Frozen
Frozen was released to theaters on November 27th, 2013. Directed and written by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, the story follows Elsa, whose magical ice powers being revealed causes her to run away, and her sister Anna, who is determined to bring her back home. The film features music written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and a score by Christophe Beck. It won two Oscars for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song (Let It Go). It made $1.285 billion at the box office against a $150 million budget.
Synopsis
Our tale begins in the mountains around Arendelle. The ice harvesters sing "Frozen Heart," foreshadowing some major story beats.
We then cut to the castle in Arendelle, where a young Anna convinces a young Elsa to play with her. The two run down to the great hall where Elsa creates a winter wonderland with her powers.
But disaster strikes when Anna is hit in the head by Elsa's magic! Elsa calls for their parents to help.
The king and queen take the girls to the Valley of the Living Rock where a wise old troll named Grand Pabbie is able to remove the magic from Anna's head, but he also removes all her memories of Elsa's powers.
Their parents decide that Elsa should be kept away from everyone, including Anna, in order to keep her magic a secret. We jump forward through time over the course of the next number, "Do You Want To Build a Snowman?" in which Anna wishes her sister would just spend time with her again.
When Anna is 15 and Elsa is 18, the king and queen are killed in a shipwreck, leaving the two of them more alone than ever.
Three years later, all of Arendelle is preparing for Elsa's coronation! Dignitaries arrive from neighboring countries and the people celebrate around the kingdom.
During "For the First Time in Forever," Anna expresses her excitement for the day, while Elsa tries to put her nerves to rest.
Enter Hans, a prince of the Southern Isles. He runs into Anna with his horse and, despite the first impression, she is immediately smitten. He seems to be as well....
During the coronation, Elsa must remove her gloves! She manages to keep the ice to a minimum, however, and the ceremony goes off without a hitch.
At the following party, Anna and Elsa start to bond a bit, but when Anna returns from her dance with the Duke of Weselton, the two have a disagreement and Anna walks away.
Anna runs into Hans again, and the two of them spend the whole evening together.
During "Love is an Open Door," Anna and Hans profess their love for each other, and at the end of the number, Hans proposes.... and Anna says yes!
Elsa refuses to give her blessing, however, and in the ensuing argument Anna pulls off one of Elsa's gloves....
....and Elsa accidentally lets out a spray of ice!
Elsa runs away to the North Mountain, and Anna makes the decision to follow her and bring her home.
During "Let It Go" Elsa explores her powers and newfound freedom, building her ice palace in the process.
Anna, on the other hand, has some bad luck when her horse runs away, but thankfully she finds Wandering Oaken's Trading Post (And Sauna).
At Oaken's, she is able to get some winter clothing as well as meet an ice harvester named Kristoff, who tells her that whatever's happening on the North Mountain seems magical.
Kristoff is thrown out by Oaken, and he and Sven sing "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People" in a barn outside. Anna decides to convince him to help her.
After convincing Kristoff to help by assuring him she knows how to stop the winter, they set off for the North Mountain. Along the way, however, they are ambushed by wolves! They manage to escape, but lose Kristoff's sled in the process.
Sven convinces Kristoff to keep helping Anna, and the three of them continue on, overlooking the frozen fjord along their way to a frozen tree-filled glade.
They hear a voice.... it's a talking snowman! Everyone gets off to a rough start, but it's clear Olaf was meant to be part of this group.
At the mention of summer, Olaf launches into the song "In Summer" during which he expresses his love for the season despite never having experienced it.
We cut back to Arendelle, where townspeople are fighting over firewood and Hans is helping to warm them up. The Duke is not happy about this, however, and wants more direct action.
When Anna's horse returns without her, everyone is immediately concerned for her safety. Hans decides to form a search party, and the Duke sends his two men along with clear orders to end the winter.
Back in the mountains, the gang continues their trek towards the ice palace. Anna attempts to climb the mountain herself, but Olaf finds Elsa's staircase, which is a much easier option.
They approach the door of the palace, but Anna is nervous about the idea of Elsa continuing to shut her out. However, the door opens when she knocks.
Inside, the sisters reunite from a distance and finally have the chance to talk. Anna tries to convince Elsa to let her in, but Elsa tells her she should leave.
During a reprise of "For the First Time in Forever," Anna continues trying to convince Elsa to let her help, and Elsa continues trying to convince Anna to go back to Arendelle. Upon learning of the winter she started, Elsa begins to lose control again.
As the song ends, Elsa's anxiety sends out a blast of power, hitting Anna in the chest. Anna still refuses to leave, however, and Elsa creates a giant snowman to carry her, Kristoff, and Olaf out of the palace.
After being thrown out, Anna throws a snowball at the giant, which enrages him and he chases the group down the mountain.
Marshmallow the snow giant chases the group to a cliff's edge. Kristoff and Anna try to rappel down it, but Marshmallow kicks Olaf off the edge and grabs the rope holding the two humans. Anna cuts through it, dropping them into the snow below.
At the bottom, Anna's hair begins to turn white. Kristoff decides they need to visit his friends who will know how to help.
We cut to Elsa inside her ice palace, which has turned red from her fear. She tries to talk herself into controlling her magic, but it's not working.
Back with the main group, they reach the Valley of the Living Rock. Kristoff is nervous about how Anna will react to his family, but she assures him they sound wonderful. His family, however, appears to be lots and lots of rocks.
Just as Anna is about to leave, the rocks begin to move. They're trolls! Everyone is excited to see Kristoff, and even more excited when they see he's brought a girl with him. The trolls don't listen to the two of them saying they're not together, though.
In "Fixer Upper," the trolls try to set Anna and Kristoff up together despite both of their protests. Bulda, Kristoff's mom, tells Anna a little bit about love.
Grand Pabbie appears and tells Anna about the ice in her heart. There's nothing he can do, however, because only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. Kristoff tells Anna they need to bring her back to Hans.
Speaking of Hans, his search party has reached the ice palace. Marshmallow awakes and does his best to keep them away, but the Duke's men are able to get into the palace.
Inside, the Duke's men attack Elsa. She fights back as hard as she can, nearly taking both of them out. Hans enters and tells her she doesn't have to be a monster before diverting an arrow away from her. It hits the chandelier, which falls and knocks Elsa unconscious.
Back in Arendelle, Elsa awakes in the dungeon with manacles over her hands and she sees the winter she caused for the first time. Hans tells her Anna hasn't returned and asks her to stop the winter, but she tells him she doesn't know how.
Kristoff brings Anna back to the castle, and she is taken to the library to see Hans. Everyone else in the room decides to give them some privacy.
Alone in the library, Hans leans in to give Anna her true love's kiss.... but pulls back at the last second! He tells Anna of his plan to steal the throne, which now involves killing Elsa, and locks her in the library to die.
In the great hall, Hans tells the foreign dignitaries that Anna is dead, but they said their marriage vows before she died. With them now trusting him to lead Arendelle, he sentences Elsa to death.
The guards go down to the dungeon to get Elsa, but her magic freezes the walls enough to be broken and she escapes out onto the fjord.
Kristoff and Sven, meanwhile, are heading into the mountains. Sven tries to convince Kristoff to go back for Anna, but he insists she's with her true love. Once they see the worsening storm, however, they start running back to Arendelle.
Anna is still locked in the library alone, slowly freezing, when she hears the door. It turns out Olaf's nose fits in the keyhole! He enters and tries to warm her back up. When she tells him she doesn't know what love is, he helps her realize that Kristoff loves her.
The window bangs open, and when Olaf goes to shut it, he sees Kristoff and Sven making their way back to the castle. Anna decides to head out on the fjord to get to them because Kristoff could be her true love's kiss.
Anna and Olaf escape through a window and slide down onto the frozen fjord, and Anna immediately starts trying to find Kristoff as he and Sven race across the fjord. Anna pushes on, but she continues to freeze.
Hans, meanwhile, has found Elsa in the storm. He tells her that she killed Anna, and in her grief, the snow stops in midair.
Now that the storm has stopped, Anna and Kristoff finally see each other. They head in each other's direction, but in the silence, Anna hears Hans draw his sword.
Anna sees Hans holding his sword above Elsa's head, and with the last of her strength, throws herself between them. She freezes solid as she does so, breaking Hans' sword.
Elsa cries over her sister's frozen form, and for a moment it seems all is lost.
But then something happens: Anna starts to unfreeze! She thaws completely, and the sisters finally have a happy reunion.
Olaf realizes Anna's saving Elsa was her act of true love, and Elsa realizes that's the piece she was missing. Love! She's finally able to bring back summer.
With summer restored, Olaf begins to melt, but Elsa gives him his own personal flurry to keep him cool. Hans also regains consciousness, and Anna is able to get a bit of revenge, punching him over the side of the boat.
Our happy ending begins with Hans and the Duke being returned to their countries in disgrace. Anna presents Kristoff with the new sled she promised him after his old one was lost during the wolf chase, and the two of them share their first kiss.
In the final scene, Elsa turns the castle courtyard into an ice skating rink for the people of Arendelle. The whole gang skates together as we pan out to Arendelle Castle and fade to black.
In the post-credits scene, Marshmallow finds Elsa's tiara in the ice palace and it looks pretty good on him!
