Children met and danced with “Frozen” characters Anna and Elsa prior to watching them onscreen during the Wrightsville Beach Parks and Recreation family movie night in the park Saturday, Dec. 13.
As the sun set in Wrightsville Beach Park, families unpacked blankets and lawn chairs to face an enormous inflatable movie screen. Around 4:30 p.m., Anna, Elsa and Olaf the snowman arrived. A line of children soon formed, each one eagerly waiting to be photographed with the beloved movie characters.
Ava Radle stood in line, her red hair tied into pigtails similar to Anna’s, clutching a small “Frozen” movie poster for the characters to autograph.
“She’s an Anna fan,” her father Jim Radle, owner of 22 North, said. It was Jim Radle who initiated the “Frozen” movie night. After bringing his daughter to the Mellow Mushroom movie night in the park in October, he approached parks and recreation program supervisor Katie Ryan to propose another movie night during the winter.
He reached out to other Wrightsville Beach businesses seeking co-sponsors for the event and received an enthusiastic response from Red Dogs, King Neptune, Vito’s Pizza, Trolly Stop, Lagerheads Tavern, Jimmy’s at Red Dogs, South Beach Grill, Jerry Allen’s Sports Bar and Grill and The Palm Room.
Due to the overwhelming support, Radle and Ryan were able to bring Anna and Elsa to meet the children before the movie. Ryan said she also secured an Olaf costume but until the last minute was still searching for a volunteer to play the snowman. The Wrightsville United Methodist Church youth group was selling hot chocolate during the event and one of the youth group members, Walt Hutsell, gamely agreed to don the Olaf suit.
Just before the movie began, Elsa performed her familiar song “Let It Go” while the children gathered tightly around her, singing along and mimicking her every move. As the sky darkened, the animated versions of Elsa and Anna appeared onscreen. The children settled in to watch with their families, although it appeared the highlight of the night for them was meeting the characters in person.
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