Simon Dillon reviews the latest Disney animated extravaganza

Frozen, the latest Disney animated extravaganza, is apparently "from the creators of Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph" - very high praise as far as I'm concerned. Whilst it isn't of quite the same calibre as the afore-mentioned gems, it is a very fine piece of work and ticks all relevant boxes for a satisfying seasonal family film.

Very loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen, the plot concerns estranged royal sisters Elsa and Anna. The former flees into self-imposed exile when she finds she can no longer control her magical ability to freeze things. Anna undertakes a journey to persuade Elsa to return and unfreeze the kingdom, along the way juggling two potential love interests, a reindeer that behaves like a dog (akin to the horse that behaves like a dog in Tangled) and an adorable magic snowman called Olaf. Hilarity and peril ensues, involving precipitous mountain ranges, ice palaces, snow monsters, trolls, wolves, traitorous courtiers and more, all set against stunningly animated snowy landscapes resembling Norway, complete with occasional Northern Lights. Oh, and there's a bunch of songs too.

Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee take their time getting started, but once Olaf appears things get a lot faster and funnier. The vocal cast are good, and the animation is top notch. It is also extremely pleasing to see a film of this nature that doesn't revolve around romance (at least not directly) but instead the love between two sisters, both of whom are well-rounded, interesting characters. The true-love-is-sacrifice moral has been done before many times, but it's effectively reiterated here to very pleasing effect.

In short, Frozen is well worth a look. Don't arrive late, because you'll miss the supporting cartoon Get A Horse - a laugh-out-loud treat that cleverly mixes the hand drawn monochrome Mickey Mouse shorts of old with modern colourful 3D digital animation.