I love this! Just yesterday I was talking about how I had never seen the movie and kind of wanted to, just out of curiosity. And although I realize I just read a bunch of spoilers, I am more excited to watch it now with your analysis than I was before. So thanks!
PS Little type here: "You never see anything from Marla’s for Bob’s POV"
PPS I'm the guy that emailed you about editing Husk!
Solid observation. It would've been cool (and more consistent with the tiny detail) to see that alternate chain of events you suggested, where Hans and Anna do kiss but nothing happens. I imagine the reason this didn't happen is because of Kristoff's character, who the viewer is more familiar with and presumably rooting for as the love interest. So if that alternate ending happened, where Hans isn't evil, Kristoff's character would have to be revised or the audience would revolt. (A platonic relationship with him and Anna could've been a twist, too, but not sure how that'd sit with viewers.)
Or maybe Anna realizes that she actually loves Kristoff, which is why the kiss doesn't work? That, or she stops the kiss before it happens because of that realization. Then, the Duke of Weaseltown sends guards to kill both Anna and Elsa, but Elsa has escaped(that doesn't change) and Hans heroically defends Anna because he still cares about her even if it's not love.
I think the end of the movie stays pretty much the same from then on? Only change is that Hans takes the Duke back to Weaseltown (maybe saying something sweet, but friendzone-y to Anna, as he has no reason to stay). You might have to rework some of the storyline for the second movie, but nothing unmanageable.
This was a really satisfying read! It helped me articulate the issue I had with the ending twist of Inglorious Basterds, which struck me as under-commitment to the setup preceding the punch, in contrast to the over-commitment in Frozen that you've described here.
I feel like you just changed my whole world! This breakdown was incredible, and it makes so much sense. I would have loved the version you said at the end - they kiss but it doesn’t break the spell. What a great lesson about letting love grow over time and not rushing commitment.
Thanks for this awesome piece! Would love more like this.
Out of universe, this doesn't seem that confusing. I thought it was pretty well known that _Frozen_ was heavily revised in development to make Hans the villain and they were fiddling with everything up to the end: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_(2013_film)#Writing It's not surprising if some inconsistencies made it into the final version.
Of course the reason for including the evil Hans plot was political and woke etc. But it could have worked. I generally like the concept, it just had flaws in execution.
Could have been improved by making it more obvious that Anna is a baka.
This was way more interesting than I was expecting, given I've never seen the movie. I especially liked the alternate ideas at the end for how the twist could've worked better.
But also... thanks for ruining a movie I'm sure I'll watch many times when I have kids one day 🤪 Maybe I'll forget about this article before then.
Would love to hear your analysis of other Disney favorites!
I love this! Just yesterday I was talking about how I had never seen the movie and kind of wanted to, just out of curiosity. And although I realize I just read a bunch of spoilers, I am more excited to watch it now with your analysis than I was before. So thanks!
PS Little type here: "You never see anything from Marla’s for Bob’s POV"
PPS I'm the guy that emailed you about editing Husk!
Thanks Jack!
Solid observation. It would've been cool (and more consistent with the tiny detail) to see that alternate chain of events you suggested, where Hans and Anna do kiss but nothing happens. I imagine the reason this didn't happen is because of Kristoff's character, who the viewer is more familiar with and presumably rooting for as the love interest. So if that alternate ending happened, where Hans isn't evil, Kristoff's character would have to be revised or the audience would revolt. (A platonic relationship with him and Anna could've been a twist, too, but not sure how that'd sit with viewers.)
Yeah I do like Kristoff better as a love interest, they'd have to friend zone him or something which would be less satisfying
Or maybe Anna realizes that she actually loves Kristoff, which is why the kiss doesn't work? That, or she stops the kiss before it happens because of that realization. Then, the Duke of Weaseltown sends guards to kill both Anna and Elsa, but Elsa has escaped(that doesn't change) and Hans heroically defends Anna because he still cares about her even if it's not love.
I think the end of the movie stays pretty much the same from then on? Only change is that Hans takes the Duke back to Weaseltown (maybe saying something sweet, but friendzone-y to Anna, as he has no reason to stay). You might have to rework some of the storyline for the second movie, but nothing unmanageable.
This was a really satisfying read! It helped me articulate the issue I had with the ending twist of Inglorious Basterds, which struck me as under-commitment to the setup preceding the punch, in contrast to the over-commitment in Frozen that you've described here.
I feel like you just changed my whole world! This breakdown was incredible, and it makes so much sense. I would have loved the version you said at the end - they kiss but it doesn’t break the spell. What a great lesson about letting love grow over time and not rushing commitment.
Thanks for this awesome piece! Would love more like this.
Out of universe, this doesn't seem that confusing. I thought it was pretty well known that _Frozen_ was heavily revised in development to make Hans the villain and they were fiddling with everything up to the end: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_(2013_film)#Writing It's not surprising if some inconsistencies made it into the final version.
Being selfish and betraying your love for transactional benefits is paradigmatic Weasel
I think it’s possible to start with infatuation and then shift to Machiavellian motives
Of course the reason for including the evil Hans plot was political and woke etc. But it could have worked. I generally like the concept, it just had flaws in execution.
Could have been improved by making it more obvious that Anna is a baka.
So true. And why does bumping off Elsa and Anna mean he’ll rule Arandelle? Wouldn’t he needed to have married Anna first??
This was way more interesting than I was expecting, given I've never seen the movie. I especially liked the alternate ideas at the end for how the twist could've worked better.
But also... thanks for ruining a movie I'm sure I'll watch many times when I have kids one day 🤪 Maybe I'll forget about this article before then.