Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

This question pertains not only to the winter storm raging outside but to Disney’s newest chart-topping film: Frozen. Frozen is one of the most successful animated Disney films of all time in the United States, recently grossing over $700 million; currently, it is second to The Lion King in terms of total revenue. For the first time in animated film history a Disney movie (Frozen) earned more money than a Pixar movie (http://filmonic.com/international-box-office-frozen-slips-past-700-million).

Although I am a huge fan of Disney movies, I enjoy the pre-2000s movies more than the modern ones. Initially, I wasn’t sure what to think of Frozen, but after I heard so many good reviews I decided to see it for myself. I loved it! It had the typical elements of a Disney fairy tale: girl meets boy, they fall in love at first sight and want to get married with a modern twist. The heroine, Anna, is told to wait and get to know this new man, Hans, before she decides to marry him. Her sister, Elsa, is a sorceress who must hide her uncontrollable ice powers from everyone, including Anna, to avoid hurting her as well as others. Although it seems as if Elsa is villain once she accidentally reveals her ice powers to the entire kingdom, Hans shows himself as the villain when he refuses to save Anna from freezing and tries to kill Elsa to take the throne from her. Throughout the course of the movie, Anna realizes that she truly loves Kristoff who is by her side throughout her journey to bring Elsa back to their kingdom and does everything he can to help her. While I do believe in the kind of love found in Disney fairy tales – soul mates and fate, I truly appreciate the fact that Frozen shows that familial love is as important as romantic love. It also portrays true love as sacrificing your needs for someone else’s, as something that needs a lot of work and something that can only be true when you really know someone.

The Frozen frenzy is incredible. You can already pre-order the movie, which comes out in the middle of March, any merchandise related to Olaf the snowman or Sven the reindeer is considered rare, and other merchandise sells out in merely a few days. The most astounding thing of all is that Frozen is still going strong despite the fact that it has been in theatres for almost 2 months.

Vocabulary

Pertains (to pertain to) – has to do with (to have to do with)

Raging – wild, out of control              

Grossing (to gross) - earning (to earn)

Astounding – surprising

Going strong – doing well, continues to have success

Frenzy – craziness, obsession

Merely – only, just

Vocabulary Exercises

1.      After 20 years of marriage, their relationship was still __________________.

2.      The __________ party lasted until 6 a.m. the next morning.

3.      The number of fans at the team’s homecoming game was _______________.

4.      Her Broadway debut was __________ minutes away.

5.      Beanie Babies were a 90s _________.

6.      In only a week, his first novel __________ $100 million.

7.      The top number of a fraction _________ to a portion of the bottom number.

Grammar point
Punctuation: Italics
The title of a movie, book, magazine, newspaper, TV show and so on should be italicized. For example: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, To Kill a Mockingbird, People, Newsday, and Chopped. 

Grammar Exercise
Italicize the titles.
1. I found a great quote in Chapter 10, Strider, of The Fellowship of the Ring.
2. Every Sunday he reads the Sports section of The New York Times first. 
3. One of my favorite TV shows is Cake Boss.