#multiple character analyses

__________________________________

Obviously, with how Elsa and Anna get very excited and animated in the movie whenever they have a chance to bond, we can safely know that they have a strong desire to be close and bond (a trait common to both romantic and platonic relationships). Elsa and Anna spent some of their formative years together. Due to the Westermarck effect, this hinders but does not eliminate the chances of a romantic/incestuous relationship (supports non-romance). At the post-coronation party, Elsa compliments Anna's beauty, and Anna nearly spills her spaghetti over it. Now, normally this would be the same as two normal girls being nice to each other except for the extreme exaggeration in responses to positive interactions. They stare deeply into each other's eyes and in general, try getting as much euphoria out of the interactions as possible, much in the way that infatuated teenagers do when they first start dating (supports both romantic and platonic, with a slight romantic bias). Anna's reaction to seeing Elsa run away is dramatic and immediate. As though pulled by an incredible force, she throws caution to the wind and immediately tries to comfort the person she loves (this is the kind of thing you don't really see in platonic relationships as much. Yes you do things to help the people you care about, but blatant and immediate self-sacrifice is more common to [infatuated relationships], which makes this low-platonic, high romantic).

Anna gives up a chance at life, stepping in front of a sword and freezing to death to protect someone who, from her perspective, hasn't reciprocated any affection. Even in families, siblings don't usually do this unless they view their relationship as somewhat equal. Maybe Anna's just an aberration in how loving she is though. The biggest pro-romance interactions occur at the very end of the movie. The level of physical closeness between them is extreme, but for family members the metric is a bit different. For family members it's 'especially close'. Still, if you were to hang off your sister in public like that, you'd get strange looks. Also, the merchandise and other stories show that this high level of intimacy continues long after the thaw, so there's that going for it as well.

___________________________

The scene where Hans brings men up to Elsa’s ice castle is a very telling scene for both of them.

Consider how often we’ve seen this exact scene before; a hero comes charging up to the lair of the evil witch, the monster, and fights against them to save the day. It’s a classic tale of the hero vanquishing an evil foe, and it’s repeated over and over again.

Except in this case, we see things from the perspective of the monster (Elsa), not the hero (Hans). It’s not a valiant charge into righteous battle; it’s an invasion, and one that’s frightening. Elsa gasps and flees until she can run no more. She begs her attackers, Weselton’s men, not to hurt her, but they see only the monster, only their orders, and not the frightened woman in front of them.

She’s cornered like an animal, and she loses the ability to think things through because of her fear. She’s the monster caught between two hunters, and yet the audience empathizes with her, and therefore we don’t see her as one (even if Hans’ very carefully worded statement indicates that he’s aware of and using her fear of herself as a monster implies that’s how Elsa sees herself).

In a classic tale, there are three types of people: victims/bystanders/the innocent, villains, and heroes. The first are hurt by the second and saved by the third. A monster may serve the purpose of a villain, or at least as something for the hero to struggle valiantly against in service to others.

In a classic tale, Hans would be the hero who would rescue the victim Anna from the clutches of her villainous sister. Or perhaps Anna would assist or save him, like was the case in Enchanted. The point is that the antagonistic force is most often the villain, who has some sort of power that the hero must overcome.

Frozen turns this script around. The Disney prince is the smiling villain. The innocent girl sacrifices all and becomes the hero. And the antagonist throughout the majority of the film, the one with the greatest amount of shear power, is the victim, both emotionally and at the hands of other characters.

The ice castle invasion scene illustrates this by setting things from Elsa’s perspective. It suggests to the audience that we need to shift our view of things, that maybe the opposite of what things seem to be is closer to the truth, and this thereby foreshadows Hans’ betrayal.

_________________________

I've always liked the idea that Olaf is Elsa's love for Anna. It all comes full circle in the third act when Anna is dying and Olaf is the one to unlock the door (this is also important to the movie's theme of doors) and save her from freezing to death.

As we know Anna goes on to save Elsa and also herself, but without Olaf, (Elsa's love) both Anna and Elsa would have died. And as for the doors. The movie is rife with closed/open doors, both physical and metaphorical. But in the end, Anna escapes the castle by going out a window and Elsa by destroying a wall, not by a door. It's definitely highly symbolic.

- Anon A

That's why he's both childish AND wise. The former is because Elsa and Anna's love is immature, since they became estranged, and the latter because despite that they still changed as individuals and so their love deepened.

___________________________

Kristoff sees the beauty in [Elsa’s] powers when others saw danger and fear. He admires her powers, and would probably encourage her to use them instead of teaching her to hid and fear them, like her parents did.

[…]

Kristoff and Elsa also have similar views, like “you can’t marry a man you just met” or “people who run into the mountains want to be alone”. […] He also encouraged Anna to leave when he realized Elsa was uncomfortable with their presence. Kristoff respects Elsa’s space and feelings. He also understands Elsa’s perspectives, and he usually share them. Since they’re both the same age [21] their maturity level is pretty much equal, and they’re slightly more collected, sensible, levelheaded, and serious than Anna. No that Anna can’t be when she wants to be, [but] I feel like Anna’s bubbly, energetic, sort of look-after-you-leap personality would sometimes annoy Kristoff, and sometimes he would enjoy talking to Elsa a wee bit more because she’s a little more poised and composed.

_______________________

Anna rides astride her horse, not sidesaddle. There’s not a moment of hesitation from her, either. When she calls for her horse, she doesn’t wait to change into more appropriate attire. She simply mounts up and goes. […] Plus, her horse has a standard saddle, which indicates she normally rides astride.

Now, what about Elsa?  Let’s assume she has little to no skill in riding (which makes sense, considering her isolation).  […] Would Elsa wear a riding habit and ride sidesaddle?  Or would Anna convince her to change into breeches and ride astride?

[…]

Special saddles were invented in the 1830s to help facilitate women to ride aside a horse, to help maintain fashion/decorum/decency/etc.

I can easily see our rambunctious Anna in breeches riding astride her horse, with our more subdued Elsa dressed in a riding habit, riding sidesaddle.

________________________

On the subject of Elsa’s kissing Anna when holding her after striking her as a child…

"You’re okay, Anna.  I got you."

[…]

Right before the King and Queen step into the ballroom […] it sounds like Elsa gives Anna two quick kisses (pecks on the forehead and lips, perhaps) while desperately trying to comfort her.

[…]

This is when both Elsa and Anna were full of love for one another, that big, innocent love that children always have in abundance.  And the kiss didn’t help.

- elsannaheadcanon

Admin Note: Good catch, and allow me to add my interpretation. The reason that this kiss, and, as the directors confirmed of a potential Kristoff-Anna kiss during the climax, doesn’t/wouldn’t work is because it is not an act of true love. It is certainly the act of a child who loves her sister, but in this movie “true love” has a particular meaning: sacrificial love, without the hope of receiving anything in return (one might be right to argue that this truly is the essence of love, to give one’s all and not expect anything in return, but rather to give for the sheer joy of giving).

Elsa had not, at that time, given up anything for Anna. Over the course of the movie, she sacrifices a good deal for Anna (not just her, because she has a responsibility to the safety of her people, but the initial event that sparks her retreat from society is her inadvertently hurting her sister; her father's "this has gone too far" indicates that other situations like this have occurred). The climax involves Anna taking on her sister’s role and giving up her life for the mere chance that Elsa will live. That is why, though Anna undertakes the traditional hero’s journey, it is Elsa who changes as well, because the sisters mirror one another over the course of their lives and the movie; Elsa, who retreats and denies herself for the sake of her sister’s life before the movie and Anna, who advances and blames herself for the loss of their relationship, become Elsa, who tries to search for Anna and blames herself for the loss of their relationship, and Anna, who finds her sister and denies herself for the sake of her sister.

________________________

On a discussion of post-canon, infidelity driven Kristelsa...

I just don't see Elsa stealing Kristoff from Anna. Elsa gave her childhood, her sanity, and her happiness up for Anna; what's a little crush against that? I could only see Kristelsa happening if Anna gave Elsa her blessing/it's an AU.

Elsa retreats when she is threatened (until she can't) both emotionally and physically, and her feelings would be threatening to her and her sister's relationship. She would retreat, Anna would follow, the truth would come out, and Elsa would remain passive because she has always feared doing things would cause greater harm, leaving Anna to make the difficult decision (which is why, in some ways, Anna is more mature than Elsa is).

________________________

His treatment of Anna is the worst thing he does, and there's no good excuse for that. But let's try: To me his viciousness seems to have personal reasons. He's so cruel and gets a kick out of it, it feels like he thinks she deserves it or is avenging something. So perhaps Anna represents something he hates, or has mistreated him in his mind somehow? You have to remember that Hans doesn't see Anna's redeeming qualities like the viewer does - he only sees a spoiled, irresponsible, thoughtless princess who provokes her sister into freezing the land with her embarrassing public tantrum and then rushes away without thinking properly of her kingdom. Maybe he has older brothers he hates who similarly enjoy the privileges of royalty but don't perform the duties, and Anna reminds him of them? In any case, he clearly doesn't like her at all.

Then on top of that, Anna shows to him that she doesn't really care about him with the “let's invite your brothers” thing. He's told his fiancee that his past was painful, he was neglected and treated badly by his brothers and he wants to leave it behind - and she forgets it, just like that, and smilingly tells him that she wants to bring the people who treated him like shit growing up there to live with them so he can never leave the past behind. She doesn't really care about him or who he is, she cares about having entertainment and romance. Hans has to keep smiling because he needs to marry her. Then on top of that Anna causes all the trouble, they have to arrange a personal rescue party for her in a critical time and Hans almost loses his life looking for her, and then she turns up, causing yet another embarrassing public scene, freezing to death because her sister hurt her after all, should have listened to his warning. It feels like Hans has a huge load of bottled-up hurt, anger and annoyance at Anna, and as she's going to die soon and there's no way to save her, finally he's able to let it out.