“Once upon a time...” Disney cornered the market in animated feature films which have been enjoyed by millions of children (and adults) all over the world. Most of the films are fondly remembered because of the catchy tunes and still stand the test of time. Some of these include such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchi (1940), Cinderella (1950) and The Jungle Book (1967). We don’t talk about the lean 1970’s period but then Disney came back with The Little Mermaid (1989) and this continued through the 1990’s with Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994).

Now Disney is well and truly on top again with the Yule tide offering ‘Frozen’. The Disney team have gone back to their roots bringing us big musical numbers and a good old fashioned fairy story loosely based on Hans Christian Andersons ‘The Snow Queen’.

In Frozen we get not one but two main characters, Sisters Elsa and Anna. From the very beginning of the film we are introduced to the Princesses when they are both very young. Anna the younger and hyperactive of the pair wakes Elsa in the middle of the night and begs Elsa to show her the snow. Elsa takes Anna to one of the big halls in the castle and we discover that she has a gift to create snow and ice through her hands using the power of her mind and she conjures up an indoor winter wonderland for Anna to play in. While trying to save Anna from falling on the ice Elsa accidentally injures her sister and the king and queen seek help from a group of friendly trolls who are able to save Anna but remove her memory of the incident.

Elsa locks herself away in her room in the castle so she cannot cause anymore harm to her sister or others. Anna is confused as to why her sister is so estranged which is a good enough reason for her to burst into a musical interlude. As the years pass by the two princesses grow into beautifully young ladies and the time has come for Elsa to take over the throne as the queen of Arendelle. Unfortunately Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) is still unable to control her powers which frighten the townsfolk and Elsa decides it’s safer for everyone if she leaves Arendelle but she inadvertently turns the kingdom into eternal winter and she flees to hide out in the snowy mountains.

Anna (Kristen Bell) sets out to find her sister and bring her back home before the townsfolk take measures into their own hands. Anna enlists the help of a young buck Hans (Santino Fontana) an ice salesman and his faithful reindeer side-kick Sven along with a strange little snowman character called Olaf.

This may all sound very twee and cutesy but there are a few surprises and quite a few laugh out loud comedy moments, many of them courtesy of the hilarious Olaf (Josh Gad). The scenery is stunning and although the digital quality will transfer extremely well to DVD the cinematic 3D imagery really adds to the overall experience. Idina Menzel is a great choice to play Elsa, best known for originating the role of Elphaba in the Broadway hit Wicked and more recently seen in Glee. (soon to be appearing in Enchanted 2). The songs are very reminiscent of Wicked with their big musical style production numbers. The films music was composed by Christophe Beck and songs and lyrics from husband and wife team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez who were responsible for Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon. Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) brings life to the likeable Anna and makes her a very believable heroine.

This is a great Christmas film suitable for the whole family. Admittedly the only real Christmas connection is lots and lots of snow. I didn’t know much about this film before the viewing and even the early cinema trailers didn’t give much away with only showing a reindeer trying to steal the carrot nose from a live snowman on a frozen lake. So this was quite a pleasant surprise and it’s probably one of the best Disney productions I’ve seen in a long time.

I thoroughly recommend Frozen. A deserved five out of five stars.

In UK cinemas from December 6 Certificate: PG