The family who've watched Frozen 500 times

The 26-year-old mother from Middlesbrough and her sons Owen, four, Corey, two and Jay, aged one, are obsessed with the Disney movie, and it sometimes gets watched five times a day.

Ms Dryden, a former nursery nurse, stressed she does not simply sit the boys in front of the television for hours on end, and the children happily play, colour and go for days out.

frightening

But when they are at home, they love to have Frozen on in the background and they sing along to the hits like Do You Want To Build A Snowman and Let It Go. She said the boys enjoy the storyline, particularly the frightening parts, which turns the traditional fairytale on its head by portraying strong female characters.

She said: "They tell me they love it because of the snow monster and the reindeer Sven.

"I thought it was a girl's film, but they just started watching it.

"They really enjoy the singing and the music and they enjoy it when things go wrong.

"Owen loves it when they get chased by wolves."

Unlike some parents who have experienced the Frozen phenomenon for the past year, Ms Dryden has never yet got frustrated with the film.

"I like the troll song best," she said.

"I have never got tired of it yet, I just think it is fun for them and there's worse films.

parenting

"It does prove women can stand up for themselves."

She has faced criticism of her parenting for allowing them to watch the film so much.

"We go on lots of days out and we go out visiting family and friends," she said. "But if we go out in the car, they want me to play the songs on the stereo."

hnews@herald.ie