Comparing the Andersen and Disney
In the Andersen story two young, children Kay and Gerda, are inseparable friends. They live opposite each other in attic rooms and play together in the gutter outside their windows as if they were brother and sister. In the summers, flower boxes and roses are planted in the gutter creating a mini-garden where they can play. Roses are their favorite and Gerda teaches Kay part of a hymn about them:
Where roses deck the flowery vale,
There, infant Jesus, we thee hail 7
During the winter, they communicate via peep holes through the windows or by scampering down the stairs into the street and up into the other’s house. One day, while sitting inside, one of their grandmothers tells them about the “white bees of snow” and the “queen bee” who appears in the thickest of swarms and makes ice patterns on the windows. Gerda asks if this “Snow Queen” could ever come into the house but Kay shrugs and says he would just melt her on the stove if she did.
The Disney version introduces two Norwegian princesses, Elsa and Anna, who are inseparable as the film opens. Elsa spends her day throwing snow and icicles around for Anna’s entertainment and building snowmen out of nothing. One night, while leaping between snow pillars created by Elsa, an accident occurs. Elsa cannot keep up with Anna’s zealousness as she leaps too quickly. Elsa accidently strikes Anna in the head with an ice bolt and she falls to the ground.
The most immediate difference we notice is the relationship and gender of the main characters. Andersen’s children are friends, a boy and a girl, whereas Disney’s are siblings, both girls. Similar themes remain, though: one half of the pair is fearless (burning a snow spirit on the stove or leaping too high and too fast) while the other is more cautious. The snow queen as a ghostly apparition or as the presence in the young girl, Elsa, will test the strong bond in both sets of children.
The adventures continue as Kay, while looking out the window sees a snowflake materialize into the Snow Queen. She is tall and beautiful made of ice, with eyes that have no peace or kindness in them. She is nice enough to give him a wave and he runs away, pretending he had seen a bird. During the summer, he feels a grain of something in his eye and his heart suddenly turns into a lump of ice. Oddly, the Snow Queen is nowhere in sight. A tiny grain from the cursed mirror had entered Kay’s eye. He begins to destroy the beloved roses, kick over the flower boxes and tease Gerda, who is confused and tearful. Kay teases and mimics those he meets and sees snowflakes as the only thing unworthy of ridicule.
Disney has Elsa and Anna’s parents rush to receive advice about what to do for their daughter. This comes from a gaggle of trolls, mossy rocks, who tell the king and queen that Anna’s injury is not permanent if she has only been struck in the head and not the heart, but for her safety they need to wipe all of her memories of Elsa’s magic, leaving only the fun. Elsa’s powers will grow stronger as she gets older and more dangerous when she is angry. The king, queen and Elsa decide to isolate themselves, shutting the palace gates against the rest of the world and try to control Elsa’s powers by putting gloves over her hands. Anna, despite attempts throughout her childhood to play with her sister, is separated from her by a closed door. When the parents are lost at sea, Elsa becomes ever more reclusive. Conversely, Anna remains optimistic and well adjusted, despite having no one to play with, no way to leave the palace and no reason to think her sister will ever stop ignoring her.
Elsa and Kay both change their behavior because of magic - Elsa out of fear and to protect her sister; Kay is unaware of the reason. Neither Anna nor Gerda understand why their playmate’s behavior is so different. Anna’s whole family is hiding something from her; Kay is just incredibly unkind to Gerda and now makes her cry.
Kay is older now and is allowed to play on a sled with the bigger boys in town, but when a large white sled appears, he connects onto it and is led out of the kingdom and into a snowy wilderness. When they stop, the driver is revealed as the Snow Queen. When she sees he is shivering, she kisses him to take away the cold. He forgets about Gerda and his home. She looks perfect to him and he willingly goes back with her to her palace, sleeping at her feet during the day and staring up at the moon at night. People back in the town think Kay is dead, possibly drowned in the river. Gerda believes this as well until the spring arrives and the birds tell her he is not. She sets off to find him herself.
Elsa is older now as well and must take her place as the Queen of Arendelle. She faces Coronation Day with dread and tries to hide her powers inside her gloves. Anna is thrilled that the gates are open and that her sister is out from behind closed doors. There is even the possibility that Anna may find a handsome prince, which in fact happens when she meets Prince Hans. While Elsa has been speaking to Anna throughout the day, she does not care for Anna’s intention to marry Hans after having just met him. Elsa refuses to give her blessing. Upset with the circumstances, Anna ends up snatching one of Elsa’s gloves off and begs her to explain why she has shut everyone out. In turn, Elsa gets upset as well and her powers emerge as she accidentally unleashes icy spikes in front of everyone. Elsa turns and runs out of the town, which she has left buried in heavy snow. She feels free and happy finally and leaves her Arendelle responsibilities behind. She builds herself an ice palace with her supernatural powers. Anna is left feeling guilty and sets out after her, leaving the town in Hans’ hands.
Both the events of Coronation Day and being allowed to play with the big boys are different but both are “coming of age” events and result in Elsa and Kay leaving their lives behind to begin a life in the snow and ice. Elsa is able to find freedom and stop hiding herself and Kay sees this life as flawless, since the shard of glass has him seeing opposites. Neither Elsa or Kay have done anything wrong to be in their situations and both “sisters” have embarked on a search for each of them.
Gerda’s first stop on her search for Kay is at the river. She is almost swept away but rescued by an old woman who intends to keep her. She removes all the roses from her garden to keep Gerda from remembering her playmate, Kay. But the old woman forgets to remove one painted on her hat, so Gerda’s memory is jolted. Her tears bring back the roses and the other flowers. While the flowers can tell many stories, they cannot tell Gerda any more details about Kay’s situation, only that he is not dead. Gerda leaves the garden when it is autumn in the outside world. She encounters a crow who may have seen Kay getting married to a princess recently. She discovers this is not the case, but the prince and princess give her supplies for the journey – a muff, boots and a golden chariot, horse, outrider, footman and coachman.
As Anna sets out, she is thrown from her horse and is left stranded in the snow. She finds a trading post and encounters a rugged mountain man named Kristoff. He is at the post to buy some equipment for himself and his reindeer, Sven. Kristoff has had difficulty selling ice with the sudden seasonal changes and is struggling to make a living. Anna buys what he needs in turn for a ride up to the north mountain, as she continues her search for Elsa. Her tactics work and they set off together on Kristoff’s sled. On their trip, Kristoff learns that Anna’s sister has magical powers and discovers that Anna is quite fearless. When they are under attack by a pack of wolves, Kristoff, Sven and Anna escape but the beloved sled is destroyed. Anna promises to replace it if Kristoff accompanies her, to which he agrees. They meet Olaf, a talking snowman who closely resembles one Anna and Elsa made as young girls. Olaf knows where Elsa is and agrees to lead them to her. They want to reach her to persuade her to lift the eternal winter from their town and bring back the sunshine, allowing Kristoff to resume his business. Olaf is unaware that heat and summer will have a negative effect on him.
It seems that, except for the wolves, everyone that Princess Anna meets along the way is willing to help her. The reverse happens with Gerda, a peasant girl, who is helped by the royalty she meets, the prince and princess who supply her with means to travel. They both receive help along the way by means of a snowman and a crow. Olaf is the link to Anna and Elsa’s childhood and in Gerda’s case, the roses keep her memory of Kay alive.
With her friend the crow out of sight, Gerda is captured by robbers. A bearded old woman takes her from the chariot and decides to cook her for lunch until her daughter nearly bites off her ear. She demands that Gerda become her playmate. Under the threat of stabbing, Gerda plays with the robber girl and sleeps next to her. She has imprisoned a collection of pigeons and a reindeer called Be. The robber girls treat the animals poorly but once the pigeons and Be reveal that they know of the Snow Queen, the robber girl allows Gerda to take Be. Their first stop is the Lapp lady who gives Gerda a note written on fish to take to a Fin woman, who can better direct them to the Snow Queen.
Elsa’s ice palace turns out to be difficult to find. She is living a responsibility-free life until Anna finds her. Once again, Elsa tells her sister to leave for her own safety and that she can never return. Anna persists and is struck in the heart when Elsa throws ice around in anger and exasperation and even conjures up an ice man to chase them away. Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf almost fall to their deaths off the mountainside to escape. Kristoff’s quick thinking allows them to make a soft landing. Anna begins to notice Kristoff for the first time but her injury begins to take its toll. Kristoff takes her to his friends and adopted family, the trolls who stage a mock marriage of Anna and Kristoff. The trolls advise that Anna is doomed from her injury unless an act of true love can heal her heart. This means to Anna and Kristoff that all they need to do is get Anna back to Hans. As Anna is failing, Kristoff gathers her up, and he and Sven head to Arendelle.
Gerda and Be arrive at the Fin woman’s house, where Be does all the talking. Be asks the woman if she can give Gerda anything for her journey. The Fin woman tells the caribou that if Gerda can’t find the Snow Queen then she herself is doomed. She explains that everyone has helped her on the way because of her love for her “brother” and her child-like innocence. To keep this innocence, she must never be told of this power. The Fin woman had Be take Gerda to north to Finmark.
Anna’s horse returned to Arendelle riderless, so Hans decides to send out a search party. The Duke of Weselton sends two men to go find Elsa to kill her. They manage to find her and although Elsa tries to defend herself, she ends up unconscious and wakes up in a prison cell in Arendelle. Hans begs her to bring back summer, but Elsa tells him she cannot and becomes angrier when she realizes her sister has not returned. Soon afterwards, Kristoff and Sven return with an icy and ill Anna. When Anna is alone with Hans she begs him to kiss her to break the spell. He then reveals he does not love her and his plan to marry her was made in order to become the king. With twelve older brothers, he has no chance otherwise. He leaves Anna to freeze to death. He tells everyone that before she died, they had made their wedding vows and that Elsa killed her and must be executed for treason.
Gerda and Anna both face adversity with courage and fortitude. Gerda manages to turn the ice and snow to her advantage. As she walks further, the snowflakes become bigger until they take on the shape of the Snow Queen’s guards. By reciting the Lord’s Prayer, Gerda creates her own ice soldiers to cut them up and protect her from the cold. Anna’s friends leave her in the “good hands” of Hans; Gerda’s friends leave her and she finds her inner power.
Kay has been as unaware of danger as Gerda, living in the Snow Queen’s palace. Her giant palace is essentially empty as she is often away. Kay sits on the frozen floor arranging ice patterns in a puzzle. If he can arrange the pieces to make the word “eternity,” the queen will let him go and give him a new pair of skates. Because he has this grain of the mirror in his eye and his heart, he is focused on these ice shapes and almost black with cold. Gerda is able to find Kay in the palace, although he neither acknowledges nor recognizes her. She hugs him, cries and sings the rose hymn they used to know. These actions warm him up, melt his heart and turn him back into the sweet friend he once was. Kay and Gerda are so happy to have found each other that the ice pieces dance about and fall into the proper configuration. The Snow Queen returns and frees Kay.
Anna, too, is lying on the floor, freezing to death. Olaf comes and lights a fire, disregarding the risk to himself. Elsa has broken free by icing up the palace, making it deadlier and harder to open doors to escape. The pair struggle out of a window and onto the frozen lake. Kristoff and Sven race over to collect Anna, who sees Hans is near Elsa out on the ice. Anna runs to throw herself in the path of Hans’ sword, which he has raised over Elsa. Anna deflects the sword as she turns into an ice statue. Saving her sister is the true act of love that turns Anna back into a human.
Gerda and Kay walk back, unhindered by storm or bad weather. They experience an opportunity to revisit Gerda’s helpers throughout the story. When the reach the border of Finmark, Be and a younger deer are waiting for them. They carry the children back to the Fin woman’s home for directions. They eat, change their clothes, and get a new sled at the Lapp woman’s house. As they reach the border of their own country, they see the robber girl, who is riding the horse for Gerda’s chariot and set off to explore the world. Gerda learns that the male crow has died. When they return home, they see grandmother reading the Bible and the two realize they are both grown up. By remaining innocent children in their hearts, they were protected from evil and, from then on, summer seems to last forever.
Elsa realizes the power of love, she lifts the snow and ice from the town. She uses her powers to bring happiness and to keep Olaf from melting. Hans and the Duke of Weselton are banished. Elsa fully embraces her powers and she and Anna are able to return to a normal, sister relationship, despite the fact that Elsa’s power remains.
Anna and Gerda spent years of forgiveness and understanding, and even death-defying actions, for their respective sister and surrogate brother. The love they showed their sibling is stronger than any love felt by any of the romantic characters involved. Kristoff and Anna’s feelings could not compete; Gerda showed no jealousy of Kay’s experiences and they do not marry when they return. Elsa shuts herself away to protect her sister, out of love and fear. In Kay’s case, he was a prisoner of evil magic. Both he and Elsa are truly free when they allow themselves to feel love.
In Andersen’s The Snow Queen, faith is prominent as it protects the characters. Gerda teaches Kay the hymn of the roses and recites the Lord’s Prayer for protection from the Snow Queen’s powers. A hymn revives Kay and by remaining innocent in her heart, Gerda avoids many potentially difficult situations on her own. They are able to escape the evil Snow Queen, the girl uncharacteristically rescuing the boy from harm. In addition, most of Gerda’s helpers along the way are also female.
Frozen shows how fear can affect someone’s behavior and that running away from your problems instead of facing them can further complicate them. Elsa tries to hide her powers rather than attempt to control them. Anna desperately wants to spend time with her sister and will take on many risks to do so, including rejection, injury and even death but her powerful love for her sister saves them both.
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