 Can you believe it's been six years since Frozen hit theaters? I can't. Seems like only yesterday, kids and adults alike were annoying me with songs from that movie. Probably because it was. Today though, we're gonna see if Frozen 2 can carry that tune for another six on this episode of Movie Feuds. Typically when I battle a movie and its sequel, I go over the characters that stay the same and then spend a good amount of time on the newcomers. That's not really the case here though. Frozen 2 doesn't have a lot of new blood, but instead doubles down on the original cast. Elsa, Anna, Sven, Kristoff, and of course, merchandise himself, Olaf are back in action. The bond between Elsa and Anna is stronger than ever and the film really hammers that into the audience's head. You could say things were on a bit of shaky ground the first time the ladies got out of the castle, but by the end of the film and multiple short stories later, they are as strong as the Disney Plus lineup pretends to be. The catalog is misleading. The two have definitely grown and learned over the years, but the same can't really be said for the rest of the returning cast. Kristoff still speaks on behalf of his reindeer Sven to an even more obnoxious degree. And Olaf remains blissfully ignorant of his surroundings. He does at bare minimum now have the wherewithal to understand things are changing around him. In the first Frozen, his primary storyline was just not melting out of existence. Frozen 2 addresses this right away by giving Olaf a nice coat of permafrost. Now the sun doesn't bother him anyway. In the process, this also removes a plot for him. He does still have some great moments, such as reenacting scenes from the original Frozen to once more having his own solo number. If you were a fan of the trolls in the first movie, why? You will be disappointed as they are a little more than a cameo in the sequel. Frozen 2 also opts to do away with the traditional villain, Hans being the previous one, kind of. Instead, they play off a figure from the past whose decisions still echo through the forest. It's a magical forest of that, full of mist, reindeer, rock giants, and some newcomers that I alluded to earlier. Sterling K. Brown being the standout as Lieutenant Mateus, the personal guard to Prince Agnar. Martha Plimpton is the only other character to make a small impact as Yalana. And honestly, the only impact she made was questioning whether or not that was actually Betty White doing the voice. Was it just me? I thought she sounded like Betty White. It was just me, okay. There is another reindeer whisperer, too, because one of those wasn't enough for the kids, I guess. Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Kristen Bell, and Edina Menzel are why audiences returned for the sequel, and the film delivered on that front. Now let's go build a snowman. Loosely Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, Disney has their own take on the subject matter with Frozen. Originally, the writers wanted to fully embrace the story of an evil ice queen causing havoc on the town, only to be thwarted by a good and pure princess. This was even hinted at during some of those early trailers for the film. Eventually it was decided that Elsa would actually be sisters with Anna, and not to be evil at all. Instead, and I'm going to be a little bit judgmental here, her parents were the worst. Locking her in isolation inside the castle walls while they freely gallivanted across the ocean sea. Only to be lost in a watery grave, so I guess the joke's on them. I'm not sure what their end game was with their kids, but they tried their best, I guess. It doesn't take long after that for Elsa to lose her cool and perpetuate a never-ending winter storm that will really put a chokehold on the ice delivery business. That industry is going to suffer. She runs away like a typical teenager when there's work to be done around the house. Sings a song that will ruin your life, builds an ice castle, lets her hair down for a bit, and creates a snow golem to murder her sister Anna, who she presumably cares for. Regardless, Anna is determined to bring her sister home. I mean, Elsa's got to at least be there for the wedding. Oh yes, I almost forgot, Anna was also engaged to a man named Hans, who she met like two minutes after stepping foot outside. To be fair, he did sincerely smile at her without a hint of malaise. Joins her in a catchy duet and offers to watch over the castle while she's away. The final act, however, reveals this was all a big ruse, and she was hoodwinked, as was the audience and the writers, by his charms. Nobody saw it coming, especially not the writers. A couple prophecies about frozen hearts and a true love's kiss later, and we see Anna save her sister Elsa breaking the spell or something. I don't know, it's all a bunch of magical nonsense, whimsical fairy dust, adventure time stuff, but it does kind of wrap up pretty much everything nicely. Which was made very clear when the sequel fired up. It's story hour in Frozen 2, as we see Anna and Elsa's little kids again, laying in bed while Mother tells multiple tales of exposition. Which Frozen 2 does a lot of. It takes its time, lays a foundation for a lot of new story building, a lot of world building stuff, and it turns out, the world of Arendelle and beyond, this universe isn't much different than that of Avatar the Last Airbender. Containing even the same elements of earth, wind, fire, and water, with a fifth mysterious element on the horizon. These elements used to live in harmony with humans back in the day until war broke out. A bad bridge deal later and a wall of mist was put up to keep anything from entering the unknown forest. It's a lot to unpack, but don't worry, it's barely worth thinking about. Instead, listen to the songs as they come fast and furious throughout the picture. When we finally catch up with present day Elsa, we learn she's having a hard time sleeping these days. Presumably because of poor circulation, but also because there's a beautiful sound, singing sweet nothings into her ears. She decides that her life of sneezing up snow babies when sick, trying to find a holiday tradition, and what dress color to wear just aren't as fulfilling as they once were. So she sets up to follow the voice and find out where it leads. Naturally the rest of the gang needs to tag along because they're completely worthless for the most part. And families everything. Subplots include Kristoff poorly attempting to propose to Anna, Olaf being afraid of things, and land disputes between two tribes. In a shock to absolutely no one, it's revealed that there is in fact a fifth element. Starring Bruce Willis and Mila Jovovich and Elsa. She with the help of her sister managed to calm the elements and bring peace to the woods. Kristoff finally gets to lock down that marriage. And Elsa breaks in a water horse, becoming a John Snow-esque explorer, searching out the realms around her while Anna takes over as Queen of Arendelle. For all the familiar beats it has, Frozen 2 does manage to feel quite different from the first, and that's an accomplishment these days. 2013's Frozen is crisp and well animated outside of an occasional ponytail through arm mishap. Frozen 2 takes advantage of six years worth of new technology, with sharper visuals and much more detailed environments. I honestly think it has some really beautiful shots. I never found myself impressed with any particular scene in the first. It felt pretty by the numbers for Disney, but this one, this one has some truly awe-inspiring vistas. Shout out to the fantastic storyboard artists for that. The look of these films is hardly what the audience turns out for. Let's get to the meat of it, the music. And I think to separate these two movies, it really boils down to this. Do you fancy yourself a nice radio play hit? Or are you more of the theater type? Frozen 1 is pure bubble gum repeat music. You hear the songs once and they stay in your head until the eventual sweet release of death grips you. Let it go. Do you want to build a snowman? Love is an open door. You know them all. We all know them all. Disney and company could have easily just did the first thing again, and to a certain extent they certainly did. Olaf gets another solo number, Anna gets her bubbly intro song, and Elsa gets like two or three attempts at another let it go. The difference is none of these songs are particularly catchy or even have like a simple flow to them. Oftentimes they're broken up and they definitely fit in with the plot a lot better. The only song that really breaks the mold is Kristoff's bizarre 80s inspired love ballad, complete with reindeer backup singers. This felt like something you would see in an episode of Family Guy and not in a feature length Disney film. Composer Kristoff Beck returned, bringing with him that Norwegian sound that made the original score so memorable. This time he also included the female Norwegian choir, Cantus. This inclusion added some unique layers of harmony that blended with those colorful visuals. All that aside, I'm basic. So the first movie's music, I just, I can't walk away from it. Even though I would love to run away from it. I'm a bit torn by which movie I prefer. I've seen the original too many times to count due to my kids having it on constantly. The music is baked into my soul. I do think the sequel does a great job of standing on its own and the themes are stronger than that of the first. Probably because the script didn't feel like it was changing as it was going. Let's see what the YouTube community had to say in the polls. And apparently people didn't want to build another snowman as Frozen 2 only received 21% of the votes. Awarding Frozen, a whopping 79%. If you'd like to take part of the voting process, make sure to subscribe to my channel, Adam Does Movies. And remember, this is more than just reviews, this is Movie Feuds. And a side note, if Elsa can make things that will, like giant snow creatures, why isn't she doing this more? Seems like something that could have helped her out of a jam or two in the past. But just saying. Couple snow, couple snow golems, things like that. Maybe a carrier pigeon.