And whatâs the big rush to propose anyways? Frozen is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. All of this is, again, merely allegory for a young womanâs coming of age ⦠While Anna and Elsa both provide personal points-of-view, once Elsa sings her song "Let it Go" that initimate view into her struggle fades. The witch, Mother Gothel, wasnât just a witchâshe masqueraded as Rapunzelâs mother. This is part of the problem with ret-conning the story and jamming in this entire plot without establishing anything about it in the first movie. Oh, and this hilarious video with Jimmy Fallon and the incredibly talented Kristen Bell singing a medley of a whole bunch of Disney songs illustrates my point about âInto the Unknownâ perfectly. Rather than a story simply of one woman, the sisterly relationship in Frozen made for far better story fodder. The movie does little to help us understand the politics or geography or culture of either people in relation to one another, thus leaving the conflict bare-bones at best. Fearless optimist Anna teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven and sets off on an epic journey to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Thatâs our bad guy. The rest? It's important because it offers an opportunity to see the entirety of an argument from every angle, important if you want a story to feel complete. Unfortunately this response isn't enough, and Elsa acts out (Relationship Story Benchmark: Impulsive Responses). It turns out that the girl who saved their father during the battle in the enchanted forest was none other than their mother! As in Elsa from a recent Disney film you may or may not have heard of, âFrozen.â ... âA good story, issues to think about and wrestle with,â Kaufman told me. Today is the three-year anniversary of âFrozen,â and I want to celebrate it with you all; though not for its sharp or witty humor, nor its unique love story. End of story. The Northuldra are the latter. Anna's failure to see the forest for the trees when it comes to the limitations imposed on the people around her--like Hans and Elsa--(Main Character Issue: Preconditions) constrains her efforts to learn why her sister wants nothing to do with her (Main Character Concern: Learning). The problem in Cinderella was the greed of the stepmother. The novel was first published in 2006. Competing personal points-of-view (i.e., who is the Main Character?) To be honest, I think the original got off to a slow start and then ended powerfully. You canât ignore it, but you donât really want to sing along. All of this is resolved in the end when Kristoff shows up at just the right time to save Anna and then he proposes and she says yes, of course, and now I guess he gets to be king. When Anna discovers a secret room in the castle and incants a magic spell, she hopes it will make her dream of curing the sickness come true. Moved by her sister's transformation and Kristoff's own bold act of courage (another instance of Influence Character Solution: Proaction), Anna joins in the celebration by doing what she does best--bringing her own brand of mischievous jubilation to a celebration (Story Judgment: Good). By playing out the conflict of what it feels like to have your own sister think less of you against the consequence of everyone feeling the same way, the film could have added a nice thematic subtext to Anna's journey. Elsa assumes the Influence Character role and, after lashing out with her snow monster, takes on the role of Antagonist. My hunch is that the box office success is largely due to two factors: First, people are curious to see what happens with Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf after a six year hiatus. Nobody tries to stop Anna from destroying the damâor rather, nobody really tries very hard. Of course weâre all curious to see what this sequel is all about, and why not go to the theater? Anna basically asks him to make out in the carriage and instead he tries to ask her to marry him, but starts by reminding her of her doomed romance with Hans. What did you think of Frozen II? Frozen Inciting Event: While the two sisters play, young Elsa accidentally hits Anna in the head with an ice blast. And what of the Relationship Story Catalyst? Not really. a pretty messy story that relies on inserting a lot of backstory that was mysteriously not present at all in the original film. He also picks bad times to ask, like on the start of their adventure to the enchanted forest when thereâs obviously way too much going on. [1]: http://dramatica.com "Dramatica - The Next Chapter in Story Development"http://dramatica.com "Dramatica - The Next Chapter in Story Development". Then one night, it all changed. Frozen 2 could have been a grand adventure. It introduces a mysterious boy who wants to escape his unhappy life through suicide, and a fifteen-year-old girl who only wants her brother back from wherever he has disappeared to. I, like so many other parents at the time, grew mighty tired of âLet It Goâ but thereâs no denying that it had a great hook and held a powerful message for young girls especially. This is, Iâm afraid to say, the ânoble savageâ portrayal of indigenous people to a tee. I will be blunt: âInto The Unknownâ is no âLet It Go.â In fact, none of the songs in Frozen II even come close. I cannot hum a single tune from the whole lot except for the chorus of âInto The Unknownâ which I find more annoying than anything. Furthermore, it occurs to me that the film gets perilously close to ânoble savageâ territory. Anna was one year old now and Elsa was four. This isn't to say there aren't some wonderful touch points from the storyform found in the actual film. True love has different faces. The snow lifts and the kingdom of Arendelle returns to what it once was (Story Outcome: Success). I want to share with readers my reasons as to why Elsaâs struggles could represent someone struggling with a mental illness: In-depth posts on story structure & story analysis, Insightful reviews through the lens of comprehensive story theory, Visual explanations of basic story structure principles, Conversational story structure with an ear for great storytelling, Daily updates & insights into the world of narrative, Early essays and accounts of a greater understanding of story. . All rights reserved. He could have just invaded in force and probably saved a lot of treasure in the process. âYou could put a whole city in a lab.â This bit of structure weakens the Main Character's ability to resolve the issues at hand. (Or, in this case, the Sami people). And the fact that the girlsâ parents didnât just perish at sea, but as part of some ridiculous quest to discover whether Elsa was, in fact, the Fifth Element just cheapens the whole thing. Create a story that functions like the mind's problem-solving process and enjoy becoming part of a legacy. Main Characters are as blind to their Critical Flaws as much as we are to our own. In fact, Iâd say that Frozen 2âs lack of compelling or catchy tunes is its very biggest problem. In other words, Anna's attraction to others diminishes her ability to save the day. Apparently it involves going off into the forest without telling Anna to meet him there later, surrounding himself with a bunch of caribou, and waiting for her to show up. Itâs just another muddled, mucked up aspect of the film. This inside look is key when it comes to the Main character Throughline. It turns out itâs the matriarch of the Northuldra people, , and itâs just not a funny bit at all. You may opt-out by. And finally, I was pretty letdown by the Northuldran proposal ceremony. And thatâs that. . He sought to rule the Northuldra, for reasons never fully explained, by building the dam and harming their forest (for reasons). I imagine that spending 4 days completely frozen and in sub 0 temperatures that most, if not all, of their crops would fail that year. Instead, a more sinister dream comes to life. I hate to be a stick in the mud, but Frozen deserved a better sequel. Surely some of the other Northuldra would have come to the same conclusion and found a way to destroy it? Understanding how this argument works becomes essential for those wishing to repeat Frozen's monstrous success. A lot of story issues can be forgiven in a kids movie like this if you want to sing along. Realizing that love, not fear, reconciled the two sisters (Relationship Story Solution: Deduction), Elsa can now use her powers for good, boldly providing joy to her subjects (Influence Character Resolve: Change and Influence Character Solution: Proaction*). Either of these could have illustrated the Objective Story Issue of Attraction and added to the richness of the story by showing how being drawn to something increases conflict. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. And what if, after all that, we then discovered his cruelty and treachery and he was the one who tried to stop them from destroying the dam? We never really learn anything more about the man or his ambitions, or why this would actually make the people of the forest more likely to be bound to him or why a dam would hurt the forest. Iâve said it before and Iâll say it again, but having your characters act really, really out-of-character just to further the plot is a bad idea that makes otherwise fun characters seem stupid or insane. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. Could there be some misunderstanding? 'Frozen II' is breaking box office records and delighting young audiences everywhere, but it fails ... [+] utterly to live up to the original. Then there is the ânoble savageâ in which all Natives are portrayed as good, peaceful and at one with nature. . This all leads back to Elsa and Annaâs parents. Suddenly Elsa is hearing voices, and an elemental spirit shows up at the Arendelle and puts out all the fires, starts an earth quake and forces everyone out. Elsa, the sister with the magical power to whip up a snowstorm, has been told to conceal her supernatural ability from everyone, but âthe more she suppresses it, the worse it comes out .â.â. The storyform calls for Investigation which works perfectly for what is already there in Frozen. The Consequence of Conscious, also missing from the final film, offers a chance to raise the stakes far beyond "freezing to death". And also key to bringing peace between two nations who barely know the other one exists! Like it's massive Winter-blockbuster sister and equally dysfunctional narrative Titanic, Frozen will continue to live on because of the emotional argument carried out within this key throughline. (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 âwhitewashing.â The problem with how Frozen 2 handled this is that they really couldnât up and change the race of the lead characters, so instead they just had them retroactively become half Northuldra. EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, How Digital Workflows Helped Save Basketball During The Pandemic, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit â And Pushing For Change, Michigan Economic Development Corporation With Forbes Insights. Instead of some silly surprise that comes out of nowhere, our realization of what Hans represents becomes something much more meaningful to the actual structure of the story. The problem with how Frozen 2 handled this is that they really couldnât up and change the race of the lead characters, so instead they just had them retroactively become half Northuldra. The plot, from the very get-go, feels forced and tacked-on. It doesnât help that I find Indina Menzelâs voice, while quite powerful and capable, often too shrill at the higher end. The 53rd Disney animated feature film, it is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 fairy tale "The Snow Queen". But I guess their father didnât know this somehow? It doesnât make sense. Absolutely. The novel was first published in 2006. This story point increases the conflict between the Main Character and Influence Character. Since its release, the animated sequel to Disneyâs biggest animated feature has nabbed over $700 million worldwide. The only way to reach the girl is by having her let down her long hair. Thereâs a running âgagâ throughout Frozen II in which Kristoff tries, and fails, to propose to Anna. The story Rapunzel tells of a witch who raises a child only to trap her in a tower in the middle of a forest. Without it, the story would last two minutes. She climbed onto her sister's bed and smiled. Every time Anna tries to delve into why her sister won't talk to her (the "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" song or her first time to the Ice Castle) the tension between the two sisters ⦠Mind 's problem-solving process and enjoy becoming part of a witch who a... Really enjoy that horse bit of structure weakens the Main Issue of attraction, could some... 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