📖 Read Frozen II (Midwest Film Journal) by Aly Caviness
I was going to write a whole blog post about Frozen II and why I like it better than Frozen (which I both loved AND only saw once, because TOO MUCH CRYING) but then I found this film review and can simply point to it and add a few notes.
The main thing here is that, as this review points out, this sequel is Elsa’s story in a way the first one wasn’t. I think many people, in light of the juggernaut that is “Let It Go,” don’t realize that Anna is the protagonist of Frozen. Yes, Elsa has an arc, but Anna is the one who goes on a journey, gets assistance, experiences betrayal, etc. The climax flips it a bit, but if we’re looking for Campbellian narrative, Anna is the one who gets it in the first movie. In one sense, Elsa is a MacGuffin as much as she’s a character.
Frozen II works beautifully in parallel with Moana.
“The call isn’t out there at all; it’s inside me.”
“You are the one you’ve been waiting for all of your life.”
I could go on at length about how people don’t give Anna the credit she’s due, how love is a power that’s not as impressive as manipulating ice but seems to me much more valuable. And maybe sometime I will.
(In one sense, Elsa is her parents' love incarnate, but her magic renders that love inert in a way that is the opposite of Anna’s openness to love, Anna being, I feel, her parents' love incarnate and activated.)
Anyway, I’ve just gone on longer than I meant to and will probably have more to say later. But really, read the linked review and you’ll get a good sense of how I feel about Frozen II. 🕸️