Frozen: Narrative Analysis So, Frozen is the latest movie to come out of Disneys relatively new 3D department, following

Bolt and Tangled. Im personally a fan of Tangled, with its enjoyable characters and flawless visuals, but today, Im mostly going to be talking about the narrative. Ill be going into the depths of character development, dialogue and most importantly; story. From start to finish, Ill break down Frozen and carefully explain exactly what makes it so enjoyable, and what, in parts, makes it so wrong. This review will contain huge spoilers, as you might imagine from a full narrative analysis. We open with a musical number set in one of the polar regions of the land. The scene involves ice carvers and traders essentially re-stocking so they can trade with the warmer lands further to the north or south, depending on which pole were at. Whilst this scene is basically just here to set the tone of the movie (an important function) it also serves as a means to establish two of our secondary protagonists; Kristoff and Sven, who are shown to be getting into the ice trading business. This comes back as a plot point later on. To juxtaposition this slightly barbaric way of life, were then thrown into a fairy tale castle, where we witness a pair of sisters playing. Elsa, the elder of the two, has come into possession of freezing powers. She can produce snow and ice in any way imaginable with just a flick of her wrist. Theyre playing, when things get out of hand, and Elsa accidently blasts Anna, the younger sister, in the face with her magic. Anna falls unconscious, the parents burst in and tell Elsa what a terrible person she is, and how this is getting out of hand. The reactions are all very believable, and so far, everything is sound. They take Anna to some troll healers, who, for some bizarre reason, decide its best to erase all memories of Elsas magic from Annas mind, and suggesting that Elsa be locked away where they can no longer interact or play. The parents, being keen to subject their daughters to a life-time of isolation and misery, go with this plan, and were then presented with heartbreaking scenes of the king and queen telling Elsa over the course of several years to never be herself, and to never feel anything in case the powers manifest in a violent manner. Conceal, dont feel They tell her. Also dont ever look at your sister again in case theres an accident. Is apparently thrown in there for good measure. The trolls mention that the affliction was in Annas mind, and not in her heart. If it was in her heart, there would be nothing they could do to help. This is a set-up for later on. So, what were seeing her is typical over-protective parents who are actually more concerned with their own image and the security of their own bloodline on the throne than the wellbeing and mental health of their children. They quite happily pull Elsa and Anna into complete depression, as, the trolls helpfully decided to make sure their relationship was still as strong as ever when they screwed with Annas memories. Rather than erasing Elsa completely, they said well keep the fact that they love each other and always will... ... Dont you think thats going to have serious negative repercussions later on? I mean, youre literally choosing the difficult option here. You have the power to stop all of this pain caused by a horrific separation of loving siblings, and instead, youre going to keep it as painful as you possibly can... Even more painful, in fact, than it would be if theyd just kept the memories the same. If Anna knew Elsa had these powers, shed have someone to confide in, and theyd still be able to talk and see one another. I guess its more dramatic this way? Well ok, thanks, trolls. Nice to see you live up to your god damn names.

Theres a brief moment here where we also see Kristoff and Sven who followed the family to the trolls den. Its strongly suggested the pair of them are orphaned and alone, and theyre likely here on ice-trading business. As they witness this ritual take place, another troll decides theyre cute, and adopts them without their consent. They likely give their consent at a later, unseen date. Theres a really nice montage where Anna keeps sitting at Elsas door, trying to speak to her through it, but to no real avail, and in the climax of this sequence, we see Anna simply start to just walk on by instead of stopping. Its one of those moments where a simple action says more than a thousand words. Shes starting to give up, and its bleak, really. The parents bully Elsa further and further into submission by repeatedly using fear mongering techniques, and eventually they leave her and Anna alone as they selfishly get themselves killed in a sailing accident. The gates to the kingdoms castle are closed, and leadership is temporarily passed onto the reagents or council members until the day of coronation when Elsa comes of age. So thats where we go next. The first thing we discover is apparently Anna has also been locked up as well... For no reason. Anna bursts into song about how shes going to meet people and socialise and have a life for the first time in forever, a concept that totally baffled me. Shes not the dangerous one... Why is she being contained within the castle? During this song, she throws herself outside the window and surveys her kingdom with a sense of familiarity. Shes done all this before, so why is she talking about this being the first time? Also, doesnt she have dozens of servants and advisors? Do none of those people count? She says thisll be the first time shell not be alone, and I get that this is a childish exaggeration for a childish character, but seriously? Couldnt you have just gone outside? It seems to me this movie has a serious case of Tangled Syndrome. It tries so hard to emulate this wonderful release as shes let loose upon the world, but it falls flat because she could have done this at literally any time. Shes not a prisoner like Rapunzel was; shes a princess. Shes literally in charge of most of these citizens. Theres an awesome duet at this point which is worth noting, as again it uses the juxtaposition of these sisters. They both sing with an equal passion, but theyre personal ideologies oppose spectacularly. One of them is talking about letting everything in, and another talking about closing it all out. Its almost poetic, but its classic Disney. Elsa is seen trying to control her abilities, practicing for that brief and terrifying moment where she has to hold the sceptre and sovereigns orb without freezing them and revealing to everyone who she really is. Anna bumps into a handsome prince by the name of Hans, who is just as awkward and fun and friendly as she is! So taken-aback by his perfection and the way their personalities seem to click, Anna naively assumes this must be the phenomenon known as love at first sight, or true love, if youre a fairy tale fan. Whilst Disney give Hans all of the classic romance interest tropes, including a silly slapstick comedy moment, and a pleasant smile as Anna walks away, theres something about him which immediately set off alarms in my mind. I hope you read my spoiler warning. Im sure theres plenty of you out there, like me, that immediately knew Hans was the antagonist. There are five critical and crucial reasons as to why this is, which Ill go into more later on in this analysis when the actual reveal occurs. At this point, however, you simply need to know this: Disney never introduces the romantic interest AS a romantic interest before the first half of the movie. Remember that in the future, kids!

The coronation occurs, and Elsa manages to hide her abilities, barely. Its a tense scene, and it works well. This is followed up by a ball, which primarily serves as a platform for Elsa and Anna to communicate for the first time in forever. They chat for a little bit, very awkwardly, and its nice. The movie made me cringe a little when they start moving and speaking simultaneously in a weird clich moment. It felt like it was trying to hard to say LOOK! THESE CHARACTERS ARE SISTERS! SEE?! Ultimately, however, Elsa pushes Anna away again. She says things can never be the way they were. Ok, why? Youre both grown up now, so surely you can handle this secret. Oh, I get it, its because your parents broke you by destroying your childhood and indoctrinating you into this mindset where you think youre a threat to everyone. Good work, Ma and Pa. Anna meets up with Hans again, and the pair of them dance and do a romance number. The song is upbeat and exciting, and essentially represents the rapid bonding taking place in light of identical personalities. ALARM BELLS! ALARM BELLS! Disney never does upbeat romantic songs unless its for deception. The song ends with Hans proposing to Anna, and she says yes. Wait, what? No, dont do it! He literally just told you hes 12th in line for his own throne, and hes a prince! Hes clearly trying to be king of your castle, damnit! But they establish a core thing here, and perhaps the primary message of the movie: Dont be so quick to judge, like this idiot is. Elsa, as the voice of reason, says no, you cant marry this guy you just met, because, and heres the kicker, you ONLY JUST MET HIM! Naturally, Anna is bothered by this, so she objects, and these objections only open up a can of worms. She starts prying into the reasons behind Elsas seclusion, and Elsa finds herself getting anxious, irritated, and eventually, scared, especially when Anna snatches one of her magic-stopping gloves. In the climax of their argument, Elsa unleashes a wave of frost, and everyone is made aware of what she is. She flees her city as curses are thrown her way. They call her a vile monster, and this only escalates her fears. Her powers totally go out of control, and she accidently freezes the entire kingdom. Roll credits. This sequence of scenes works, but it does call back to what I mentioned earlier: If the trolls had let Anna know what the issue was, this outburst would never had occurred. By alienating the closest person in Elsas life, the trolls actually triggered a total inevitability. Of course Anna was going to question Elsas motives behind this sudden disappearance. They made sure of that by ensuring Anna still loved Elsa unconditionally. The idiots actually doomed the kingdom to this state. Hell, at this point, I was almost convinced the trolls were the villains... except I wasnt, because I knew it was Hans. Elsa flees, and Anna decides to go after her alone. Her logic is simple: Shes my sister. She wont hurt me, but she might hurt someone else. She leaves Hans in charge, because shes known him for a good six hours and that warrants possession of a kingdom. Maybe she should have left the councillors in charge?... I mean they handled everything quite well up until TODAY. Dont be so quick to judge, like this idiot is. Cut to the audiences favourite part of the film; an iconic song which took the internet by storm: Let it Go. Now, Im not going to talk about the tune, Im going to talk about the narrative within it. Elsa, atop the North Mountain, starts to pour her heart out about how shes lived a lie, and about how

painful that experience has been. The song is about letting go of all those petty teachings her parents burdened her with; letting go the falsehoods shes had to wield for all these years, and letting go of all the judgemental morons that live below. The song is about her loving who she really is, and finally having a chance to actually be her for a change. The beauty behind this lies in the way it challenges your standard narrative conventions. In your typical story like this, a character would consider this sorcery a curse... but at this point, Elsa embraces it. Shes always loved who she is, and finally now, she can let that out and let the old one go. The cold never bothered her, anyway. It just bothered everyone else. Its intelligently written and Im sure that aspect of the song is lost on 90% of the drooling fan boys that love it so much. During this release, Elsa constructs for herself a castle, and even changes her appearance to match her revelation. Shes being Elsa, not mummy and daddys little girl anymore. Shes shown to be more confident, stronger, and you see almost an element of sass emerge as she smiles into the distance before shutting out the world and sealing herself within her fortress. Got a question, Elsa: I know the cold doesnt bother you, but what about starvation? I didnt see you bring up a bloody picnic basket with you. You didnt take anything! How are you actually going to live in that icy castle? I guess she can make magic ice dresses... maybe she can magic up food as well? And a bed that isnt a slab of frozen water?... I guess so... So, following this, we see Anna trekking on through the snow. Her horse is scared away as some snow falls from a tree up above, and theres a small set up thatll pay-off later on when Anna grabs a bent pine tree and lets it spring upwards as the weight holding it down is relieved. She takes a moment to warm up in a shop owned by a comedy stereotype, and thats where she encounters Kristoff for the first time. They have next to no chemistry, and Kristoff is frantically pissed because the land has been frozen and theres not exactly much demand for the one thing he stocks; ice. He objects to the prices of the mountaineering gear and is thrown out of the shop. He decides to sleep in the shopkeepers shed, where Anna goes to find him and convince him to lead her up the North Mountain, where its been established Elsa is hiding. Kristoff is shown to be an awkward character, like pretty much everyone else in the movie, but he conveys it through the fact he has this almost romantic (but not in that way) relationship with his pet moose, Sven. The two of them are so close and its conveyed very well. You can tell that they have rituals and routines that they go through on a daily basis, and in general, their connection is easily the strongest in the film. Its stronger than Elsa and Annas, stronger than Annas and Kristoffs as well. Now I have a problem with Sven: Hes too cute and hes too open/welcoming. They could have given him these elements around Kristoff, whom he adores, but when Anna starts to push in, they should have given him elements of jealously. Sven should have shut out everyone who tried to take his Kristoff away, and that way, he could develop throughout the film and when he gives Olafs nose back in the final scene, there would have been a full character arc. Instead, they just made him cute and silly, which we didnt really need. An obligatory chase scene follows, for some stupid reason. Suddenly, without any real warning or reason, the group is chased by wolves. Theres a rule in stories: Dont put scenes in unless it either progresses the narrative, sets up a future event, or develops the characters. This did neither. What this scene should have been used for is a set-up. The wolves should have returned later, and Ill go more into that when we get there.

They meet Olaf, an animated snowman, who resembles the snowmen Anna and Elsa used to make as kids. Elsas magic has become so potent it can apparently create life, so shes basically god at this point. Olaf is the comic relief, and hes not really used for anything other than such, so you wont see me mention him much more than this. The four of them reach the North Mountain whilst Hans back at home tries to keep everything in order. Annas horse returns, alone, and Hans decides that hell take a crew of people to go and find Anna, as she must be in trouble. They all set off, but not before the secondary antagonist: The Duke of Weselton, orders two of his henchmen to murder Elsa if they see her. Remember this detail. Anna and Elsa talk for a bit, and one might assume that Elsa, with her newly restored self-esteem and personality, would outright explain exactly what it is thats happening, and what occurred all those years ago which made her so afraid... Nope. Instead Elsa relapses straight back into her cowardly, cryptic self, saying repeatedly Stay away and nothing else rather than carefully and calmly explaining exactly what the problem is. Wait, Elsa, didnt you just have an ENTIRE SONG about not doing exactly this anymore? I mean, I know you dont want to hurt your sister, but come on! Stop freaking out and actually talk about it. Anna reveals that Elsa has accidently frozen the entire kingdom, and that Elsa should probably fix that. Elsa reveals that she has no idea how, to the shock of Anna. Even after this, however, Elsa remains cryptic and closed, trying to push Anna away. It just forces Anna to pry and push once again, and the exact same thing occurs as before, except with more serious consequences. As Elsa accidently unleashes her powers in fear, Annas heart is struck. Remember what the trolls said? Good. Worried shell only do more damage, Elsa evicts Anna and the others from her castle via giant monster snowman. Theres a small chase scene where the big snowman isnt trying to murder them, but hes trying to get them to leave. You get the idea that Elsa is sort of in control. He says Stay away or something similar that echoes what Elsa said, and Anna agrees. Once they have escaped, Kristoff realises theres something wrong with Anna and he takes her to the troll healers. Trolls say theres nothing that they can do, as only an act of true love can thaw a broken heart. Oh there you are, Disney. I was wondering when youd show up! Assuming that Annas true love is Hans, Kristoff and Sven and Olaf rush for the kingdom. They have to get Hans to kiss Anna to break the curse, else shell turn into ice. The audience meanwhile knows this wont work, which means the tension doesnt payoff properly. We already know that Kristoff is the love interest. Its obvious. Hes the true love. Not Hans. Whilst this occurs, Hans and the others arrive at the ice castle. Most of them battle with the snowman guardian whilst Weseltons henchmen rush up into the throne-room and try to shoot Elsa with crossbows. She diffuses their attempts by almost straight up murdering them. For a moment, the confidence and aggression is back. Shes prepared to kill. The cold never bothered her anyway. If not for Hanss interruption, she may well have done it. Hans talks her out of impaling her attackers, and then quickly saves her life as one of them tries to sneak in a cheap shot while her guard is down. The crossbow bolt aimed for her instead strikes a chandelier, which crashes down, knocking Elsa unconscious.

Strangely enough, the next shot shows Elsa back at the castle, where shes in chains. Hans is with her. He sympathises and says he wishes there was something he could do, and promises hell try and help in whatever way he can. Meanwhile, Anna and the others are still racing home... How the hell did Prince Hans get home before the others did? He was atop an inhospitable mountain and riding steeds not built for snow. Sven is a moose. He can sprint through snow with no issue... But apparently the plot needs him to get home first.. Ok?.. They reach the gates and Anna is rushed inside to see Prince Hans. She tells him they have to kiss, and the two of them are left alone. Only true love can break the curse, she says again, and thats when Hans reveals that he is a villain. He smirks, and says If only there were someone who actually loved you. Jerk. So herere the reasons why it was painfully obvious Hans was the villain: 1. Disney does not do love triangles. The third party always either dies, or turns evil. 2. Disney never introduces the concept of full romance before the first half of the movie. 3. Hans is suspiciously perfect, which makes him look like a character. Disney knows this formula doesn't work anymore, hence the reason we had Flynn Ryder in Tangled. Hans is also a prince, for the same reason, this is suspicious. 4. He's like the protagonist. Opposites connect. That's how magnetism works. Anna was hooking onto the first thing she saw. 5. The message of the entire film is about prejudice! Deciding the best course of action is to kill Anna, Hans leaves her to become the victim of Elsas curse, so that he may use Elsa as a scapegoat, execute her for high treason, and then take over as ruler of Arendelle. Now Im going to pull apart why Hans is a stupid moron, and why his villainous plan is so outrageously dumb that it was basically a show for the audience: If Prince Hans wanted to become ruler of the kingdom, why did he intentionally save Elsas life from the bowmen? It he was worried about the way people think of him, he could have simply tried and failed to intervene. Elsas dead, which means theres now no one to oppose your marriage with Anna. Wait, you went home WITHOUT Anna? That means the entire reason you left is to find her is pointless! Furthermore, if youve already been made ruler in the absence of the two sisters, why send out a task force to find them when theyre clearly either in danger, or dead? You cant have possibly known Elsa would be a scapegoat later on, as you only found out Anna was afflicted with the magic a few minutes ago. Did you just want the excuse that We said our wedding vows? There wasnt even any proof of this. How did you know that apparently becoming a bloody monarch simply involves blatant lies and nothing else?

Now, I know this story isnt about the antagonist, and Im willing to let this stuff slide. This story is about Anna and Elsas opposition and eventual reunion. Everything else is just a tool to push the narrative forward... even if that tool isnt quite fit for purpose. So as Anna dies in the living room, Olaf appears! Its never explained how he snuck into the castle, or how he located the room Anna was inside, but thats ok, I guess, because plot. He lights up a fire to try and push back the cold within her, and he talks to her about what true love really is, because apparently hes an... expert now... The snowman has some good points, and he makes it clear that Kristoff is her true love. Heres what should have happened, its a minor change. Olaf should have used his stick arms as kindling to light the fire, and therefore represent a selfless act of love that hes actually talking about. Instead, he conjures up some firewood from an unknown location and throws it onto the fire, destroying the emotive potential in that moment. He does alert Anna to the fact that Kristoff and Sven are now on their way back, however. Theyve worked out something is wrong and their rushing in to save the day. Her morale boosted, Anna heads for the window and moves outside into the great blizzard, conjured by Elsa who has just escaped from her prison cell to avoid execution. Heres where the wolves should have come back: In the actual film, Sven and Kristoff are sprinting to find Anna in the storm. The ice starts to break beneath their feet, and Sven is pulled into the ocean below. Theres a few beats of silence, and then Sven emerges from below, gesturing with his nose in a Go on without me sort of motion. This is great, but it could be better. If wed established earlier that Sven is terrified of wolves, and he wants to do nothing but get away from them, then think about how powerful it would have been if this happened: As they run for Anna, wolves surround Sven and Kristoff, forcing them to come to a stop. The wolves close in, snarling and growling. Reaching back and grabbing Kristoff, Sven hurls his companion out of the wolves reach. He does the same gesture Go on without me. Sven is willing to sacrifice himself for this, but there would be so much conflict, so much turmoil within Kristoff, hed have to decide who to save, but hed know with the way Sven was gesturing. Dont worry, bud. I got this. Its the ultimate symbol of trust. Sven can handle this, Kristoff can keep running. If using the previous suggestion in addition to this, where Sven is initially jealous of Annas presence, this would be the payoff of his character arc. Hes willing to do something so extreme for the well-being of this girl. It would have been wonderful, and achieved in almost the same way. Of course, Sven wouldnt die. The stand-off or fight would occur off screen, but hed win, and hed return at the end for a fantastic emotive reveal. Hes alright, the audience would sigh in relief. So Kristoff and Anna finally find one another in the snow, and Kristoff sprints toward her. Meanwhile, Hans has located Elsa as well, nearby. He tells the already afraid, angry and anxious queen that she killed her own sister. That to me seems like a bad idea. Weve seen what happens in times of extreme emotion. Hans was lucky he didnt get impaled on the spot, but somehow he magically knew this would stop the storm. It does. The snowflakes are suspended in the air like glistening tears, adding to the emotive and dramatic ambience of both aligning scenes: Anna and Kristoff, Hans and Elsa. Anna sees Elsa, whos on her knees, stricken totally by grief at this horrible news. Hans is approaching, sword in hand, readying for the kill... Although at this point, we can all see that Hans is a filthy liar. Anna is still alive, and people are watching from the castle. Even if Hans makes the kill,

hell still be accused of treason and executed himself! A minor point, I guess. The curse starts to take Anna, and Kristoff is the only one who can save her. Hes very close now, but theres not enough time. Anna, rather than running toward her potential saviour, instead sprints for Hans, moving herself in the way of his sword just as the curse takes effect. She turns into an icy statue, blocking the swing and shattering the blade. Hans is incapacitated by the resulting shockwave. The onlookers are shocked, and grief-stricken for a second time, Elsa throws her arms around the Anna statue, sobbing. Everything comes to a standstill, but weve seen this before. The exact same technique was used in Tangled, only with Flynns death at the end. The audience casually waits for Disney to have its fun, and then Anna thaws. Its revealed that the act of true love was one she committed. By throwing herself in the way of the sword and sacrificing herself, Anna broke the curse. The nice thing about this ending is that it empowers the protagonist. She didnt need Kristoff in the end. Anna, who has been portrayed as a ditsy, clumsy, awkward idiot throughout the entire film, finally does something heroic and loving and saves her own hide to boot. Its great, and furthermore, in the context of this story and the true-love plot-device, it actually makes perfect sense, unlike the rather half-assed ending in Tangled where the excuse was I guess theres still kinda some magic left?... This is when Elsa has a revelation; love is what can help her control her abilities. Love is what can help her bring back the summer. Oh, looks like I was right. It was actually all the parents and the trolls faults. They did this. By ridding Elsas life of all love, they were the catalysts for this horrendous downfall. They isolated and secluded her, and cut her off from her loving sister who would have lived and died with her no matter how powerful she grew... And she wouldnt have done. If shed just had Anna to love, shed have always been in total control. I almost wanted the trolls to not be spouting absolute horse crap, but apparently thats exclusively what they do. Good work, trolls. Now in control of her powers, Elsa becomes a beloved queen. They came to accept her the moment they gave her a chance. Dont be so quick to judge, like these idiots are. Kristoff is given a secure ice trading job an- Wait, wait. Isnt that a massive screw you to Kristoff? Making him an ice trader in a kingdom where the queen can literally make as much as she wants with minimal effort? Well... I guess if hes happy with it. Theres a kiss and a panning shot over the kingdom and everyone is happy and we fade to black. Its a nice movie, and the important thing is, the parts which are important, namely the development and relationship of the protagonists is handled nicely. Sure the beginning is awful and the antagonist is broken, but therere not far off from being successful. Personally, Id have liked to have seen the curse itself brought into the plot as part of the antagonists scheme. For example, what if Hanss family had cursed Elsa with these ice powers just for the sake of usurping her kingdom when she came into power with a good, ol fashioned witch hunt? That could have been interesting. Overall its a heartfelt movie with great songs, fantastic visuals and a competent story. It comes with a recommendation, but never ever forget, no matter what the internet tells you: It is not perfect.