BACKGROUND
After becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of all time shortly after its release; the fifth highest-grossing film of all time for a spell; winning two Academy Awards; and causing one of the biggest frenzies that a Disney movie has created in decades, you’d be right to think that the hype around Frozen and its characters is far from over.
Despite being ten years since the movie was first released in November 2013, the film has spanned numerous merchandise items, games and books; multiple theme park attractions and areas; many screen featurettes; a Disney on Ice show; and a Broadway musical – and yet its popularity keeps growing, with whole lands dedicated to the film being built at not one, not two, but three of the six total Disney Resorts! It’s crazy how much of a phenomenon Frozen has become, rivalling the popularity of The Lion King (1994), which came out two decades prior to Frozen.
I’m not going to lie and say that I’m obsessed with Frozen, but I cannot say that I dislike it either. As I’m no longer young, I struggle to get that excited about any new Disney or Pixar release. They come out, I watch them, and I decide whether they fit in to one of three categories: 1) Hate it and never want to watch again; 2) That was alright; I’ll watch it again or 3) Love it and will rewatch it often. I am a “die-hard fan” of just one Disney film that I will love and cherish forever, but most movies I watch tend to sit within Category 2 or 3, with it being very rare that I find a Disney or Pixar film that fits into Category 1. Frozen sits comfortably in Category 2, but perhaps there was a time when 3 would’ve been more fitting.
When I first watched Frozen at the cinema in December 2013, I laughed, I cried, I was happy, I was sad – I went through all the emotions, as you do when you watch a really good Disney movie, typically of the fairy-tale Broadway musical variety, as Frozen is. I did really like it, more so than Tangled (2010), its “princess predecessor”. The music was good, the characters were funny and relatable, and it was nice to see a twist on the typical fairy tale, with the heroes being two strong women, and the prince being the villain.
But then came the perfect storm of small children, Christmas, a standout musical hit – and social media. Nobody would stop talking about Frozen! There were videos of people singing “Let It Go” everywhere; the soundtrack was all over the radio; Frozen was being talked about on the news, on panel show – it went on and on. That’s when I found I didn’t like Frozen half as much as I had when I came out of that cinema a few months before, because it had been talked to death, and by doing that, it lost some of its magic for me.
I don’t generally choose to watch Frozen, much preferring its sequel, but when I did re-watch it this week, I did find I still liked it – but I’m not about to go and make a TikTok video about it or anything. Just think how bad “Frozen fever” would’ve been had that app been around in 2013, not just the standard Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube….
PLOT
Frozen begins in a quiet, calming way, with scenes of snowflakes falling over a blue screen. The title card shows the film’s title written as a block of ice. A choral tune plays during this section. After this, we are transported to a cold, snowy area where men are cutting out blocks of ice from the ground; they are ice harvesters. A small boy and a young reindeer watch nearby and join in with the group. The men take away the ice in their sleds.
In a castle, a little girl, Princess Anna, is annoying her sister, trying to get her to play with her in the middle of the night because “when the sky is awake, [she’s] awake”, meaning she can see the aurora borealis, or “northern lights”, through their bedroom window! Eventually, the sister, Princess Elsa, relents after being asked if she wants to build a snowman. The girls head to a large hall where we see that Elsa has magical ice powers: she makes the floor solid ice so they can skate on it, makes huge snow drifts, and of course, builds a snowman, which she calls Olaf. All this fun, though, ends in tears. As Elsa tries to catch Anna as she dances from snow drift to snow drift with her magic, Elsa accidentally hits Anna in the head. Anna tumbles to the ground, unconscious. Elsa cries for her parents, with the four hurrying to the trolls for help. At this point, the small boy and reindeer from earlier follow the trail of ice that is following Elsa, Anna, and the King and Queen over to the trolls. The two are both adopted by a troll as they watch this strange meeting. The Troll King says that it is lucky only Anna’s head has been frozen, as a frozen heart cannot be easily thawed. The Troll King takes away all memories of Elsa’s magic, which heals Anna. He warns Elsa though her magic can be beautiful, it needs to be controlled or it could be dangerous; fear will be her enemy. The King vows to help Elsa control it and orders the gates to the kingdom be closed, to conceal Elsa’s powers from everyone else.
Over a number of years, the girls are separated. Anna is lonely without her sister, constantly wanting to play with her, but being told to go away every time. Elsa is struggling to control her power, and the more she is afraid of it, the more powerful and uncontrollable it gets; it is clear Elsa’s emotions feed into her magic, mimicking how she feels. As Anna gets older, she doesn’t bother Elsa anymore, so the two don’t speak. One day, their parents leave for a two-week trip – we aren’t told where or why – but their ship sinks and they drown. Elsa becomes the new Queen. Anna and Elsa are both broken at the news of their parents’ death, but as Anna seeks comfort from Elsa, Elsa continues to ignore her.
When Elsa is 21, it is time for her Coronation Day, where she will formally become Queen of Arendelle, their kingdom. The gates to Arendelle will finally be open and Anna will actually get to talk to someone; she’s very excited. As she explores the day’s festivities, she bumps into someone and stumbles into a boat, almost falling into the harbour. This someone is Prince Hans of the Southern Isles; Anna is instantly smitten. But it’s time for the Coronation, so she heads to the ceremony. Elsa’s Coronation is a relatively simple affair, with not too many attendees, but that doesn’t stop Elsa’s nerves. As she goes to pick up the orb and sceptre to conclude the formalities, Elsa is asked to remove her gloves, something she wears to conceal her magic. She holds the objects for the smallest amount of time necessary, before hurriedly placing them down and putting her gloves back on. She did it.
Now it’s time to party. At the party, Anna and Elsa speak for the first time in years, surprising Anna. Elsa sends Anna off to dance with the Duke of Weselton, the ruler of Arendelle’s biggest trade partner. The Duke is suspicious of the Queen but cannot get information from Anna. Anna is soon saved by the arrival of Hans, who she spends time with instead. The two fall in love over the course of the evening and Hans proposes to her; Anna eagerly accepts. She takes Hans to Elsa to ask for her blessing on their marriage. Elsa refuses, telling Anna she cannot marry a man she just met, and orders her guests to leave and for the gates to Arendelle to be closed once more. Anna is angry and upset that Elsa won’t talk to her, and asks why Elsa continues to shut her out. Elsa gets upset at Anna’s questioning and holds out her arm to tell her to stop – but one of Elsa’s gloves has been removed in the lead up to this and icicles shoot out from her hands, shocking everyone. The guests are scared of her evil powers, with the Duke calling her a monster. She flees, but is confronted by even more people, scaring her more. As Elsa steadies herself by the courtyard fountain, that too freezes. Elsa runs over the fjord to escape, freezing the whole fjord as she does so, and setting off an eternal winter everywhere – it is actually July in Arendelle.
Anna decides to follow Elsa to ask her to unfreeze Arendelle. She leaves Hans in charge of the kingdom until she returns. Elsa has escaped to the North Mountain, and is alright being alone and free to use her powers without fear of hurting anyone. She builds a huge ice palace on the mountain and seems happy with her life choice. In the meantime, Anna journeys through the snow to try and find Elsa, but doesn’t know where to look. At Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna high in the mountain, she meets an ice-seller, Kristoff. After angering Oaken over his “ridiculous prices”, Kristoff is thrown out of the shop. Anna buys some winter clothes, to change out of her snow-soaked Coronation dress, and buys Kristoff’s items for him to use a bargaining tool. She finds Kristoff and asks that he take her to the North Mountain, as she suspects this is where Elsa may be. Eventually, he is persuaded, so Anna, Kristoff, and his reindeer, Sven, head off via his sled.
As they discuss Anna’s argument with Elsa, namely her stupidity at wanting to marry a man she knows nothing about, which caused this wintry mess, they are pursued by wolves – with a cliff edge coming up quickly. Anna and Kristoff jump onto Sven, and tell him to jump across the gap to the opposite ledge. Kristoff’s sled falls over the edge and bursts into flames. Kristoff wants to leave Anna to go on alone, but she says she’ll buy him a new sled once their mission is over. Reluctantly, he continues on with her. As they walk through a frosty oasis, they meet Olaf the snowman, who was built by Elsa but has now come to life. He tells them how he likes warm hugs, and would love to know what summer is like. Anna persuades Kristoff not to burst Olaf’s bubble about what happens to snow in heat… Olaf joins the three on their journey.
Anna’s horse returns to Arendelle – it got spooked before she got to Wandering Oaken’s. Hans is concerned for her safety, and organises a party to search for her. Hans asks for men to join him; the sneaky Duke of Weselton volunteers two men, telling them to kill Elsa on sight if they see her. At the same time, Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf make it to the North Mountain, where they find a handy ice staircase to take them up to the top. They are presented with an enormous palace built purely from ice – Kristoff is quite overcome by this! Anna goes in to speak to her sister alone. First, she tries to persuade Elsa to come back to Arendelle with her, but Elsa refuses, saying it’s best for everyone that she stays up here, alone. Olaf comes in during the conversation, with Elsa amazed that her powers conjured a living snowman. Anna then tells Elsa that they have a problem because all of Arendelle is frozen, and asks Elsa to unfreeze it. This scares Elsa, since she had no idea she even did that, and has no clue how to unfreeze it. Anna tries to calm her down, saying they can work it out together, but the damage is done; Elsa gets so upset that she sends icicles shooting out of her hands at all angles, with one of those hitting Anna in the heart.
Kristoff and Olaf come to Anna’s aid, but Elsa conjures a huge snowman, called Marshmallow, to literally throw them out of the palace. They are tossed down the stairs, with Marshmallow planning to leave them alone, but Anna is so angry that she throws a snowball at him. Bad idea! Marshmallow becomes enraged and starts to chase them down the mountain. Kristoff and Anna throw themselves over the edge to hide from Marshmallow, using a rope to keep them from falling down the 200-foot drop. Olaf meets up with them at the edge, but he falls down the drop. Marshmallow finds the rope that Kristoff and Anna are dangling from and pulls them back up the mountain; Kristoff hits his head on a rock here and is knocked unconscious. Marshmallow shouts at them to not come back. Anna assures him they won’t and cuts the rope, letting them fall the massive distance to the bottom. There’s plenty of fresh snow at the bottom to cushion their fall, so they’re ok.
Anna’s plan to talk to Elsa failed, and worse still, Kristoff sees Anna’s hair is turning white. They find Sven, who couldn’t get up the icy staircase to the palace, and heads to find Kristoff’s family, the “love experts”, to get help. When they arrive, Kristoff seemingly starts talking to rocks, making him look crazy. Anna tries to leave, but as she does, the rocks turn into trolls. The trolls get over-excited, thinking Kristoff has brought a girl home and start setting up their wedding, but Kristoff tells them Anna is already engaged to be married and they have bigger problems to worry about – Anna’s heart has started to freeze from Elsa’s magic. The Troll King tells them that only an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart. Believing a kiss from Hans would fit that description, they hurry to Arendelle.
Meanwhile, despite Marshmallow’s bodyguarding skills, Hans and his “search party” get into the ice palace, with the Duke’s men about to kill Elsa with crossbows. As she protects and defends herself, she gets very closing to killing the men herself, when Hans arrives to tell her not to become the monster they think she is. The icy chandelier above Elsa is cut from the ceiling. As Elsa tries to outrun it, she falls to the ground and is knocked out. She is taken to Arendelle, and locked in a cell, with cuffs and chains keeping her from using her magic. Kristoff delivers Anna to Arendelle, and leaves with Sven. In the castle, she is brought to Hans, and explains her frozen heart situation, asking Hans to kiss her. As he leans in to kiss Anna, however, he tells her “if only there was someone out there who loved you”. In a big twist, Hans is the villain! With twelve older brothers, Hans is 13th in line to his own throne, and knew to get power he’d have to marry into the throne. It was only too easy to get Anna to fall in love with him, and knows now that he will be King, after he sentences Elsa to death for treason. He leaves Anna alone to die, and tells the others she is already dead, but that they married just in time, making him “legitimately” in line to be King. They go to kill Elsa, but find that Elsa has managed to destroy her cuffs and cell with her powers and has escaped. Her fear causes an icy storm to surround Arendelle.
Olaf finds Anna and tries to keep her warm enough to survive. He inadvertently tells Anna that Kristoff must love her – something Kristoff has figured out for himself and is on his way back to Arendelle. Olaf helps Anna out on the fjord to look for Kristoff to get her kiss. Meanwhile, Hans has found Elsa on the fjord and tells her that she has killed her own sister. Elsa is distraught and collapses on to the ice, pausing the snow storm. With the storm calmed, the fjord is clear, and just as Anna sees Kristoff coming towards her, she sees Hans ready to kill Elsa. She rushes over there. Anna shields Elsa from Hans, and turns to ice at this exact moment, breaking Hans’ sword and pushing him backwards on to the ice. Elsa sees Anna turned to ice, and begins to cry. After a few seconds, Anna then begins to unfreeze. They figure that Anna sacrificing herself to save Elsa was the “act of true love” that was needed to thaw Anna’s frozen heart. This makes Elsa twig that love must be the way to unfreeze Arendelle. With this in mind, Elsa manages to thaw Arendelle, which starts to make Olaf melt – so she gives him his own personal flurry to keep him alive! Hans regains consciousness and is surprised to see Anna alive because of her “frozen heart”. Anna tells him “the only frozen heart around here is yours” before punching him in the face, sending him into the harbour! Hans is taken back to the Southern Isles by one of the dignitaries; Elsa dissolves the trade agreement between Arendelle and Weselton; and Anna buys Kristoff a new sled, giving him a kiss and a new job title: Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer; and Olaf is happy to be able to see summer in Arendelle. As a final “happy ending” moment, Elsa makes the whole courtyard of the palace an ice rink and teaches Anna how to skate, also vowing never to close the gates to Arendelle again.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Anna is the younger, slightly clumsy, quirky sister of Elsa. From a young age, it’s obvious that Anna likes being around her older sister, and wants to be close to her. Though they are for a few years, after the incident where Elsa hit Anna with her powers, they are separated from each other for a very long time, making that once-close sisterly bond quite difficult and complicated. As Anna has been cooped up in the Royal Palace for so long, she does not have particularly good social skills. Though she’s overly enthusiastic and will clearly talk to anyone, her naivety is clear when Hans asks to marry her, after knowing her just a few hours, and she accepts. Her stubbornness to not accept Elsa’s reasoning for not blessing the marriage is what ultimately causes Elsa to reveal her powers and flee Arendelle. Because of this, Anna does feel guilty and responsible for trying to find Elsa and get the eternal winter thawed. When she speaks to Elsa, though, she ends up working Elsa up and is not able to calm her down again. Sometimes Anna just talks too much, and doesn’t have much of a filter when she does! Still, her sacrifice at the end of the film to save her sister shows how much she loves Elsa, despite being isolated from her, and this goes a long way to fixing their “sisterly bond”. Originally, Anna and Elsa were not sisters. Anna was going to be a peasant who went to the Snow Queen to ask for her broken heart to be frozen. This story idea was not working, and the team knew they needed to make it more personal, so it was suggested that they be sisters instead.
Anna spends much of her time in the film with Kristoff, Sven and Olaf. With Olaf, she is protective of him and his dreams to see summer, even though she is well aware that snowmen don’t exist in summer because they melt in the sun, and she is thankful to Olaf for helping her at the end, saving her from dying alone in a random room in the palace. With Kristoff, she has a funny relationship. They spend most of the film arguing and bickering with each other; they are quite different people after all. But somehow, they realise that they actually love each other. It’s pretty obvious this is the route that we are being led down throughout their scenes together, so the only people who are surprised by this “turn of events” are Anna and Kristoff themselves.
Kristen Bell voices the role of Anna. Though Anna is likely to be Bell’s most recognisable screen performance now, one of her earliest screen roles was as the title character in the mystery drama television series Veronica Mars (2004-07). Bell was also the voice of “Gossip Girl”, the narrator of the show, for the original run of Gossip Girl (2007-12) and its revival from 2021 to 2023. Another quite big film role before Frozen was Bell’s role as Sarah Marshall in the romantic comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) alongside Jason Segel and Mila Kunis. Since Frozen, as well as obviously reprising her voice role as Anna on numerous occasions, Kristen Bell starred in the lead role of Eleanor Shellstrop in the fantasy comedy series The Good Place (2016-20), alongside Ted Danson.
For her character, Kristen Bell brought a goofy side to Anna, with many of her expressions being taken from her recording sessions and put into Anna’s animation. Bell was very specific about wanting this quirky side to come across well in Anna, as Bell didn’t have the standard “princess personality” when she was that age, and wanted Anna to resonate with anyone who doesn’t feel like they quite “fit in”. Some examples of Anna being completely different from the regular Disney princess is that she falls over a lot, speaks without a filter, and even wakes up drooling and with messy hair – that is certainly not something Disney would normally represent in their “princess movies”, even though everyone looks like that in the morning! Bell also stated that as she has two older sisters, she could relate to Anna wanting to seek approval from Elsa, and wanting to be a part of her life, perhaps more than Elsa would like. Rebecca Bresee is the supervising animator for Anna, and as well as using characteristics from Kristen Bell for the character, Bresee used herself as reference material for Anna, recording herself acting through some of Anna’s scenes so she could accurately recreate the right sort of poses and facial expressions that someone like Anna would make in real-life. Bresee’s children also acted out some of the scenes of young Elsa and Anna to help in those animated sequences.
Elsa is the nervous, overwhelmed Queen of Arendelle, and the uptight sister of Anna. It’s not her fault she’s like that, though. Her parents taught her that it was better to conceal her powers than to be free with them, so Elsa has always felt like there’s a huge part of her that is “wrong” and must be hidden from everyone else so she can act “normal”. She is taught that her magic is dangerous and that other people will not be able to understand it. These can’t have been easy messages for Elsa to have lived her life by for so many years, and on top of that, she feels like she has to isolate herself from everyone to keep them safe from her. She spends most of the film keeping herself away from everyone, and only allows herself to be free with her magic when she is alone – but she loves having the freedom to be able to do that. When you start bringing people into that, with Anna showing up with Kristoff and Olaf, plus Hans and his search party, it’s no wonder she gets scared again and her powers start to become unpredictable. She just wants to not have to hide anymore, and wants to be accepted by her family and her kingdom. It’s so good to see at the end that she has learnt how to control her powers to suit everyone, including herself, and that after being persecuted and almost killed by different men with their own hidden agendas, Elsa is able to overcome all that, to be a good queen, and be a good sister to Anna. Elsa doesn’t have much interaction with Olaf, Kristoff or Sven in this movie.
Idina Menzel voices the role of Elsa, and continues to reprise that role in further Frozen projects, but Menzel is probably best known as the originating role of Elphaba in the musical Wicked, from 2003 until 2005. She won a Tony Award for this performance. Also on stage, Menzel performed the role of Maureen Johnson in the New York Theatre Workshop of Rent in 1994, and then went on to perform the role on stage from 1996 to 1997. She also reprised this role for the 2005 movie. But as well as this, Menzel played the role of Nancy Tremaine in Enchanted (2007) and its sequel Disenchanted (2022), and performed alongside Adam Sandler in the recent films Uncut Gems (2019) and You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023).
Supervising animator for Elsa, Wayne Unten, wanted to animate Elsa as he felt that her inner turmoil and complex character arc would make her an interesting project for him. He said that when Idina Menzel was brought to the studios as part of her audition process, she ended up having to speak in front of about 80 people. Unten could see how nervous and overwhelmed she was by the experience, but that when it came to her singing, her strength came from that action, which is very similar behaviour that we see from Elsa. Elsa was originally going to be the villain of the film, and from concept art, she was going to a blue-skinned typical evil queen with a live weasel fur coat. There was even a scary villain’s song written for her, as she builds a terrifying snowman army to attack those who try to find her. In the end, thanks to the creation of “Let It Go”, with that being an emotional, vulnerable song, talking about her fears around her magic and her difficulties trying to be the “perfect girl”, Elsa was no longer written to be a villain, meaning that the majority of the whole film also had to be rewritten. She then became more of a “tortured hero” than a villain.
Kristoff is the grumpy, hard-to-get-close-to iceman who Anna encounters at Wandering Oaken’s shop. He must’ve had a tough childhood as, apart from Sven, his reindeer friend, he doesn’t seem to have a family until one of the trolls chooses to adopt both of them – at least, I hope he didn’t have a family and that he wasn’t kidnapped by the trolls…We don’t get to hear about his childhood here so who knows! Anyway, he grows up with Sven and his troll family, who he does seem happy around, but when he meets Anna, she seems to be the last person he’d ever want to talk to and ends up stuck with her, just to make sure she doesn’t get herself killed trying to travel to the North Mountain with no clue about the real world. If she dies, he’ll never get a new sled, after all! Eventually, he softens and does start to fall for Anna, though we still don’t hear him be particularly open about his life, or his hopes and dreams. He doesn’t even tell Anna what his favourite food is, or his foot size, or his best friend’s name, all things he moans that Anna doesn’t know about Hans and therefore can’t marry him! He has Sven, who is probably classed as his best friend, I guess, rightly or wrong. I personally don’t particularly like Kristoff, I don’t think Anna should’ve ended up with Hans, but I think she could do a bit better than Kristoff. He’s just too closed off, and since Anna clearly likes talking to people after her isolated childhood, I think she needs more in her life… But what do I know? I do think Sven is a cute reindeer, though. To animate Sven, Disney artists observed a real-life reindeer in the studio as reference material. They saw that reindeers can use their back legs to itch their ears, just like dogs do, so this behaviour was put into Frozen in one scene[1].
The voice of Kristoff and “Sven” is Jonathan Groff, who originated the role of Melchior Gabor in Spring Awakening from 2006 to 2008, alongside Glee (2009-15) star Lea Michele. Groff also had a recurring role as Jesse St James in Glee from 2010 to 2015. More recently, Groff is well-known for playing the part of King George III in the smash-hit musical Hamilton from 2015 to 2016; his performance can be seen in the film version of Hamilton (2020) as well. Groff has reprised his role as Kristoff, and Sven, in other Frozen projects. Groff said that though it was fun recording both Kristoff and Sven’s lines, he did feel like he was going a bit crazy as he did so.
Rounding out Anna’s “sidekicks” is the lovable Olaf. He is a bit dopey at times, but he is very cute, his laugh is particularly adorable. Everyone loves Olaf, don’t they? Hyrum Osmond – yes, of the famous Osmond family; his uncle is Donny Osmond – is the animator for Olaf, and he stated that Olaf is an animator’s dream, because, since he’s a snowman comprised of snowballs, he can be pulled apart and put back together in the wrong order; he can have his legs running away from his head; be impaled on icicles and think it’s hilarious, that sort of thing. Olaf has infinite numbers of animation possibilities. For Olaf’s childlike mannerisms, Osmond looked to his son for reference material to get that childish, innocent quality into Olaf.
Josh Gad, Olaf’s voice artist, gave everything into his recording sessions and is said to have very much enjoyed voicing the character[2]. He even won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting for Olaf. As well as reprising Olaf in every Frozen project, Gad has had numerous stage and screen roles. On stage, Gad originated the role of Elder Cunningham in the musical The Book of Mormon (2011), for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor. Starring alongside him was Andrew Rannells. The two are currently performing together in the 2023 Broadway revival of Gutenberg! The Musical! As well as this, Gad currently voices the role of Birdie in, and is co-creator of, the musical animated sitcom series Central Park (2020-present). For some of his film roles, Gad played the role of LeFou in the live-action Beauty and the Beast (2017), Hector MacQueen in Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and “Headphones” in The Internship (2013).
When it comes to Hans, Anna is just so happy about the idea of falling in love, something she’d hoped would happy on Coronation Day because it was going to be one of the few days that Arendelle allowed visitors into the palace, that she doesn’t think about getting to know Hans or spending much time with him; she rushes into it, because she decides it feels right. This plays perfectly into Hans’ hands, who knew that he would not be able to get close to Elsa to marry her, but the relative ease it took to get Anna to accept his marriage proposal was probably much quicker than even he anticipated! The reveal of Hans as the villain was such a good twist, because who would ever think that the prince and the husband-to-be could possibly be faking his feelings just to take the kingdom of Arendelle for himself? Hans is just a selfish jerk, it’s as simple as that. Some say that they don’t like that Hans became the villain, saying that it was never foreshadowed and seemed forced. I disagree and felt it was a really good twist, and set up the final confrontation well. It also continued the trend of other “villain reveals” in other Disney and Pixar releases, like Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Big Hero 6 (2014), Zootopia (2016) and The Incredibles 2 (2017).
Santino Fontana voices the role of Hans – poor guy, he’s now known as voicing one of the most hated villains in Disney history! But this isn’t all he’s done. Fontana has numerous theatre credits, including originating the role of Tony Elliot in Billy Elliot the Musical on Broadway in 2008, Prince Topher in the 2013 Broadway production of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor, and originated the role of Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels in the 2019 Broadway production of Tootsie. Fontana has reprised the role of Hans when required, though Hans does not appear in all of the Frozen-related spin-off projects.
A final note on casting is that Alan Tudyk, Disney’s “good luck charm”, voices the role of the Duke of Weselton, who is meant to be evil, but is mostly just someone to laugh at, as he’s too old and infirm to be that menacing. This was only Tudyk’s second role for Disney, with his first being King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph (2012), but he has gone on to voice a part in every Disney release that has followed. There are too many to list here, but he did voice Duke Weaselton, a parody of his Frozen character, in Zootopia (2016). Tudyk also voices Valentino in Wish (2023).
PRODUCTION
Some of the Frozen character names are a reference to author, Hans Christian Andersen. Obviously, there is Hans, then Kristoff, Anna and Sven. If you say all four one after the other, it kind of sounds right, and is a clever tribute to the writer of The Snow Queen, the story that Frozen is loosely based on. The tale was written in the early 1840s. It was apparently inspired by the story East of the Sun, West of the Moon, which is similar to Beauty and the Beast, with both being inspired by the tale of Cupid and Psyche. It is told in seven stories, with none of them baring any resemblance to the story of Frozen.
In the first story, a troll creates a mirror to distort beauty. This mirror breaks which spreads the evil glass all over the world, distorting people’s vision and making them see the worst in everything. The second story moves to Kay and Gerda, who are two poor children who are close friends. One day, Kay sees the Snow Queen in a window. Shortly after, fragments of the evil mirror’s glass enter his heart and eye, turning him into a heartless bully who abandons Gerda, and follows the Queen to the north. In the third story, Gerda is convinced Kay is still alive and sets out to find him, going on a boat down the river, where she meets a witch. In the fourth, Gerda encounters a prince and princess. Gerda believes the prince to be Kay, but he is not. The two help Gerda on her way the next day. The fifth story sees Gerda encounter a band of robbers, with one of the girls threatening to kill her. The following day, in the sixth tale, Gerda continues her journey where she encounters two old women who tell her the secret to saving Kay is her innocent heart. In the final tale, Gerda’s frozen breath turns into angels who defeat the Snow Queen’s guards, letting her enter the palace. There, she sees Kay alone and immobile on a frozen lake trying to solve a puzzle for the Snow Queen. If he can do this, the Queen promised to give him a pair of skates. This part of The Snow Queen is referenced in Frozen when Elsa gives Anna skates at the end of the film. Instead of finishing the puzzle, Gerda uses the power of her love to break the curse, and Kay and Gerda return home together[3].
Walt Disney had been interested in developing Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen from around the mid-1940s. He had planned to collaborate with producer Samuel Goldwyn, co-founder of MGM Studios, to make a biographical film about Hans Christian Andersen. MGM would’ve been involved in shooting the live-action footage, whilst the Disney Studios would’ve animated some of Andersen’s most famous works such as The Little Mermaid, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and, of course, The Snow Queen. Unfortunately, this movie never went further than initial planning.
In the 1970s, animator Marc Davis designed an attraction based on the story of The Snow Queen, to be developed for Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The attraction was titled The Enchanted Snow Palace. It would’ve been housed in a big white and blue show building, made to look like a glacier. This was going to be a boat ride, whereby the boats went past animatronic polar bears, walruses and penguins, to the background music of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite”. The boats would then drift into a snow cave full of frost fairies and snow giants with ice clubs, before coming to the throne room of the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen would’ve conjured a blizzard, something the boats would get caught in, before calming down for the end of the ride. It was meant to be a literally cool attraction, good to cool down guests on some of the Disney Parks’ hottest days. As the estimated cost for the attraction was $15 million, it was never made.
But that wasn’t the last Disney heard of The Snow Queen, as the project kept being thought of every now and again. In 2002, the Disney Studios came close to adapting the story, with composer Alan Menken onboard to compose the songs, one of which was completed and called “Love Can’t be Denied”. Animator Glen Keane was also involved in this project. Then-CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner, thought about passing the project over to Pixar, but it was dropped altogether[4].
Different teams continued to pitch the idea through the 2000s, including Chris Buck, who had co-directed Tarzan (1999) as well as Frozen. Finally, after the success of Tangled (2010), a return to the Broadway musical style of Disney film but with a modern twist on its fairy tale source material, an adaptation of The Snow Queen was brought back into consideration as a CG movie. Jennifer Lee, who was one of the screenwriters for Wreck-It Ralph (2012), was brought on as a writer for Frozen, but then became co-director with Buck.
Adapting The Snow Queen, though, proved difficult, as it is a challenging story to make sense of, since much of the prose is quite poetic and the fact the story is split into seven parts makes it less cohesive of a plot than other fairy tales[5]. Because of this, the film went through many rewrites, with numerous scenes and character arcs ending up on the cutting room floor. The biggest of these was Elsa, the Snow Queen, who was going to be the villain of the film. In one scene from early drafts of the film, Elsa had a snowman army ready to attack the guards who were sent to her palace on the mountain to find Anna. She electrocuted the guards with her ice powers, and is clearly intent on destroying them. As mentioned earlier, once the song “Let It Go” was written, Elsa’s character development was flipped completely and she was no longer a villain. From these early drafts, Anna would’ve been more similar to the character of Gerda in the original tale.
Even when this element, and Anna and Elsa becoming sisters, had been decided, there were plenty of other changes that occurred. One of which was going to be a scene in Elsa’s room, with Anna borrowing some of her clothes and talking about what she was going to wear to Elsa’s Coronation, to show a typical sisterly relationship. It would’ve still shown Elsa not wanting to get too emotional and not wanting Anna to get close to her, like how she ended up in the final movie, but it was decided that it was better for the story to keep the sisters divided throughout the lives, so this scene was removed[6].
For the design of the movie, some of the Disney artists were sent out on a research trip to Norway, as it was decided that its vast and grand area would suit the story well. They looked at snowy hamlets and Norwegian fjords, thinking that the kingdom of Arendelle should be situated at the foot of one of these fjords. Rosemaling, a Scandinavian decorative painting style known for its floral designs and curves, was seen everywhere in Norway, in columns, ceilings, clothing etc., and so the team decided this had to be included in Frozen, and it is added to many different parts of Frozen, such as Elsa’s magic making curving patterns, and it being on many of the characters’ costumes, as well as within the castle.
Another thing Frozen would need was lots of snow! This is not something that had been particularly prominent in other Disney animated films at this point in time. So, another research trip was needed! Some of the artists went sent to have a “snow day” at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They slid down hills, as Olaf does when they are racing back to Arendelle after they find Anna needs “true love’s kiss” to thaw her frozen heart, and looked at how snow reacts to people, and how people interact with snow. They also, both the men and the women, tested walking through the snow whilst wearing a big fabric skirt, as Anna does when she sets out to find Elsa, to see how that would need to look for the animation.
A huge design challenge was actually figuring out how Elsa’s ice palace should look. After much trial and error, and many different concept art paintings, it was decided that the ice palace should be built from the ground up, with the foundation of the six points of a snowflake. When Elsa stomps her foot during the “Let It Go” scene, you can see that the six-pointed snowflake appears under her feet, before building upwards from there, coming together like a puzzle, and then creating a ceiling. From this point, the chandelier comes down from the centre of the ceiling and takes us back to the ground. The rosemaling pattern is also prominent in the design of this palace. The whole palace took nine months to create, but the Design Team knew this was an important moment in the film and that it had to look spectacular, needing to show Elsa being free and empowered to use her magic at last.
MUSIC
Speaking of “Let It Go”, this turned out to be the biggest hit on the whole Frozen soundtrack, which I think Disney did expect, seeing as this song was re-recorded by Demi Lovato, a pop rendition of it, anyway, for the End Credits. This version was recorded and released in other languages, such as in Malaysian by Marsha Milan, and in Spanish by Martina Stoessel. All three of these artists also filmed music videos for the song, which were released as bonus features on the home release on Frozen.
But back to Idina Menzel’s film version of the song, written by husband-and-wife songwriting duo, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who wrote all eight songs in Frozen. The duo had written music for the 2011 Disney film, Winnie the Pooh, prior to Frozen. Robert Lopez had much success composing for musical stage shows, such as Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon. “Let It Go” was a huge success, becoming the first song from a Disney animated musical to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 since 1995 when Vanessa William’s “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas (1995) peaked at number four; “Let It Go” peaked at number five. “Let It Go” only hit number 1 in the South Korean music charts and the Billboard US Dance Club Songs chart. But it did win numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song, which led to Robert Lopez becoming one of a select group of people that have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. The song also won the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media. With its message of feeling free to be yourself, and the amazing vocal performance by Idina Menzel, it was obvious “Let It Go” would be Frozen’s standout hit, resonating with many people.
But that’s not all, as there are seven other songs to discuss. The first one is “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”. It details Anna’s isolation and increasing distance from her sister, Elsa, as they grow up. It’s a good song for creating a backstory for the girls, and is particularly emotional at the end, when Anna and Elsa are dealing with the grief of suddenly losing both their parents. It’s hard not to feel emotional when listening to this song. As well as Kristen Bell singing as Anna at the end of the song, Jennifer Lee’s daughter, Agatha, sang as 9-year-old Anna, and Katie Lopez, the daughter of the songwriters, sang as 5-year-old Anna. Would you believe that this song was actually cut from the film and put back in on numerous occasions? There were a lot of Disney staff members who wanted to keep it, but as late into production as February 2013, it was felt during a screening that the song did not work and was removed. It would not be put back into the final film until quite close to its November release date. I’m sure many viewers are pleased that this decision was made[7].
The next song in the movie is “For the First Time in Forever”, sung by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel. I particularly like the change in tone when Elsa begins to sing about her fears for the day, after Anna has been focused on how excited she is about it. It also showcases Anna’s funny, quirky personality, which is great. During this scene, there is a brief cameo of Rapunzel and Flynn entering the gates of Arendelle[8]. My favourite song in the whole soundtrack is “For the First Time in Forever (Reprise)”, when Anna is trying to calm Elsa down after she tells her Arendelle is completely frozen. Again, I like the “duelling voices” of the two, and Elsa’s final high note. Menzel and Bell’s voices blend very well together.
I am less enthusiastic about “Love Is an Open Door”, the customary romantic Disney duet, between Anna and Hans, and Olaf’s showtune of “In Summer”. They are catchy enough, with some memorable and funny lines, but I don’t love them. “Love Is an Open Door” does fit with the parody of princess relationships that Frozen makes fun of, though, so it is useful for that purpose; it makes you think you’re watching a normal Disney fairy tale film, but after this point, everything you thought was going to happen, i.e., Hans and Anna getting married and living happily ever after, is turned upside down. For “In Summer”, as cute as Olaf is with his dreams of summer, I don’t think it adds much to the film; it seems like it was added to give Josh Gad a chance to showcase his vocal talents – which are very good.
But there are three songs in Frozen that I think aren’t relevant to the story and I really don’t like. One of those is the first song: “Frozen Heart”, performed by the ice harvesters. I just don’t think this song or opening sequence is needed for the story and I’m not sure why it’s here: to add to the atmosphere of Norway and showcase the location, maybe? It foreshadows Anna’s “frozen heart”? I don’t know, but I feel like the movie could start from the point where Anna is waking Elsa up and it wouldn’t make any difference to the plot! Another one I don’t like is “Fixer Upper” from the trolls. It’s not that the song isn’t funny, but when the movie is about to take such a serious turn, it doesn’t feel like it fits well, as after this very upbeat, happy song, Anna is told she could die soon, and it was her sister’s fault… It’s just a bit strange. But the worst song for me is “Reindeer (s) Are Better Than People”, sung by Jonathan Groff as Kristoff (and Sven). It’s just strange and I don’t find it very funny – though I bet kids love it. It seems like it was only included so we could hear Groff’s singing voice, which, again, is very good – I’ve heard him on the Spring Awakening musical soundtrack – but I don’t think the song adds anything.
The score is composed by Christophe Beck, who has composed scores for other Disney movies such as The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014), as well as Frozen II (2019), and other films such as Trolls (2016) and The Hangover Trilogy (2009-13). Beck infused Norwegian musical influences into his score, which was recorded by an 80-piece orchestra, with 32 vocalists, including native Norwegian Christine Hals, who provided the authentic herding calls, or “kulning”, within some of the score’s tracks[9].
There a few instrumental pieces within the score that standout for me. One of those is “Vuelie”, which features the vocal talents of Cantus, a Norwegian women’s choir. This is heard during the opening of the film, as the title card comes on. I love it; I think’s it’s so calming and relaxing, and the vocals are brilliant. Another is “Heimr Àrnadalr”, which is sung during Elsa’s Coronation; it sounds just like a Coronation piece. I hadn’t really noticed it until I re-watched the movie this week. I’m sad I’ve missed out on it for years. And obviously as I like “Vuelie”, I would like “The Great Thaw”, as it is a reprise of “Vuelie”. I tend to like the instrumentals that play during most Disney “finale” or transformation scenes!
Overall, Frozen has a good soundtrack and even the songs I don’t like are memorable and get stuck in my head often, which is actually really annoying! The album debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 chart, and topped the Billboard Album chart for thirteen non-consecutive weeks. It also peaked at number 1 on the UK Compilation Albums and UK Soundtrack Albums charts, as well as the Australian Albums, Canadian Albums, Chinese Albums, Irish Compilations, Japanese Albums and New Zealand Albums charts!
RECEPTION
Some buzz for Frozen was created via previews of the film, including Idina Menzel singing “Let It Go”, at the 2013 D23 Expo, as well as a teaser trailer being release in June 2013 of Olaf and Sven chasing Olaf’s carrot nose around on a frozen lake. Some of this animation was then used in the epilogue sequence of the final film. Merchandise lines were also released in early November, prior to the movie’s release, as well as character greetings being set up in Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris. Segments from Frozen were added to their respective nighttime shows at the time: World of Color: Winter Dreams, Celebrate the Magic, and Disney Dreams! Of Christmas Show[10].
Frozen had its premiere at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles on 19th November 2013. A 5-day limited release in select theatres began on 22nd November 2013, before the film’s wide release on 27th November 2013. Frozen was released alongside the short Get a Horse! (2013), a Mickey Mouse short reminiscent of the traditional cartoons of Walt Disney’s era, featuring a mixture of black-and-white and colour animation, characters from the late 1920s Mickey Mouse cartoons, and even Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse.
Another fun fact. If you watch all of the End Credits, you can read this odd disclaimer: “The views and opinions expressed by Kristoff in the film that all men eat their own boogers are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Walt Disney Company or the filmmakers.”[11] Weird, right?
Frozen received critical acclaim, with its storyline, mixing traditional fairy tale themes with modern themes of female empowerment, its animation and its songs being particularly praised. Its universe appeal and message of accepting yourself are other points that were mentioned. Some critics did, however, feel it was slightly hypocritical to include so many male supporting characters in a movie that should’ve been focused on its two female leads; I personally don’t agree with this comment, but it shows the differing opinions. However, I do agree that Anna and Elsa were designed with that typical Disney “perfect princess” body type, i.e., tiny waist, skinny build, long legs. This is in contrast to the female empowerment message, and their more modern attitudes and behaviours. It’s not a great message to be sending out to children, that to be considered as “pretty as a princess”, you must be slim and have massive eyes, but this used to be the standard Disney body shape for the majority of their female protagonists. Disney has begun to make their female leads much more natural and diverse in their sizing in their more recent movie releases.
LEGACY
After the movie’s release, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez returned to the world of Frozen to write a musical number with Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff and Kristen Bell called “The Making of Frozen”. The music video took place inside the Disney Animation Building and was directed by Kenny Ortega, who directed the High School Musical trilogy (2006-08). It was added as a bonus feature on the DVD and Blu-Ray where I stupidly believed it was an actual behind-the-scenes documentary. Imagine how disappointed I was! But there was a documentary about the making of the movie, a special released on ABC in September 2014, which was interesting. Towards the end of the television special, those who worked on the film discussed the mania around Frozen, mostly around the endless social media buzz. They also previewed a scene from Big Hero 6 (2014), where I discovered that Chris Williams, one of the directors on Big Hero 6, actually voiced the part of the upbeat shopkeeper in Frozen, Oaken[12]. The show also announced a sequel short to Frozen, Frozen Fever (2015). It was released alongside the theatrical release of Cinderella (2015).
This leads me to Frozen’s screen spin-offs. Frozen Fever (2015) followed on one year after the events of the first movie, detailing Elsa’s celebrations for Anna’s birthday, though the festivities are halted by Elsa’s sudden cold, whereby her sneezes result in “snowgies”, little snowmen, being created! I like the specially written song, “Making Today a Perfect Day”, written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The cameo of Hans at the end being hit by a giant snowball is also very funny! Following on from that, in 2017, the 20-minute short film Olaf’s Frozen Adventure was released in 3D alongside some theatrical screenings of Pixar’s Coco (2017). This is my favourite of the Frozen spin-offs, and follows Olaf as he tries to find holiday traditions that Anna and Elsa might like to participate in, since they don’t have any of their own due to their isolated childhoods. When all looks lost, with all of Olaf’s well-thought-out plans being destroyed by fire, wolves and getting lost, the residents of Arendelle all go out to look for him. They find him and celebrate the holidays all together, revealing that Olaf was the girls’ holiday tradition. The soundtrack here is particularly great, especially the songs “Ring in the Season” and “When We’re Together”, which can be heard as part of some Frozen Holiday Season shows at the Disney Parks. The four original songs in the short film were written by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson. Christophe Beck returned to compose the score. It was directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers, both of whom directed the Prep & Landing short films (2009-11).
A sing-along edition of Frozen was also released in 2014. As well as this, Frozen II was of course released in 2019, and a Frozen 3 is apparently in the works too. Finally on screen, the characters from Frozen – Anna, Elsa and Kristoff – were added to the first half of Season 4 of ABC’s series Once Upon a Time (2011-18) in 2014. It’s a very interesting storyline, including elements from Frozen and The Snow Queen tale, but with the usual twist.
Frozen has also been the basis of multiple video games and board games, books and comics, as well as multiple merchandise lines. The story of Frozen has also been included within Disney on Ice, with a combined Frozen & Encanto show debuting in 2022, and a Broadway musical of the show premiered in 2018. The West End production opened in September 2021, but other international versions and tours have been ongoing since 2020, like in Australia, Japan, Germany and Norway.
So, to the Disney Parks. Now, there is a lot of Frozen-related and inspired attractions, shows and entertainment here, so I will not be going into huge amounts of detail on each area, because there is too much!
In September 2014, Disney announced that Maelstrom, the attraction housed within the Norway pavilion of Epcot at Walt Disney World would be closing to make way for a new attraction titled Frozen Ever After, which follows guests on a summer snow day journey through the forest, past trolls and up the North Mountain to visit Elsa in her ice palace. It features characters from Frozen and the snowgies from Frozen Fever (2015). New lyrics were created based on the original Frozen songs and the voice cast returned. Frozen Ever After opened on 21st June 2016, after much outcry from Epcot fans who felt the true meaning of Epcot was being lost forever with all these “IP” inclusions and loses the meaning of World Showcase. It is correct that Frozen is not set in Norway specially, but was only inspired by the country and its landscapes, so I can see both sides of the argument, for and against the ride[13]. But I really like the ride, and as it follows the same track as Maelstrom, the original attraction has not been lost completely; the original puffins also remain in the ride.
Entire Frozen-themed lands have, or will soon be opening at Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. Hong Kong’s World of Frozen opened on 20th November 2023, with Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs, an exclusive ride to Hong Kong Disneyland, at least for now, and Frozen Ever After, similar to Epcot’s ride being the primary attractions there. At Tokyo Disneyland as part of their Fantasy Springs expansion which opened in June 2024, as well as a recreation of Arendelle village and the castle, there are two food outlets: a snack stand named Oaken’s OK Foods, and the quick-service restaurant Royal Banquet of Arendelle located inside Arendelle Castle. The most exciting part of the Frozen land, though, is the ride Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey. It is not a copy of Frozen Ever After, but instead takes guests through the events of the movie and contains some very complex and impressive animatronics. Another Frozen land will appear at Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris named Kingdom of Arendelle. It is due to open in 2025, but it is unclear what attractions will exist there.
Another Frozen-themed attraction to be based at multiple Disney Parks is For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration. It debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in 2014 as part of their Frozen Summer Fun event, before moving to its permanent location within the Hyperion Theater in Echo Lake in June 2015. It replaced the former The American Idol Experience show. There is also currently a version of the show, Frozen: A Sing-Along Celebration, at Shanghai Disneyland, since 2016. Both shows feature a mix of clips from the movie, along with singalong subtitles, and live performers. A similar concept, but without specific singalong instructions, can be seen at Disneyland Paris, under the name Frozen: A Musical Invitation. Other singalong shows existed at Disney California Adventure and Hong Kong Disneyland but these were short-lived. There was Frozen – Live at the Hyperion, an hour-long Broadway-style show, detailing the story of Frozen at Disney California Adventure from 2016 to 2020 though.
In terms of meet-and-greets, some Disney Parks have set up permanent meet-and-greet locations. At Walt Disney World, originally Anna and Elsa were resident princesses at Princess Fairytale Hall, until 2016 when they were then moved to their own custom-built location, Royal Sommerhus at the Norway pavilion in Epcot. At Disney California Adventure, the two can be seen at Anna & Elsa’s Royal Welcome location. It would seem at Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland, that the two are likely to appear at times around the castle areas. For Olaf, he has a specific meet-and-greet location at Disneyland Paris simply called Meet ‘n’ Greet Olaf at Walt Disney Studios Park, and at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Celebrity Spotlight, near to the singalong show location.
For the men of Frozen, they are not as easy to find at the Disney Parks. Kristoff used to be available for meet-and-greets, with him appearing in 2017 at both Walt Disney World and at Disneyland for a limited time, alongside Olaf generally. In 2021, he was spotted with Sven meeting and greeting at Animation Celebration, where the Frozen show is held, at Disneyland Paris. Hans is a little bit easier to find, at least over on the West Coast, as he made his debut there during the Disney Merriest Nites event at Disneyland in 2021. He was seen more recently in June 2023 at Character Close-Up, or Anna and Elsa’s Royal Welcome. Hans was also a part of the villains’ line-up at the Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween event. Hopefully, Hans will become a part of other Halloween events across all the Disney Parks. But if you don’t get to see your favourite Frozen character in person, they are likely to be featured on parade floats, including ones during the holiday season. Clips and songs from the movie can also be seen and heard during most Disney Parks’ nighttime shows or projection shows.
A stage show that features Olaf quite heavily is Mickey and the Wondrous Book at Hong Kong Disneyland and Mickey’s Storybook Adventure at Shanghai Disneyland. These are live theatre shows, featuring Disney songs and appearances by many Disney characters. There are Frozen-themed hotel suites available to book at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, and Anna and Elsa makeover packages are available for little princesses at the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique locations. I also learnt that Tike’s Peak, the children’s area of Walt Disney World’s Blizzard Beach waterpark, has been themed to Frozen. It features figures of Olaf and the snowgies in one location, and young Anna and Elsa in an igloo fortress. I had no idea about this. On a final note around Disney Entertainment, I will also just say that Frozen and its characters feature within the Disney Cruise Line entertainment, and that there have been special Frozen-themed events previously, general and ticketed.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Frozen became one of the most popular and beloved Disney animated movies of all time. After only ten years, it still makes an impact and is still an easy franchise to choose for spin-offs, merchandise, and theme park expansion. Since its release, Frozen is no longer the highest-grossing animated film, but is now fourth, having been beaten by The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023); its own sequel Frozen II (2019); and then the “live-action” remake, The Lion King (2019). But Frozen kept its title for six years. It has also now fallen to 21st on the list of highest grossing films ever; that is still a big deal for a Disney animated film.
Not since The Lion King (1994) had a Disney animated movie created such hype. It has been quite a crazy ride for the film. Though this has made me less enthusiastic about Frozen than I perhaps might have been, I can’t help but like it anyway. Not as much as some people, but I’m a-ok with the Frozen franchise expanding a little bit more.
If you can’t stand Frozen, I’d keep away from the movies and the theme parks for a very long time. Otherwise, you might want to get onboard and “let it go”, because Frozen isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Sorry!
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Frozen (2013)’, pp. 157-160.
[2] Credit: Disney, The Story of Frozen: Making A Disney Animated Classic (2014).
[3] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘Fairy Tale Subversion: Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”, Tor.com, 23rd June 2016.
[4] Credit Jim Korkis, ‘Jim’s Attic – Snow Queen Ride’, AllEars.net, 7th May 2014.
[5] Credit: Mark Harrison, ‘Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee interview: on making Frozen’, DenofGeek.com, 5th December 2013.
[6] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Frozen (2013), Blu-Ray 2-Movie Collection (2020).
[7] Credit: Disney, The Story of Frozen: Making A Disney Animated Classic (2014).
[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Frozen (2013)’, pp. 157-160.
[9] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘Melting Hearts’, pp. 110-113.
[10] Credit: Jennifer Fickley-Baker, ‘This Week in Disney Parks Photos: ‘Frozen’ Fun Debuts at Disney Parks’, DisneyParks.com, 23rd November 2013.
[11] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Frozen (2013)’, pp. 157-160.
[12] Credit: Disney, The Story of Frozen: Making A Disney Animated Classic (2014).
[13] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Frozen Ever After and Norway’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.
The Disney Purist 