Finding Arendelle

You love "Frozen," we love "Frozen." So stick around. Finding Arendelle is about exploring some of the things that make the film fantastic, like the concept art behind the animation and the real-world inspirations for Arendelle. Want to know when "Frozen" took place? What Elsa originally looked like? Why Kristoff's feet are "pear-shaped, square-shaped weirdness"? Look around the site. And if you don't find what you're asking for, we love questions. Thanks for visiting, and enjoy!

[victoriaying]

My Early Vis Dev concepts for Elsa and Anna’s Room. Back when Elsa looked pretty different

all images copyright of Disney 

[kpfun]

[findingarendelle]

This is too good not to reblog.

[nightblightowl]

The story behind the drawing: Heidi, Kristoff and Anna’s 4 year old daughter, wanted to make special christmas wreath crowns for her family as a gift. She pleaded for her brother Joseff, 8, to help her with them. He did so, somewhat reluctantly. As her big brother, he can never bring himself to say ‘no’ to her. And he happily helps her place them on the tops of their heads the next morning. 

[findingarendelle]

This is wonderful.

[victoriaying]

[findingarendelle]

Early ice palace concept art by Victoria Ying:

This was one of the earliest assignments I had on the show, way early before we had a really fleshed out story. We were given just a loose idea of what they wanted from the Ice Palace so I started with these rough small thumbnails to get an idea for how stylized we could do the snow and ice.

[findingarendelle]

Originally the castle of Arendelle was to be designed using only selected motifs from the stave church. John Lasseter encouraged the artists to "go all the way" and celebrate the unique qualities of these grand structures. – "THE ART OF FROZEN"

Stave churches of Norway: Bergen (top left), Borgund (top right), Gol (middle left), Heddal (middle right), Lom (bottom left), Ringebu, (bottom right)

[findingarendelle]

Frozen animator Cory Loftis just posted these "paintings" from For the First Time in Forever to his blog. So far as I know, the second from bottom (The Swing by Fragonard) is the only real piece of artwork in the bunch. If I'm wrong, I hope someone will let me know!

[findingarendelle]

The photo is of Ella Li-Spik, a woman from the Sami region in the far north of Scandinavia, and appears in the November 2011 issue of National Geographic. With the white-blonde hair and green eyes, there's a wonderful echo of this concept art of Elsa by Brittney Lee in The Art of Frozen.

[findingarendelle]

We riffed on the traditional costumes of the Sami people...   –MICHAEL GIAIMO, ART DIRECTOR

All concept art by Minkyu Lee except bottom right by Brittney Lee.

[findingarendelle]

As many of you may know, animated films go through various changes, which includes characters and their personalities. In this early version, Anna and Kristoff’s characters were different from who they are in the final film.  The main cultural reference we focused on back then was a group of reindeer-herding indigenous group of Scandinavians called the Sami People. So I started from there with these designs, trying to be as faithful as I can to their unique and beautiful costumes.   –MINKYU LEE, ARTIST

[findingarendelle]

It's official, I've started Finding Arendelle, the sister site to Finding Corona. It's all about looking at all the influences on Frozen and exploring all the nooks and crannies of the kingdom. I hope you'll drop by.