Editor’s Note: In honor of last month’s release of Frozen 2, we’re doing something a little different today: a longform research paper by Arron Bowman, on who he believes are the true villains of the original Frozen movie. That’s right: the rock trolls!
Frozen’s Secret Villain
In the 2014 Disney film, Frozen, the rock trolls are the true villains, not Prince Hans. The opening scene sets up the motivations and powers of the trolls, Hans’ plans make no sense, the way the songs are written reveal the true intentions of these characters, and unlike Hans’ flimsy motivation to rule Arendelle, the trolls have a strong motivation.
To start off, in a scene near the beginning of the film, Anna was struck by an ice blast from Elsa while playing. Panicked, the king and queen go immediately to the trolls to fix the problem. Anna loses her memories of her sister’s powers and her sister is taught to fear her powers, thus locking herself in her room for a decade.
This scene is important to discovering the troll’s true intentions, however, let’s start with the biggest piece of information: the troll’s power. The movie establishes that they can manipulate minds by erasing and replacing memories. They also don’t feel any guilt or hesitation in messing with people’s heads. Also, Anna is unconscious during this entire scene, so she does not know the trolls exist, but the trolls know about her.
Another notable thing is that the king and queen immediately go to the trolls instead of a doctor. Considering that the movie takes place around 1840, medicine might not be at its height, but doctors did exist. Since the king and queen immediately turn to the trolls for help, this also indicates that the trolls had close ties with the royal family for a while. Also, the trolls are trusted by the royal family.
Finally, the trolls and the parents make Elsa afraid of her powers. The trolls tell Elsa that “fear will be your enemy” (Lee, 8), but they then show a scary image of Elsa’s demise. Then, her parents strongly encourage her to hide away her abilities. Elsa had no problems with her abilities until that night. This scene establishes the relation of these characters to each other as well as what power they possess.
There is a elephant in the room named Prince Hans. He was revealed to be a secret villain at the end of the film. His plan was to marry Anna, kill both sisters, and gain power to the throne due to being thirteenth in line in his family not being able to gain the throne in his own kingdom.
There is a glaring problem with his plan. His plan involves gaining power to the throne by marrying and murdering the rightful heir. However, monarchies determine who rule based on blood relatives. On the Norwegian royal court website family tree, the only people eligible for the crown were direct descendants. If both sisters die, then the heir to the throne is most likely a distant cousin way before Prince Hans could claim the throne. Unless Disney wants to deal with the implication of incest, Prince Hans has no right to rule Arendelle.
The only way this plan could possibly work is if he merged the two kingdoms together. If we look at the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand, the merging of kingdoms can lend itself to a massive amount of power and rule. However, he can’t because he is thirteenth in line for the throne. So even if that happened, the land would belong to the eldest brother, not Hans.
The puzzling part is that Prince Hans should know this information. Since he is royalty, he would have been educated on the customs and rules of a monarchy. Hans would have known that this plan could not work in any way shape or form. However, the trolls would not necessarily know these rules. Sure, they have close relations to the crown, but that doesn’t mean that they have any knowledge of the rules or customs of royalty. Even if they did, all Hans needed was a threatening enough motivation so Anna would break up with him and Kristoff could potentially save the day, so his plan would not necessarily need to make sense.
Secondly, Prince Hans does not act evil or give any hints until after Anna and Kristoff meet the trolls. If we take the movie at face value, Hans’ actions and character do not line up for the majority of the movie versus the end. In the article 8 Foreshadowing Laws: How to Foreshadow Right, the author states, “Make sure the pay-off in your plot fits the tone and mood of your foreshadowing.” (Bridget, para 10) There are several short moments that could have easily been cut out of the film or changed to drop hints to support the ending, but they were left in unaltered.
The first moment is Anna and Hans’ first encounter. At the end of the scene, he tips over his own boat, lifts the boat, and as Anna is walking away, he gives a lovestruck smile to himself. Anna was out of the scene by then and only other witness was Hans’ horse. Also, the moment maybe lasts a second at most, so it is odd to leave in this detail, knowing what happens later in the film.
The second scene is after Anna left; Hans has been put in charge taking care of the kingdom and he genuinely helps people and respects the wishes of Anna. He is handing out blankets, food, and sanctuary in the castle for nothing in return. He just wants to provide aid to the citizens of Arendelle.
The Duke of Weselton speaks out against the royal family, and he defends the sisters. Sure, this scene could be written off as Hans keeping up appearances, however, this would be the moment of the movie to reveal that something is off with this guy or that he doesn’t rule the right way, but the scene again comes off as genuine and caring.
The third scene is the most telling to this character. Prince Hans and some of his men go to Elsa’s ice castle to convince her to stop winter and come home. The other men get scared and try to shoot at her, leading her to try to kill them. Prince Hans not only moves the crossbow of one of his soldiers to prevent him from shooting Elsa, but he also talks her down. This clashes with a later scene where he tries to kill Elsa while she is on the ground crying.
If Hans really wanted to keep up appearances, he had every right to kill Elsa in the previous scene where she was trying to murder his men. At the very least, not go for the crossbow with the intention of making it miss Elsa. All he had to do was happen to not reach the crossbow in time and his reputation would stay in tact. Anna would never know what really happened at the ice castle. Hans could have gotten away with the death of Elsa in that scene and even would have been labeled a hero, since he led the mission. If anything, his decision to kill Elsa later unprovoked and mourning makes him look way worse. Sure, he didn’t think there were any witnesses, but it still seems odd to go through all the trouble of taking Elsa back alive only to kill her.
My final piece of evidence is that the timeline adds up for the trolls to brainwash Hans. Anna and Kristoff go to the troll’s lair to heal, the trolls discover that Anna is engaged, and only after that Prince Hans’ character changes. Both Hans and Anna went from Arendelle to Elsa’s castle and back. The troll domain was along the way since Kristoff and Anna walked there without too much of a detour. And Hans would be right behind them, since he left after her. So, the trolls could have spotted him, brainwashed him, and sent him on his way.
Well, if Hans went to the ice castle after Anna, then how did he get back before Anna? The solution is simple. Hans traveled on horse and Anna traveled on foot. According to horsejournals.com, Hans is riding a Fjord horse. These horses are very athletic and versatile, so while they may not be the fastest breed ever, they certainly are not slow. So, there is time in the movie where the trolls can brainwash him that makes sense in the timeline.
I also want to bring up the power of the music in relation to storytelling in this film as well as all Disney and Pixar musicals. The thing is, a Disney song never lies to the audience. Disney and Pixar music reveals the soul and intentions of the the character or characters who sing it. According to Russia Robinson, “An important function of song in musicals is the character song. The character song is a song that defines the character. It “gives the audience a clear understanding of what the character is feeling… [or] the history of that person””
The closest songs that can blur the lines would be “Mother Knows Best” from Tangled, and “Remember Me” from Coco. Even then, these songs define the character to the audience. “Mother Knows Best” is clearly a manipulative villainous song intended to scare Rapunzel into staying in the tower. The song fools her, but the song does not fool the audience. The viewers clearly understand that the character is manipulative and untrustworthy.
“Remember Me” sung by Ernesto De La Cruz is a bit trickier. This song fools the audience during the first watch, however Hector later re-contextualizes the song in a lullaby. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Roberts states that “The first time you hear it, it is a very flashy song, and the second time you hear it, it is the way it was meant to be played, and you realize it means something else, and it is a plot revelation.” (Roberts, para 8)
The original intention was to have Hector’s daughter sing a lullaby to cope with the fact that her father was on the road so often. He loved her and wanted her to keep a part of him with her even if they were far away. What was started as a sweet lullaby to Hector’s daughter was turned into an egotistical plea from a morally bankrupt man. When sung by Ernesto, he is telling his audience to remember him and how great he is. He wants fame and immortality in the eyes of his fans, and that greed is what makes him choose the horrible actions he commits.
This is the same song, yet it reflects the soul and intentions of these two characters, thus changing the meaning entirely. With this in mind, let’s look at two of Frozen’s songs, “Fixer Upper,” and “Love is an Open Door.”
“Love is an Open Door” is a love ballad between Anna and Hans where they reveal their love and romantic chemistry for one another. This musical number exists as a genuine love song that is never re-contextualized later to fit an alternate meaning. Hans reveals that he wants to fit in and find his place, and that Anna is what gives him purpose. There are no hints or double meanings to grab onto in the lyrics. If these songs reveal the true intentions of these characters, all of Hans’ feelings are genuine.
Let’s compare that song with “Fixer Upper.” This song is sung by the trolls in the attempts to get Anna to fall in love with Kristoff and marry him. First off, neither Kristoff nor Anna share romantic feelings for each other before this scene. So, this isn’t the trolls trying to help Kristoff express his feelings to her. The trolls want them together for their own selfish reasons, without the consent of either party and the outright rejection of both parties. Both Anna and Kristoff express clearly that they are not interested in being romantically involved together.
Secondly, most of the song including the title is about how Kristoff really doesn’t deserve her, but they should still be together because the trolls want them to be together. Kristoff is not a good match for her and the trolls know it, but they still are pressuring her to settle for him.
Third, upon hearing that Anna is engaged to another man, rather than backing down and admitting defeat, they scheme out of earshot that they are going to get the fiancé out of the way. The song ends with Anna and Kristoff nearly being tricked into marriage. Disney songs don’t lie, and this song is saying that these trolls are selfish, manipulative, and are very focused on hooking up Kristoff with Anna.
Finally, why do the trolls want to hook up Kristoff and Anna, brainwash Hans, and make Elsa afraid of her powers? The trolls want power and control. According to lifeinnorway.net, trolls are not friendly to humans and “use their connections with nature to baffle and deceive humans.”
Let’s start with Elsa. The trolls were most likely the only magic users that the royal family knew about, other than Elsa. To the trolls, Elsa is a threat to them. If she ended up becoming a villain, like in some of the first drafts of this movie, she could use her powers to destroy the trolls. So, in order for her not to be their downfall, they scare her and manipulate her to discourage the use of her powers.
The trolls take Anna’s memories away, so the implication is that Elsa is not allowed to use her powers around her sister anymore, and the king and queen were already wary of Elsa, since she was sneaking around in the middle of the night to test her abilities.
The trolls only needed to provide a little push and Elsa would be forbidden to experiment and grow her skills and power and the trolls would be safe from her potential wrath. Even with no practice whatsoever, Elsa managed to cause a snowstorm in the middle of summer, build a massive ice castle, and create life. Imagine if she spent her youth actually practicing her abilities. There would be no limitations on what she could do.
Next, we have the troll’s plans to marry off Kristoff to Anna and make Hans evil. The trolls were very close with the royal family for years. They were trusted and most likely had influence over the king and queen, whether that is from their brainwashing of them or just performing favors.
However, the king and queen die in the movie and Elsa stays in her room for about a decade. The castle gates are closed and no one is allowed in or out except for a select few. This means that the trolls also fell out of power. Anna has no idea that the trolls exist and Elsa never leaves.
This is why the trolls are so insistent on Anna and Kristoff hooking up and marrying right away. They want to be trusted by the royal family again. They want to have power over the kingdom of Arendelle. And, if Kristoff married royalty, the trolls would achieve more power and control than with the previous king and queen. There would be nothing to stop their influence, manipulation and will over Arendelle.
The trolls in Frozen are the true villains who use manipulation and magic in order to further their own selfish goals. Their motivation is established in the film, there is no way Hans could have been the villain throughout the film, and the music in Disney reveals the true intentions of the characters.
Arron Bowman
David Judd
RWS 305
11, December 2018
Sources
Azcona, Tarsico. “Ferdidnand II”, britannica, 20, July 1998, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-II-king-of-Spain
Bridget. “8 foreshadowing laws: How to foreshadow right”, nownovel, 2015,
https://www.nownovel.com/blog/8-laws-foreshadowing/
Huggett, Melanie.”The Norwegian Fjord: A Horse for All Ages”, horsejournals, July/Aug 2009,
https://www.horsejournals.com/norwegian-fjord-horse-all-ages
Lee, Jenifer. “Frozen”, imsdb, 23, Sept. 2013
https://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Frozen-(Disney).html
Miller, Julie. “For Coco Songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Oscar Season Is a Family Affair”, vanityfair, 16 Feb 2018,
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/coco-songwriters-robert-lopez-and-kristen-anderson-lopez-on-remember-me
Robinson, Russia. “Music in Musicals: The Relationship between Song Functions and Hit Songs”, russiarobinson, 3 April 2017
https://russiarobinson.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/music-in-musicals-the-relationship-between-song-functions-and-hit-songs/
“The Family Tree” royalcourt, 3 Dec. 2012.
https://www.royalcourt.no/seksjon.html?tid=27679&sek=27258
“The Mythology of Norwegian Trolls”, lifeinnorway, Aug. 2018
https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norwegian-trolls/
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