Why Kiwi children just can't let that song go

Reporter·NZ Herald·

20 Jun, 2014 05:00 PM3 mins to read

The story of Princesses Elsa and Anna is enchanting kids around the world. Photo / Dean Purcell

Emmanuelle McCamish, 4, knows all the words to the Disney movie Frozen, has matching merchandise that draws crowds and is just one Kiwi kid driving her parents crazy with endless renditions of theme song Let It Go.

The phenomenon that has come to be known as the Frozen virus has swept the world since the movie was released late last year and shows little signs of slowing.

New Zealand parents told the Weekend Herald how they have endured countless screenings of the movie and have come to know its music off by heart, are forced to act out scenes and have tried and failed to buy sold-out toys.

One even sat through a two-hour school concert where every third item was Frozen-related.

Emmanuelle's mother, Jasmine Teina, said her daughter is "obsessed" with the film and frequently makes her join the many re-enactments.

"She literally knows all the words. She makes me dress up and I have to plait her hair down the side like the Queen's and if I sing the wrong part she will tell me off."

A coveted backpack Emmanuelle got for her birthday — which was unavailable in New Zealand but found by a family friend in Thailand — receives so much attention from other children, Ms Teina has to hide it sometimes.

"Whenever we go to drop her off at school the kids will just run up to her bag and want to touch it. When we take her to swimming it's really weird but kids will just come up and stare, even the boys, or they will be on the other side of the pool and just stare at it, sometimes I turn it around to make them stop."

Rob Cox's 10-year-old son, Flynn, was just one of many Frozen-themed performers at his school camp recently.

"The variety concert was all about that song, someone would come on and do a skit and then it would be the song again," said Mr Cox.

"It was a one-and-a-half to two-hour concert and I would say a third of it was spent revisiting the movie Frozen in one form or another, whether it be miming the song, singing the song or dancing to the song.

"Now his 4-year-old sister is obsessed with it. I think it is going to be part of their childhood, growing up it will be something that they remember. I think everyone will."