Frozen Fever Review

Frozen Fever is a short film playing only on Cinderella in it's theatrical release. I originally was just going to write a paragraph about this short, but decided I had more than enough thoughts over it to warrant a separate review.

Disney's two animation studios (Walt Disney Animation Studios and PIXAR) have been using short films as a way to continue the adventures of some of their most beloved films, like Tangled and Toy Story, for a while now, but Frozen Fever may be the most hyped of these shorts. It's been prominently pumped up in ads for Cinderella, and why not? Frozen is the fifth biggest movie of all-time, it's not exactly a shocker that Disney thinks audiences might have an appetite for more adventures with Elsa and Anna.


Thankfully, the short actually works rather well as an extension of the original, and even with the presence of new little snow critters that I'm sure will be toys as soon as humanly possible, this endeavor never feels like some sort of cash-grab. Granted, it's not life-changing in it's quality, but it is quite fun and reminded me of how great Frozen is as a movie. Rewatching that 2013 film last fall was quite a treat, as the feature transcended it's humongous popularity and managed to work as just a really well done story, primarily thanks to the well written and engaging characters.

Those kind of qualities show up again here, with the dynamic between Elsa and Anna getting the majority of the story. It's a nice touch that Elsa wants to throw a successful birthday party for Anna, considering how long the two were separated growing up, but as one might suspect, conflict arises, this time in the form of a cold that Elsa is coming down with. Seeing Elsa's determination to go through with her plans for Anna's birthday, as well as Anna worrying about her sisters health, leads to some nice opportunities for effective example of both characterization and humor.

As the story progresses, a number of callbacks to the feature film that this short is spun-off from (the best may be the return of Oaken), pop up, and thankfully none are too gratuitous in execution to come off as cloying fan service. Not quite as successful is the conclusion to the plot, which came off as a bit abrupt, though at least it contains some of the best moments from the short's sole song Making Today A Perfect Day. a tune that never hits the heights of Let It Go or In Summer, but does manage to be, like Frozen Fever, an enjoyable affair that emphasizes the numerous qualities of the Frozen universe.