Rob Curley: What does a woman who plays a Disney princess several times a week think about ‘Frozen II’?

Most people know Ashlee Karras as Miss Spokane. She’s the crowned ambassador for our city. She’s so good at it that she’s won numerous pageants and even been named Miss Spokane twice.

But others know her by another name: Elsa. Yep, that Elsa – the one with the long, braided white hair and an incredible ability to break into an overly catchy tune at any moment. Karras even has the big-time singing voice to legitimately pull off the songs.

For the past four years, she’s played Elsa up to seven or eight times a week at birthday parties, hospital visits and other appearances. She’s one of the few people in Spokane with at least a couple of legitimate reasons to wear a crown. And one is her part-time job.

Of course, there’s a lot more to Karras than just pageants and princesses. We’re going to get to all of that. It’s impressive stuff.

But first we need to know what Spokane’s own Snow Queen thinks about the sequel to the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, “Frozen.” Seriously, if, for some reason, you ever end up in a Disney princess trivia contest and you see Karras is in the room, walk away because you are about to get royally routed.

The point is, this is totally the person whose thoughts about this particular movie you want to know.

Then we had another idea.

If you’re going to ask Karras to review the new movie, you really ought to go all in and have her show up at River Park Square on opening weekend of “Frozen II” in her full Elsa costume. Along with an 8-foot-tall version of Olaf the snowman.

Never have so many toddlers freaked out in downtown Spokane. Some little kids have been waiting all of their lives for a new “Frozen” movie. Literally. Friday morning’s movie audience was filled with 3- and 4-year-olds and the first movie came out in 2013. You can do the math. This a group that has never known a world without Sven the reindeer.

Now imagine what it’s like on one of the most important entertainment days of your young life, when you then see Elsa and Olaf as you walk to the movie theater. To be honest, it was hard to tell whether they were elated or gassy. But they were somewhere in that zone.

So, let’s get to Karras’ take on the movie.

First off, you need to know that “Frozen II” isn’t a rubber-stamp version of the first movie. This isn’t how “Rocky” and “Rocky II” – and, well, “Rocky III” – are all basically the same movie.

Yes, the return to Arendelle features lots of musical numbers, some mild-bathroom humor said by incredibly cute creatures and more life lessons than you can wave a magic wand at. All of the beloved characters from the first movie are back. The visuals are stunning. And, of course, there are more ice statues than at a Sunday brunch at the Davenport Hotel.

There’s even a surprise villain. That all probably sounds a lot like the first movie, but it’s really not.

Jesse Tinsley - The Spokesman-Review

The new “Frozen” movie also isn’t quite as whimsical as the first. It’s darker. And certainly deeper. There are much more complex emotions this time around, including betrayal and grief.

But as Olaf says time and time again, almost acknowledging the average age of the movie’s core audience, some things don’t make sense until you’re a little older. Maybe even a lot older.

All of the kids in the theater Friday morning simply loved seeing their favorite mezzo-soprano princess back, but it was the parents who were wiping tears from their eyes and laughing at the clever one-liners.

And that’s what Karras loved the most.

“It was beautiful how they tied so many parts of this new movie to the original, but did it in a way that created a really meaningful new story with all of these characters,” she said. “Sequels are always hard, but in a lot of ways, I thought this was probably even better than the first movie.”

The characters were lovable the first time around, she said, but this movie offered substantially more character development than the original.

“We learn so much more about the characters in this movie,” she explained. “You love them even more when you know more about how they came to be the person that they are.

“Anna really steps up and realizes how much of a leader she is. Elsa learns that her role is so much bigger than just being the queen of Arendelle and that means making some of the most difficult and important decisions of her life. Kristoff shows how powerful being vulnerable can be, especially with someone you love.”

Karras said the first “Frozen” movie was beloved for a lot of reasons, but she felt the latest had more impactful moments. In the first movie, the death of the sisters’ parents is simply marked by the drapes being put over a painting of them. “Frozen II” handles similar moments with much more emotion.

“The way grief is handled in this movie is much more raw and truthful,” she said. “So many people, including myself, can relate to that, but when you’re younger, you don’t always understand emotions like that. It was important for this movie to show that it’s OK and completely normal to feel grief.

“That makes this not only a good story, but a real one.”

The biggest highlights of the first movie centered around some of the catchiest songs parents have never been able to forget. The songs in the new movie are good, always moving the story along, but the movie’s biggest moments are almost always accentuated by powerful visuals instead of durable ditties.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t songs that Alexa will be playing way too much over the next few years.

So what was Karras’ favorite of the new chilled chants? That’s easy: “Show Yourself.”

“That song is such a huge moment of self discovery for Elsa, where she finds her bigger purpose by looking inside herself to find the bigger answers she is looking for,” Karras said. “It’s not the big sort of show-stopping song that ‘Let It Go’ was, but its more subtle approach gave ‘Show Yourself’ a lot more meaning.”

Will she eventually watch the new “Frozen” movie as much as the first one? That’s gonna be hard. Karras said she’s probably watched the original more than 100 times.

“I’m definitely going to see it in a theater at least one or two more times,” she said, and a whole lot more once it ends up on the Disney Plus streaming service. That being said, the new movie’s soundtrack has been playing on repeat in her home since it was released last week.

Karras is nearing the end of her second reign as Miss Spokane. She admits it will be bittersweet.

After taking two years off from school to care for her mother who was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, her focus as Miss Spokane this time around has been on the women’s cancer issues that took her mom from her, including spending lots of time at Cancer Care Northwest, the place that treated her mother.

“It was special to partner with them and get to talk with all of the staff, from the nurses to the technicians to the radiologists to the doctors,” she said. “I got to thank them for all of the hard work that they do.

“It was emotional, but mostly it just made me happy because I was able to do something for my mom that would let me think about her.”

When she’s not fulfilling her duties as Miss Spokane, she also teaches vocal lessons at the Bartell Music Academy.

Then there’s still that cool part-time job as an ice princess.

If you’re bummed you didn’t see Karras on Friday, you’ll have another chance this afternoon. Even at the same place.

Karras’ version of Elsa, along with a whole bunch of other princesses from Spokane Valley’s “Wish Upon A Star” character group, will be at River Park Square for Santa’s arrival, with festivities starting at 2 p.m. and the Big Guy’s arrival at 5.

But considering the moment, you’re going to want to be on special lookout for Elsa.

It’s not often you get the opportunity to see both Miss Spokane and a Disney princess at the exact same time. And be the exact same person. Then maybe buy a ticket to “Frozen II” and tell them Elsa told you to go see it.