It’s funny to look back at critics’ initial reactions to Walt Disney Studios’ 53rd animated film Frozen (2013) living in the world we do now. Pre-2014 was a world without Elsa, Anna, and Olaf, one where Disney was by no means struggling, but perhaps wasn’t performing as well as they might wish (with the exception of 2010s Tangled). Then a frozen fairy tale inspired by Hans Christian Anderson hit our screens, and the world has not been the same since.
Now it’s 2020, and Frozen is still everywhere. Children run around dressed as Ice Queen Elsa, the fearless Anna, and the lovable Kristoff, and they carry little plush versions of everyone’s favourite snowman, Olaf. Let it Go, Do You Wanna Build a Snowman, and For the First Time in Forever play in practically every shop on your local high-street.
Elsa and Anna’s faces are plastered over tops, pyjamas, make-up kits, bags, books, pretty much everything.
Frozen has earned $1.276 billion worldwide. It is the highest-grossing animated film of all time, the highest-grossing musical until it was surpassed by 2019’s The Lion King, and the 15th highest-grossing film of all time. It was also the highest-grossing film directed by a woman until it was pushed into second place by worthy contender Wonder Woman in 2017.
And, by the way, the only Disney film with a female director. It has won dozens upon dozens of awards, including Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Song.
Why Did This Tale Ignite Such an Enduring Love?
Walt Disney himself had a fascination with Hans Christian Anderson. In the early 1930s, he wished to produce a biographical film about him, and although it never came to be, the studio did adapt several of his fairy tales including The Little Mermaid (1989) and The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Fantastia 2000). Frozen was in development for a long time, mostly due to the source material being dark and difficult to adapt. Particularly problematic for the writers was creating characters relatable to a modern audience.
Frozen’s success lies in its combination of the classical Disney aesthetic – the likes of Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Sleeping Beauty (1959) – and it’s willingness to embrace the epic scope, cinematography, and strong characters of its Renaissance Era (1989-1999), such as Beauty and the Beast’s (1991) Belle, Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), and Mulan (1998).
Frozen is a visually stunning film. Co-Director Jennifer Lee emphasised the importance of scale to make this relatively simple tale epic and pushed for the beauty of the landscape to be a key component of the world. The artists looked to Scandinavia, Danish-themed city Solvang, and Norway for the more folkish look of the world and studied how light reflects on snow and ice by spending time in Quebec City in Canada.
Characters Like Nothing Disney Has Done Before
The fact that the main source of tension and drama comes from a sibling relationship was fresh enough in itself, but Anna and Elsa’s differences and ultimate redefining of what ‘true love’ can mean make it a tale so much more relatable and authentic.
Anna is somewhat naïve, mostly due to her loneliness and willingness to see the good in people, but she is fearless. She possesses the agency Disney Princesses are so often accused of lacking (and rightly so…in the early films, anyway) and she wants to embrace adventure. She is funny, quirky, and is willing to sacrifice herself for her sister without hesitation, the ultimate act of selfless love.
Kristoff (he is a precious example of positive, non-toxic masculinity) and Olaf are somewhat typical Disney characters, but boy, are they fun! And that plot twist. Elsa declaring that Anna ‘can not marry a man [she] just met’ was not only hilarious for calling out what Disney relationships have built their entire mythos on but to have this figure become the villain? Wow. I remember watching Frozen for the first time and I actually gasped out loud.
Elsa starts off as a hard and closed off young girl defined by her fear of her powers. What makes her such an enduringly popular character is that she not only ends up embracing her power, sexuality, identity, everything, but she is morally ambiguous. Disney is famous for its obvious Virgin = Good, Whore = Bad categorisation of female characters, but Frozen looks this trope in the face and laughs.
Elsa makes bad decisions – immensely bad decisions that have legitimate and scary consequences for those she loves (she freezes her whole kingdom!) – and reacts like any frightened person would, by isolating herself both to punish herself and protect those she loves. I am still in awe at Jennifer Lee’s in-depth understanding of the characters and her ability to create and develop such complex characters in such a short space of time. Jennifer actually started out as a writer and her passion and understanding for the characters resulted in her being promoted to Co-Director. As it turns out, writers are important. Go figure!
Oh, And That Soundtrack!
Frozen’s opening number Frozen Heart harks back to the epic worldbuilding openings of The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas (it lets the young boys in the audience know there will be something for them in this movie too!), and establishes the beautiful and terrifying elements of ice (like Elsa), setting the tone for the entire movie. This is already deeper than any classic Disney!
The traditional ‘I want’ song – For the First Time in Forever – and the classic love song – Love is an Open Door – embrace the spirit of Disney Renaissance songwriter Howard Ashman, and Let it Go is perhaps one of the most powerful songs of the decade.
Disney actively teaching its young audience to not only embrace their unique identity, even those parts perceived by others as weaknesses, but that being perfect is unrealistic is a wonderful message to put out here. Being true to yourself is what Frozen is all about.
It is unlikely we will see another animated feature have quite the same cinematic and cultural impact Frozen that has made, not even Frozen 2.
