When it was released in 2013, Frozen became an instant Disney classic. Fans of all ages fell in love with the strong characters, gorgeous animation, and memorable songs, but there was plenty that younger fans probably missed. Adults enjoyed that the film empowered its female characters and subverted their expectations about standard fairy tale tropes. In addition, there are plenty of little details that older viewers have pointed out in Frozen, from the characterization of the trolls to the irresponsible parenting of the king and queen. Let's take a look at some things that only adults notice in Frozen.
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00:00After about the fourth or fifth time moms and dads are made to sit and watch Frozen
00:05with their little ones, certain aspects of the movie start to ring as a bit strange.
00:09And we're not just talking about the inexplicably addictive nature of the soundtrack, either.
00:14I said enough!"
00:16Frozen is a story about two sisters finding out what true love really means,
00:20and how to overcome the divisions that exist between people at heart.
00:24But while kids might've focused on things like the zany-talking snowman Olaf,
00:28and all the eye-catching ice sculptures,
00:30adults everywhere had a hard time letting some of these odd plot details go.
00:36Poor parenting
00:38Disney movies commonly kill off their parents, and even those rare movies where both mother
00:43and father are left alive, there's almost always some kind of drama associated with them.
00:48And while there's usually a common thread of parents being out of touch with their kids'
00:52needs, Frozen takes it a step further and paints its princesses' parents as downright abusive.
00:58After all, the king and queen of Arendelle choose to lock their daughter away like a
01:02diseased beast, rather than trying to actually deal with her power struggle,
01:06even after they're told that fear will make Elsa's powers more dangerous.
01:10Okay, okay, so she did accidentally maim Anna with her chilly gifts, but it's kind of part
01:15of the parenting package to help your kids grow up to be good people after they make mistakes.
01:20If the Little Mermaid's sunken ship really was the vessel that sank the royal parents,
01:25maybe karma came back to bite them in the bow after that terrible parenting decision
01:29to encourage her isolation sunk this child's chance at happiness so early on in life.
01:35Who is in charge here?
01:37Another question that adults might often have after screening Frozen for the umpteenth time is,
01:42who exactly is running things in Arendelle?
01:44We see that they reduce the castle staff after Elsa gets put on house arrest,
01:49but if the kids are holed up for three years after their parents' death,
01:52who's left running the show in their absence, and how does it maintain itself for three years
01:56without a monarch making the tough calls? We see the Duke of Weselton roll up, looking very excited
02:02to learn more about his biggest trade partner, but what are they trading, and who is overseeing
02:07that production? Maybe Rapunzel's parents helped maintain things, since her appearance with Flynn
02:12Rider at Queen Elsa's coronation indicates there's some connection there.
02:17What's with the trolls?
02:19Anna and Elsa's dad, the King, had a map to the trolls and seemed to have a friendly
02:23enough relationship with the head troll to indicate they'd had some magical dealings in the past.
02:29Shush. I'm trying to listen.
02:31That would certainly explain why troll patriarch Pobby was willing to save Anna from being frozen
02:36by warping all her memories, and why her parents would submit her to such treatment in the first
02:41place.
02:42You were lucky it wasn't her heart. The heart is not so easily changed. But the head can be
02:49persuaded.
02:50But that's not what's so weird about these little creatures. They seem so set on hooking Anna up
02:56with their adopted boy Kristoff that they may have played a part in Prince Hans' eventual deceit.
03:01He's brought a girl!
03:05Consider their response to learning of Anna's engagement to Hans, as they huddled and said,
03:10Her, quote, engagement is a flex arrangement.
03:12And by the way, I don't see no ring.
03:14Get the fiancé out of the way, and the whole thing will be fixed!
03:19The trolls might be painted as cute and all, but they've clearly got some darkness lurking
03:23beneath those grass gowns. And what do you know, Hans' personality does an about-face shortly
03:29thereafter. One minute, he's shown handing out blankets to the people of Arendelle and
03:33saving Elsa from the Weselton henchmen. Then the next, he leaves his beloved to die a cold,
03:38lonely death. It's almost like that major personality shift was inspired by some kind of
03:43curse.
03:45The LGBT subtleties
03:47Another fan theory that adults might catch onto is the idea that the burly but cheerful
03:52owner of Wandering Oaken's trading post is raising a lovely family with his husband.
03:57While nothing is confirmed, there are other LGBTQ undertones that can be detected.
04:05Big summer blowout?
04:07Eventually, we realize Elsa's powers are nothing she needs to be ashamed of.
04:11But because they are something her parents don't understand, they tell her,
04:15"...conceal it."
04:16"...don't feel it."
04:18"...don't let it show."
04:19Those words might sound a little familiar to a gay teen who wants to come out to parents
04:24who might not understand.
04:26The jolly snowman
04:28When we first meet Olaf, he's a cheery little chatterbox who talks about the beautiful colors
04:33of snow he wants to see.
04:34"...how about yellow? No, not yellow. Yellow and snow? No go."
04:40And while his obsession with all things warm, hot, and summery is a little disturbing,
04:45the other thing that doesn't fit is how he even exists. Elsa created the wintry
04:50wonderland when she was furiously tearing through the forest to get away from her sister.
04:54How did she end up creating such a happy snowman creature in the midst of her malaise?
04:59It doesn't make much sense, especially considering some of the other snow beasts
05:03that were born of her wintry demeanor. Whether or not the film always makes sense or sneaks
05:08a few darker details past its youthful audiences, it's still a kid favorite,
05:12so parents will just have to enjoy the movie anyway, and of course.
05:16"...let it go, let it go."