A quick look at: Joe Books' Disney's Frozen

[ozaline]

So when I saw there was a Frozen comic coming out from Joe Books I was pretty curious, I like Frozen and wondered what kind of tone the book would take: leaning more towards the adventure, or comedy end. It's an anthology book with a bit of both, but mostly saccharine aesops... Not that that's out of place for a Disney kids' book. I don't regret buying this issue, it's pretty cute, but it's not something I'd pick up regularly.

Here's two cute pages from a six page story.




Elsa asks Anna how she manages to stay so unflappably cheerful, and Anna says it's because things always seem to end up right in the end.

She recounts how she slept in once on waffle day (for she loves waffles)...







Also, at least one local radio station has added "Do You Want to Build a Snowman," into their Christmas music rotation, that song does not work outside of the context of the movie... like at all.

Comments

[kamino_neko]

Given the way official merch is going, despite this being a kids comic, I half expect the next panel to be a huge kiss.

[leoboiko]

Examples?

[kamino_neko]

This plate, this bottle, this lamp, this item-that-I'm-not-100%-what-it-is... Just as a start. I swear they're actively trying to court the Elsanna shippers.

[leoboiko]

Oh wow, you're not kidding. Thanks!

[janegray]

I really wish Disney would let their female protagonists be more... action-y, you know? Characters like Elsa, Mulan and Merida in particular are already badass action girls (and they are by no means the only ones. Ffs, Ariel in her introduction went up against sharks like it was nothing. Nearly all Disney Princesses have some kickass moment at one point, even Cinderella pulled some action girl moves in the third movie). Yet, in the expanded material and merchandise, we only ever get saccharine stories.

It's like they go "okay kids, you've had your slice of awesome cake in the movies, now open up for a neverending serving of cutesy broccoli!"

[icon_uk]

Jasmine at least had the Aladdin TV series where she got to be properly badass at times. Always loved the episode where Mozenrath kidnaps Aladdin (Y'know, a good start there IMHO) to use as trade to get the Genie, but leaves Jasmine to deliver the terms. Mozenrath doesn't think much of the princess, but Aladdin is completely relaxed with a cheery "Bro, you have NO idea of the sheer quantity of Grade-A shit you've just dumped yourself in" (Well, what he actually says is "You already lost the moment you made Jasmine mad", but the subtext is clear)

She even has her own evil self just waiting to get out http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Scourge_of_the_Desert">The Scourge of the Desert

[icon_uk]

It sort of undercuts the whole idea of Elsa's entire emotional isolation, if we find out she sneaked out to be a good big sister for all those years.

This I think highlights most of my basic issues with Frozen; the absolute worst shitty parenting that even Disney has depicted... with the possible exceptions of Lady Tremaine and Mother Gothel.

[janegray]

I always liked Mozenrath. Apparently there were plans to make him into Aladdin's long-lost brother in the third movie, but the writers were reluctant to mix up movies and TV show continuity too much and ended up going with Aladdin's father instead (and don't get me wrong, the old guy was awesome, but I wonder What Could Have Been).

[icon_uk]

Mozenrath was... interesting, though I would not have been a fan of the "long-lost brother trope", given that Aladdin's

I much prefer him as "simply" the power-mad aspiring sorceror (Iago mentions when they first meet that even Jafar hadn't messed with Destane, Mozenrath's mentor, and Mozenrath had already managed to kill Destane and turn him into a slave-zombie, so the kid had skills for his age) who wants a genie of his own.

Plus the reveal about his hand must be THE most horrific thing Disney ever managed to get away with on their kids block.

[ozaline]

One of the stories in this issue does have them attacked by a mama bear and Elsa creating an ice shield (Olaf deals with the bear with sweetness though). So there's a tiny bit of action.

[ozaline]

It gets even a bit worse in Once Upon a Time where it's revealed that Elsa's parents had gone on their ocean voyage to seek a way to take away Elsa's powers (and Once Upon a Time manages to push the queer parallels a bit further with Elsa and Emma despite Emma being ostensibly straight), basically seeking conversion therapy.

At least they realize they were wrong before the end and send an apology off to their daughters. Oh Elsa's mom was a horrible sister to the Ice Queen too.

[ozaline]

This shovel is one of the chief examples I've seen http://www.toysrus.com/buy/winter-sleds-tubes-snow-toys/disney-frozen-snow-shovel-64-7170t-112825576

[cyberghostface]

They definitely handled it the wrong way in isolating Elsa but at the same time she almost killed their other daughter and was a danger to herself and others, so IDT trying to remove her powers is comparable to conversion therapy.

[ozaline]

The show is not subtle about making that parallel... they don't outright say it, but the two ways shown of removing magic powers are to literally bottle someone up, and Elsa helps Emma come to terms with and love herself, and accept her magic.

[cyberghostface]

I suppose it depends on the character but I don't think every heroine needs to be an action girl. It kind of reminds me how Game of Thrones fans shun Sansa in favor of Arya because the latter is the more standard 'feisty action girl' whereas the former is not.

[ozaline]

Not everyone does, but Frozen had a fair bit of action to start with.

[razsolo]

I dunno, I think Arya is more popular because she actually has agency and doesn't take 4 or 5 years to get to the point where she will start making her own decisions and stop waiting for someone to come save her....a lot of people I know who watch the show love Marjery too, and she's very traditionally feminine but still makes her own decisions about things and finds a way to achieve her own goals for herself (I haven't read any of the books so apologies if you were referring to the books specifically)

[crinos]

I like to think in the Marvel Universe, Professor X (or Wolverine or Cyclops or whoever is running Xavier's school this week) keeps a copy of Frozen on tap because it illustrates the struggles young mutants can face, and why parents shouldn't try and suppress or deny their children's abilities.

[cyberghostface]

Well I was referring to the series in general both books and show. But people have been hating Sansa since the very beginning (in both the books and the show) and gravitated towards Arya because Arya is a tomboy who fights whereas Sansa is a traditional princess.

In terms of Sansa not doing much, there's not a lot she could do in her situation besides adapt and survive. Bran doesn't do a whole lot either and he didn't receive the level of hate Sansa does. And while Arya is more 'proactive' she still gets by because a lot of help from those around her (in the books at least, the whole bit with Arya traveling halfway across the world and killing all the Freys hasn't happened yet and the bit with the pies occurred with another character so who knows if she even kills Walder here).

[burkeonthesly]

"I tell ya, bub, it was worse in the Eighties. The best we had fer this kinda thing was 'Footloose,' an' it didn't have the same emotional heft. Love that Kevin Bacon, though."

[locuatico]

I do think the best part of that arc was the scene of Anna under the spell of shattered sight that made her reveal her negative feelings towards Elsa... and she does not make even one comment about Elsa's powers.

[janegray]

I don't think every heroine needs to be an action girl. I'm well aware that putting down stereotypically girly interests as lesser/degrading is just another, and more insidious, form of sexism. It boils down to "you are the exception to the rule that your gender sucks."

But I'm protesting the opposite here: turning every single heroine's life into a sugary rosey pink feminine girlyfest, even when it's explicitly OOC for the specific princess in question and lacks coherence with the theme of her movie.

Like, off the top of my head, Merida here is the most glaring example:

http://tinyurl.com/gq6vz7v

But, as Ozaline pointed out, Frozen too was quite the action movie, with Elsa kicking a lot of butt. She really was basically X-Men: Disney Heroine. Yet every single piece of extra material (books, comics, merchandise in general, the Frozen Fever short) portrays her as a very stereotypical girly girl. The bit Ozaline mentioned, the story with the mama bear, is the only instance I've heard so far where Elsa does something vaguely close to fighting, and even then it's Olaf who saves the day, and does so using love to boot.

[cyberghostface]

I'm admittedly not familiar with the merchandise and whatnot but I really liked Frozen Fever. I thought Elsa's new attitude made sense given where she was with Anna.

[cyberghostface]

OUAT has a lot of problems but they nailed Anna and Elsa. I also loved how they brought in the original Snow Queen and the broken mirror.

[michaelsaint]

WOW! I hadn't really noticed the shipping until I saw the examples!

Where are the parents with pitchforks and bibles? Has this made national news yet? Maybe they are celebrating the recent presidential election too much to notice.

[alicemacher]

As a matter of fact, the "How Frozen Should Have Ended" parody video ends with young Elsa attending Professor Xavier's school at Grand Pabbie's urging. (The best part of the short is Pabbie's appalled reactions to the royal couple's parenting philosophy.)

[nightauditguy]

They may have nailed them, but they could have allowed them to change clothes while in Storybrooke. Same for Merida. Least Jasmine got to wear different clothes.

[ozaline]

Best arc of the show. It can be hit and miss but the Frozen arc is by far the best. FrozenSwan is my OTP.

[ozaline]

Apparently Disney let them have a lot less free reign with those characters... Which sadly means they'll probably not appear again.

[mastermahan]

...those are not sisterly poses.