Lesson 8) Let it Go! (Frozen)
The moment has finally come! The last lesson for Week 1. If you want to start gearing up for Week 2, be sure to enroll here: http://www.hogwartsishere.com/courses/DLIT-2/
We'll be ending off our week with the extremely popular Frozen. I am truly indebted to Professor Rose Honeysett who came to my rescue at the eleventh hour. For the very purpose of this lesson, Professor Honeysett recently did "fieldwork" and visited the Disney EPCOT Frozen display in Florida. The pictures of the display in this lesson were taken by her!
In today's lesson, you'll also hear from Professor Levintree, your Co-Professor of Charms (https://www.facebook.com/HiHCharmsClass), as well as Professor Stevens, your Ancient Runes professor (https://www.facebook.com/groups/734347579956848/).
Today's screening (12 noon, EST) will be an array of films, so stay tuned:
http://www.watch2gether.com/rooms/hihdisneyscreeningroom-alh65kcv8x3pdecy
We hope you've enjoyed Week 1 of DLit! Instead of a "Quiz", you'll have a Week 1 "survey" (and multiple EC assignments to choose from). We look forward to seeing you in Disney Lit Week 2!
Disclaimer: If you have not seen the season finale of ABC's Once Upon a Time (and actually intend to watch it), I highly suggest doing so now, as this lesson ends with this episode!
EH
http://www.hogwartsishere.com/emmahart/Lesson 8: Let it Go (Frozen)
Frozen originally started as yet another attempt by Disney to adapt “The Snow Queen,” but they finally ended up going in a different direction. However, there are a few ways that the stories tie together. Before I discuss Frozen, I want to talk about “The Snow Queen” so that you can see where the idea originated as well as how much it changed!
"The Snow Queen" is a tale told in seven 'stories', what we might think of as chapters:
- About the Mirror and Its Pieces
- A Little Boy and a Little Girl
- The Flower Garden of the Woman Who Knew Magic
- The Prince and the Princess
- The Little Robber Girl
- The Lapp Woman and the Finn Woman
- What Happened at the Snow Queen's Palace and What Happened Afterwards
If you are familiar with the story, you may encounter different spellings of the names or chapter titles. These variations are because it was originally written in Danish and has been translated to English. Now, I will tell a much shortened version of the story. I encourage you all to read the full version sometime. It is an excellent story, and in the interest of time, I’m afraid I have to leave out some fun parts of it.
This first piece of the story explains how an evil troll, or devil, created a magic mirror. This mirror reflected only ugly aspects about things and people, and left the good and beautiful parts out. This devil and his students tried to take this mirror to heaven to make trouble with the angels and God, but the mirror slipped and fell back down to earth. When it did it shattered into the tiniest of pieces, and the shards blew around like dust and were blown into the eyes and ears of some people. This froze their hearts and made their eyes see only the bad and the ugly.
Separate of all of this, there were two children, Kay and Gerda, who were good friends and lived next door. One day, pieces of the broken mirror got into Kay’s heart and eyes and he changed, no longer seeing the good in those around him or in the little garden that he and Gerda kept. The only thing that did not appear ugly to him were snowflakes. That winter Kay went out to play and was abducted by the Snow Queen, who kissed him once to numb the pain of the cold and a second time to make him forget those he was leaving behind. A third kiss from her would be fatal. With that, she takes him to her palace and those left behind assume that he fell into a nearby river and died.
Gerda goes out in search of her friend, learning that he has not died in the river from the river itself. Through the smaller stories, she is aided by people and nature alike on search and finally finds him. She is able to get past the snowflakes guarding the Snow Queen’s palace on account of her faith and innocence, and finds her friend trying to spell the word “eternity” with pieces of ice, a task set by the Snow Queen who will free him if he succeeds.
Upon seeing him, Gerda runs to him, kisses him, and cries, her tears melting his cold heart and burning away the shard of mirror in it. His own tears wash the remaining shard from his eyes and as they celebrate their reunion, the pieces of ice get caught up and eventually fall down, spelling “eternity,” which would obligate the Snow Queen to free him.
They return home, meeting many of the people Gerda previously encountered on the way. As they arrive home in their city, they realize that they are grown now, although children at heart. The story ends with a very happy and uplifted feeling.
That doesn’t sound very much like Frozen does it?
Disney had been trying to use the story as far back as the 1930s, but faced challenges translating a fairly dark story into a movie. Finally, after the success of Tangled, Disney tried one more time, and the resulting film was Frozen. In early drafts, the Snow Queen was still the villain as the story was coming along. The developers felt that one of the problems was that the characters simply weren’t going to resonate with the audience. That’s when they decided to rewrite Anna, who was based on Gerda, as Elsa’s younger sister. This created a sibling relationship, thus helping the audience connect with both characters.
It is interesting to note here that this kind of relationship between sisters is not a common plot element in American animated film. This change helped the developers create the final product that we know and love.
So how does Frozen tie in to the original story? Well, when it boils down to it, the heroine, Gerda/Anna saves the person they love, Kay/Elsa, with their own love. In Anna’s case, it is a bit more complicated, since she saves Elsa from herself. By sacrificing herself to protect her sister, she commits an act of true love, unfreezing her own heart and helping Elsa unlock the key to controlling her magic.Kay’s role in the store is split between Anna and Elsa. I know this seems strange, but bear with me. Remember that a shard of troll glass worked its way into Kay’s heart in the original story. Similarly, Elsa accidentally shoots magical ice into Anna’s heart. The victim of a freezing heart at the hand of the Snow Queen is Anna, but the hostage of the Snow Queen is Elsa, the queen herself. With her own inability to control her magic, she trapped herself.
In ABC’s Once Upon a Time, the third season begins with the Frozen plot in order to cash in on the millions of fans Disney recently acquired after the movie was released. For those familiar with the show, you’ll notice how they introduce The Snow Queen (separate from Elsa’s character) and draw on the original fairy tale’s use of the mirror shards in order to divide everyone in the town of Storybrooke.
Another similarity is the help that Anna’s childlike innocence inspires. In the original story, animals, humans, even a river, help Gerda find her sister. In Frozen, Anna still finds help in unlikely places. Kristoff represents the people who help her, Sven represents the animals, and Olaf represents nature. Sure, he’s enchanted, but he’s still made of snow!
When it comes down to it, it is still a tale of the love and childlike innocence winning out and thawing a frozen heart. While the plot is very different and most of the characters are as well, Disney kept the core value of the story in place.
Over to you Professor Hart!
For the (Thousandth) Time in Forever
Thank you, Professor Honeysett!
Some of you perhaps had the opportunity to watch Frozen on May 7, when we hosted a screening of it. In fact, over the last few years, Frozen has contributed greatly to our pop culture. It’s almost everywhere now, from children’s toys, to YouTube and television show parodies. While some may find this annoying, others can’t get enough of it.
Since the film’s release in November 2013, Frozen has earned more than $1.3 billion at the global box office (making it the highest grossing animated film of all time, and the second Disney film to reach $1 billion - the first being Disney's Toy Story 3). It has also sparked one of the largest merchandising campaigns since Disney launched its Princess line. As a testament to its popularity, Frozen was the first Disney film to win the Best Animated Feature Award and the first film to win Best Original Song since Disney's Tarzan.
As Disney's 53rd animated feature, it features the 12th and 13th members of the Disney Princesses (Anna and Elsa). It also the fifth film in, what is generally considered to be, the Disney Revival Era (which began with The Princess and the Frog in 2009 and still continues with films such as Disney's Big Hero 6 in 2014).
For those that saw Disney’s live-action Cinderella, you may have also had the opportunity to see “Frozen Fever”, the teaser animated “short”. Frozen fans will no doubt be excited to hear that, as of March 2015, Disney executives announced that there will be a Frozen sequel!
Although Disney seems to scour the internet for copyright infringement for many of its other products, they seem to be taking a “hands-off” approach when it comes to Frozen. With all the mash-ups of Frozen out there, you would think Disney might want to get a piece of the action. However, they seem to be taking their own mantra ("Let it Go!") to heart. If anything, all this Frozen frenzy just means more revenue for Disney studios.
Back to you Professor Honeysett!
And now you’re back to your favorite (or not) Magical Art professor!
I’m sure many of you are wondering how the “movie magic” was made? Well, it’s not magic as we study it, but it’s still very interesting! The creation of art, whether magical or otherwise, can be a complex thing, especially when you get into animated styles! To begin with, did you know that there were actually field trips to Norway for the animators to get the feel of moving, walking, falling, and so on in the snow? In order to animate a movie with so much detail, they did a lot of research! Many of the animators even filmed themselves acting out scenes to get a better idea of everything from movement to facial expressions!
Like in Tangled, animators considered costumes very carefully; however, they took it a few steps further. In your generic cartoons, the costume is just another part of the character and moves with them. In Frozen, the costumes move much more realistically, moving as a separate piece that is reacting to the character’s movement and the environment. It’s not enough that they gave the costumes independent movement. The costumers actually researched historical costumes from Norway, down to the materials. They then got samples of the materials to study how they moved so that they could better animate the clothing in the film. There is a very interesting display at Disney’s EPCOT in Florida about some of the research that Disney did for Frozen. Here are some pictures from the display in the Norway Pavilion that show how the culture and history of Norway contributed to the research and creation of the film.
So how did Disney take study and make it animation? Some new technology was created for this film:
- A snowflake generator designed to randomly create 2,000 unique snowflakes.
- Matterhorn: A snow simulator software application to address the fact that snow moves in its own, unique way.
- Flourish: Help allow extra movement of things like leaves and twigs to be directed by the art.
- Spaces: The technology that allowed Olaf to be constantly taken apart and put back together.
- Tonic: Helped artists with hair design. Fun fact: Elsa has over 4 times the number of strands of hair than the average person.
Over to our guests for today's lesson!
Do you want to be like Elsa?
Given the transformative and beautiful magic that Elsa performs, we thought it best to consult the Transfiguration and Charms experts who could help us better understand Elsa’s powers.
In Transfiguration Year 1, Professor Prince taught you the different states of matter (solids, liquids, and gasses). You also learned about the different transitions of matter, including the transition from liquid to solid, otherwise known as “Freezing”. As you learned in Professor Prince’s class, ice has many purposes, but generally it is used to “cool down” a system. Ice is made up of two elements: hydrogen and oxygen. Ice is only found in temperatures below freezing point (0C or 32F).
As you also learned in Transfiguration, “energy cannot be created from nothing or destroyed.” Therefore, “energy is raised or lowered through transferring it to another system.” While in nature we usually see this occurring as a product of the application of heat, in Disney’s Frozen, however, we see this as a product of the application of love. As the film tells us, “love can thaw a frozen heart.”
Although this is certainly more of a metaphor than a reality, Elsa’s ability to bring back the summer after Anna sacrifices herself is an excellent demonstration of transferring energy from one system to another.
Those of you interested in practicing Elsa’s kind of magic, including her frozen displays and her rather intimidating ice palace, should begin with practicing the Phase Transition Spell. While Elsa can do this without a wand or a spell, she was born with this special kind of magic. To transfer matter into another state, you will need to use the “Mutatio Impigritas” incantation. But remember: you must concentrate on “loaning” your magical energy to, for example, an ice cube should you wish to transfigure it into vapour.
Now to welcome Professor Levintree who is here today to talk to you about Charms (specifically material from Year 1!)
Double-Orphaned and Hidden Magic
Professor Hart here again! Just popping back in to close off the lesson and tie it back to what we discussed in our first lesson on the "Founding" Princess fairy tales.
As you may recall, Disney films tend to draw on the motif of the orphan and the theme of magic in order to pump up and advance their plots. Disney’s Frozen is an an excellent example of this. In fact, not only does Elsa lose both her parents, but she also possesses the magic that functions as both the "curse" and "saving grace" of the story. This certainly sets Elsa apart from her Disney Princess counterparts, as all others who came before her had magic done onto them or for them, rather than possessing magic themselves.
For veteran Disney fans, seeing the sinking of the royal ship, while not a surprise, was certainly quite devastating, especially Anna’s heartbroken, half-hearted attempt at asking Elsa, for what feels like the very last time, “Do you want to build a snowman?”
Of course, while the death of their parents certainly drove the already very large wedge even further between Anna and Elsa, the two were initially barred from one another upon Elsa's accidental freezing of Anna's mind when they were young.
In order to save Anna's mind, the leader of the trolls removes Anna's memories of Elsa's magic, which is why Anna and Elsa can no longer play together. The secret of Elsa's magic is the only real "barrier" between them.
Upon her coronation, Elsa officially becomes Anna’s guardian. However, on account of her hidden magic, it is incredibly difficult for Elsa to step up as a parental figure, since she must keep her sister (especially after the incident in their youth) at arm’s length.
It is when Anna announces her engagement to Hans that triggers Elsa’s reaction and ultimately results in “revealing her hand”, both literally and figuratively. While other Disney films that you have studied this week depict how magic can be used for both good and bad, Frozen is the only one that appears to walk that fine line.
The Grand Pabbie informs Elsa that her “power will grow". Her powers, while beautiful, are also dangerous.
He issues her a warning: “Fear will be your enemy.”
Yet, the images that accompany his words give rise to potential misunderstanding. While the image of other people attacking her on account of her powers (which does happen with the Duke of Westleton) would immediately lead one to think that she must hide from others, it is ultimately Elsa’s fear of herself, and the loss of control, that result in the series of unfortunate events after the loss of the King and Queen.Elsa’s mantra “Conceal, don’t feel” forces her to suppress who she really is and subsequently shut down all possibility of human interaction, particularly with her sister. Yet it is Elsa’s fixation with control that is the very thing that undoes her control, since there is no one else she can confide in now that her parents are gone.
In “letting go” and embracing her true powers, Elsa experiences liberation for the first time in her life. She chooses to remain apart from the kingdom, thinking it is the safest option. Since the "cold never bothered her anyway" (and that she was kept isolated all her life), Elsa has no issue being by herself in the mountains.
However, the damage has already been done. Anna, with the help of Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, journey up the mountain in order to convince Elsa to return - and end the "winter" that she brought down upon the Kingdom of Arendelle.
Did you know?
"Arendelle" is actually based on the Norwegian town of Arendal, located in the country of Aust-Agder. However, the kingdom's scenery is based on Nærøyfjord in western Norway, as well as various buildings in Oslo, Bergen, and other Norwegian cities.
In Norwegian, 'Aren' is possibly derived from 'ørn', which
means "eagle", and 'delle' is derived from 'dal', which means "valley".The crocus is a symbol of rebirth and spring. In cold regions, the flower blooms while snow is still on the ground.
Elsa's "eternal winter" potentially represents how, in the northern reaches of Norway, winter will last from 8-10 months.
Walt Disney's great-grandfather was named Arundel Disney.
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Arendelle
But it is love, the same powerful emotion that Dumbledore put his faith in above all else, that thaws Anna’s frozen heart. By sacrificing her life to save Elsa, Anna saved herself. Not a prince’s, or anyone else’s sacrifice, but her own. In this regard, Anna has more in common with Mulan than most of her Disney Princess counterparts, as she possesses a great deal more agency. Although she is, at first, sidetracked emotionally by Hans, she ultimately realizes (despite her newfound love for Kristoff) that her heart lies with her sister, and always shall. While Elsa, at first, seems controlled by her own magic, it is with Anna’s help (and her love) that she masters her powers. For "the first time in forever", a Disney Princess movie ends not with a marriage between the central heroine and a man, but two sisters re-uniting after a lifelong estrangement. Moreover, Elsa, one of the oldest Disney princesses, assumes the throne--her own, and not a Prince's in another land.
Although “true love’s kiss” has, up until recently, been championed as the ultimate “magic” in Disney’s world, Frozen celebrates the power of familial love--the very same kind of love that saved Harry Potter from death as a baby. Disney, of course, tried to "trick" us by setting up Hans as Anna's potential love interest. While love certainly is an "open door", it is a door that Elsa and Anna must walk through together.
Hans' deceit might have sent many recent Disney fans for a loop, but for many veterans, his two-faced actions didn't come as quite a shock. With Kristoff and Elsa reminding Anna that she can't "marry a stranger", Frozen self-consciously acknowledges its "founding" fairy tale stories as setting up somewhat unrealistic romantic attachments. Hans turns out to be driven by greed and ambition (allowing Anna to 'die', with the intention of murdering Elsa), suggesting that we all should really take the time to get to know our partners before jumping headlong into matrimony.
While Disney's characters, for the most part, are depicted as either good or bad (with a few exceptions, of course, including the Beast and even Iago, in Return of Jafar), Frozen sets up the potential for exploring a "whole new world" of characterizations: the good are not all good (as we all have the potential for darkness), and the bad (despite making some seriously misguided decisions) are not "pure" evil.
In the season finale of ABC's Once Upon a Time, an important question is asked: "What happens when villains win the day?"While the bulk of Disney films always depict good triumphing over evil, it is important to remember that, in our world, good people don't always win and that people are not solely good or bad. As Sirius Black tells Harry Potter, we are all made up of light and dark. And in the words of Albus Dumbledore, it is our choices that truly define us.
In Once Upon a Time, the fairy tales are "re-written" and the villains, and not the heroes, have "happy endings". Henry is also the only person to remain behind in Storybrooke, having been born outside the town. In many ways, Henry represents all of us: the person who wishes to be part of the narrative with the desperate desire to see things put to rights.
As the Apprentice (from Fantasia) informs Henry at the end of the episode, these fairy tales are more than stories; they are (or more accurately, represent) the truth.
To the audiences of the 1920s, Disney was "entertainment". To the audiences of the 1960s, Disney was an "icon". To the audiences of the 1990s, Disney is "myth" (Hearne 148). As of 2015, Disney is many things to us, perhaps even a legend. While Disney was not the first person to take old fairy tales and adapt them for new audiences (Perrault, in fact, refined the tales that his children's nanny told). Even the Brothers Grimm took stories that they collected from families they encountered and published them for the masses. While Disney studios may receive a lot of heat for altering these stories, his films continue to inspire millions of young children around the world. With "Disney Studies" on the rise in the academic world, it is no surprise that "classic" fairy tales are now being refashioned according to "Disneylore". After all, even Perrault's and Grimm's versions were considered "vulgar" by the masses of their respective time periods.
Can we "blame" Disney for his success when his films merely "shadow" twenty-first century society? It was Snow White that first demonstrated Disney's ability to adapt a folktale to contemporary society and the studio never looked back. In almost every film we have studied, what replaces the "slower" parts of the stories are the epic chase scenes that echo the adventure thriller of non-animated films. In fact, Disney's films are no longer judged based on their adaptation of the original fairy tale, but how well they fit into the "self-referential world established by the Disney canon" (Hearne 154).
Of course, Disney isn't the only one to take up the fairy tale narrative and give them a new "spin". In fact, revamping the fairy tale has become a cultural trend: Shrek, Wicked, Enchanted, Fractured Fairy Tales, The Princess Bride, Ever After--"parodied, ironized, meta fictionalized, politically adjusted and pop culture saturated" (Poniewozik 156). However, there is something all of these adaptations have in common: despite their parodic, ironic, and self-referential tone, they all end the same way: with a happy ending.
Returning to ABC's Once Upon a Time, yet another "adaptation" of these famous fairy tales, young Henry, who possesses the heart of the "truest" believer, inherits the "author's" pen and he must make an important decision. Does he alter the stories to suit his own end, or does he reject the temptation of the pen's potentially destructive power?
Like Harry Potter who snaps the Elder Wand in two, Henry chooses to break the pen in half.
But what remains to be true about these fairy tales--"after all this time"--is the power that these stories have over all of us. As we continue to re-tell and re-adapt these fairy tales, they ultimately become a part of our very existence. Moreover, they help us better understand the world we live in, and give us the strength to better that world.
Emma Hart
Works Cited
Hallett, Martin and Barbara Karasek. Folk and Fairy Tales. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2011.
Thank you so much for your participation in Week 1 of Disney Lit Weeks! We look forward to having you all in Week 2. The syllabus will be announced on May 16, so be sure to enroll and experience even more fun and magic! If you enjoyed this Week, I highly suggest taking Magical Literature Year 4, as we'll be approaching the texts in similar ways we approached the films this week!
Something else to keep in mind for Disney Lit Week 2: while we focused primarily on Disney Princesses and feminism this week, next week will explore male protagonists and constructions of masculinity. For those of you who were hesitant to contribute to some of the lessons this week, please remember that all your opinions matter and that this site is a safe space! The world of Disney champions fairness and justice, which is why many of the lessons discussed real world issues, such as patriarchy, gender oppression, and feminism, in relation to the films. Next week, we'll explore a great deal more real world issues, so please don't be shy!
Discussion for this lesson can be had here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NV-8_ET67Mbdh_eKqXs10SScOhHivRp88Uk0Z6rsIcs/edit?usp=sharing
Enroll in DLit Week 2 here: http://www.hogwartsishere.com/courses/DLIT-2/
EH