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Why Elsa doesn’t have a love story, gay or otherwise, in ‘Frozen 2’
Kim Renfro
September 30, 2019
Elsa is voiced by Idina Menzel in both “Frozen” films. Disney
But Elsa won’t have any type of romantic partner in the upcoming movie, despite the popular fan theories about her sexuality.
“When we agreed to do the sequel, we agreed we were going to not build it [from] the outside in,” codirector Jennifer Lee said in an interview with Insider at the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California earlier this month. “We just couldn’t do it.”
Elsa’s powers will be tested in the new adventure facing her in “Frozen 2.” Disney
“What we did was spend a lot of time with each of the characters,” Lee said. “I journaled as the characters, we did personality tests, just a lot of in-depth work and looking at where they are in their lives. For us, really looking at what Elsa’s journey is, it was her need to understand her powers.”
Lee and Buck have said that two of the driving questions for “Frozen 2” were where did Elsa’s powers come from, and why doesn’t Anna have any?
Read more: 3 unanswered questions from the first ‘Frozen’ movie the new sequel will address
“We got a lot of feedback from each other while talking about [the story] and the pressure Elsa feels [as] a mythic character,” Lee said. “She carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and that struggle of being pushed to her limit.”
Elsa’s bond with her sister Anna takes precedent over romance, and Lee says the queen isn’t ‘ready for relationships’
Anna and Elsa’s sisterhood was the love story of “Frozen” — not their romantic lives. Walt Disney Animation Studios/YouTube
The first “Frozen” film was a subversion of Disney’s previously typical “girl falls in love with prince and gets married and lives happily ever after” trope. Anna’s prince charming wound up being the villain, and the “act of true love” that saved Anna’s life was saving her sister, Elsa.
Anna did wind up falling in love with Kristoff in the B-plot of the movie, and the sequel will deal with their relationship as Kristoff tries (and fails) to propose to Anna early in the movie.
Lee says the core of the story was always about two sisters, and romance just wasn’t where they were with Elsa as they wrote the sequel.
“We couldn’t change that from the outside because it wouldn’t be authentic,” Lee said. “So we didn’t build Elsa a romantic story line. We weren’t making a statement about it, we were just building from where she is now and felt like we needed to stay true.”
“Frozen 2” takes place three years after the first movie, and Elsa is having a tough time. Walt Disney Animation
In a scene screened for press at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Elsa participates in family game night with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven. But when it comes time for her to act out prompts in charades, Elsa balks.
“She’s very shy,” Lee said of Elsa. “Right now she’s not ready for relationships. We knew she’s still struggling. It’s enough that her sister is getting her out of her shell, right? You saw how charades took a lot for her. But she has this incredible power inside her and she’s wrestling with that. I’m excited about where she gets to at the end.”
“Frozen 2” arrives in theaters on November 22.
Kim Renfro
September 30, 2019
- Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for “Frozen 2.”
- Despite many popular theories that Queen Elsa in “Frozen” is gay, she won’t have any love interest in “Frozen 2.”
- The movie’s codirector Jennifer Lee says the creative team agreed they were not going to build the story from the outside in.
- As they wrote Elsa’s story for “Frozen 2,” her focus was on learning more about her powers.
- “We weren’t making a statement about it,” Lee said of the fan theories. “We were just building from where she is now and felt like we needed to stay true.”
- “She’s very shy,” Lee said. “Right now she’s not ready for relationships.”
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
But Elsa won’t have any type of romantic partner in the upcoming movie, despite the popular fan theories about her sexuality.
“When we agreed to do the sequel, we agreed we were going to not build it [from] the outside in,” codirector Jennifer Lee said in an interview with Insider at the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California earlier this month. “We just couldn’t do it.”
Elsa’s powers will be tested in the new adventure facing her in “Frozen 2.” Disney
Lee and her codirector Chris Buck, along with producer Peter Del Vecho, first started thinking about the story for “Frozen 2” about three years ago.“What we did was spend a lot of time with each of the characters,” Lee said. “I journaled as the characters, we did personality tests, just a lot of in-depth work and looking at where they are in their lives. For us, really looking at what Elsa’s journey is, it was her need to understand her powers.”
Lee and Buck have said that two of the driving questions for “Frozen 2” were where did Elsa’s powers come from, and why doesn’t Anna have any?
Read more: 3 unanswered questions from the first ‘Frozen’ movie the new sequel will address
“We got a lot of feedback from each other while talking about [the story] and the pressure Elsa feels [as] a mythic character,” Lee said. “She carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and that struggle of being pushed to her limit.”
Elsa’s bond with her sister Anna takes precedent over romance, and Lee says the queen isn’t ‘ready for relationships’
Anna and Elsa’s sisterhood was the love story of “Frozen” — not their romantic lives. Walt Disney Animation Studios/YouTube
The first “Frozen” film was a subversion of Disney’s previously typical “girl falls in love with prince and gets married and lives happily ever after” trope. Anna’s prince charming wound up being the villain, and the “act of true love” that saved Anna’s life was saving her sister, Elsa.
Anna did wind up falling in love with Kristoff in the B-plot of the movie, and the sequel will deal with their relationship as Kristoff tries (and fails) to propose to Anna early in the movie.
Lee says the core of the story was always about two sisters, and romance just wasn’t where they were with Elsa as they wrote the sequel.
“We couldn’t change that from the outside because it wouldn’t be authentic,” Lee said. “So we didn’t build Elsa a romantic story line. We weren’t making a statement about it, we were just building from where she is now and felt like we needed to stay true.”
“Frozen 2” takes place three years after the first movie, and Elsa is having a tough time. Walt Disney Animation
In a scene screened for press at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Elsa participates in family game night with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven. But when it comes time for her to act out prompts in charades, Elsa balks.
“She’s very shy,” Lee said of Elsa. “Right now she’s not ready for relationships. We knew she’s still struggling. It’s enough that her sister is getting her out of her shell, right? You saw how charades took a lot for her. But she has this incredible power inside her and she’s wrestling with that. I’m excited about where she gets to at the end.”
“Frozen 2” arrives in theaters on November 22.
