Oh, Frozen. I really do not know what to say about this film. It went from a well-loved to an overhyped film very quickly, but past all of the Frozen craziness, it really is a decent story with some great songs and beautiful animation.
Premiered on: November 19, 2013 at the El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood
Directed by:
Chris Buck
Jennifer Lee
Produced by: Peter Del Vecho
Based on: The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
Sequels: Frozen 2 set for release November 22, 2019
Cast:
Kristen Bell – Anna
Idina Menzel – Elsa
Jonathan Groff – Kristoff
Josh Gad – Olaf
Santino Fontana – Hans
Alan Tudyk – Duke of Weselton
Ciarán Hinds – Grand Pabbie
Chris Williams – Oaken
Steph J. Anderson – Kai
Edie McClurg – Bulda
Paul Briggs – Marshmallow
Jessie Corti – Spanish Dignitary
Maurice LaMarche – King of Arendelle
Jennifer Lee – Queen of Arendelle
Frank Welker – Sven
Supervising Animators:
Hyrum Osmond
Malcon Pierce
Tony Smeed
Wayne Unten
Rebecca Wilson Bresee
Music by:
Christophe Beck
Frode Fjellheim
Robert Lopez
Kristen Anderson-Lopez
Songs:
“Frozen Heart”
“Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”
“Love is an Open Door”
“Let it Go”
“Reindeers are Better then People”
“In Summer”
“Fixer Upper”
Academy Awards:
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Song – “Let it Go”
The Story:
Frozen begins with snowflakes falling. The title card appears.
A saw cuts through ice while the song “Frozen Heart” is sung by the ice cutters. A young Kristoff and Sven try to help. The ice blocks are collected onto a cart and driven away and Kristoff and Sven load up their small sled and follow.
At the Arendelle castle, Princess Anna wakes up her older sister Elsa. She wants to play, but Elsa does not and so Elsa knocks Anna off her bed. Anna asks if Elsa would like to build a snowman and Elsa is excited about this. The two of them run downstairs and Anna begs Elsa to do the magic. Elsa creates ice and snow in the ballroom of the castle. She builds Olaf the snowman and the sisters go ice skating and sledding. Anna jumps from snow pile to snow pile, making Elsa catch her with each leap. Elsa can’t keep up with Anna and she accidently shoots her younger sister with some magic, knocking Anna out. A white streak appears in her red hair. Elsa calls for her parents as the entire ballroom ices over. The King and Queen race in and scoop up an ice-cold Anna.
The King finds a map to the rock trolls and the family races out of the castle on horses. They pass Kristoff and Sven along the way, whom then follow the icy path trailing behind Elsa. The King and Queen stop and shout for help and the rock trolls surround them. Kristoff and Sven watch from a distance and wake up a troll nearby. The troll thinks that they are cute and decides to keep them. Grand Pabbie asks if Elsa was born with the powers or cursed with them and the King says she was born with them and the powers are getting stronger. Grand Pabbie says that it was lucky that the magic did not hit her heart. He recommends removing the memories of all magic as he heals Anna. Elsa is sad that Anna will not remember that she has powers. Grand Pabbie takes Elsa aside and warns her that there is both beauty and danger in her powers and so she must learn to control it.
The King and Queen lock the castle gates, reduce the staff, and limit Elsa’s contact with people to keep her powers hidden from everyone, including Anna. Elsa and Anna now have separate rooms. Anna sings “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” because she wants to play with Elsa, but Elsa will not. She wears gloves to conceal her powers. Anna is getting bored by herself and Elsa is having a hard time with controlling her powers and she is scared of hurting people. Their parents leave for a two week trip and Elsa begs them not to go, but they assure her that she will be fine without them. There is a big storm out at sea and the King and Queen’s ship sinks. The entire castle mourns the loss and a funeral is held, but only Anna attends. After the funeral, Anna knocks on Elsa’s door and still pleads with her sister to come out. She says that they only have each other now. Elsa stays in her room and both sisters lean up against the door.
A caption reads ‘3 Years Later.’ Arendelle is very busy as everyone gets ready for Elsa’s coronation. The castle gates will be opening up soon and everyone is very excited. Kristoff and Sven are in town, sharing some carrots. The Duke of Weselton is excited to exploit Arendelle’s riches, their most mysterious trade partner.
Anna is still sleeping and a staff member calls out to wake her. It is time to get ready for coronation day. Anna suddenly remembers and quickly gets ready. She is very excited and sings “For the First Time in Forever.” She is eager for everyone to come into the castle and she wonders if she even might meet ‘the one.’ Elsa sings about not wanting to let everyone in and she reminds herself to conceal, don’t feel. Anna rushes out to greet everyone as they arrive through the gates, but Elsa keeps to herself.
Anna bumps into a horse and lands in a boat. The horse steps in the boat to keep it steady so she does not fall into the water. The rider introduces himself as Prince Hans of the Southern Isles and Anna is very nervous and awkward about meeting him. She suddenly remembers that she needs to get to the coronation and takes off. Hans smiles after her as his horse waves goodbye, causing him to fall down into the water.
At the coronation, Anna is standing at the front by Elsa. She waves to Hans in the audience. Elsa is crowned queen and she must hold the crown jewels without her gloves. She does this very quickly before her magic starts to show.
At the ball, Elsa and Anna are introduced to everyone and Anna is nervous to stand so close to her sister because they haven’t been that close in years. She is surprised when Elsa starts talking to her, but they soon bond over chocolate and laugh together. The Duke of Weselton is introduced and offers Elsa her first dance as queen. Elsa refuses and offers Anna instead. The duke says that he dances like an agile peacock and like a chicken with the face of a monkey. While he dances, he tries to find out from Anna why the gates were closed for so long, but Anna does not know. After the dance, Anna heads back to Elsa and tells her sister that she wishes it could be like this all the time. Elsa agrees but says that it cannot and snaps at Anna for pushing it. Anna does not understand and she sadly leaves her sister.
Anna bumps into Hans and they dance together. They spend the rest of the evening together and go outside for a stroll. Hans asks about the white streak in her hair and Anna says that she was born with it, even though she once dreamt she was kissed by a troll. They talk about their siblings and Hans says that he has twelve older brothers. Anna complains about Elsa shutting her out even though they were close when they were younger. The pair sing “Love is an Open Door” and sing about falling in love as they run around the castle. At the end of the song, Hans proposes to Anna and she accepts.
Hans and Anna head back to the ball to find Elsa. Anna introduces Hans and asks for her sister’s blessing to get married. Elsa is confused. Anna excitedly tells Elsa that she wants to live in Arendelle with Hans and Elsa tells Anna to slow down and that they cannot get married. She asks to speak to Anna alone, but Anna refuses so Elsa tells them both that Anna cannot marry a man she just met. Elsa declares that the party is over and says to close the gates. Anna begs her not to and grabs her sister’s glove off Elsa’s hand. Anna yells at Elsa and wants to know why Elsa is shutting everyone out and what she is so afraid of. In frustration, Elsa releases her magic by accident and runs away. She runs out into the courtyard which is filled with villagers. People ask if she is alright and Elsa accidently freezes the fountain in her panic. The Duke of Weselton runs after her and calls her a monster. Everyone starts to back away from Elsa and she continues to run. Anna and Hans chase after her and Elsa runs across the water as she turns it into ice under her steps. Anna has to stop there and she and Hans watch as all of Arendelle is frozen over and it starts to snow.
The Duke of Weselton panics and says that Elsa cursed the land. He again calls her a monster and says that she needs to be stopped. Anna tries to calm him down and says that she will go after Elsa. Hans does not want her to because it would be too dangerous. Anna insists and tells Hans to stay there to take care of Arendelle. She leaves him in charge before taking off on her horse.
Elsa is climbing up the North Mountain and she sings “Let it Go.” She builds Olaf and uses her magic freely. Elsa builds herself an ice castle and decides that she is never going back; she tosses aside her crown.
Anna searches for Elsa in the snowy mountains. Her horse gets spooked by falling snow and throws Anna off before running away. She treks through the snow by herself until nighttime when she sees smoke in the distance and heads towards it. Anna slips and falls into a creek and freezes her dress.
Anna arrives at Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna. Oaken is having a big summer blow out, but he does not have a lot of winter stuff around. Anna asks if the queen has come through here, but Oaken says that the only one crazy enough to be out in the storm is her. And Kristoff who just came into the trading post, completely covered in snow. He is looking for carrots and also wants to buy a rope and pickaxe. Kristoff tells Anna that the storm is coming from the North Mountain and he complains about it because he sells ice for a living. Anna tells him that is a rough business to be in right now. She asks if what was happening on the North Mountain was magical and Kristoff says yes before getting thrown out of the trading post for calling Oaken a crook. Sven is very disappointed that he did not get any carrots.
Kristoff sings “Reindeers are Better than People” to Sven in the barn by the trading post. Anna comes in with her own winter gear and also gives Kristoff the supplies he was going to buy in exchange for taking her to the North Mountain. She tells Kristoff that she knows how to stop the winter storm and that they are leaving right now.
Kristoff and Anna take off on his sleigh with Sven pulling it. He asks the princess what happened to make the queen go all ice crazy and Anna says that it was all her fault. She says that Elsa would not bless her marriage to a guy she just met and Kristoff sides with Elsa and cannot believe that Anna would want to do that. He quizzes her about Hans, but Anna does not care that she doesn’t know much about Hans because it is true love. Kristoff talks about his friends who are love experts, but then tells her to be quiet because he hears something. He looks around before wolves attack them and Sven takes off with the sleight. Kristoff fights the wolves off and is dragged behind the sleigh by a rope. Anna tries to help save him, but Kristoff is not impressed with her tactics. They come to a canyon. Kristoff throws Anna onto Sven and Sven jumps across the gap. The sleigh follows with Kristoff on it and the wolves do not jump so they are safe on the other side. The sleigh crashes down and Kristoff almost falls back with it, but Anna and Sven pull him up with the rope. Anna says that she will replace the sleigh and she understands if Kristoff does not want to help her anymore. Kristoff and Sven discuss whether or not to help and agree to help. Sven happily follows Anna.
They journey towards the North Mountain and come to a winter wonderland. Sven is very excited about the hanging ice crystals. They hear a voice and discover a talking snowman. Anna freaks out and kicks off his head. She and Kristoff toss the head back and forth because neither of them wants it before calming down. Anna sees that the snowman does not have a nose so she gives him a carrot nose. They start over and the snowman introduces himself as Olaf who likes warm hugs. Anna remembers him from when she was a child and introduces herself and Kristoff and Sven, though Olaf believes both of them to be named Sven. Olaf thinks it is cute that Sven is trying to kiss his nose. Anna tells Olaf that she is looking for Elsa to bring back summer and the snowman is very excited about summer because he has always wanted to experience it. He sings “In Summer” and sings about all the things he wants to do when it is hot outside. Kristoff wants to tell Olaf the truth about what will happen to snow in the summer, but Anna does not let him. Olaf then takes off to lead the way to bring back summer.
Back in Arendelle, Hans is giving out cloaks and has opened the castle to people to come in for some warm soup. The Duke of Weselton is arguing that Hans is giving away all of the tradable goods. Anna’s horse comes back with no princess and Hans thinks that she is in trouble and needs volunteers to go with him to find her. The duke volunteers two of his own men and tells them that if they find the queen, they need to put an end to winter.
Kristoff asks Anna how she is planning on stopping winter and Anna says that she is going to talk to her sister. Kristoff is not impressed that his whole ice business is riding on Anna just talking to her sister. He then runs into a sharp icicle and as Anna if she is afraid of the queen and Anna says that she is not. Olaf, as he gets impaled, thinks that Elsa must be the nicest and warmest person ever
They come to a steep cliff and Anna tries to climb it but struggles. Kristoff tells her that most people who disappear into the mountains just want to be alone and that Elsa might not even want to talk to her. Anna says that no one wants to be alone, except for maybe him. Kristoff reminds her that he has friends, the love experts. Olaf then finds a staircase leading exactly where they want to go. They find the ice castle and Sven tries to climb the slippery stairs but cannot so the rest of them head up. Anna knocks on the door and it opens. She tells Kristoff and Olaf to wait there and Kristoff is disappointed because he wants to see the palace of ice. They sadly sit on the stairs.
Anna enters the castle and is completely in awe. She calls out for Elsa and her sister appears. Anna is surprised at how different she looks. Elsa says that she never knew what she was capable of, but she then tells Anna to leave because she belongs down in Arendelle. Anna agrees and says that Elsa does as well. Olaf then appears and Elsa is surprised that he is alive. Anna brings up her memory of building Olaf as children and comments that they were once so close and they can be close again. Elsa only remembers when she hit her sister with her magic but keeps that to herself. The sisters sing a reprise of “For the First Time in Forever” and Elsa heads deeper into the ice castle. Anna follows and tries again to convince Elsa to come back to Arendelle with her, but Elsa only wants to be alone and free. Anna tells Elsa that Arendelle is completely frozen and that Elsa set off an eternal winter. Elsa does not know how to undo it and the storm gets worse as Elsa gets more and more upset. She accidently hits Anna in the heart with her ice and Kristoff rushes to see if Anna is alright. Anna does not want to leave without Elsa, but Elsa creates Marshmallow, a giant snowman, to throw them out of the castle.
Outside, Anna throws a snowball at Marshmallow which makes him very mad. They take off and Marshmallow chases them. They slide down the mountain and come to a cliff. Kristoff digs a snow anchor and he and Anna repel down with the rope. Olaf is running to catch up with his body all askew. Olaf is looking for Anna and Kristoff when Marshmallow catches up and kicks Olaf off the cliff. Marshmallow then pulls the rope up and knocks Kristoff out against the rocks. He yells at them to not come back and Anna cuts the rope and she and Kristoff fall into the fresh powder below. Kristoff wakes up and Sven finds them. Kristoff asks what they are going to do now and Anna starts to panic about everything. She cannot go back to Arendelle without Elsa. Her hair starts to turn white because Elsa struck her and Kristoff says that they are going to his friends who can help them.
Elsa is pacing and panicking in her castle. She cannot control her power.
It is nighttime and Olaf and riding on Sven. Kristoff gives Anna a heads up that his friends are more like family because they took him and Sven in, but they can be very inappropriate and loud. Kristoff introduces them to a bunch of rocks and Olaf thinks he is crazy as he starts to speak to them. Olaf tells Anna that he will distract Kristoff while she runs. Anna agrees with Olaf and turns to leave. The rocks then start rolling towards Kristoff and they turn into trolls. The trolls are very excited that Kristoff is home. He asks where Grand Pabbie is, but the older troll is napping. Then the trolls notice Anna and love that Kristoff has brought a girl home. The pair is very awkward so the trolls sing “Fixer Upper” to connive Anna to give Kristoff a chance. They then find out that Anna is engaged, but that does not seem to be a problem and they set up a wedding for Anna and Kristoff. Anna then collapses and Grand Pabbie appears. He says that there is strange magic there and that she has ice in her heart and is in danger. If the ice is not removed, she will become solid ice forever. Grand Pabbie explains that only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. The trolls suggest true love’s kiss and Kristoff says that they must get back to Hans. They all ride off on Sven to go kiss Hans.
Hans and his men arrive at Elsa’s ice castle. He tells the men to be on guard but no harm is to come to the queen. Marshmallow is guarding the castle and attacks the men. The Duke of Weselton’s men sees Elsa hiding in the castle and race past Marshmallow with their crossbows. They corner Elsa and shoot the crossbows, but Elsa stops the arrows with her ice. She uses her magic to keep the men back. Hans cuts off Marshmallow’s leg and races into the castle. The snowman falls down into the cliff below and all of the men follow Hans. Elsa beats the men with her ice and is about to push one off the ice castle balcony when Hans stops her. He tells her not to be the monster people hear she is. An arrow shoots the chandelier and it falls down, knocking Elsa out.
Elsa wakes up in a cell in Arendelle’s castle. She has chains around her hands. Hans comes in and Elsa asks why she was brought there and Hans says that he could not let them kill her. Elsa asks for Anna and Hans says that her sister has not returned. He asks her to stop the winter, but Elsa says that she cannot. She just wants to be let go and Hans says that he will do what he can and leave the cell.
Kristoff, Anna, and Olaf are still racing towards Arendelle and Anna is turning very cold. Olaf slips and they get separated. Kristoff and Anna arrive at the castle and he carries her to the courtyard. The staff take her and Kristoff tells them to get her warn and to find Hans. They shut the gates on Kristoff and Sven so Kristoff turns to leave.
Hans tells the dignitaries that he is going back out to look for Anna. They beg him not to because he is all Arendelle has left. Just then, Anna is brought into the room and says that Hans must kiss her. Everyone else leaves. Anna says that Elsa struck her with the magic and only an act of true love can save her. Hans is about to kiss her, but then he reveals that he does not love her. He explains that was thirteenth in live, he needed to marry into the throne. He says that Elsa was preferable, but he chose Anna since she was so desperate for love. He was going to marry her and then stage a little accident for Elsa. But Elsa doomed herself and Anna went after her so now Hans is the hero who will save Arendelle. He leaves and locks Anna in the room.
Hans goes back to the other dignitaries. He says that Anna was killed by Elsa, but they said their marriage vows before she died. They all agree that Arendelle is in danger with Elsa so Hans says that he will charge her with treason and sentences her to death.
Elsa is freezing up the cell and she breaks the chains as the guards come into get her with Hans. She bursts through a hole in the wall and escapes.
Kristoff and Sven are sadly walking away. Sven insists that they go back, but Kristoff says that Anna is with her true love. Then he looks back and sees a big storm over the castle and they race back.
Anna is freezing to death and Olaf comes into the room. He had picked the lock with his nose. He builds a fire to keep Anna warm and asks where Hans is. Anna admits Hans was not her true love. Anna warns Olaf that the will melt and then tells Olaf that she does not know what true love is. Olaf says that he does know because love is like when Kristoff brought her back to save her. Anna realizes that Kristoff loves her. Olaf is melt again and tells Anna that some people are worth melting for. The window blows open and Olaf goes to close it. He sees Kristoff and Sven coming back. Anna tells Olaf to help her up and bring her to Kristoff. However, the castle is becoming covered with ice and they are trapped.
Elsa is running across the frozen water. Olaf and Anna break open a window and slide down the snow-covered roofs. Kristoff and Sven are racing along the frozen water as well around the ships stuck in the ice. Anna is yelling for Kristoff on the ice and Olaf is blown away in the storm. Anna is freezing up as the ships around her start to fall. The ice cracks and Kristoff is thrown off Sven and they are separated. He takes off on foot after making sure Sven is alright and he hears Anna calling for him.
Hans finds Elsa and she tells him to take care of her sister. Hans says that Anna is dead because of her and Elsa collapses and starts to cry. This calms the storm slightly. Anna now sees Kristoff running towards her. She also sees Hans about to kill Elsa with his sword. She heads over to him and runs in front of Elsa just in time to stop Hans. She turns into solid ice and Hans’ sword hits her. Elsa hugs ice Anna and Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven appear. They are all very sad. The dignitaries see this from the castle. Suddenly, Anna starts to unfreeze and the sisters hug. The act of true love was Anna sacrificing herself for Elsa. Elsa then realizes that love will thaw and she is able to undo the eternal winter. The snow and ice melts. It is summer again and everyone is on a ship when the ice melts. Olaf starts to melt as well so Elsa creates him his own personal flurry. Anna punches Hans off the boat and the sisters hug again.
Hans is thrown into a brig to be returned to the Southern Isles. It will up to his twelve brothers to deal with his behaviour. The Duke of Weselton is also sent home and there will be no more trade between Arendelle and Weselton.
Anna gifts Kristoff a new sled and he is named the official Royal Ice Master and Deliverer. He then picks up Anna and swings her around. He awkwardly asks if he can kiss Anna and she kisses him on the cheek before he does.
Olaf is very excited to be experiencing summer even though it turns out he is allergic to flowers. Elsa creates an ice rink in the castle courtyard for everyone to enjoy. Anna says that she likes the open gates and Elsa says that they are never closing them again.
The end credits play to “Let it Go” with animation of snow and ice.
Marshmallow is in the ice castle. He steps on Elsa’s crown and tries it on.
Trivia:
- Hans’ horse is named Sitron and Anna’s horse is named Kjekk.
- A theatrical sing-along version was released about two months after Frozen released in theatres.
- Elsa was originally going to be a villain with blue skin.
- A research team took a trip to Norway to design Arendelle.
- A research team also took a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to study snow.
- The scene where Elsa builds her ice castle took over 50 people to work on the technology to animate.
- The official crest of Arendelle features a crocus, a flower that symbolizes rebirth and spring.
- Walt Disney first started developing a Snow Queen story in 1939.
- Both Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell auditioned for the role of Rapunzel in Tangled.
- Two Frozen shorts have been produced: Frozen Fever was released with Cinderella in 2015 and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure was released with Coco in 2017.
- The end credits version of “Let it Go” was sung by Demi Lovato.
- Frozen was released in theatres with the Mickey Mouse short Get a Horse!
Representation in the Disney Parks:
Frozen seems to be represented everywhere in the Disney Parks!
At the Disneyland Resort, there is the Frozen – Live at the Hyperion show in Hollywood Land in Disney California Adventure. Frozen is sometimes one of the rotating shows at the Storytelling at the Royal Theatre in Fantasyland in Disneyland and Elsa’s ice castle and Arendelle are part of Storybook Land Canal Boats.
At Walt Disney World, there is the Frozen Ever After dark ride in the Norway pavilion in Epcot as well as the Wandering Reindeer shop dedicated to all things Frozen. In Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there is the First Time in Forever – A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration in Echo Lake as well as the Frozen Fractal Gifts shop. In the Magic Kingdom, Anna, Elsa, and Olaf are part of Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire.
In Hong Kong Disneyland, characters from Frozen are part of the Mickey and the Wondrous Book show. Guests can also book a Frozen suite at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.
In Shanghai Disneyland, there is Frozen: A Sing-Along Celebration in Fantasyland.
Anna, Elsa, and Olaf are part of numerous parades and are also popular meet and greet characters in various locations.
In the future, Frozen themed lands are coming to Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. There will also be a new port coming to Tokyo DisneySea that represents Frozen as well as Tangled and Peter Pan.
Check out the other films of Disney’s Revival Era:
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