Frozen II (2019)

Disney can and has to do better in supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. The sense of support and representation for the aroace community I discuss in this article are entirely hypothetical. Aroace is shorthand for aromantic and asexual (the spelling is different because ace is based on pronunciation). These readings are meaningful for fans on the asexual spectrum (referred to as A-spec) who notice similarities and feel seen by the presence of these characters. Maybe they are intentionally coded to represent the aroace community, but there’s no official canon presence of any character on the A-spec in Disney films. In fact, Disney's first canonically queer character in an animated feature film only came last year with Strange World.

Broadly speaking, aromantic individuals are people who either do not feel romantic attraction at all or at least not in the traditional sense. Shift the context from romantic to sexual attraction and you have asexual people. The A-spec is a spectrum on which individuals experience different degrees of romantic and sexual attraction. Like any label, it can be individually defined by those who identify as aromantic, asexual, or as being on the aroace spectrum. It is also important to mention that while Disney as an organization hasn’t always been the best ally of the LGBTQIA+ community (think of the “don’t say gay” bill controversy), its content has resonated with queer people for a long time because many famous and iconic characters are queer-coded since directors, songwriters, and other creatives were often queer individuals themselves and intentionally coded some of the characters they created.

It is no secret within the Frozen fandom that protagonist Elsa is coded as queer, even if not canonically so. Most theories argue that Elsa is a lesbian, and a Twitter hashtag was specifically born out of the wish to see her in a lesbian romance! I personally see her as an aroace character (I’m not the only one) and I have plenty of evidence for it, but that’s an article for another time. Today I’m going to decode her defining song from Frozen, “Let It Go,” and its follow up in the sequel, “Into the Unknown." Both can be interpreted as songs about being queer and closeted.

(SPOILER ALERT for Frozen and Frozen II.)

Disney's Z-O-M-B-I-E-S is an original movie that focuses on two major groups: zombies and humans. At Seabrook High School, everything has to be perfect: traditions, pep rallies, and uniformity. Uniformity is the main topic explored in this film, as it is the main example of conformity in high schools.

Addison is a human cheerleader who is expected to be perfect by her parents, as her mother is the mayor of Seabrook and her father is the Chief of the Zombie Patrol. Knowing that her parents will be disappointed, Addison tries to keep her new relationship with Zed, a zombie who wants to try out for the football team, a secret. Addison's relationship with Zed is similar to the star-crossed relationship between Ariel and Eric in The Little Mermaid and Romeo and Juliet in the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. In addition, the conflict between the zombies and the humans at Seabrook High School is similar to the conflict between the Arendellians and the Northuldra in Frozen 2.

There is some representation of African Americans in Disney's Z-O-M-B-I-E-S. Eliza (Kylee Russell), a zombie friend of Zed, and Bree (Carla Jeffery), a cheerleading friend of Addison, are characters of African American descent who have supporting roles. Coach (Jonathan Langdon), the coach of the school's football team, is also an African American character.

The unfair treatment of zombies at Seabrook High School is a central conflict in Disney's Z-O-M-B-I-E-S. In this movie, the zombies are identified as people with green hair and wearing Z-Bands. Addison, who wears a blonde wig to hide her naturally white hair from the other Seabrook High School students, believes that being different is a good thing and the people around her have to change for the better.

The success of this film has led to two sequels in this trilogy. The two sequels are Z-O-M-B-I-E-S-2 and Z-O-M-B-I-E-S-3. This trilogy is similar to Disney's Descendants trilogy.

As I sat through a bunch of trailers that mostly consisted of remakes and sequels, it made me glad that I came to watch an original movie instead, especially from Disney/Pixar. Especially Disney. I recently heard that Bambi is next on their surreal progression to make live action remakes of everything they’ve created. Who is the sick, twisted person who thinks it’s a good idea to traumatize a new generation of kids by showing Bambi’s mom getting shot in live action?

Fortunately, in this film, the mom’s still alive. Dad on the other hand…

Ahem.

Onward is an entertaining film about two brothers on a magical quest. Pixar never delved into brotherly relationships before, and it was nice to see this dynamic after the sisterly bond from Disney’s Frozen II. Unlike Anna and Elsa, I found the brothers from Onward, Ian and Barley, played by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, more engaging. I also thought their relationship to be the best part of the movie. Ian is shy and doesn’t have much confidence in himself, while Barley is extremely confident and keeps getting into trouble. With these conflicting personalities, the two play off of each other well.

A cute, yet nerdy, teenage Tom Holland with powers goes on an all mighty adventure, having to use the bravery he had within himself the entire time to save the day. Sounds familiar, right? Well this isn’t a review for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, but instead, Disney Pixar’s Onward. I was able to finagle a ticket to an advanced screening of Pixar’s latest flick and I’m not going to lie, I did tear up a bit towards the end.

Onward follows Ian(Chris Pratt)and Barley Lightfoot(Tom Holland), two elf brothers who are given a phoenix gem. This magical gem, when mixed with the staff of a wizard, is able to bring their deceased father back to life for 24 hours. All goes wrong when the gem only brings back their father’s legs, forcing Ian and Barley to embark on a quest to find another phoenix gem. The journey brings the two dissimilar brothers closer together while they combat pixies, trick cops, and solve seemingly unsolvable puzzles.

Coming off the heels of this summer’s release of Frozen II, Onward somewhat follows in Frozen’s footsteps by telling a tale of two unlikely siblings coming together, but this time instead of two sisters, it’s two brothers. The film is extremely engaging and full of heart! Ian is a very relatable character who definitely feels like an outsider. While Barley’s zaniness and charismatic antics are the antithesis to Ian’s scared, cautious personality; just imagine a full length feature film about Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie traveling around a fantastical world and you’ve got Pixar’s Onward.

Growing up, I remember thinking that Pixar’s 3D-like animation was a cut above the more common 2D animated films. As more Pixar films were released, Pixar’s animation style progressed, providing more detail and realness to its animation; I mean, have you ever compared Merida’s hair from Brave to the hair of the humans of Toy Story? Mind blowing improvement. So I was somewhat disappointed when Onward looked more like a regular computer animated movie instead of having Pixar’s trademark detailed animation. Don’t get me wrong, the animation was fine, but I would have appreciated if Pixar had stepped it up a notch and given the fantastical creatures the same detail as it does its other movies. But I guess not all animation can be as good as Bulbasaur from Detective Pikachu (2019).