Disney’s “Frozen” was released in theatres Nov. 27, 2013. “Frozen” was directed and written by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and produced by Peter Del Vecho.

The franchise has since gained widespread popularity, even before its release in theatres. But was this movie really worth all this pre-release hype?

The soundtrack felt a bit underwhelming. There were one or two golden music numbers to be heard throughout the movie. Christophe Beck wrote the music for the movie, and there was a distinctive change from its predecessors.

As it turns out, the music was written to sound more like a musical than your average Disney track. A lot of the songs that made it into the movie were very forgettable and may have been better used as ambience. Lyrics didn’t exactly help keep it in memory.

The main protagonist Anna, (voiced by Kristen Bell) has lived without friends or real socialization for a large portion of her life. By the time she was of age, she was completely naïve to things like love and marriage. She was plucky and upbeat; so eager to get out of the castle and meet new people. That’s not a very big groundbreaking change to the typical Disney princess lineup.

The concept of “naïve royalty” gets a bit stale after 53 movies, though at the same time it’s clear why they had her personality the way it was. Going into detail would spoil a very big plot twist at the end. Romance in this story is a side dish. It’s not the foundation that the whole plot revolves around.

This is where change can be very good. The main plot in this movie is Anna’s journey to find her sister. She travels with a few odd companions. It feels like baby steps, but it’s still very welcome to see some new concepts and ideas come out of Disney. Elsa’s character was new as well (voiced by Idina Menzel).

In accordance with traditional concepts, a Disney princess is supposed to be social, cheerful, daring and courageous. Elsa falls under none of the categories. She’s withdrawn and cautious. She avoids getting too close to people and refuses any physical contact. In this way, she’s very relatable for people who could never relate to previous princesses. It’s a character archetype Disney’s never really touched on before. She was originally going to be the antagonist, but a lot of consideration went into this movie.

At the end of all their careful planning, they decided to go with one very wise decision and make Elsa the secondary character. Animation-wise, “Frozen” is probably one of the most visually stunning movies of it’s kind. As the animators were working with a lot of snow and ice based settings and designs, it was fairly obvious that this was going to have to look very specific. Most could probably predict that it would look beautiful but none of them had any idea how beautiful that really was. The animation team did an excellent job keeping the ice magic theme very much alive throughout the film.

All in all, it’s a movie that breaks the mold of typical Disney princesses, and it does so beautifully.