The original opening of Frozen would have resulted in a very different life for Elsa. The 2013 animated Disney movie was originally inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen and proved to be an Academy Award-winning production. With a budget of approximately $150 million, Frozen brought in over $1.3 billion at the box office. It was so successful that it spawned a sequel, multiple short films, two musicals, and a play.
While Frozen is today known for being a touching story about two young sisters showcasing their love for one another, Anna and Elsa originally weren’t even related. Ahead of the release of Frozen 3, codirector and cowriter Chris Buck, Santino Fontana (Hans), and Josh Gad (Olaf) sat down with Vanity Fair to explain the history of the franchise. Originally, Elsa would have been left at the altar, and she would have gained her powers in a bid to never feel love again. Check out their quotes below:
Buck: It opened with Elsa’s wedding, and she was jilted at the altar. She ran out of the church, ran up to the mountains, and made a wish on a star so that she would never feel this pain again. The wish froze her heart, so she would never feel pain—but she also couldn’t feel love again. She couldn’t feel anything. She was basically a villain. Anna and Elsa, they knew each other. They lived in the same village. Believing that Elsa was not a bad person, and was not evil, Anna was the one that was going to save Elsa.
Gad: At that time, the story was vastly different. It was a story about an evil queen named Elsa and a young heroine named Anna. It was much more, I would say, like previous Disney films—just more traditional storytelling. [Olaf] was like a Iago [from Aladdin].
Fontana: Jamie Roberts was casting Tangled, and she came and saw me in Billy Elliot, and I met with her, and then I didn’t end up getting that job, of course. And then she called me back for this movie. I can’t remember the character’s name, but it was a completely different setup—I was a tour guide in a magical snow land or something.
How Elsa Changed During Frozen’s Development
The original concept for Elsa was extremely different from the one that Disney would eventually settle on. In the current canon, Elsa is a loving sister who felt rejected by her people and eventually came to run from them all to use her powers freely in an icy palace. The official Frozen opening revealed that she had a tragic childhood that influenced her every decision. While she adores her, Elsa’s connection with Anna is the reason for all of her problems and pain.
In the original, however, Elsa would not even have known Anna. Instead of being her sister, Anna would have simply been a villager who saw kindness in the heart of her bitter and cruel queen. The themes would still have been the same, as Anna would have been trying to prove the benefit of platonic love, but the familial love element would not have existed at all. It was a major change to make for the franchise, and it also influenced Hans’ role in the story.
Frozen 3 Should Pay Off A 4-Year-Old Franchise Joke (& There’s 1 Obvious Way To Do It)
Frozen had many funny jokes throughout its first two films, but a joke from the second one could be a part of Frozen 3, and there’s a way to do it.
The sisterly relationship is at the heart of the movie. Without it, there would have been a much darker tone, and the themes would not have been quite as sharp. The bond between Elsa and Anna helped to create a massive hit for Disney. If the cast and crew of Frozen had gone with the original plans, it might not have spawned the iconic franchise that has taken the world by storm.
