Whenever Disney has a bona fide animated hit, something curious follows. They take the story, characters and songs -- if there are songs -- and put on, of all things, a touring arena ice show.

Now, you might think dressing up figure skaters like Disney characters might not seem like the natural reaction to a hit movie, but I would counter by saying that you haven't seen Disney On Ice.

Granted, it's been about 15 years since my heyday with Disney On Ice show attendance, but last night (November 12), I returned to the world of musical figure skating shows with its latest production, "Frozen," at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. And damn it, it was fantastic.

For everyone unfamiliar with Disney On Ice shows or just those considering a ticket purchase when the show comes to town, here is some of what I saw.

Waiting to get into the arena, I saw plenty of delighted girls getting a good second wear out of their Elsa Halloween costumes, probably to the delight of the parents who paid for them.

By the time I got in, the pre-show had already begun, with a smattering of Disney characters -- mostly from previous Disney On Ice shows -- skating to "Higher and Higher." It was awesome.

(It's worth mentioning that Pumbaa from "The Lion King" skated on his hands and feet. Here's a video of him skating during "Lion King" on ice.)

Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy were our emcees for the evening and gave all of the parents enough time to wrangle their children in their assigned seats.

Once "Frozen" starts, things move quickly. We see young Kristoff and Sven first, but quickly move over to Anna and Elsa as kids. It's one thing to understand that "Frozen" is a massively popular show. It's something else entirely to hear an entire arena of children sing "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"

The show glosses over the whole "dead parents" thing, and we're suddenly onto adult Anna and Elsa, who both received explosive rounds of applause for the first appearance.

Some of the performers have less to do during portions of certain songs and use that time to wave at kids. There is nothing like seeing a kid meet Elsa. I saw audience members lose it from across the arena, and it's impossible not to feel their excitement.

The "on ice" portion of the program is mostly limited to performers skating and lip-synching, but there's some genuinely impressive skill on display. Kristoff was the go-to backflip guy.

As soon as the kids recognized the start of a popular song, especially "Let It Go," it was like their favorite rock band played its most famous song.

"Let It Go" was a major highlight, but "Fixer Upper" -- maybe the weakest song -- had some very impressive costuming for the trolls. It created the illusion of two trolls stacked and skating around.

The story's power comes across even when performed on ice. It had been a little while since I'd seen the movie, but Anna's sacrifice -- and the rest of "Frozen," really -- works even when everyone is wearing skates.