Note: This article is the pro position of a point-counterpoint.  To read Medina Shah’s con position, click here.

Recently, Frozen has become Disney’s newest hit, making a worldwide amount of over a billion dollars to date.  Not only has it been a huge hit, but it has also broken the record for the highest grossing animated film of all time.  However, some are wondering whether or not Frozen was truly a good enough movie to make more money than animated greats like The Lion King.

Frozen was not really that good of a movie from the start.  It wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t as good as many fans say it is.  I can think of only one redeeming factor in the movie: its music.  The soundtrack is beautiful, and it is rightfully deserving of its Oscar for “Let it Go.”  The song, along with the other musical numbers in the movie, were fantastic.  I would definitely pay to see a musical version of Frozen.   However, as an animated film, Frozen is nothing special.

For starters, the storyline is not even remotely original with the princess trope.  It’s unlike the majority of similar plotlines, but it’s not inspiring or even new.  Let’s reduce the plot to its essential elements.  A family member runs away from home, and another member of that family doesn’t like it, so she does everything in her power to bring her relative back.  There’s also a cold-hearted traitor, a love interest, and two comedic reliefs.  Doesn’t that sound a lot like The Little Mermaid?  Elsa is Ariel, Anna is Triton, Hans is Ursula, Kristoff is Eric, and Sven and Olaf are Flounder and Sebastian.  That’s right, Frozen is The Little Mermaid on a mountain.

The Frozen characters are mediocre, with the only exception being Elsa, the only interesting character in the movie. She’s born with an ability that she doesn’t want and can’t control, and in order to protect her loved ones, she hides herself away.  I liked her character in spite of her role as the antagonist.  Anna is like an empty shell.  She provides the plot with nothing interesting.  She’s also very unoriginal; she’s quirky and she loves her sister, but that’s about it.  She’s not in a situation that expresses her character as much as it does for Elsa. Anna’s just barely funny.  Olaf, one of the comedic reliefs, isn’t funny at all, except for the fact that he constantly separates into two.  Kristoff is bland, boring and baseless; his relationship with the reindeer was more interesting than his relationship with Anna.

Ultimately, the main issue with Frozen is that it didn’t try anything new or original.  Good Disney movies tend to have one aspect that makes it different from the rest. The Princess and Frog appealed to the Southern culture.  Aladdin demonstrates a male character striving for the love of a female.  Disney’s most recent production has nothing new.  Nothing.

Frozen did not deserve the Oscar for Best Animated Film.  I’m not certain that it even deserved a nomination.  With the exception of The Croods, every other nominated film was superior.  At least Despicable Me 2 was funny, and The Wind Rises was beautifully animated and unique.  Frozen is almost seven months old.  It’s time to “let it go.”