The Frozen movies drew inspiration from the customs and traditions of the indigenous Sami people of Northern Europe. Norway's reindeer herding Sami population has ancient traditions and a strong heritage which Disney wanted to pay homage to.
FROZEN is an original story, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's “The Snow Queen.” Published in 1845, “The Snow Queen” begins when a magic mirror created by trolls shatters, causing pieces of it to lodge in the heart and eye of a boy named Kai.
Created by co-writers and directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, Elsa is loosely based on the title character of "The Snow Queen", a Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.
Frozen 1 was inspired by Sámi culture, I think we can say that. Disney representatives had travelled to Sápmi and been inspired, they had also talked to Sámi People.
Heavily influenced by Norwegian nature, culture and traditions, Frozen introduced us to unforgettable characters like Queen Elsa and her sister Anna, the ice harvester Kristoff and his reindeer Sven, Olaf the snowman and a bunch of cheeky trolls.
Why Were People & Critics So Infatuated With Frozen? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios
What is Elsa and Anna's ethnicity?
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.
And even though Kristoff's Sámi heritage is not central to the story of Frozen, it is in part the music by Frode Fjellhiem, in addition to the reindeer and gakti, that should situate the film and the character in an inarguably Sámi—not Old Norse—context.
As the lies on which the Kingdom of Arendelle is founded start to unravel, we discover that Anna and Elsa's mother, Iduna, is from the Northuldra tribe – she was the mysterious saviour who rescued their father during battle.
Wait, so Anna and Elsa have indigenous ancestry now? It seems like it—they learn that their mother was a member of the Northuldra tribe, which is described as being true to the earth and guided by spirits.
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.
17. Olaf's name is meant to sound like "oh laugh" because he is the most comical character in the film. 18. The names 'Sven' and 'Olaf' are the names of the characters from Titanic (1997) who Jack wins his Titanic Tickets from.
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.
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.
How tall is Olaf the snowman in Frozen, really? After the release of Frozen 2, fans were surprised to see Olaf's height listed as 5'4" on the Frozen Wiki - which would make Elsa tower over him at over eleven feet tall.
No, Elsa and Rapunzel are not twins. However, it seems likely that they are cousins. We see the specifics of Rapunzel's birth in Tangled. The queen of Corona must have been Rapunzel's mother, or else the flower's powers could not have transferred to Rapunzel's hair.
(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 ...
Both characters have two daughters (Agnarr is the father to Elsa and Anna, while Big Bob is the father to Olga and Helga). In Frozen II, Agnarr is voiced by Alfred Molina, while Iduna is voiced by Evan Rachel Wood. The two had previously voiced the Fairy King and his daughter, Marianne, respectively, in Strange Magic.
It was after that the decision was made to fully commit to the voice calling to Elsa being that of her mother, Iduna. As Marc Smith, Frozen 2's Director of Story, notes in the documentary, the idea "unifies the movie" since it starts with a flashback featuring Iduna and Agnarr, and it brings those elements together.
Audiences have come to know Anna and Elsa as sisters whose parents tragically died in a sea storm, but Anna was actually a peasant girl in Frozen's initial drafts, and Elsa was a dark snow queen. They were also not related in any way. Originally, Anna had planned to go to Elsa to have her heart frozen.
Throughout the movie, Elsa develops a romantic interest in Isabella. She later comes to realize that Isabella loves her back. In the end, they get married. In their honor, Anna gives up the throne for Elsa and her new wife.
Despite Frozen making his emotional connection to his adoptive family clear, Kristoff's biological parents remain a mystery. They received little acknowledgment in Frozen II or any of the franchise's spin-off books, leading fans to theorize he could possibly be related to the Northuldra people seen in the sequel.
Olaf appears in the sequel Frozen II, where he no longer needs a permanent snow flurry, as he is now made of permafrost, and enjoys being able to freely bask in the sun year-round. Now three years old, Olaf is slightly more intelligent and mature.
