Music Fridays # 116: Songs Cut From Frozen

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney.  Frozen, easily one of the best movies of the year and my favorite of the year.  And it's slowly becoming one of my all time favorite Disney movies. (Still like Tangled more though).  Part of what makes this movie work is the music, granted not all of the songs are great such as "Fixer Upper"  or "Reindeer(s) Are Better Then People"  but when they're great, you get "Let It Go".  Now,  I'm not here to talk about the music that made it into the film.  I'll save that for my review of this wonderful wonderful film,  when it comes out on Blu-Ray.   No, instead,  I'm going to talk about the songs that ultimately were cut from Frozen.   You see,  if you purchased the Deluxe Soundtrack for Frozen  (Highly recommended),  you get to hear Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez,  (The composers of Frozen)  introduce and sing songs that for one or reason were left out of the finished product.   Oh, and if anyone wants to know,  I like Elsa more then Anna but they are both great characters but Indina Menzel easily plays what I consider to be one of her greatest roles in this film up there with Elphie from Wicked.    Back on topic, today,  I want to give you guys a chance to hear these cut songs.  Warning, one song will involve me going a rant about the villain.  

We Know Better 

And we get to start with my favorite "Frozen" song that isn't "Let It Go".   At it's core, this film is about the love between two sisters and here in this song, we get to explore the relationship between young Elsa and Anna.  Now, call me crazy but I like this song better then "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?"   Do not misunderstand me, that's a great song from the film and it does a fantastic job of exploring how the sisters drifted apart at a young age, do to Elsa's isolation but I really love the well... love and bond that you feel between the two sisters in this number.  I hope when the DVD/Blu Ray comes out, we get to see some sketches or animatics for this number.    Something along the lines of what I'll be posting down below...

Why are Disney characters as kids, so cute?  

Springtime Pageant 

Yeah,  I gotta be honest.  Nothing was really lost with  losing this number.  It's not bad per se but it falls short of being a bit pointless.  As you heard in the introduction,  originally, there was supposed be a prophecy about  a Snow Queen freezing over Arendelle but  I'm kinda glad, that prophecy was dropped .  Because,  explaining Elsa's powers isn't needed.   In the final film, we just know that she was born with them and considers them a curse.  It makes her feel like an outcast.  No explanation needed. 

More Than Just The Spare

Okay,  is it just me or do the instrumentals from this song sound like "I'm Not That Girl" from Wicked.  Heck,  this song in many ways is kinda Disney's version of "I'm Not That Girl".  And  I'm not saying that just because Menzel was in both of these.  Keep in mind, this was an Anna song and while it is more cheery then "I'm Not That Girl",  it does have the same idea that I'm not the person they want me to be, but  the difference is that Anna doesn't care.  In some respects, you could also call this Anna's  "Let It Go".   Both songs are about not caring what the world thinks of the person singing it and embracing who they are.   

Your'e You 

Heads-up,  we are going into spoiler territory. So skip, this section, if you don't want the film to be spoiled.  This sounds like a cute love song, right?  Well, if you saw the film, you know that Hans doesn't love Anna and just wants to marry to become king because being the youngest of 13 brothers, he'll never get the throne in his kingdom.  Here's my issue, that wasn't revealed until the third act of the film and up until then, Hans, seemed like a decent guy.  This film didn't need a villain but if you really wanted one,  I think this song gives off a better feeling of being artificial and fake like Hans' feelings for Anna.  Now,  one could argue that "Love Is An Open Door" works better because it feels real and sincere and lures the audience into thinking that Hans does care about Anna but I feel that this song suits his character better. A character that wasn't needed in the film, mind you.  

Life's Too Short 

I really like this number and it's a nice companion piece to "We Know Better".   As you get hear the tension that the rift that the separation has caused.   And this song out of all the cut songs has to have the most Broadway like quality to it.   I don't know why but when I first heard this number, it made me think of "Take Me or Leave Me:".  from Rent.  Which also stars Indina Menzel.  Granted,  it is  more family friendly then that number but the tension is still there and I'm sorry but Anna trying to get her sister to put the gloves back on, was a huge mistake.   So, plus one for the final film for having Anna not remembering her sister's powers.

Life's Too Short (Reprise) 

 

If you know me, you know that I like a good reprise.  My favorite villain song is the reprise of "Mother Knows Best" from Tangled and this is a really good reprise.  Whereas the first focused on the tension and rift between Elsa and Anna.  This one focuses more on the pain and regret that has come from that rift.   My only complaint, I wish it  were longer. 

Reindeer(s) Remix 

I'm sorry but this is just lame.  I get why they wrote it but I didn't like this song in the film, so why would I like this version?  It just seems pointless and all it does is remind of how annoying I found Kristoff talking for Sven.  Here's a thing,  silent characters can be funny. There were two characters from Tangled that proved this. Who were they?

Oh, right!

You never heard Flynn or Rapunzel  giving voices to these characters.  Here's an idea,  if you want the character to talk, hire a VA.  If you want the character to be silent, keep him silent and don't  have another character give him a voice because that is not cute, it is just grating and annoying.   Honestly, that along with Hans are two of the biggest annoyances I have with this otherwise fantastic film.   And honestly,  I found the character of Sven to be forgettable.  I will say I do like the last line about how Johnathan Groff didn't get a real song.  Now, I mostly know him as Jesse St. James from the early days of Glee but even there,  he had a great singing voice.  Even, if he was playing a huge jerk and one of the best villains on Glee.

There you have it,  my look at the songs that were cut from this year's big Disney film.  My thoughts, some of these feel like they were written for a completely different movie altogether.  And that's not a bad thing but I'm mostly happy with the numbers that we got in the finished film.  Though did we really need "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People?"   I don't think so and that's probably one of the most pointless Disney songs ever.  Anyways, peace!