A Tale Of Two Snow Queens

It was the best of animation, it was the worst of animation. Over the next couple months, you will be able to choose for yourself which is the true Queen, and which will be the also ran. One is from Disney, and one is produced in the frozen land of Russia; both are based on the classic tale The Snow Queen By Hans Christian Andersen… and both, interestingly enough, have just released new trailers in anticipation of their pending releases.

First let’s look at the Inlay Film Company and Wizart Animation production of Snezhnaya Koroleva (The Snow Queen). This released the end of last year in it’s native Russia, and will finally see US release on October 11. Closest to the original in story, it is also the least known of the two. Small budget (7 million US) and an unknown cast, this David is taking on the mighty Goliath of Disney’s Frozen.

It probably will not make much, but it does not need to. After watching the trailer, the acting seems to be lacking, and the animation is not always top rate.… but it surprised me how much better it is than I would have thought (especially after viewing Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure). So here is the trailer:



It’s hard to say exactly what’s wrong with the newest trailer for Disney’s “Frozen” — but something seems a bit “off” about the whole thing. The animation and design look fine (if uninspired), and the voice acting seems to fit the characters. Perhaps it’s just that the trailer doesn’t really give us much of an idea of what the film is about — as it is, it strikes one as a series of mostly unfunny comedic moments that never really fully cohere or make you want to watch the movie.

The dull narration that begins the trailer, along with the completely inexplicable title cards that explain the characters’ relationships and ask incomprehensible rhetorical (?) questions, don’t help matters.

There’s an art to making trailers — in the best cases, a trailer is like a great short film in and of itself. It tells a coherent and exciting story, without giving the movie’s best moments away. This trailer, on the other hand, sort of falls apart on the “remaining coherent” front.

But Disney aficionados shouldn’t give up hope — those who recall the promotional campaign for “Tangled” may remember how many of the trailers for the film failed to accurately represent the final product. It may well be that Disney simply isn’t sure how to sell “Frozen,” and this is simply another “Tangled” situation where the final product ends up a lot better than the underwhelming trailers.

Here is the Frozen trailer:




So there you go, two animated Frozen Snow Queens for your viewing pleasure this fall. What, that’s not enough? OK, you are right, there is a third Snow Queen, due out in November. It is live-action, though…

Not really interested in either of these two....