#frozen crit

[painted-starlight]

Frozen 3 is officially in development 🙃 girl we are doomed

Yeah, I heard too. It's just like, the second movie was screaming "This is it people, it's all over!" "Pack your bags, we're done with Frozen".

Elsa and Anna no longer live together (though Elsa visits), Anna is getting married to Kristoff, and Elsa find out where her powers come from and how their parents died.

Frozen 2 was actually quite strict about tying up their loose ends so they didn't have to make a third movie now that I think about it.

People with other elemental powers to add to the lore? Nope, Elsa's just special and the only one I guess. No more movies please.

More information about the parents, the secrets they kept and what extremes they were willing to go to to keep Elsa's powers a under control? Sure, but only in a way where they were actually perfect parents and didn't need to be confronted, no need to look further (totally all Elsa's fault for being "different"🙄 btw).

I'm just not sure what more they can do with the story. They certainly can't ignore the previous movie or act like it never happened.

And this is just a weird conspiracy theory, but at the very least I think we're going to get another Elsa transformation dress because her new outfit...maybe it's not being received too well and they want to market a new outfit for her too?

At first I saw her dress/design all the time on merchandise and cosplays when the movie came out, but in the long run it's not very merchandisable or recognizable from a distance for products. Elsa's character design really demands a splash of color to make her stand out.

[burr-ell]

frozen 2 looks compelling and interesting and i’m definitely gonna see it, but i’m not at ALL vibin with the fact that elsa with her hair down looks like a clone of rapunzel

[painted-starlight]

I was thinking about your post regarding passivity and naivety in specifically white princesses and tbh it's one of the reasons why I was so confused by frozen 2 (I haven't watched it but I do know the plot). I know Elsa and Anna are Sámi, so they're not white, but it felt like the second movie could've been used to give Elsa and Anna stronger characterisations. I think the chosen one narrative doesn't fit Elsa at all bc it did make her passive. Which sucks - first Sámi queen and they didn't even allow her to seek out Ahtohallan by herself? They literally used a magic voice to force her to leave the castle, when she could have just had an uneasy feeling and acted on that instead. Also I read up on her character and apparently she likes academic subjects like geometry as well as being artistic but the movie didn't make use of this?? I have a lot of thoughts on this movie but I just wanted to share this tidbit lol.

Frozen 2 is such a strange movie to me. The Chosen One narrative is so out of left field, especially since it feels like it’s a holdover from the earlier “prophecy” version of Frozen when Elsa was prophesied to cause an eternal winter.  It later scrapped and we got the current version of the movie, which is a more bare bones version of the story they clearly wanted to tell.

In my personal opinion (and this is purely speculation), the characterization mistakes are due to the frankly huge amount of discarded drafts of the original Frozen movie that were scrapped and then put back in for the second movie without much thought about how it would mesh with the “final” draft of the original Frozen. They didn’t take into account the changes they made to these characters, settings, and world building. And they most likely thought that they could sneak it back in when it no longer fit.

It’s clear to me that there is a version of Frozen out there that the production team really, really loved but they couldn’t make because audiences weren’t connecting with it. And with the subsequent changes, some even being major shifts in the story (like taking Elsa from a villain to a hero), I can sort of see what the thought process was, because Frozen 2 makes so much more sense when you piece it together with the older versions of Frozen.

In the original, Elsa was prophesied to make an eternal winter, so she was hated. But when you take Frozen 2 as a continuation of this story that no longer exists, this “prophecy of doom,” becomes a “chosen one” story. It’s a reversal of expectations and turns her from villain to heroine. But that already happened in the first movie, so it doesn’t apply.

However, the Frozen that was released into the mainstream has a different theme that it lends itself to. It explores the idea of loneliness and finding who really loves and supports you, and building something from that. This is why a “chosen one” story doesn’t work. People were aching for Elsa to find other people who are like her, who have powers like her. Not a simple power fantasy.

And the introduction of her mother’s Sami community has the making of being such a great addition because it would offer a different perspective on her powers, which has been said to being coded as indigenous. What if they embraced the very powers that she was told were dangerous? How would that look? How would people in this community use their own powers? Why weren’t there people in there that also had ice magic? How would it be used, and what would their place be within their community? What if there are other communities in other places that are just like her?

The Chosen One strips the audience of that sense of community, it’s actually isolating because it makes her “special,” and “one of a kind” when finding the people who truly love you to build a new life with was one of the major themes of Frozen.

Elsa doesn’t delve too deep into the Northuldra perspective on how they view magic and their personal relationship with it. The story feels like it is distant from their perspective at times, with focusing too much on how her father, who’s view is very biased, viewed them.

Elsa has a friend in Honeymaren and she lives with the Northuldra, which is interesting, but we don’t see her really communicating on a community level with the people who have the greatest connection to her mother. Personally, I wanted more characterization from them too.

[painted-starlight]

what was your thoughts on all the white Disney princesses? Out of all of them, I think belle is the best one as she has agency, her voice actress is great and has a good design. Most of them either have a great design(sleeping beauty and Cinderella) or good voice actress(Ariel). Except rapunzel, she’s terrible on all fronts. 

Hello! Here is my list (from movie debuts):

Snow White: I'm fine with her character, but her voice doesn't age well and I had to turn the movie off. It's not the fault of her voice actress, it's more of the direction. The tonality of the voices in older cartoons tends to be harder on my ears. Overall, I'm ok with her.

Cinderella: I don't have any problems with her or her story. She's fine as a character. There are a lot of discussions whether or not she waited for a prince to save her that have been going on for decades, but I tend to subscribe to the idea that she is an abuse victim and made the best of her circumstances. However, we shouldn't discount how beauty is distributed in the film as a means of morality and how merchandising and sexist attitudes of her era have shaped how people feel about her character.

Aurora: I like Aurora's design, and I like the movie's sorta-mideval aesthetic. She blends in well. It's also interesting that out of all the white disney princesses she is the only one who was spared Elsa face by the Wreck it Ralph movie. I feel, however, her romance was kinda creepy. And like a lot of disney princesses before the disney renaissance, her characterization took a backseat to the more interesting supporting cast. So it's hard to really get attached to her.

Ariel: I have a soft spot for Ariel. I like her a lot. Sure, she started a lot of trends in Disney animation, but she also was the first white disney princess I actually liked and had a feel for her personality. That doesn't mean people who do have a problem with her character are wrong. She is quite impulsive and doesn't think things through.

Belle: Belle has a lot of subtle characterization, and like Ariel before her, her qualities are more defined and she has a maturity that Ariel doesn't have. But she is also curious and makes mistakes. I can't say that she is interchangeable with Ariel and that's a good thing.

Rapunzel: Think of every stereotype of disney princesses in parody media except play them straight and you have Rapunzel. I don't have a problem with her personality, interests, or goals, but she comes off as incredibly manufactured. Her design also creeps me out. I think one of the few things her movie is known for is bringing the concept of parental gaslighting and emotional abuse to light (but even that has problems because of Mother Gothel's jewish coding contrasted with Rapunzel being a kidnapped blonde white girl, making Tangled come off as indulging in antisemetic/anti Rroma stereotypes).

Merida: Poor Merida. No one really likes her because she has a personality that isn't easy to like or project yourself upon, which is good because that is essential for character development! I get what Pixar (who am I kidding it was Brenda Chapman who put in all the legwork for her personality and the dudes at Pixar dumped it in a toilet) were trying to do and I appreciate that. But her story, which is integral for her development, needed another pass.

Anna: Don't care for her. I get her character, but I don't really care for her. If the writers paid more attention to her and gave her more, I think she'd be better. The writing around her is afraid to treat her like an actual character instead of a walking toy. But honestly? Replace her with Rapunzel and they would be almost identical in characterization.

Elsa: So many problems with Elsa. Where to begin? Power fantasy but demure and lady like enough for white audiences to like and project upon. Villainous qualities reduced but still present enough for queer coding and teasing. Abuse she faces vanishes in the second movie and now it's all her fault for being so ""different"" and """hArd on her pARents. :,((" Like Anna, the writing around them is afraid to validate their abuse and make them characters instead of walking toys.

[painted-starlight]

Elsa’s Loving Parents (tm) Made Chains Specifically for Her

So did everyone on the writing staff of Frozen 2 forget that it’s heavily implied that Iduna and Agnarr made chains specifically for Elsa in a dungeon in case her powers went out of control? Because they thought she was exclusively a danger to the people around her? 

Does that sound like a pair of loving parents who believed in the beauty of Elsa’s powers and how they desperately just wanted her to show herself? 

These chains were clearly made for Elsa specifically, and I don’t think that Hans and the Duke of Weasleton would dedicate resources to making this on such short notice. Also, it’s mentioned they were running low on supplies. 

I feel like the writers forgot this little tidbit...

[painted-starlight]

Frozen 2 Didn’t Trust it’s Audience

Warning: Long post, swearing, spoilers for Frozen 2, and me bitching about the parents from Frozen again

Summary/tl;dr: A deleted scene pissed me off by implying that Iduna and Agnarr decided that they were going to tell the truth to Anna about Elsa just before they died. So they must be good parents, right?? No. 

Also, this is a minor note but they also beautified their tragic deaths aesthetically. It’s a little creepy because they, you know...DROWNED.

Let’s Decide to Be Decent Parents Just Before We Die Tragically

If anyone hasn’t seen this boarded scene, let me explain:

Elsa conjures the exposition ice sculptures that show that Iduna and Agnarr were going to tell Anna about Elsa’s powers because she is maturing and becoming responsible. They say that Anna’s love can help Elsa and the implication is that her love can hold up the world. 

They agree to tell Anna when they come back from their voyage. Anna tearfully hugs Elsa and thanks her for showing this to her. Elsa says her parents believed in Anna. 

Now let me explain why I truly hate this scene and why I’m pretty damn glad it was deleted.  

It’s Sloppy

The mentality behind this scene just shows how far the writers were willing to go to wipe Iduna and Agnarr’s hands clean. 

On one hand, I think it was necessary to show that it shouldn't just be all about Elsa, and Anna should be apart of this journey too. But it just reeks of the writers sloppily covering their asses when it comes to Iduna and Agnarr’s bad decisions as parents. 

The writers were painfully aware of how complex Iduna and Agnarr were as characters and how the audience was divided on them. They knew how illogical it would be for two supposedly loving parents to trap their daughters in the palace for years at a time without explaining to Anna why they isolated her from interacting with her only sibling. 

So they decided to twist them into being good parents at the very last second.

It’s Completely Insulting to the Audience

The writers used the parents untimely death to redeem them in the audiences eyes by implying that they totally would’ve told Anna the truth when they came back. They would be good parents when they came back from a voyage that the audience knows they would never come back from.

Here’s why that’s bullshit:

If they trusted Anna’s love for Elsa, they would’ve realized within a month that Anna misses her sister and would’ve at the very least given an alternate explanation. Anna in the film initially thought that Elsa was agoraphobic or germaphobic, something she clearly had to think of on her own accord when no other explanation was provided. Her parents weren’t going to tell her shit.

If they really cared about Anna’s perspective, they would’ve told her about their voyage to Ahtohallan. Hell, they would’ve told ELSA about the journey. But nope, they made the voyage to Ahtohallan without telling their own children specifically because explicitly DIDN’T trust them with the truth.

Their entire characterization, death, and the very conflict of the first movie was created because they didn’t trust Elsa’s ability to control her magic, nor Anna with the truth. They weren’t going to tell Anna if they believed that the situation was under control.

Adding to point three, it feels like the writers think that the audience can’t be trusted with the truth themselves. That they can be fooled by this sudden characterization switcheroo. It feels like the writers really desperately wanted the audience to justify their actions and so they basically said “Oh, they were going to start being good parents when they get back. They suddenly had the revelation that they should tell their children the tuth just before they died so they don’t die morally ambiguous, or god forbid, complex characters.” 

I truly hate this storyboarded scene. I really, REALLY hate it. 

And this next one is a pet peeve, but I think it really counts. 

Beautifying Their Death

Don’t get me wrong. Death in fiction can be portrayed as beautiful, a transitional experience. For many stories, death is not the end. However, the death of Iduna and Agnarr was not a beautiful, compositionally nice looking event. It was tragic. They died at the hands of elements on a voyage to find out the truth Elsa’s powers.  

But Iduna and Agnarr’s death by drowning was not beautiful, the composition of this scene of them holding each other in a tight embrace feels a little inappropriate. 

The story of Frozen 2 turns them into martyrs, ideas of parents rather than complex individuals who made really shitty mistakes. The tragedy of their death could’ve been that they were so wrapped up in what they thought was right that they made a fatal mistake in not trusting their children with the truth. And their deaths prolonged their own children’s suffering because they only wanted to control them. 

I feel that this scene, where their death is beautified in an ice sculpture, captured as a piece of art and later depicted as a pair of children at the end as a statue, is very telling of what their roles are: to be pitied, to be romanticized, and praised for loving their children and not the bad choices that they made. Not fully rounded people, but IDEAS. 

[painted-starlight]

Theory: Anna and Kristoff Slightly Reverted to Their Previous Deleted Characterizations in Frozen 2

Warning: Long Post, swearing

Summary: I believe the reason Anna and Kristoff’s characters were slightly different than the original Frozen is because the writers subconsciously reverted their personalities to their original (rejected) incarnations in the audience rejected version of Frozen. 

Introduction

I have a weird theory about why Anna and Kristoff’s characterization in Frozen 2 seemed slightly, well, off? Not by too much, but just enough to make one suspicious. 

Anna becomes more stressed out, quick to jump to conclusions, and a little more serious. While it’s true that she is older and slightly wiser than before, we as the audience don’t really see that progression between the original film and the sequel. 

Kristoff is no longer a gruff loner, but goofy with a parodic musical number and an even greater emphasis on his comedic moments. 

So How Did This Possibly Happen?

It might be because the writers were channeling their earlier characterizations from the draft of the original Frozen they spent the most time on. Frozen was in production hell, and characters changed personalities constantly, especially Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff. 

Kristoff and Anna Switch Personalities

Kristoff and Anna basically switched personalities somewhere down the line when test audiences reacted negatively to the test screening of Frozen. The Frozen we have today is a result of drastic, last minute changes that completely turned it’s production on it’s head. So between changing the story for the hundredth time and changing Elsa’s motivations, Anna became more bubbly and cute, while Kristoff became more of a loner. 

It Started With Frozen Fever

But as the sequels and shorts rolled around, Kristoff was the first to revert back to his original personality. This can be seen in Frozen Fever. They had no idea what to do with him, so they just went right back to who he was before. 

The crew seemed to have an entirely different problem with Elsa, because the main problem with her was the scope of her powers and the writer attempting to figure out why audiences liked her exactly. So they focused entirely on working out the kinks in her story, and as a result what may have happened is that the characters reverted back to their original incarnations by mistake. 

Anna (Original) Type A, Perfectionist

(art by Claire Keane) 

Anna in the original Frozen had a more type A personality. So it makes sense that Anna in Frozen 2, written by the same people who worked on the original Frozen production, still have her original personality in mind. They have more time to write it (a couple years more!) , and maybe they subconsciously preferred her to be a little more uptight and serious than what they made her in Frozen. 

According to Reader’s Digest’s Article, “How Disney’s Frozen was almost a Massive Failure”, the words used to describe Anna’s original characterization were “bossy,” and “uptight.” (Warning on the article though, it references John Lasseter’s involvement in Frozen’s production, so yeah, fuck that guy). 

Kristoff (Original) Lovestruck, Optimist

(art by Jin Kim, I believe) 

Kristoff’s love proposal and complete 180 in characterization after the original movie makes so much more sense when you put in the Goofy Love Struck Kristoff (who constantly gets dumped) from the earlier drafts of Frozen. 

This is his first long term girlfriend who didn’t dump him. He wants to make everything perfect because she is a perfectionist who is also learning to love. He is meant to be funny, charming, and can’t always read the mood. Which is why Anna is so quick in Frozen 2 to dismiss him at times during a crisis. This is “Type A” Anna from the original draft of Frozen seeping into her characterization. 

His insecurity about Anna clicks so much better when Anna was a little more abrasive than her current, nice girl personality. 

Conclusion

I’m not saying it’s entirely on purpose, or their new characterizations are completely gone. I just think that this theory makes some sense. When you take this into account, their personalities and decisions make so much more sense in Frozen 2, especially when it comes to interacting romantically. 

[painted-starlight]

I sense a lot of confusion emanating from the Frozen writers. A lot. 

It’s kinda obvious they weren’t expecting it to be popular to such a degree, but they had so many years just to nail the sequel down that I’m a little...confused myself.