Frozen
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: November 27, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 48 Critic Reviews
Positive:
42
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeMar 24, 2020
Featuring terrific female characters, endlessly funny sidekicks and a genuinely jaw-dropping score, this loose adaptation of The Snow Queen is the best film from Walt Disney Animation in close to a generation. Read full review
100
USA TodayClaudia PuigNov 26, 2013
Wonderfully enchanting wintry fare. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubNov 26, 2013
The studio made a great film. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyNov 21, 2013
Frozen is fabulous. Read full review
100
The PlaylistDrew TaylorNov 6, 2013
As far as animated movies go, it doesn't get that much better than Frozen. It's a new Disney classic. Read full review
93
IGNChris CarleMar 24, 2020
Top to bottom, Frozen is a delight. The writing is witty, the voicing is excellent, the story is nuanced and the songs are some of the best since Beauty and the Beast. It's a throwback to a wondrous time in Disney animation, and just a ton of fun. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenNov 26, 2013
Frozen, for all its innovations, is not fundamentally revolutionary. Its animated characters are the same familiar, blank-faced, big-eyed storybook figures. But they are a little more psychologically complex than their Disney forerunners. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 26, 2013
Frozen is a delightful animated musical, a return to form for Disney animation with an intriguing story and terrific songs. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 26, 2013
Disney’s Frozen works beautifully as a timeless fairy tale with a modern twist. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezNov 26, 2013
Has the ring of classic Disney seamlessly combined with a modern-day sensibility. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle SmithNov 21, 2013
A great big snowy pleasure with an emotionally gripping core, brilliant Broadway-style songs and a crafty plot. Read full review
83
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanNov 27, 2013
This may be yet another variation on the usual coming-of-age/sisterhood themes so familiar in Disney movies, but who does those better? Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallNov 27, 2013
Frozen impresses by conveying coldness in all its frostbitten beauty, from northern lights and blizzards, to ice magnifying, refracting and reflecting light. The movie is a lovely example for animation enthusiasts to study. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanNov 26, 2013
Frozen is a squarely enchanting fairy tale that shows you how the definition of what's fresh in animation can shift. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanNov 25, 2013
Engaging characters, an unforced pro-girl agenda and amusing songs make this at least the equal to last year’s “Brave.” Read full review
80
Screen RantSandy SchaeferMar 24, 2020
Overall, Frozen is another fine addition to the Disney animated feature pantheon, offering a witty and heartfelt princess fairly tale with creative musical elements and some visual panache. Read full review
80
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)Mar 24, 2020
Frozen has tunes and darkness. But most satisfying is a formula-defying finale that subverts fairytale status quo. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeMar 24, 2020
Blessed with not one but two resourceful heroines, and painted with a glittering digital palette which conjures a spectacular backdrop for the romping action (Arendelle and its environs are part Norway, part Narnia), this is terrifically enjoyable – romantic, subversive, engaging and enthralling. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 5, 2013
Just squeezably lovely. Read full review
80
The GuardianTom ShoneNov 29, 2013
Frozen hews to real, recognisable plumb-lines and casts a lingering spell. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 27, 2013
Frozen is one of the few recent films to capture that classic Disney spirit. Read full review
80
Film.comLaremy LegelNov 26, 2013
The animation is beautiful, the music is catchy and the lyrics are clever. Read full review
80
TimeRichard CorlissNov 25, 2013
The impact of this sisterhood fable on viewers should be as warm and rapturous as Olaf the snowman’s dream of summer. Child, teen or septuagenarian, you’ll warm to Frozen. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 27, 2013
The animation is pretty, the songs are tuneful, and Josh Gad gets big laughs as Olaf, a snowman with a sun fetish. It's the holidays, people, work with it. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoNov 27, 2013
Frozen could also leave its mark as the next step in the Disney Princess feminist revisionism championed by last year’s “Brave.” Where that film staunchly pushed a men-don’t-define-me theme throughout, here it’s the requisite fairy tale ending that gets tweaked. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 27, 2013
Not great Disney but good enough to engage viewers young and old. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandNov 27, 2013
Frozen establishes a strong, confident tone: Cool mythology, rich, vivid animation, and 3-D effects that are actually worth seeing, not just migraine-inducing distractions. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKevin McFarlandNov 27, 2013
In its simple pleasures, it’s every bit as enjoyable as "Winnie The Pooh," with a strong and valuable moral undercurrent to boot. Read full review
75
NPRBob MondelloNov 27, 2013
With most of its voices hailing from Broadway, it's a good bet the composers have one eye fixed on a future stage incarnation; makes sense, then, that there'd be references to a couple of Disney's Broadway hits. The opening number sounds a lot like "The Lion King"; then there's a "Beauty and the Beast"-style tour of the town. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryNov 27, 2013
The animated comedy-adventure has a sweet and very modern message, plus strong characters. More important, the movie blends the music-minded mentality of yore with the more recent ambition (thank you, Pixar) of truly appealing to all ages. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 26, 2013
It's entertaining, and following an old Disney tradition Frozen works some old-school magic in its nonhuman characters. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 13, 2013
The film transcends its various borrowings and occasional stumblings with a modern, exuberant spirit that draws heat from Broadway-style musical numbers and, before and after everything else, from marvelous 3-D animation Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneDec 2, 2013
Extravagant care is taken with minutiae, and the directors, Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, whistle through the first twenty minutes of the plot with a controlled giddiness that would leave many live-action adventures staggering in their tracks. Yet what a curious plot it is. Read full review
70
The DissolveTasha RobinsonNov 27, 2013
At its best, though, it breaks a little more new ground for Disney, escaping the yet-another-princess mode and finding new kinds of family dynamics to explore, and new ways to step outside its long-established boundaries. Read full review
70
Village VoiceSherilyn ConnellyNov 26, 2013
Frozen is a fun ride with some catchy tunes. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyNov 6, 2013
Energetic, humorous and not too cloying, as well as the first Hollywood film in many years to warn of global cooling rather than warming, this tuneful toon upgrades what has been a lackluster year for big studio animated fare. Read full review
70
VarietyScott FoundasNov 6, 2013
This always enjoyable tale of mysterious magic, imperiled princesses and square-jawed men of action proves longer on striking visuals than on truly engaging or memorable characters. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireNov 27, 2013
Little girls will absolutely love it, though. That much is undeniable. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsNov 27, 2013
For all its professionalism, I found it as cold as the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam NaymanNov 27, 2013
It's hard to generate a sense of warmth when the plot points all feel so coldly calculated, and it doesn't help that the musical numbers are so pedestrian. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreNov 26, 2013
There’s wit and whimsy in this 53rd Disney cartoon, a distant cousin of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale, “The Snow Queen.” Read full review
63
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundNov 13, 2013
The film's empowering themes of feminine strengths and bonds eventually flourish in novel fashion. Read full review
60
Total FilmJosh WinningDec 9, 2013
Not quite up there with "Tangled," but a solid addition to the canon. Catchy tunes will have you humming, but the hunt for the next "The Little Mermaid" continues... Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraDec 2, 2013
The plot’s all over the place, but there are a lot of laughs and some strong action beats along the way. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 26, 2013
The real highlight, though, is the music by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNov 26, 2013
What’s crucially missing, however, is a hissable villain. Nor are there any memorable tunes, which is too bad given that Broadway star Menzel is playing Elsa. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesNov 27, 2013
Frozen can count in its favor visual grandeur, two energetic young women as co-leads, and a couple of plot twists that place the film a cut above your average princess fare. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichNov 26, 2013
The story — aside from a climax that plays like a too-knowing rebuke to Disney formula — goes tediously through the motions. It isn’t only Papa Walt’s head that’s been put on ice. Read full review
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