to the big screen that included many rewrites and changes.

Frozen Blu-ray You.d think Disney might have exhausted the fairytale canon for princess stories at this point, but with Frozen, the famous animation company has pulled together a zinger of a story with plenty of emotional payoff, helped along by a story from Hans Christian Anderson and artwork by Kay Nielson. Frozen is loosely based on the Anderson story "The Snow Queen," but in Disney.s version, two sisters are important to the tale. Princesses Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are fast friends as youngsters but grow apart after Elsa.s magical abilities get out of hand. Years later, Elsa is set to ascend to the throne when her power.magic that allows her to manipulate the weather.swirls out of control once more. She hides out in the mountains, leaving it up to Anna to chase after her and bring her home. It sounds like a...

"Frozen" comes out on DVD this week, and we can't think of a better month for the film to be released. Not only did the $1-billion-grossing phenomenon just win two memorable Academy Awards on March 2nd, but let's face it, for a bulk of the country, it's been a frozen state of mind this winter -- even as we supposedly approach Spring on the calendar. March is also Women's History Month, and "Frozen" is one of Disney's most girl-empowering Princess films. But of course, the movie's inspiring messages about conquering your fears and letting love guide you are universal, so we're celebrating "Frozen's" DVD release with a tribute to it and five other Disney films with exemplary messages for viewers of all ages.

Since "Frozen" was loosely inspired by "The Snow Queen" (by Hans Christian Andersen), Elsa was originally going to be a villain. But the filmmakers believed that...

var brightcovevideoid = '3352754458001'; Disney's red-hot hit Frozen comes out Tuesday on Blu-Ray and DVD, but bright and early, you can watch this clip from the film before it hits stores. In the online exclusive, Anna (Kristen Bell) journeys to her sister Elsa's (Idina Menzel, aka Adele Dazeem) ice castle, accompanied by Jonathan Groff's mountain man Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, and their snowman sidekick Olaf, voiced by Josh Gad. Frozen has raked in more than $1 billion in box office receipts worldwide, becoming only the second animated feature in history to achieve the milestone (the other, says the Hollywood Reporter,...

Frozen is one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, raking in over $1 billion worldwide in barely 4 months. If you ignore inflation or re-releases, it is the highest-grossing film from Walt Disney Animation Studios ever. A few weeks ago, it became the first of Disney’s (not Pixar’s) animated features to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar since that category’s inception in 2001. And you can’t go far online without finding a video of someone singing its Oscar-winning anthem “Let It Go.” Hell, you can watch a video of people singing it in multiple languages, one which has racked up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and the like. Thus, it’s not wrong to say that Frozen has become a sensation the likes of which we haven’t seen from Disney’s animation arm since the heyday of their Renaissance period in the early 1990s.

Walt Disney Pictures

Disney’s latest film Frozen is a smash hit. It has amassed a billion dollars and counting at the box office, picked up the Oscar for best animated film, and currently sits on an 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. After a rough start to the 2000′s the House of Mouse’s animation department has really found its groove again, and it looks like nothing but good things await fans of the studio.

Or do they?

While Frozen has quickly become a critical and commercial darling, it seems like there is one serious flaw in the film’s formula: the villain. In the past, Disney has been responsible for creating an amazing rogues’ gallery of antagonists. We’ve seen wicked queens, scheming siblings, and magic-bearers who can transform themselves into gigantic, fantastical creatures. These characters create mayhem for our heroes and heroines, ensuring that the road to happily...

It's been a great few months for Frozen since the film hit theaters last fall. The film has gone on to pass $1 billion at the worldwide box office. And if that wasn't enough, the film also took home Best Animated Feature at the Oscars last weekend. And while everyone loves the film, there's been just as much praise for one of the best elements within the animated feature: the music. The catchy and spectacular "Let It Go" won Best Original Song at the Oscars as well, and now Idina Menzel (or Adele Dazeem according to John Travolta) has taken the time to sing it with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots and classroom instruments. Watch! Here's Idina Menzel singing "Let It Go" with Jimmy Fallon & The Roots on "The Tonight Show" last night: Frozen, loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's story "The Snow Queen," stars Broadway legend Idina Menzel as Elsa,...

Feature Mark Harrison 5 Mar 2014 - 06:39

For every animated movie that gets made, there are dozens more that never make it. Mark looks at some failed Disney projects...

In the age of the internet, Hollywood studios are much quicker to announce the projects they have in development than they used to be. Now that the demand is there, there's a huge turnover of movie-related news every day, and if you follow it in any significant way, there are probably a whole bunch of projects that you've heard about, maybe even gotten excited about, that never came to fruition.

Still, it's not only via the easier availability of such information that we know about projects that never came to be. At a studio like Disney, projects will get as far as being fully developed in animatic form before falling apart, and the artefacts left behind from such abridged projects have made for some fascinating reading.

Disney's animated fairy tale "Frozen," which picked up two Academy Awards last night (for best Original Song and Animated Feature), now has another feather to stick in its frosty cap: it has just crossed the $1 billion worldwide box office milestone. That should take the sting off of the generally horrible Idina Menzel performance from last night.

Last night's win marked the first time that a Walt Disney Animation Studios film had picked up the Best Animated Feature Oscar in the category's 13-year history, and the new worldwide box office total makes it only the second animated feature to cross that threshold. (The other is Pixar's "Toy Story 3.") In the history of the studio, this is only the seventh film to make over $1 billion worldwide. It's currently just inside the top 20 list of highest grossing movies of all time.

"With 'Frozen,' we knew we had something truly special on our hands,...

This year, there were five movies up for Best Animated Feature: "The Croods," "Despicable Me 2," "Ernest and Celestine," "Frozen," and "The Wind Rises."

It was an eclectic mix of nominees ranging from the usual suspects like Disney and Dreamworks to a French-Belgian adaptation of children's books ("Ernest and Celestine") and the final film from acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. Audiences of all ages could be entertained by the variety of fantastical stories, but only one film could collect the gold statue.

And the winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature is... "Frozen."

It's not a surprise that "Frozen" -- the musical adaptation of "The Snow Queen" -- racked up more acclaim. "Frozen" was not just the second highest-grossing film of 2013, but also the second highest grossing animated film ever. With a tentative Broadway adaptation being planned and the movie still doing big box office numbers (even into the approaching spring season!

A second weekend adds to The Lego Movie's impressive tally as it retains its top slot above Mr Peabody & Sherman and Disney's Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy

• The Lego Movie – review

• Mr Peabody & Sherman – review

• More on the UK box office

The winner

Our compact half-term school holidays always concentrate the minds of UK families, offering rich potential for bonanza box-office over a highly compressed time period. And so it has proved with the half-term just ended: from Friday 14 February to Sunday 23 February, The Lego Movie has taken an astonishing £19.72m in just 10 days of play, an average of nearly £2m per day. Add in the previews from the previous weekend, and the film's tally to date rises to a stonking £21.88m. That's more than the lifetime totals of the two lowest-grossing Pixar films – Cars and Cars 2 – and is also ahead of both Kung Fu Panda pictures from DreamWorks Animation.

In its storied history of technical trailblazing and making dreams come true for those of all stripes, Walt Disney Animation Studios has been inconsistent at best when it comes to character complexity and thematic significance. That is, until recently.

Disney’s most iconic animated characters of the pre-Renaissance are marked by passivity, or, at their worst, one-dimensionality. Interchangeable heroes innocuously save the day. Archetypal villains enter frame with a single antagonistic goal and leave without having undergone legitimate arcs. We see these tropes evolve, but they are not the ones plaguing the most idolized and cherished of this canon.

In the vaunted princess category, we begin, of course, with the Snow White, a nary-intriguing fulcrum upon which the rest of her seminal 1937 film swings. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty continue the trend of female protagonists who more or less look pretty and wait for a man and/or some magical happenstance...

Walt Disney avoided mixing religion and film, but the company is starting to embrace more Christian undertones

A Southern Baptist university professor in Texas is suggesting that Disney's animated feature Frozen, now doing well at the box office and just nominated for two Academy Awards, "might be the most Christian movie that I have seen this year". In fact, he says, it may be "a better allegory for the Christian gospel than Cs Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" – borderline blasphemy for many believers.

Collin Garbarino, assistant professor of history at Houston Baptist University, acknowledges that if he were to press his point of view of the film, which is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen, his faculty colleagues "might run me out of the university on a rail".

The reason his take on Frozen is potentially incendiary, and at least ironic, is...

Washington, Jan. 23: Disney is all set to re-release 'Frozen' at the end of this month, in a special sing-along version.

The all new version of the film will release in 1,000 theatres on January 31st, giving fans a chance to sing-along to their favourite tunes, Contactmusic reported.

The Oscar-nominated film, which is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, 'The Snow Queen', stars the voices of Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad, with Chris Buck directing.

Meanwhile, the studio is also planning a stage adaptation of the film, transforming it into a Broadway musical. (Ani)...