Frozen II / YMMV - TV Tropes

Click here for the YMMV page of the first Frozen.

Abandon Shipping:
- When the first trailer was released, it included footage of an unidentified female character. Some people got excited about the possibility of having a new character to ship Elsa with, but a portion stopped when it was pointed out that the girl appeared a lot younger than Elsa, although some speculated it was a flashback and that the girl would be revealed to be around Elsa's age later. But this trope then came into full force when the movie revealed that while it was a flashback, the girl was Anna and Elsa's mother.
- People shipped Honeymaren and Ryder until it was revealed they're siblings.
Adorkable: Quite a few viewers have found Ryder to be this. He loves reindeer, really wants to see the outside world and is just as awkward as Kristoff.
Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Considering how his own father was prejudiced against magic-users, did King Agnarr have any anti-magic prejudice himself, which is why he thought the best way to help Elsa control her powers was to suppress them ^note? By extension, considering how Iduna hid her Northuldra heritage from everybody except her husband to protect herself from the anti-Northuldra prejudice that the people of Arendelle had, did that mean she went along with the well-meaning-but-misguided decisions of how to handle Elsa's powers because she feared that if word got out it would expose her true heritage?
- The lyrics to the first part of "The Next Right Thing" could be interpreted as Anna either hitting her Despair Event Horizon and being overwhelmed by grief or Anna losing the will to go on and almost having a Death by Despair. Or both.
- As Elsa freezes to death in Ahtohallan, she shoots off her final message to Anna and gasps out her name a split second before she turns into an ice sculpture. Is this a call for her sister or TO her sister? Was her cry to Anna because she was about to die and terrified, calling for the person she loved more than anything to save/forgive/come to her? Or, was it actually a show of her trust and faith in her sister's choices and abilities? Elsa, through her own terror and knowing she is about to die, reaches out to someone she knows will do "The Next Right Thing" and finish the job regardless of what happens to her?
- Queen Iduna can come off as retroactively Unintentionally Unsympathetic for apparently keeping quiet about her background of living among nature spirits when she and King Agnarr were trying to figure out how to deal with Elsa as she was growing up, although it's implied that her experience didn't cover ice magic, and it's established that she does end up telling Agnarr at a point — but at which point is never established, encouraging fans to make their own assumptions.
Aluminum Christmas Trees: It might look weird to see black people like General Mattias in a 19th century pseudo-Scandinavian kingdom given how many fantasy films have racially homogeneous casts, but he's not just a Black Viking. Norse settlers, traders, and Viking raiders explored all over Europe, including North African and Middle Eastern nations on the Mediterranean sea, and some people from those areas came back to Scandinavia (as either slaves/indentured servants or free-men), so it's not impossible for there to be dark-skinned descendants of those immigrants.
Anvilicious: The film really wants you to know that Prince Hans and King Runeard are bad guys. Numerous jokes are made at the former's expense and the characters regularly bemoan how terrible he was or have some sort of petty insult towards him. Anna and Olaf almost directly tell the audience that King Runeard's actions go against everything Arendelle stands for as if they didn’t trust the kids in the audience to get it on their own.
Applicability:
- Anna's song "The Next Right Thing" shows her overwhelmed with grief, yet finding the strength to carry on with the mission one step at a time after Elsa and Olaf both die. It obviously reflects the grieving process after the death of a loved one, and co-director Chris Buck has stated that the song was largely inspired by his own experience with grief after his son died in a car accident. However, Anna's voice actress Kristen Bell has also pointed out that the song parallels her own struggle with clinical depression and anxiety (in fact, "do the next right thing" is her personal self-motivating mantra), so there's applicability in pushing forward and doing what needs to be done even when you feel like you can't bring yourself to do it.
- The plot involves the characters finding out why Northuldra and Arendelle broke out into a fight 34 years prior, even when Arendelle built a dam to bridge them to the Northuldra's forest as a peace offering. However, as they dig deeper, Elsa and Anna discover that their grandfather, King Runeard, actually built the dam because he knew it would deplete Northuldra's resources. He didn't trust the Northuldra because they practice magic, so he decided to sabotage their resources so he could force them to trade with his kingdom and submit them to his rule. Runeard then murdered the Northuldra leader in cold blood to cover this up, while he was tricked into letting his guard down underneath the impression that they were going to have a peaceful conversation, no less, leading to the conflict between the two cultures. While the story was written with the historical and current discrimination the Sámi people suffer from the dominating Nordic cultures in mind (since Northuldra and Arendelle are the respective Fantasy Counterpart Cultures of the Sámi and Norway), it can be easily applied to any ethnic group that has a history of being persecuted because their traditions and way of life was viewed as "wrong" by a dominating culture ^note.
Award Snub: The movie didn't secure a nomination for Best Animated Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. While the film wasn't as well received by critics as its predecessor, a major Disney animated film being overlooked for even a nomination by the Academy is a rarity.
Awesome Animation: The raging ocean in the teaser trailer is practically photorealistic. In fact, they actually had to reduce the quality of the ocean animation in the film so that Elsa didn't look out of place.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Kristoff teams up with Ryder to make a romantic proposal for Anna involving the Northuldra reindeer...only for it to backfire spectacularly in his face when the leader of the Northuldra (who is mistaken for Anna) shows up. She tells Kristoff that Anna and Elsa have already left to search for whatever has been calling Elsa. This leads to "Lost in the Woods"...and then the whole sequence is promptly forgotten about and never brought up again.
Captain Obvious Reveal: In the opening flashback, the younger Agnarr is distracted when the fighting breaks out, so neither he or his daughters know why the Northuldra suddenly started attacking the Arendellians. It's clear to the audience that this is going to lead to some kind of twist, and the film ultimately goes with the most predictable option, revealing that the fighting was actually started by someone on Arendelle's side.
Catharsis Factor: Elsa casually shattering Hans' ice memory is somewhat satisfying for anyone who loves to hate the villainous character or is still feeling betrayal from his Bait the Dog trick in the first movie.
Complete Monster: King Runeard. See that page for details.
Contested Sequel: While the movie was well-received overall by fans, the community is mainly divided into three camps:
- Those being the ones who consider it a decent film that, despite some highlights, pales in comparison to the original,
- Those who think it was a narrative mess that had no idea how to make use of its characters,
- And those who felt it was an Even Better Sequel that fixed some problems people had with the original.
Continuity Lockout: Minor example with The Stinger: watching Frozen Fever is required to know how Marshmallow ended up living with all these tiny snowmen (the Snowgies).
Critical Dissonance: The film's Rotten Tomatoes critical score rests at a relatively modest 77%, noticeably lower than the audience score resting at a very high 92%.
Discredited Meme: The movie contains two references to Let It Go's overexposure, both showing even Elsa's embarrassed by it. Notably, when she hears a snippet of it, her response is to groan, cover her ears, and shake her head while smiling sheepishly.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Destin Mattias, for his connection to the movie's backstory and being unafraid to show his emotions despite being a hardened soldier. Sterling K. Brown's funny yet endearing performance and being the only prominent black character in the franchise helps, too.
- Honeymaren and Ryder are also quite popular, despite or rather because of their lack of screentime.
Fandom Rivalry:
- Disney raised the ire of fans of the same year’s The Lion King (2019) when they declared this film had become the highest grossing animated film in history, despite still trailing that one by three million dollars. This was because when Disney announced the The Lion King (2019), it announced the movie as one of its "live-action" remakes. However, by the time the movie premiered, everyone (including the Academy) agreed that photo-realistic animation, no matter how impressive, doesn't count as live-action.
- Some Frozen fans have also developed a much more vitriolic opinion for Missing Link following that film winning a Golden Globe award over this one. Some cited its poor box office performance as a reason it shouldn't have won, which upset fans of Laika that hope winning awards such as this will help the studio break out of its downward trend of box office returns.
Fanfic Fuel:
- What is Elsa's life in Northuldra going to look like?
- What would Anna being Queen look like?
- What did the spirit bridge look like before it manifested itself in Elsa and Anna?
- The movie does give a lot of insight to Agnarr's childhood, but there's still a lot of untapped potential there, and Iduna's childhood is also worthy of speculation, given that we never really learn from her family in Northuldra.
- The Northuldra people are now free after 34 years of being trapped in the Enchanted Forest. They have a whole country to explore now.
Fanon: On this page.
Fan-Preferred Cut Content:
- Many felt the film could have further explored Elsa's decision to abdicate the throne to Anna and the changes that will take hold in Arendelle with this new clean slate. The finished film mostly indicates the change in Arendelle itself with Anna, the one who took responsibility for undoing the damage from the mistakes of Arendelle's past, becoming the new queen and unveiling a statute to honor love between Arendelle and Northuldra. Adding to audience's desire for more exploration of this is the fact that there are several known deleted sequences that would have explored this further, but were cut from the final draft:
- On a symbolic level, the deleted scene "Home" showed a statue of Runeard that would be later replaced by the pro-love statue of Agnarr and Iduna, making the message of choosing love over fear clearer. Concept art also shows a rejected ending that would have destroyed the castle and have it be rebuilt in a style that combined Arendellian and Northuldra architecture.
- When it came to policy, there was "A Place of Our Own," in which Anna declares her intention to rebuild the castle with "no secrets, no deceit, new rules, even!", and another deleted scene, "The Secret Room," which went into more detail about what rules would be replaced. The latter scene would have established Northuldra as a forbidden language in Arendelle at the start of the film.
Genius Bonus:
- Bruni, the little Salamander being the fire spirit is actually a pretty clever twist, given that the name of the Fire Spirit in Nordic mythology is actually "Salamander”.
- Likewise is the Nøkk being the Water Spirit. It is a creature from Scandinavian mythology, that is alternately portrayed as malevolent and benevolent. It's normally a shapeshifter, but some versions portray its true form as a horse. In those versions, it is a wild and unstable creature but can however be tamed as Elsa does. What's more is that some versions also have this creature attract people through beautiful singing.
- The double-bottomed lake at the bottom of Ahtohallan resembles the entrance of the Saivá (underworld) in Sámi mythology, foreshadowing Elsa's "death" when she jumps in.
- When Kristoff does his Wacky Marriage Proposal in the Northuldra tradition, he's surrounded by blue butterflies and winged seeds that flutter around him. The seeds are those of the Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) a tree native to Scandinavian countries (and most of Europe).
- King Runeard's distrust of the Northuldra's use of magic is an allusion to stereotypes that depicted the real-life Sami tribes as heathen pagan idol worshippers who were skilled in magic and demonic sorcery. King Christian IV of Denmark wrote in 1609 that the Sami were skilled at magic and as such no mercy should be spared towards what he and the Christian missionaries viewed at the time as "occult".
Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
- Once again, the movie has proven to be a big success in Japan, grossing over $100 million. It also grossed over $100 million in China and is nearly at a $100 million dollar gross in South Korea.
- It was also a huge hit in Canada. Understandable due to all the references to Canadian cultural icons such as hockey, beavers and maple syrup. The maple leaf is also present throughout scenes in the film.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- In this movie, Alfred Molina voices the father of a woman with ice powers. Come Harley Quinn, he ends up voicing an ice-themed supervillain, Mr. Freeze. This is especially amusing since Agnarr's previous voice actor, Maurice LaMarche, also voiced Freeze in the Batman: Arkham Series.
- The joke of Olaf calling for a Samantha before realising he does not know any Samantha is funnier now that the West End stage version of the Frozen musical (which references the joke at some point) cast Samantha Barks in Elsa's role.
Ho Yay: There's some between Ryder and Kristoff, considering how both become friends almost immediately, both bond over their love of reindeer and share a tendency to "speak for" them, and Ryder himself states that he "doesn't know much about girls" despite having a sister.
I Knew It!:
- The book adaptions released before the movie would stop before the end, and based on what they did say, readers would assume Elsa would leave Anna presumably for good. In the actual flick, turns out their answer was mostly right. Elsa does leave Arendelle and Anna, although they keep in contact and Elsa visits.
- Some found it predictable that King Runeard was the one who caused the conflict between Arendelle and the Northuldra, being the most realistic explanation as to the armies' sudden fighting.
Improved Second Attempt:
- After plenty of people criticized the King and Queen for their well-meaning but misguided decisions in raising Elsa, this movie fleshes out their characters and better explains the reasoning behind their actions, including revealing that their tragic voyage was a mission to learn more about their daughter's powers. The prologue also makes how caring they are clearer.
- The first film's reveal of Hans being the villain caused some disappointment in viewers, with many lamenting that the film could have been interesting enough without a black and white antagonist. In the second film, the instigator of the conflict, King Runeard, is long dead before the story starts, and the main narrative is entirely driven without an active villain.
- The first film was criticized for Monochrome Casting, many debating over whether this was justified due to the historical Norwegian-inspired background or not justified due to the numerous other liberties taken with the setting. The second film has more citizens of color in Arendelle (explained in the art book as the result of Arendelle opening its gates again), with a black character even joining the main cast in the form of Mattias. The film's story also prominently revolves around Norway's indigenous people, the Sámi and reveals that Queen Iduna was one of them, making Elsa and Anna mixed race.
- Many fans felt that Jonathan Groff's vocal talents were wasted in the first film, as he barely had a singing role. Here, he gets a song, "Lost in the Woods" and sings prominently in "Some Things Never Change".
- A minor one: Many fans were annoyed that in the first film, Anna never learns about her childhood memories being altered, or the accident that instigated the sisters' separation in the first place. In the second film, Olaf recaps the entire plot of the first, including the childhood accident, with Anna's lack of surprise implying that she at least knows about the accident now.
Incest Yay Shipping: Frozen II continues fanning the fire for Elsanna (Elsa/Anna).
- One example: "Lost in the Woods" is about Kristoff feeling that his life is directionless without Anna, but "The Next Right Thing" is about Anna feeling that her life is directionless without Elsa.
- Other instances include the lip bite Anna does when she and Elsa start cuddling on the bed just before "Into the Unknown," as well as the two of them interlocking fingers, touching foreheads, and gazing into each others' eyes upon their reunion at the end of the movie.
- There's also Elsa's line in "Into the Unknown" - "I'm spoken for, I fear."
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Detractors of the film have taken issue with the premise it shares with Disney's other recent animated sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, where two characters who share a close bond go explore a new world together, with one of them gradually coming to resonate with the new environment and choosing to abandon their previous life in order to stay there, which some fans feel effectively undermines everything that was built up in the preceding film. It doesn't help that many high-profile works in 2019 end on a similar note, such as Kingdom Hearts III, Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, to name just a few, meaning Frozen II didn't really break new grounds by having the story ended by separating the previously inseparable main characters for the sake of character development. Needless to say, some fans got pretty tired of this trend.
LGBT Fanbase: The hashtag “Give Elsa a girlfriend” became popular immediately upon the sequel being announced, pointing out that her lacking any romantic interest in the first film gave Disney a perfect opportunity to catch up with how much more accepted LGBT characters have become in mainstream entertainment. When asked about the possibility, Jennifer Lee has avoided indicating Elsa's orientation, saying she believes the movie "belongs to the world, so I don't like to say anything, and let the fans talk. I think it's up to them." Not to mention, like the previous movie and "Let It Go", fans have interpreted "Show Yourself" as a coming out song. Saturday Night Live even did a sketch where Elsa is played by the openly gay Kate McKinnon, is in a Transparent Closet where she keeps saying "gay" and even outright saying she's gay while snidely referencing her lack of a love interest.
Like You Would Really Do It: Admit it, you didn't believe for a second that Elsa and Olaf would be Killed Off for Real.
Memetic Mutation: See here.
Moral Event Horizon: King Runeard crosses the line when he murders the leader of the Northuldra in cold blood from behind, which causes the conflict for the entire franchise and arguably makes what Hans did look tame in comparison.
Narm Charm: "Show Yourself" is basically just Elsa running through Athohallan, telling the voice to finally show itself, which would be incredibly stupid if it wasn't for the perfect use of atmosphere and the emotional payoff of Elsa interacting with the spirit of her mother that it's almost impossible not to shed a tear.
Preemptive Shipping: Promotional material for the film showed a female character. Fans quickly took to shipping her with Elsa, tying in with the popular interpretation of her being a lesbian. When it was revealed that the girl was Iduna, Elsa's mother, the ship sunk instantly.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
- Agnarr and Iduna were never really Scrappies per se, but they were controversial figures among the fandom due to their relatively poor parenting of both Elsa and Anna, sheltering them from the outside world instead of helping them with their problems and encouraging Elsa to hide her powers. This movie not only gives both of them more screentime, but it also gives them somewhat interesting backstories, which reveal that each of them had a Freudian Excuse for their controversial actions ^spoiler. On top of that, they did have a plan on trying to help Elsa, which never came into fruition due to their early deaths, which makes them a lot more sympathetic than their portrayal in the previous movie. The prologue also goes a long way in showing how loving and attentive they were despite their well-intentioned-but-misguided handling of Elsa's powers. Given his own father's attitude toward magic, Agnarr's response was actually a lot better than his upbringing encouraged, always showing love toward Elsa and trying to help her.
- The rock trolls were generally agreed to be the worst part of the original movie. Here, not only is their screentime greatly reduced, but Pabbie's advice is actually useful from the start.
She Really Can Act: Tamta did the voice and singing of the queen in the Greek dub of the movie and she has received praise from everyone who saw her. Not many thought that a pop idol would sing and sound so maternal.
Ship Mates: If someone ships Kristoff/Ryder, they usually ship Elsa/Honeymaren at the same time.
Signature Scene:
- The "Into the Unknown" music sequence, which culminates in Elsa's Incredibly Long Note which awakens the spirits.
- Even those who otherwise didn't like the movie admitted that the sequence accompanying "Show Yourself" is the best scene in the movie, or even the best scene in the entirety of Disney's 2010s filmography. Some even admitted that they would pay to watch the whole movie, just so they can watch that scene again on the big screen.
Spiritual Successor:
- Due to the involvement of the four elements, spirits, and Elsa and Anna's role in bringing balance, many fans joke that this movie is Disney's take on Avatar: The Last Airbender.
- For the same reasons, it can also feel like the characters have been transplanted into a Final Fantasy game.
- The story revolving around a hidden world blocked from the outside by an inaccessible magic barrier has led to jokes about this actually being an animated adaptation of Annihilation.
Superfluous Solo:
- "When I'm Older", it doesn't really move the plot forward and seemingly only exists to give Olaf a song. It does have its defenders arguing that it's full of Funny Moments, but even they admit that it was pretty pointless.
- Kristoff's solo, "Lost In The Woods", where he sings about how confused he is about his and Anna's relationship. For many, it's the evidence on how useless Kristoff's arc was in this movie.
Suspiciously Similar Song: Although "Lost in the Woods" is a parody of '80s power ballads in general, it most closely resembles both "You're the Inspiration" by Chicago, and "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera, who had previously been Chicago's lead singer.
Testosterone Brigade: Carrying on from the first movie, this one contains several sequences of Elsa in flattering gowns - the dress for "Into the Unknown" has a very flattering neckline - as well as a sequence where she strips down to get into the water. She also lets her hair down and gets another sexy dress at the end of "Show Yourself". It's not unreasonable to think they had a little Parent Service in mind.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- Poor Kristoff's main contribution to the movie is his Running Gag of failing to propose to Anna. After his song about this little subplot, Kristoff is literally "Lost in the Woods" for twenty-six minutes. He just vanishes completely until the climax, where he abruptly shows up. It gives the impression the writers didn't know what to do with him apart from the proposal gag.
- The named villagers of Northuldra are essentially reduced to their basic character traits. Ryder likes reindeer and wants to explore the outside world, Honeymaren is a friendly girl who talks to Elsa about their experiences and asks her to stay in the north, Yelena is established as a responsible leader, but none of these characters really do anything in terms of plot or have any meaningful interaction with the main cast ^note. There's not even a part where Elsa and Anna tell them their mother's name was Iduna so that those who knew her can tell the girls stuff about her.
Trapped by Mountain Lions: Kristoff and his subplot involving his proposal to Anna, unfortunately, ends up being this. After getting brought up repeatedly throughout the film, the proposal plot gets dropped halfway through the second act, which isn't helped by the fact that Kristoff disappears from the movie until the climax.
Viewer Species Confusion: Bruni is sometimes referred to as a lizard, but he's actually a salamander.
Visual Effects of Awesome: If the animation was gorgeous in the first film, in this one it's nothing short of breathtaking, especially during the heartstopping sequences for "Into the Unknown" and "Show Yourself". The film's water effects are also near-photorealistic, particularly during Elsa's taming of the Nokk and the tidal wave in the climax.
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: This film has Elsa investigating the shipwreck from the previous movie and learning her parents died trying to help her, having the characters learn about a war that their grandfather was responsible for, and has a scene where Elsa and Olaf undergo a Disney Death, but unlike most instances of this, it takes a long time for both of them to come back to life, especially the latter character. And one of the most optimistic characters talks about not sure she knows how to keep on living after her remaining family members die, saying "darkness, I'm ready to succumb," but still going on in part because she feels the need to correct the internationally disastrous repercussions of her grandfather's crimes.
Writer Cop Out: Some felt that Elsa saving Arendelle from the flood came off as this, saying allowing the town to flood would have been a stronger, more meaningful symbol of the characters literally being washed clean of the past sins, and showing that even doing the right thing would have tangible consequences. The fact that there was at least one storyboarded and voice-recorded scene of an alternate ending where at least the castle was destroyed (and the official artbook shows it was to be later rebuilt in a way which combined influences the sisters' Northuldran as well as Arendellian heritages, something that could have carried much emotional impact) only reinforced this sentiment.
Woolseyism:
- This video shows a large array of languages and how they differ significantly from the English version in the climax of "Show Yourself".
- With Cantonese being a tonal language^note, Woolseyism has always been a staple to song translations, but "Show Yourself" deserves a special mention: in the English lyrics, "show yourself" is used repeatedly. Whereas in Cantonese, it changes to fit the song as it progresses: "want to see you", "heart's desire", "want to listen to the truth", "drawing me (to you)", "you have been watching (over me)".

YMMV / Frozen II

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