Frozen 2 — Julia Bell

Dec 19

Dec 19 Frozen 2

This post will contain spoilers and I take no responsibility for your further reading.

I loved the first Frozen. It depicted depression and fear, it had complex characters and the animation was beautiful. The thing that separated the first Frozen from other Disney films wasn’t Elsa and Anna, but Hans. Many other film showed strong women and strong relationships between them but Hans was a shock. The villain of the film was first portrayed as an ideal prince only to be power hungry and spiteful. Frozen 2 has the same design.

Hans is clearly remembered in the sequel, as he is throughout the film, both during the game of charades while acting out the word “villain”, and again when Elsa explores the past. At the beginning of the film, all Arendelle had to remember their relationship with the enchanted forest was the account of King Agnarr - Elsa and Anna’s father - who mysteriously escaped the before the enchanted forest became inescapable. While Arendelle believed that the people of Northuldra attacked without reason after receiving a gift from Anna and Elsa’s grandfather. The reality Elsa learns is that her grandfather killed the leader of the Northuldra, as his aim was always to force the people of Northuldra to become dependent on Arendelle.

We see the previous leader of Northuldra just before his death, as Elsa and Anna’s grandfather approaches from behind ready to kill him. The image formed by the snow was exactly this <<<pose from the previous film. This reinforces how much of a villain their grandfather was. If you were not shocked and betrayed by Hans’ actions then you were not emotionally enough involved to be this deep in the internet.

The use of repeated imagery is so very important in this film. It can be expected as the film is about delving into the sister’s past, the life and death of their parents, and the history of their kingdom. The imagery reinforces the idea that the villain is not also the person you would expect, and to bring forth the emotions felt in Hans’ betrayal and apply it to the history of Northuldra and Arendelle.

The Northuldra people were based off of Sámi people and Inuit people, the story heavily reflecting acts of colonisation, through the unreliable and biased history of Arendelle and the dam being portrayed as a gift when it’s original purpose was always to damage the environment, ecomony, and livelihood of the Northuldra people. I believe that these heavy topics are a great addition to kids films and media. Saying that this theme is to ‘adult’ for kids movies only reinforces the biased history that has happened, and is still happening. Some of the best stories for kids have included these kinds of ‘adult themes’. Avatar the Last Airbender having the grief of an entire culture and the different sides of war, Adventure Time exploring Finn’s past and discovering his father is a douchebag, both Adventure Time and Steven Universe portraying same-sex relationships, Ben 10 Alien Force having to battle an alien species that view themselves as a ‘master race’, and Infinity Train portraying a healthy divorce that doesn’t involve a ‘parent trap’ situation.

Anna’s portrayal of grief and the mantra of “making the next right choice” is something so incredible. I do believe that this mantra is powerful tool for children, or anyone, can use when in grief, in a depressive episode, or just struggling. Even though both films were largely about Elsa’s character growth as with both the first and second film, but Anna’s growth as a character cannot be ignored. Anna went from being completely alone, to finding out what friends she can trust and becoming afraid of loosing what she has. At the beginning of the film she assures Olaf that nothing will ever change, resulting in Olaf being angry, for the first time, at her for lying. Anna becomes inseparable from Elsa, so afraid of loosing her, she nearly chokes on smoke surrounded by flames and leaves Kristoff in the forest. At the climax of the film she believes she’s lost everyone around her, and at the end lives far away from her sister, as Elsa becomes a goddess in Northuldra, and Anna Queen of Arendelle.

Everyone in the group also expands their social horizons, as although its been almost a year since their last adventure, they don’t seem to have any other relationships. They have definitely earned the trust of their kingdom, as no one appeared to think that Elsa had merely lost control of her powers again, and was willing to stay in the care of the trolls while their only leadership goes off on a journey they might not return from. As soon as they gain the trust of the people of Northuldra they meet more people and make friends and I’m so proud of them. 💖💖💖

Some other notable parts of Frozen 2 are:

Anna took off her heels at the end of the night, and Elsa took off her heels before crossing the dark sea. It’s just so realistic. I love heels but that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to take them off.

The song ‘Into the Unknown’ was also done by Panic at the Disco!!