Thomas Hawkins' verdict: four stars.

DISNEY’s biggest animated film of all time couldn’t have picked a better night to skate into Glasgow - the city was in every sense of the word Frozen. A short walk from the city centre to the SSE Hydro aimed at beating the rush-hour and pre-show traffic stramash almost put us in jeopardy of frostbite, but in truth the subzero conditions only added a winter wonderland feel to the evening. 

Frozen, for those of you who have somehow avoided the icy epic, is the tale of two royal sisters in the fictional kingdom of Arendelle who are torn apart by the elder sibling’s dark secret - her ability to turn things to snow and ice. Elsa, whose chilly powers have already shown their destruction nature after she locked the kingdom in perpetual winter, exiles herself for fear of wreaking more havoc. That in turn forces Elsa's younger sibling, Anna, to set off on a perilous journey to find her, free the kingdom from its frozen fate, and reconnect with her sister in the process. 

There are the usual cast of villains and love interests along the way, most notably the rugged and dreamy Kristoff and his pet reindeer.  

The best character, for my money at least, is the talking snowman who dreams of sipping cocktails on the beach if only the kingdom can rid itself of this everlasting freeze. In this post-Brexit, post-Trump world, a talking snowman seems fairly realistic set alongside Frozen’s basic concept, the idea that love can overcome hate.  

Nevertheless, by the looks on the faces of my two-year-old toddler and her cousin of the same age, they were buying it. On the subject of buying, for every child’s face that lit up with glee at the sight of the characters on the ice, so too must the eyes of organisers at all the merchandise flying off the shelves. Hundreds of newly purchased toys flashed throughout the arena, while dozens upon dozens of young Elsas danced along to the music, not to mention the odd Buzz Lightyear - but, hey, that costume cost a lot of money and when else am I going to get the chance to wear it?

Glasgow Times:

Frozen is a good word too for how my two toddlers were glued to their seats. From the first second of the performance, they were spellbound. 

“Elsa!” cried my daughter when the princess skated right up to her. “Look, Olaf,” said her cousin when the talking snowman started doing his thing. “This is so good, I think I might cry.” No, that wasn’t any of the kids but my thirtysomething wife, clearly swept up in the performance. 

The two-hour show flew by in a blizzard of fake snow and ice and my toddlers didn’t lose interest for a second. So it is hard to be critical of such an enchanting and ultimately good-hearted performance. If I was to pick anything out it would be that the show is essentially a skating performance with the scripted singing dubbed on the top. Yes, the skaters do very well at miming along and injecting it with feeling, but the emotional hit would be stronger if they were given free rein to sing live and even ad-lib here and there. It is a minor point and I am clearly in the minority in that view as my budding Elsas, thirtysomething wife included, loved every minute.