Frozen

In Frozen, fearless optimist Anna (Bell) sets off on an epic journey—teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff (Groff) and his loyal reindeer Sven—to find her sister Elsa (Menzel), whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom. The story was inspired by The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. (Gary Reber)

Special features include a making-of featurettte (HD 03:18) and the featurette D'frosted: Disney's Journey From Hans Christian Anderson To Frozen (HD 07:28), four deleted scenes with introduction by Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (HD 06:51); the original theatrical short Get A Horse (HD 06:00); the Let It Go music video by Demi Lovato, Martina Stoessel, and Marsha Milan (HD 03:50); a teaser trailer; upfront previews; and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 1.78:1 1080p AVC picture will be followed in the Fall with a 3D native Blu-ray release. The picture quality is absolutely scrumptious, with stunning color fidelity. Every frame is gorgeous and exhibits extremely fine resolution, such as the tiniest particles of snow, the crackling texture of ice, freckle-faced facial features, hair, reindeer fur, and all sorts of object texture. Detail is exceptionally fine throughout and perfectly resolved. The color palette is boldly rendered with rich and warm hues against frozen and snow-covered backdrops. Hues are boldly saturated with vivid primaries, dazzling whites, and cool blues. Contrast is perfect with rich, inky blacks and precise shadow rendering. The imagery is effectively dimensional and incredibly pristine throughout, with a complete absence of noise. This is an exceptional animated Blu-ray release, if not the finest animated presentation thus far released. This is reference-quality extraordinaire! (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 7.1-channel soundtrack is fully holosonic® with an aggressive engaging soundfield that effectively envelops, especially during the music sequences. Fidelity is superb, with impressive spatial width and depth that extends to the surrounds. The orchestral score is lush and dynamic, punctuated with deep sub-25 Hz .1 LFE energy to heighten the action sequences. Surround envelopment is aggressive and directionalized, with the added two channels effectively enlarging the spatial dimensionality of the soundfield. Pans are smooth and supportive of the on-screen action, while sound effects and atmospherics enhance the soundscape renderings. The songs are fun and the singing quality, including the choruses, are wonderful and sure to stimulate and fascinate the young ones. Dialogue is perfectly intelligible, with a good sense of spatial integration. This is a magnificent reference presentation that delivers a full, enveloping soundfield that will not disappoint. (Gary Reber)