Many Disney classics are based on famous fairy tales. But sometimes the finished animated films from the Mouse Studio film factory have little in common with their role models. For example, in the case of “The Ice Queen”…
Ah! “Frozen” aka “The Ice Queen – Completely Unfrozen”, that’s this beautiful winter fairy tale with Elsa, the chirpy snowman Olaf and the reindeer, isn’t it? It’s fun for young and old alike, and it really warms the cockles of your heart.
That’s roughly true, but do you actually know the original version of the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen? In contrast to the amusing Disney animation fun, it’s not nearly as child-friendly. We have summarised both versions for you in a nutshell.
THIS IS HOW HARMLESS THE DISNEY VERSION IS
Eternal winter has fallen upon the kingdom of Arendelle. To save the land from an eternal ice age and lift the frost spell, the king’s daughter Anna (Kristen Bell) teams up with rugged mountain man and reindeer herder Kristoff (Jonathan Groff). Together they must track down Anna’s fugitive sister Elsa (Idina Menzel), who has seemingly uncontrollable magical ice abilities. After the death of her parents, Elsa has retreated into the mountains so as not to cause any more damage.
The unequal pair is accompanied by the faithful reindeer Sven and the clumsy snowman Olaf (Josh Gad), who always lighten up the perilous journey with slapstick and singing interludes.
By the way, you can watch the harmless animated fun on Disney+ and get into the Christmas mood:
AND THIS IS THE FAIRY TALE VERSION BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
The fairy tale “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen is of a different calibre and revolves around a magic mirror made of ice. This was created by the devil himself and has the property of making everything beautiful appear ugly and at the same time making the ugly beautiful. But the mirror broke and its splinters scattered across the world. A splinter in the heart and it became cold as ice, a splinter in the eye and the person affected can only see the ugly and evil.
The Ice Queen is such a beautiful Disney film. And Olaf and likes hugs after all ❄️☃️❤️ pic.twitter.com/eOp9AZTBAD
– Anett Fischer (@Nettiblue12Ev) December 10, 2022
When the neighbourhood kids Kay and Gerda are playing outside in the summer, Kay gets one of those splinters in his heart and eye, instantly freezing his heart into a lump of ice and turning him into a vicious person who only sees the bad in the world.
As if that weren’t enough, he is also captured by the Ice Queen, whose kiss makes him freeze even further inside. Gerda sets out to find him and meets strange characters along the way, including a gang of robbers who not only roam the country murdering, but would also like to fry Gerda. When Gerda finds Kay, he has almost frozen to death. His girlfriend’s tears finally melt Kay’s frozen heart, thus releasing the curse.
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THE DISNEY VERSION BARELY RESEMBLES THE ORIGINAL FAIRY TALE
When you read through these two short descriptions, you realise how little the original fairytale and the Disney adaptation have in common. The animated film is at most loosely based on individual motifs from the literary original – which is perhaps a good thing, because this way the works can be viewed and enjoyed independently of one another.
