How Frozen Should Have Begun

I've heard that Anton Chekhov's method of writing plays consisted of writing one act of the play and then throwing out the first three pages. I am currently reading a book on writing mystery novels, and the authors seem to agree that the best way to star a novel is in the middle of the action. The authors also agree that the beginning is the most important part of a novel because a good beginning hooks the reader and compels him/her to read on. Movies, like novels and plays, attempt to capture their audience to create enough interest to want to move forward. Also, it is important to be wary of sharing too much information right at the beginning of a book, play, or movie; it is the withholding of information that makes an audience want to uncover more.

With this in mind, I thought of the movie Frozen and how it could have benefited from throwing out the first few pages. I thought, what if the movie began with "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" Here we see a conflict between two sisters and another conflict between a young woman and her parents. Then as the story unfolds, the prior events of Anna's accident could be revealed.

Or, better yet, what if the movie actually started with Elsa's coronation? And then, as the story progressed, the back story got worked in as well. For some reason, I made a connection between this method of opening a story to the Harry Potter books. When the first scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone opens, how much back story already occurred? A lot. And if J. K. Rowling revealed the whole back story right away, the elements of mystery and suspense that make the books so intriguing would be gone. However, as the story of Harry Potter continues throughout seven books, the back story is slowly revealed. Furthermore, the back story is so crucial that it moves the present events forward. Frozen definitely could benefit from a similar plot device.

Another benefit of Frozen opening in one of the suggested ways is that it would eliminate the "Frozen Heart" number, a song which makes absolutely no sense and does nothing to compliment the story. Beginning with "Do You Wanna Build A Snowman" paves the way for opening with a musical number that actually carries the story along, OR opening with Elsa's coronation makes way for a new musical number about the coronation which establishes setting and character.

Here are some great opening lines (both spoken and sung) from other Disney movies which make great hooks to capture an audience:

"Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space." -Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

"Once upon a time in a far away land, a young prince lived in a shining castle." -Beauty and the Beast

"Oh, I come from a land from a far away place where the caravan camels roam." -Aladdin

"Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba" ("Here comes a lion, Father") -The Lion King

"This is the story of how I died." -Tangled

Compare these with "Born of cold and winter air and mountain rain combining, this icy force both foul and fair has a frozen heart worth mining." Nope, I don't get it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Frozen hater. I enjoyed the movie and bought it when it was released on DVD; however, there is room for improvement. Luckily, Frozen will come to Broadway in the near future, so the writers have the opportunity to make the beginning more enticing.