In a general sense, Frozen 2 gets a lot right about Scandinavia. The cultural aspects of Arendelle specifically are quite accurate. But, the accuracy of Frozen 2's portrayal of Scandanavian history and folklore is a different story.
Slate critic Inkoo Kang said that although Frozen II was obviously influenced by Sámi history, the Northuldra may also be interpreted as representing displaced Native Americans; Arendelle can be seen as representing the United States' colonial past, evocative of the embellished life of Pocahontas.
(Note: Much of Frozen 2 appears to be a reaction to the reaction the first film received for not including many people of color and for “whitewashing.” The problem with how Frozen 2 handled this is that they really couldn't up and change the race of the lead characters, so instead they just had them retroactively ...
In thematic terms, Frozen 2 is something of a mash-up of different legends, philosophies, and fairytales. Some of the concepts are still inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, with a dash of Norse and Scandinavian mythology added into the mix, and an unexpected amount of Greek philosophy as well.
Disney's animated film Frozen was inspired by Sámi culture, and for its sequel, Frozen 2, Walt Disney Animation Studios received consultation from a Sámi working group (“Verddet”) on elements within the film that are inspired by the Indigenous People's homelands.
“Frozen II has been interpreted as a critique of colonialism and as advocating reparation. Before Elsa and Anna were born, their grandfather King Runeard built a dam for the Northuldra tribe. Ostensibly a gift, the dam weakens the tribe's magical power.
The river is a prominent part of the Northuldran culture, who sing about Ahtohallan in their lullaby "All Is Found". Though widely believed to be a mere myth, Ahtohallan is real and takes the form of a glacier (which, in layman's terms, is a river of ice).
Among the main criticisms of Frozen 2 are that a lot of the introduction feels like it's moving the characterization backward, it doesn't hit the emotional depths of the first, and while the story is ambitious, it doesn't quite work in execution.
Indeed, the plot is loosely based on the tale of The Snow Queen by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, who based many of his books on old Scandinavian folktales.
The home of Anna and Elsa is a fictional location made for the purposes of the magical world of the Frozen franchise, but Arendelle and its people are based on the Scandinavia region of northern Europe, which encompasses Denmark, Norway, and Sweeden.
Elsa is never properly identified as asexual or aromantic, something that would help immensely to increase visibility and awareness. Considering Disney's record with LGBT characters (remember the underwhelming 'gay moment' in Beauty and the Beast?)
Honeymaren, a member of the Northuldra tribe who was trapped in the Enchanted Forest by the curse, could return for Frozen 3 as Elsa's girlfriend based on the two characters' shared chemistry.
On February 8, 2023, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that Frozen 3 is in the works, along with Toy Story 5 and Zootopia 2. While news of a third Frozen film was a welcome one, we have yet to hear more details about the movie or see a trailer. Here's everything we know about Frozen 3.
As for whether Elsa and Anna are white … the Northuldra are modeled on the Sami, an indigenous people scattered across northern Scandinavia and northwestern Russia who have faced a great deal of discrimination, but there's a lot of disagreement about the genetic and linguistic origins of Sami to this day.
Eventually, in a visually impressive centerpiece sequence, Elsa travels on her own to a far-off glacier and learns the truth about the past: the previous king of Arendelle (Elsa and Anna's grandfather) wasn't a peaceful ruler, but had engineered a fake get-together with his own troops and the Northuldra in an attempt ...
While the voice was calling Elsa to reveal her past to her, it was ultimately revealed that Queen Iduna (Evan Rachel Wood) - Elsa's mother - had a lot to explain as well. This, coupled with the reveal that the call was Iduna all along, means Elsa was hearing the voice of her long-lost mother.
In the process, though, the movie takes a very sharp turn and becomes one of Disney's darkest movies to date, with Elsa's journey a bit scarier than we first assumed. In seeking answers to her origin story, Elsa realizes her dad, King Agnarr, was saved by her mom, Queen Iduna.
Elsa from Frozen was originally intended to be an evil queen with an army of snow monsters. That's according to the animated film's producer Peter Del Vecho, who says they completely re-wrote the ending. "When we started off, Anna and Elsa were not sisters," he told EW. "They weren't even royal.
What sets Elsa apart from the mass array of Disney princesses is her inner battle with mental illness, anxiety and depression. In Frozen II, Elsa is the only person who can hear a voice but everyone couldn't.
Overall, the soundtrack didn't fit the movie as it didn't match the plot at all. They were all pretty much random, and I think they were trying something different, more mature, but they ended up failing. The graphics portrayed and covered up most of the terrible plot.
The film covers deep and heavy topics unknown to Disney princess films. The first Frozen broke the Disney formula by sharing “true love” doesn't need to be romantic. The second film addresses loss, grief, depression, and how to find hope and personal growth through life's uncertainties.
Due to the bad blood between their people, Iduna kept both her heritage and her rescue of Agnarr in the forest a secret for many years, though she finally confessed everything to him shortly before their deaths.
Kristoff is a Sámi iceman who lives together with his reindeer companion Sven. Albeit preferring a solitary life, he helps Princess Anna of Arendelle to find her older sister Elsa in the North Mountain.
The symbolic explanation for why Elsa froze is more straightforward. Elsa freezes in response to the trauma of discovering her family's colonial past. Similar to the plot in Frozen, Elsa is overcome with emotion and loses control of her powers — she is so overwhelmed by her own ice magic that she is literally frozen.
