Disney's Divinity wrote:I'm sure Tangled and TP&TF will both be remembered along with Frozen, especially thanks to the Disney Princess line guaranteeing they won't be forgotten. But the tables have turned in respect to what Mooky was talking about. TP&TF also had largely positive reviews from critics, only a few percentage points away from Tangled's rating; that doesn't mean it wasn't being torn a new one in comparison to the new film at the time by members on here (since I don't follow tumblr and the like, this is my only online reference point for reactions to Disney films), just like what's happening with Tangled now, and what will probably happen to Frozen if a new princess film comes out that makes more commercial and audience success than it (which I think is unlikely, but who knows).
For myself, I don't like Frozen just to spite Tangled because of the response to TP&TF; I just flat-out think it's better. Moving beyond the subjective though, what I think is impossible to deny is that Frozen has managed to touch our culture in a way that neither Tangled and TP&TF did not.
Well,
some Frozen fans may be praising
Frozen at the expense of
Tangled, like
some Tangled fans praised
Tangled at the expense of
Princess and the Frog, but there are a sizable number of people who are vocal with counter-opinions as well. I remember reading some pretty strong comments from PATF fans regarding
Tangled back when that came out at this very forum, the same type of comments that Mooky speaks of in regards to
Tangled fans who trashed PATF. I haven't been a poster here, but I've been lurking here for a long time. My perception is that it has
always gone both ways. And still is. I guess
some Tangled fans used the runaway success of
Tangled to validate their opinions back in 2010/2011, just like how
some Frozen fans are doing so to validate theirs.
It seems weird to me that people here can hate some of these films so vehemently. They all are films from the same studio, which strive to meet the lofty standards set by Walt Disney himself. They strive to capture the same "magic." There are some films in the canon that I would say I'm not all too impressed with. Perhaps, in the case of some of them, the success doesn't seem quite fitting. Still, when I see the flaws of some of these films, I don't hate them for it (even if they have annoying fans). I appreciate them for what they are, though that's not to say I don't have my fair share of criticisms or wish that things were done differently. Isn't that what being a fan is?
I agree that
Frozen has reached a level of pop cultural significance that both
Tangled and
PATF didn't. That's undeniable. But I truly believe those films, especially
Tangled, set the stage for its success.
Frozen had a record-breaking opening for a reason. The rest, of course, can be attributed to
Frozen itself--it undeniably has resonated with a huge audience, hitting virtually all quarters. Still,
Tangled, of course, won't be forgotten. It's fanbase has only grown since its success at the box office. Like Avaitor said, no one forgot about TLM, BATB, or
Aladdin after the huge success of TLK. TLK made nearly 4x as much as TLM at the box office and had a soundtrack with sales figures that TLM didn't even come close to matching, yet they are both remembered fondly and remain entirely relevant today.