My daughter doesn’t like scary movies, and I don’t usually like Disney princess fare. We both got over those hurdles years ago for Princess and the Frog; the first African American Disney princess was not something we were going to miss. When ads for Disney’s latest offering, Frozen, first appeared, I wasn’t particularly intrigued. But then I started hearing whispers that it was actually better-than-your-average Disney, with Idina Menzel (of Rent and Wicked fame) in one of the leads; music from the composers from Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon; and a completely empowering story for girls.

My daughter, who had already refused to see Tangled or Brave, was not interested. But when my four-and-a-half year old son demanded a movie date, and seemed inclined to watch two powerful heroines on screen, who was I to stand in the way?  I was amazed by the film… and then by our conversation in the car on the way home. Continue reading →