I'm Still Crying Over Frozen 2, Someone Help | Video Essay Script

WARNING: This post contains massive spoilers for Frozen 2. If you haven't seen it, do not continue.

INTRO:

So I wasn’t that big a fan of the first Frozen movie. Funnily enough when it first came out, I actually expected to hate it because of one review I was exposed to that I shan’t name, but it was not particularly charitable towards the story and characters. Thankfully one of my friends knocked some sense into me and went with me to actually watch it so I could experience it for myself, and I wound up adoring it.

Fast forward a few years and the hype has… kinda killed the movie for everyone, especially “Let it Go.” And it is unfortunate, because while I wouldn’t say the movie is amazing—yes, before you ask, I do prefer Tangled’s story and characters as I found both to be far stronger—it certainly did not deserve the level of vitriol it received as a result of the backlash for its wild popularity.

And we could spend all day discussing the first Frozen and how we all feel about the twist villain and whether it felt organic to us, but suffice to say the movie as a whole is… good. Not great, but also not bad; it’s… it’s fine.

Ultimately everyone’s got their own expectations and preferences, so what works for one person isn’t gonna work for the next; it has about as much mileage as however the viewer experiences and interprets it, and that unfortunately can get tainted by, say, 50,000 memes about “Let it Go” poisoning your mind and turning a wonderful ballad for Elsa’s character arc into the most overhyped song in all of existence.

And this also seems to be the case for Frozen 2. I’ve seen a lot of mixed feelings about this one, usually about the worldbuilding and the magic, and a lot of questions about the ending, but I can safely say for me… this was near perfect. I had no expectations whatsoever, and honestly, that’s probably the best way to go into a film. I mean, I had low expectations for Frozen and even Moana and wound up adoring both—the latter still being one of my personal favorite films to date.

So I don’t think I’m going to go “Frozen 2 is the Perfect Sequel and Here’s Why,” so much as I’m just going to explain how I interpreted this movie and why I’m still sobbing to “Show Yourself.” And a lot of that comes from my own biases and experiences, so I’ll try to share those as eloquently as possible… you know, while also saying the “Fuck” word. Yeah, if you’re new here, I really like swearing, so if you’ve got kids, prepare them, cuz this might not be totally family friendly.

Anyways, let’s begin shall we? Oh, and if you couldn’t tell, this video’s gonna be rife with Frozen 2 spoilers, so… this is your chance to leave if you wanna avoid those. Go see this movie cuz I love it.

OF FEELS AND THEMES:

Lindsay Ellis posits in her wonderful video essay about the Complex Feels of Guardians of the Galaxy 2—go watch it if you haven’t, link in card and description—that she adores movies that explore one central theme by branching it off into subthemes via each of its storylines and subplots, and I wholeheartedly agree, and I feel this is what Frozen 2 is all about.

If I had to boil down what the core theme at the heart of Frozen 2 is, it would be Love. Fundamentally, this movie is about not only learning to love yourself, but also being unafraid to embrace vulnerability to express your love for others, how love can bridge the divides between people, and even it seems all is lost, the eternal nature of love and how it can push you through the darkness of despair and do what must be done, no matter the consequences.

It’s pretty easy to see which character arcs and stories fit with which subtheme: Kristoff is embracing vulnerability; Elsa is not only loving yourself, but also about bridging divides, along with Anna, given they’re both the product of an Arendellian and a Northuldran falling in love; and Anna is trusting in love when all hope seems lost.

And above all of this, a huge message of this movie is the impermanence of everything except love. The first song of the movie, “Some Things Never Change,” is not only a quick summation of where everyone currently is in the three years following the original film, but is also a setup for just how much the status quo is about to be transformed into something new, and something far better for everyone.

And weirdly enough, while I’d say the only characters that don’t quite fit into the aforementioned subthemes are Olaf and the Elemental Spirits—but even then I would argue Olaf does far more in this movie than the original to fill the thematic role as the bond between Anna and Elsa, and he and the Elemental Spirits are used more to explore and manifest these themes and the challenges associated with them—these characters still embody that idea of love being eternal and undying, so long as it is cherished and held onto.

Essentially, Olaf and the Spirits have more of what we’d call flat character arcs. They aren’t meant to have development or change substantially. Their primary goal within the narrative is to initiate change in other characters and move their arcs along, as well as to serve a more thematic purpose than anything else. And that actually leads into our next section… 

WATER HAS MEMORY (Olaf, the Elements, and Soft Magic):

Generally, magic systems fall on a sliding scale between Soft Magic and Hard Magic. Soft Magic largely does not have concrete rules, capabilities, or limitations. It basically does whatever it wants. Think Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings. Hard Magic, by contrast, is all about working with specific structures and rules, a prime example of which being the elemental powers, called bending, in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Most people seem to prefer Hard Magic systems, or at the very least feel that the ambiguities of Soft Magic are often exploited by lazy writers not wanting to much effort or thought into the creation of their magic systems. The consensus is that these writers aren’t really using Soft Magic purposefully, but accidentally stumbling into it so they can force the plot to do whatever they like without much rhyme or reason.

But I actually tend to prefer Soft Magic because of its strong potential to tie into story and themes, and well as its aesthetic of mystery and mysticism. Hello Future Me has actually done a video essay entitled “In Defense of Soft Magic Systems”—again, link in card and description, go enjoy his amazing content—where he explains how a soft magic system can serve a story well, if not better than a hard magic system.

Honestly, and this is on a purely personal level, I tend to dislike getting caught up in the details of hard magic systems when they get in the way of or take priority over the story itself. Hard magic systems can absolutely be designed to communicate a story’s themes and complement the character arcs, but they can also overshadow or even compromise them.

And this is why I very much enjoy the soft magic of the original Frozen and ESPECIALLY Frozen 2. It’s never really explained why it’s ice that Elsa has power over, nor do we get explanations of how the Elemental Spirits came to be, or why they seem to remain in or around the Enchanted Forest, or what Atohollan is, but honestly, we don't need to know any of it. All we need is how they help to get across the story’s themes.

Each Spirit contributes something to the plot that has thematic implications: for the Wind Spirit (a.k.a. Gale), it’s forcing Elsa to use her ice magic to protect herself, resulting in the creation of ice sculptures of past events, including the Arendellians and Northuldrans battling, and Iduna saving Agnarr; for the Fire Spirit (a.k.a. Best Gecko Boi Bruni), it’s foreshadowing that while Anna and Elsa do love each other and will be there for each other, that doesn’t always mean they’ll be able to literally be by each other’s sides, whether it’s the fact only Elsa can put out the fires, or that only she can make it safely to Atohollan across the Dark Sea.

Then we have Nokk, the Water Spirit, whose job appears to be protecting Atohollan, and also providing badass fight scenes where Elsa is literally fighting the goddamn ocean: #FightTheOcean. If Atohollan is the place that contains the truth of the past, then it stands to reason Nokk and the Dark Sea are the dangers of venturing to discover those truths. This is especially true given while Gale and Bruni seem to want to communicate with Elsa, Nokk is the one trying to keep her back and must be tamed to bring her to Atohollan.

And while the Earth Spirits might not seem to fit into this like the others, they actually tie into Anna doing what must be done to make reparations, no matter the dangers and obstacles that must be braved. So seeing Elsa after she steps into her power fully—which we will discuss later, don’t you fret my child—seeing her leading this squad of the literal forces of nature speaks volumes of how far she’s come, and how the characters truly have stepped into their power and done the right thing. They are indeed on the right paths, and the magic represents both their journey and destination.

And Olaf certainly has a flat character arc as he contemplates what growing older means. How things change, no matter how badly you want to hold onto the past, and how those changes, however frightening they may appear, and how they might even strike you with pain and despair, might ultimately be for the best and put you on the right path.

Even when Olaf quote dies unquote, he goes out surmising that love never changes or fades. You may lose people, you may even lose your home, but so long as you have love, you can still push forward and do the next right thing: something we will explore more in depth when we get to Anna’s storyline later.

Oh also I’ve named the Earth Gians Rocky, Terra, and Boulder. They are good bois and I love them.

KRISTOFF AND THE MAGIC OF VULNERABILITY:

I’ll fully admit that I wasn’t that big of a fan of either Olaf or Kristoff in the first film. But like I feel that Frozen 2 truly made Olaf into a representation as the bond and love between Anna and Elsa, the sequel likewise made Kristoff into a relatable character who’s fully completed his arc of learning to let his guard around people down and embrace vulnerability.

Disney’s track record with princesses for the most part is… strange. Ironically, the Disney Princesses tended to have stronger personalities and arcs than their love interests, and I think the big exception to that rule was Tangled. EVERYONE loves Eugene because, well, his arc of learning to be a better person and actually care about someone is, and his and Rapunzel’s relationship is by far and away the best romance among the Disney canon, and one of the best relationships in animated media, and fuck, media in general.

Not only is it incredibly healthy, but they’re always trying to be better for each other, and when they have relationship problems, they always come around and openly and honestly communicate with each other. You know, like healthy, mature adults. And while Anna and Kristoff in this movie still aren’t on the same levels as Raps and Eugene, this movie made Kristoff a far more interesting and likable character for me, and made me genuinely enjoy their relationship.

Kristoff has spent most of his life living with the rock trolls and with Sven, and thus, never really fully got… people. He’s not antisocial per say, but as we’ve learned, he always has his guard up and is worried that he’s not fully communicating how he feels in the best way possible.

And that certainly seems to be the case when each time he tries to propose to Anna, he tends to beat around the bush and thus gets brushed off, or winds up making Anna worry or misinterpret him. He’s so worried about the moment being perfect, he loses each opportunity he’s presented with. It even results him getting, as his song is titled, lost in the damn woods when he splits off from the rest of the group, losing sight of their actual mission.

So it’s when Kristoff puts all that aside and helps Anna destroy the dam that really marks when they work together as a partnership, and once the danger has passed, Kristoff decides to just go for it and ask for Anna’s hand in marriage, and Anna is ecstatic. He didn’t have to make the moment perfect because… well, love is more than those superficial elements. It is more than gimmicky proposals or even rings. If Kristoff proposed with a damn rock instead of a ring, Anna would still be sobbing tears of joy.

And this is also why I loved that “Lost in the Woods” is basically Kristoff channeling every boy band ever to sing about how much he loves his girlfriend, and how he’s afraid for them growing apart of losing each other. It is him finally wearing his heart on his sleeve because he’s pretty much hit rock bottom and realizing what truly matters.

HELLO DARKNESS (My Old Friend):

While Elsa might usually steal the show—not only because of her magic, but also Idina’s amazing vocals (“I am Found” (“Show Yourself”)—Anna is equally important in this story. Both Frozen movies are, at their cores, about the love between these two sisters, after all. And as Elsa says at the end of Frozen 2, every bridge has two sides, and Iduna had two daughters. They are the bridge… and I believe they can save the world.

But while many criticize the fact the sisters wind up divided for much of this movie, I find that’s actually the point. They do love each other, and they constantly help each other, but unfortunately—as is the case often in real life—their paths lead to different places, and so they must often step back to let each other do what they must do, and help each other from a distance.

As I said earlier, that point is foreshadowed by Anna being removed from the situation as Elsa tries to put out Bruni’s fire and calm him down, but it really comes into play when Elsa sends Anna away in the ice boat before she crosses the Dark Sea to reach Atohollan. This is something Elsa must do on her own, and Anna would’ve only gotten hurt if she’d tried to follow. Even so, it is the love of Anna and everyone else Elsa cherishes that pushes her forward and helps her come into her power, which, and boy this is really a recurring thing, we shall talk about in a little while.

But Anna’s really the one to save the day after Elsa learns the truth of the past. Before she freezes from venturing too far into Atohollan, Elsa shares the full truth with Anna, and even when Anna falls into despair of losing both Elsa and Anna, she picks herself back up and resolves to finish the job. She knows what she has to do for her sister.

As I was talking with Jeremy about “The Next Right Thing,” he mentioned his perspective that it really feels like a song that describes what depression feels like and what it can do to you. How the emptiness and numbness can paralyze you and drown you in apathy. And that I very much agree on, but it also works well to represent what it’s like to go through so much loss; when so much of what you’ve loved has changed, and when you’ve lost the people and things you hold most dear, and how that can make you lose the motivation to carry on. “How to rise from the floor, when it’s not you I’m rising for.” (“The Next Right Thing”)

But really, it’s exactly what should remind you of the need to keep moving forward, even if you have to stumble through the darkness to reach the light. “So I’ll walk through this night, stumbling blindly toward the light.” (“The Next Right Thing”) So even when Anna knows that she might never get her sister back, and she might even lose her kingdom, she has no other choice but to make a massive sacrifice, risking what remains of what she loves, because it’s the only way to make amends for the past, free the Enchanted Forest, and appease the Elemental Spirits.

And you are damn right she does this all in heels with her hair down, because if my girls are gonna save the world, they’re gonna do so in fucking style.

SHOW YOURSELF:

And now… the Elemental Queen herself. Everyone, welcome… “Adele Dazeem.” I’m sorry, I felt I was obligated to include that somehow. Love you, Idina!

But on a real note, Elsa’s story in the first movie was about not suppressing her powers, and moreover, her true nature, and letting other people into her world, letting go of her fear of hurting them inadvertently. The reason “Let it Go” is so powerful—excluding Idina’s marvelous performance, and despite the overhype of the first movie killing most of its enjoyment factor—is because it’s the start of Elsa learning not to hold back who she is. It is the start of her arc of self-acceptance and self-love.

However, that arc did not end with her becoming Queen of Arendelle, ceasing the eternal winter set off by her fear, and returning home with her sister. No, because as we see in Frozen 2, she’s not fully comfortable with being queen, and feels deep down she’s not in the right place. She’s still worried that because of her magic—because of who she is—that she isn’t where she belongs, when really, it’s more that she does not yet belong to herself.

I’ve gushed about Brené Brown’s work before, and her work on the concept of belonging is no exception and applies perfectly here. Those unaware, Brené Brown is a researcher who’s done qualitative research on vulnerability, shame, and, as we’ll discuss today, belonging. I’ll have lots of her TED Talks and interviews in the description below because, and I mean this wholeheartedly, her work is phenomenal and eye-opening in learning why vulnerability is so vital to living your best life and living as your true self.

Back in 2017, Brené did an interview with Chase Jarvis all about what true belonging means, and in her research, she mentions a quote by Maya Angelou: “You only are free when you realize you belong no place—you belong everyplace—no place at all.” Now on the surface, as Brené admits, this can sound like a bunch of nonsense, but diving deeper, its actually a message that you do not belong anywhere until you truly belong to yourself. In essence, you must always be true to yourself and love who you are, even at the cost of acceptance, because if you try to 

“Because if you carry belonging in your heart, it’s not negotiated externally with other people.” (The Quest for True Belonging, 16:15) So Elsa’s whole story in this movie seems to be following the call of this siren that potentially holds the answer to why she was born with magic, and perhaps, why she was even more at all. And as the movie progresses, Anna affirms that she believes Elsa is a blessing from nature: a reward for Iduna and Agnarr putting aside their differences after their people fought each other and falling in love.

This is true, but it goes so much deeper than that when Elsa reaches Atohollan. “Come my darling, homeward bound. I am found!” There, she realizes that she is the fifth spirit that serves as a bridge between people and nature, and a bridge between people’s differences. She is what unites everything, and in that moment, when she realizes it was Iduna calling her to this place, and that she herself was the answer, that’s when her arc fully culminates. “You are the one you’ve been waiting, all of my life.”

And I’m sure we’re all aware that Elsa is practically an LGBT icon. No, it’s not explicit that that’s LGBT, though you could argue that perhaps the writers attempted to hint at a potential relationship that could blossom with her and Honeymaren. But really, Elsa learning to love herself more than makes up for it, and honestly, the fact that she doesn’t have a love interest at all in these movies is wonderfully refreshing.

Well, that and even if the writers wanted to make Elsa LGBT, there’s no way Disney would risk their bottom line given what they’d stand to lose in box office revenues of homophobic countries. A minor character like LeFou with very brief moments of quote explicit gayness unquote is one thing, but a Disney Princess who’s actually a Disney Queen in everything but marketing? Not if the shareholders have anything to say, unless it can be commodified and branded. Sigh… don’t you just love the profit motive?

But all that aside, I’m very happy with Elsa’s storyline in this movie, and seeing her finally accept and love herself and truly belong to herself is amazing, and I can confidently say as an LGBT person myself, it means so much to see Elsa stepping into her full power and becoming a literal force of nature. “Step into your power, grow yourself into something new.”

We stan Elemental Queen Elsa, Mother of Gays, quite literally Disney’s answer to the Avatar.

THE TRUTH OF THE PAST (Arendelle and Northuldra):

And finally, we come to the mystery that draws the characters into the Enchanted Forest aside from the siren’s calls: the truth of the past, as suggested by Grand Pabbie. At first, we’re told the story of the Arendellians and Northuldrans, and how this dam constructed by Anna and Elsa’s grandfather Runeard was meant to be a gift to strengthen Northuldra’s water, and serve as a symbol of their partnership.

However, we learn later in the movie this was all a ruse. Runeard did not trust the Northuldrans and feared their connection to magic, built the dam to weaken their lands, and only invited them to this ceremony to gauge their people’s strength. And when the Northuldran leader confronted Runeard about the dam, Runeard killed him out of cold blood, when the Northuldran leader was defenseless and posed no threat whatsoever. It was this deception that fueled the conflict that led to the Elemental Spirits going out of control with fury, and the Enchanted Forest being sealed in the mist.

So Anna and Elsa’s mission is, more than anything else, to make amends for the past and see that reparations are carried out, no matter the cost. Elsa sees her grandfather for what he essentially is: a bigot who’s afraid of what he doesn’t understand. “That is not what magic does. That’s just your fear. Fear is what can’t be trusted.” Elsa said Trust Love, spread the word. “Trust Love! The truth is there, but sometimes in disguise!”

And when Anna moves to destroy the dam, she knows it will destroy Arendelle, but surmises that with all of the people safely out of the city, it is a cost worth paying to break the spell over the Enchanted Forest and restore balance. I actually enjoy a rather old anime called The Slayers—think a dumb D&D game you play with your friends as an anime—and in the last season, the king and prince of a country called Taforashia state that it’s not a place that makes up a country, but the people. And I feel that’s important here: so long as the people of Arendelle are safe, they can always rebuild, no matter what they might lose.

So while I’m still not sure what to make of the city of Arendelle withstanding the flood thanks to Elsa, I’ll give the movie the benefit of the doubt that the Elemental Spirits did genuinely believe that because of the sisters’ actions and willingness to risk everything and lose what they love to set things right, they might as well cut ‘em a break.

So now, Anna is Queen of Ardenelle, and Elsa is the Fifth Spirit and Guardian of the Enchanted Forest. They still see each other and talk regularly, but they have grown into the people they were always meant to be and stepped into their full power. Together, they trusted in love and created a new beginning for everyone. They overcame the mistakes, misunderstandings, and crimes of those who came before them, and they were rewarded for doing so.

CONCLUSION & OUTRO:

I’ve seen some mixed thoughts on this movie, be it in the approach to worldbuilding with the Elemental Spirits, or the split thoughts on Elsa pushing Anna away, or in Anna’s choice to go through with destroying the dam and risking Arendelle. But ultimately, it’s all these things that, together, make me adore this movie as much as I do. I mean, clearly I love this, or else why would I make a 4,000+ word script about a sequel to a movie I wasn’t even that enamored with.?

You can disagree with all I’ve said, but I at least hope that maybe I’ve articulated my perspective well and shared why some people might really love this movie. I’m definitely planning on seeing this again, and hoo I cannot wait til I can get it on Disney Plus and Blu-Ray so I can cry over it again… and again… and again.

Oh also, Disney, I’d like to request a miniseries where Olaf recaps every single Disney movie in existence. Please, oh my lord, I need it in my life.

Anyways if you enjoyed this, I’d like to ask you check out my other content, as I usually do reviews and video essays on animation, particularly RWBY and Winx Club, but I’m definitely interested in covering other animated media like this. I’d also like to ask you subscribe and ring that bell for notifications of my new videos because, as I’ve made integral to my brand, YouTube hates creators!

And if you really enjoy my content, then I’d like to ask—if you’re able to and willing—for you to consider pledging your support over on Patreon so I can continue rambling on and on about the random shits in my head.

I’m the Unicorn of War, proud leader of the Union of War, and this—much like Runeard’s entire rule as King of Arendelle—has been a shit show!