Frozen II

***Frozen II*** is an animated musical comedy-drama/fantasy film produced at Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Released on November 22, 2019, it is the sequel to the studio's 2013 animated feature film, *Frozen*, and it is the 58th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon.

Taking place three years after the events of the previous film, *Frozen II* follows Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven as they journey to an enchanted forest to save their kingdom from a curse involving the elemental spirits of water, wind, fire, and earth.

Co-directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck returned to helm the project, alongside producer Peter Del Vecho. While still retaining much of the humor of its predecessor, the film is notably darker in tone, with a heavier focus on action, death, and intense imagery. This was a deliberate move by the filmmakers, who likened the tone of *Frozen II* to earlier Walt Disney-era fairytales such as *Pinocchio*.

Upon release, *Frozen II* received generally positive reviews from critics for its animation, voice performances, and music by songwriting duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. On its opening weekend, the film grossed $127 million domestically, and $350 million worldwide, making it the highest-opening of all time for an animated film.

## Overall Plot

### Synopsis

Elsa the Snow Queen has an extraordinary gift -- the power to create ice and snow. But no matter how happy she is to be surrounded by the people of Arendelle, Elsa finds herself strangely unsettled. After hearing a mysterious voice call out to her, Elsa travels to the enchanted forests and dark seas beyond her kingdom -- an adventure that soon turns into a journey of self-discovery.

### Overall

Inside one of the rooms of Arendelle Castle one evening, young Anna and Elsa have built a forest out of snow and ice, sourced from Elsa's ice powers. As she conjures small snow people to play with, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna enter, telling the girls that it is time for them to go to bed. Seeing that Anna and Elsa are happily playing together, the king and queen smile, then take the girls to their bedroom. There, the sisters beg their father to tell them a bedtime story. King Agnarr agrees and begins the tale of an enchanted forest: King Runeard, founder and first king of Arendelle, establishes a treaty with the woodland Northuldra tribe, building a dam between Arendelle and the Enchanted Forest, home of the Northuldra. However, a fight between the two armies occurs, killing Runeard and many of his men. The four elemental spirits were earth, fire, air, and water, which inhabit the forest, become enraged due to the fight. The spirits disappear, and a thick wall of mist encases everyone in the forest. No one is able to enter or leave, and the contents of the forest become preserved in time. Runeard's son Prince Agnarr barely escapes with the help of an unknown savior. After the story, Queen Iduna tucks the girls into bed, singing them an old lullaby taught to her by her mother.

Three years after her coronation, Queen Elsa of Arendelle stands on the castle balcony, returning from her flashback to the present. Kai comes to retrieve her, startling her as she didn't see him coming as she was too lost in her thoughts to notice. After tending to her royal duties, she goes to the town square to celebrate autumn in the kingdom with her younger sister, Princess Anna, Olaf, their talking snowman, Kristoff, Arendelle's resident ice harvester and Sven, Kristoff's pet reindeer and best friend since "Some Things Never Change".

That same evening, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf play a game of charades. After having some fun with her sister and friends, Elsa decides to go to bed early. Later, Anna enters Elsa's room, concerned. She notices that Elsa is wearing their mother's shawl, which she only wears when nervous or troubled. Anna and Elsa talk for some time, and eventually, huddled together, and they fall asleep.

Suddenly, in the middle of the night, Elsa wakes up when she hears the mysterious voice calling to her again. Unable to ignore it this time, Elsa tries to follow the voice "Into the Unknown" but unintentionally awakens the elemental spirits, forcing everyone in the kingdom to evacuate. Grand Pabbie, the leader of the trolls senses danger and arrives in Arendelle with the rest of the trolls. Pabbie informs Anna and Elsa that they must set things right by discovering the truth about the kingdom's past. Deducing she must follow the voice she has been hearing, Elsa tries to tell her sister that she must go alone, but Anna insists upon coming with her. As Elsa tries to reason with her sister, Anna says she went through many odds three years ago such as climbing the North Mountain, surviving a frozen heart, and saving Elsa from the evil Hans which in Anna's opinion, is the reason why she's going. Elsa had asked to borrow Kristoff's wagon and Sven, which he did not feel comfortable with. After Anna states that she is coming, Kristoff agrees, insisting on driving. Olaf agrees, adding, "*I'll bring the snacks!*" Pabbie promises to look after the people of Arendelle in the meantime until the royal sisters return from pacifying the elemental spirits.

Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven embark on their journey to the Enchanted Forest, traveling via Kristoff's wagon. They pass landmarks from the first film, such as Elsa's Ice Palace, and Olaf waves to Marshmallow, the giant snow-monster that still guards the castle. Olaf also talks all through the journey there and believes that this will all make sense "When I Am Older". Finally arriving at the entrance to the Enchanted Forest, the group encounters the impenetrable wall of mist, but it parts open as Elsa uses her magic, before closing again once they are inside. The group first encounters Gale, the wind spirit, which appears in the form of a tornado and sweeps everyone into its vortex. Elsa stops it by blasting streams of snow, forming a set of ice sculptures. They discover the sculptures are from their father's past and that their mother, Iduna, was the mysterious Northuldra who saved Agnarr's life during the battle between King Runeard and his soldiers and the Northuldra fighters. They encounter the Northuldra, along with a troop of Arendellian soldiers, as the two groups are still in conflict with each other. The fire spirit appears and Elsa attempts to stop its fire from spreading. Elsa discovers that the spirit is in the form of an agitated magical salamander named Bruni. She calms it down by placing it in her palm and creating a small snow flurry, ceasing its flames. Elsa and Anna form a truce between the soldiers and the Northuldra, explaining that their mother was Northuldra and their father was Agnarr, the prince of Arendelle. An Arendellian soldier named Lieutenant Mattias is impressed, recalling memories of the young prince. Later, at the Northuldra camp, the group encounters two young Northuldra siblings named Honeymaren and Ryder. Elsa talks to Honeymaren, learning that Queen Iduna's shawl is decorated with a traditional Northuldra pattern. Anna talks with Lieutenant Mattias, Olaf is rearranged by a group of Northuldra children, and Kristoff talks with Ryder, who also loves reindeer. Elsa later learns of the existence of a fifth spirit, which will unite people and the magic of nature. Everyone is soon forced to take cover and hide from the elemental spirits of earth, the Earth Giants when they stomp pass the Northuldra encampment without seeing anyone.

Elsa continues to head north with Anna and Olaf, while Kristoff and Sven stay behind with Ryder and the rest of the Northuldra. Kristoff tries to propose to Anna, not realizing that she is gone, but instead finds the leader of the Northuldra tribe. Meanwhile, the sisters find their parents' shipwreck and a map with a route to Ahtohallan, the mythical river said to have answers and explanations about the past. Ahtohallan was the "river full of memory" that was mentioned in Queen Iduna's lullaby, which Elsa learned was a traditional Northuldra song. The sisters find an ice sculpture of their parents huddled together, apparently about to meet their fate. Elsa and Anna begin to cry. Feeling extremely guilty that their parents were lost at sea in search of answers about her magic powers, Elsa decides to travel alone, sending Anna and Olaf away in an ice-boat where they have to avoid the now sleeping Earth Giants. Anna and Olaf become stranded in a dark, mysterious cavern.

Elsa encounters Nokk, the water spirit who guards the ocean in the form of a glistening stallion, on her way to Ahtohallan. Elsa tames the Nokk and finally reaches Ahtohallan. Elsa discovers that the voice was the call of Iduna from memories of the past, as an image of her singing her mysterious call to an unconscious Agnarr after saving him flashes onto the wall. Elsa discovers that her power was a gift from the magic of nature, due to Iduna's selfless act of saving Agnarr. This makes Elsa the fifth spirit, a bridge between humans and nature, who unites differences. Elsa wields her mother's mantle of the fifth spirit and asks the voice to "Show Yourself". She also learns through flashbacks and memories that the dam was built as a ruse to reduce the Northuldra's resources, due to Runeard's dislike of the tribe's connection with magic. Elsa learns that King Runeard, although depicted as good, was the one who initiated the conflict with the Northuldra. Elsa sends this information to Anna. However, as she had ventured into the most dangerous part of Ahtohallan, Elsa becomes frozen herself, turning to solid ice in a more slow, painful version of what happened to Anna under the frozen heart curse. Olaf, being made of Elsa's now-defunct magic, fades away and becomes a pile of snow. Anna is left devastated and alone. She feels that her life is over and that she must give up, but she convinces herself to do "The Next Right Thing" and continue.

Anna concludes that the dam must be destroyed for peace to be restored, even if it means Arendelle's destruction in the process. She escapes from the cavern and awakens the sleeping Earth Giants, who immediately turn hostile on her for being disturbed. Anna lures them towards the dam with help from Kristoff, Sven, and Lieutenant Mattias with his Royal Guard detachment, which is destroyed by boulders hurled by the giants. This causes them to become docile as the bane of their rage had been destroyed. Back in Ahtohallan, Elsa finally thaws herself out and returns to Arendelle, stopping a flood from the destroyed dam with Nokk, witnessed by the people, Grand Pabbie, and his rock trolls, who cheer for Elsa and Nokk while Pabbie gives Elsa a respectful nod for her triumph. As the wall of mist disappears, Elsa reunites with Anna and revives Olaf, to the delight of everyone. Kristoff finally, properly, proposes to Anna, and she accepts. Elsa points out that she and Anna are now the bridge between the people and the magical spirits. As the Enchanted Forest and Arendelle are now open and connected to each other, Elsa decides that she is meant to live in the forest with the Northuldra, being the fifth spirit. Anna becomes the new Queen of Arendelle, and Elsa becomes the protector of the Enchanted Forest. She regularly visits Arendelle as peace is restored in all the lands. Anna and Kristoff enjoy time together after Anna's coronation and first royal event. Olaf and Sven eagerly explore Arendelle. Lieutenant Mattias, now promoted to General under Anna, is seen together with an Arendellian woman he mentioned back at the Northuldra camp, now reunited with her, as she shows him a "new invention" called a photograph. Together with Anna, he unveils a new statue of a younger Agnarr and Iduna to honor their memory and the new unity between Arendelle and the Enchanted Forest. Anna has Gale send a message to Elsa, and shortly after reading it, Elsa takes a ride on Nokk towards Ahtohallan.

In a post-credit scene, Olaf retells the story to Marshmallow and the Snowgies