New Digital Screen at Croydon Fairfield Halls

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Fairfield Halls in Croydon recently for a gala screening of Frozen Sing-a-long. I obviously haven’t grown tired of Frozen yet because I was as excited as Isla. I think it was the thought of being able to sing a long without people sshhing me or telling me to stop singing (Noah does this). It was promised to be lots of fun, with Elsa, Anna and Olaf in attendance and it really was. Isla donned her Elsa dress and not one to be left out Noah dressed as Spiderman (you mean you didn’t catch Spidey in Frozen?).

I’ve always loved The Fairfield Halls – it is an institution in my area. As a child I went there fairly often and feel sure that my first cinema experience was there for a showing of Disney’s Fantasia with my parents and for many years all the females in my family would go to The Salvation Army Carol Concert – where I also got to sing my lungs out to all the Christmas Carols. I also got to meet high calibre celebrities, Bob Holness, June Brown (Dot Cotton) etc., I know I’m stretching the celeb factor there….

The event was organised to showcase the new digital cinema screen and sound system. The new set up now means that they can screen live events, such as ballet and opera. Pretty cool and we got to experience it! Prior to the film starting the kids were treated to some face painting and goodie bags and LOADS of sweets. I say loads in bold because it was clearly too many as the kids demonstrated later on that day (I’ll leave you to work out what that means). Then came the sing-a-long and it was great. Isla was in fine voice and we were joined by blogger friend DadblogUK and his family. This was great as the girls know one another but hadn’t been together for a while, so excitement was taken to another level.

We had a great time that morning and it’s definitely reminded me of what a fantastic place Fairfield is and how I’d love my kids to also make some memories of their own there.

 Check up the upcoming programme of events and shows at Fairfield Halls here

We were given free tickets to this screening of the Frozen Sing-a-Long.

Disney New Release - Frozen

Rating: PG  UK Release Date: December 6,  2013

Last weekend we were lucky enough to be invited to the Odeon Leicester Square for a multi media screening of Frozen, the newest Disney film about to hit our screens in time for Christmas. I always find it so exciting going to see a film before it's full release and the kids were thrilled too. On arrival there were reindeer outside, lots of Christmas trees and fake snow, it made us all feel excited to watch Frozen. Isla loved the reindeer, we didn't get much time with them, so I've made a promise to go find some somewhere before Christmas for her to see. 

We took to our seats, the kids had a good rummage through their goody bags, seeking out the chocolate first with the skill of a police sniffer dog! And then we were treated to a live performance of one of the beautiful songs from the film, 'Let it Go' sung by Willemijn Verkaik, who is currently starring in the show Wicked. It was really fantastic, such an emotional song.

Prior to Frozen there was a short film called 'Get a Horse'. It was a mixture of old school Mickey Mouse animation and amazing 3D animation. The kids loved it and so did me and the OH. This was his and Noah's first 3D film experience and he was so good at keeping the glasses on! I always look forward to the film shorts that Disney do before their films and this was a classic.

And now to Frozen. A stunning big-screen comedy adventure. Fearless optimist Anna sets off on an epic journey—teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven—to find her sister Elsa, 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 film is loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale The Snow Queen. And when you research back into Disney's connection with The Snow Queen you find out that making a film about this story has been something they've wanted to do since the 1940's. The look of the film is exactly like 'Tangled' (another film we LOVE!) as it is all computer animation. You get a real connection with the characters, and understanding of the torment that both sisters feel at not being close to each other due to Elsa's powers. There is some light comedy in there in the form of Olaf the snowman, he's goofy and cute and provides some good one liners. Anna is also pretty feisty and funny too even in the face of adversity. The story is all about the female characters though, so I'd imagine it's not going to appeal massively to the boys, although at 2 years old Noah seemed to enjoy it! 

I would only give one small warning, at times it can be quite a dark film, and I mean this in terms of the storyline and also the actual animation itself, there are lots of scenes in darkness and this combined with 3D and Elsa's Icy powers can make it slightly overwhelming to young ones. There were moments when Isla was slightly scared, but we reassured her that it would all come good in the end. When you ask her now whether she liked the film she says yes, but I was slightly worried at one point when she seemed a bit anxious - and this is a child who has watched many many films. It's a bit like Brave in that respect, she found the scenes with bears scary in that. Don't let this point detract from my view that it is a great film.

Check out the trailer here:

All in all as a family I would say we thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm sure it's going to be a massive hit! Thanks so much for the invite Disney! 

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We were sent free tickets to the film 'Frozen' in order to write this review. All views expressed are our own.