Frozen 2: 9 Ways The Sequel Improved On The Original

2. The Worldbuilding

Frozen 2
Disney

Frozen's world-building was never really anything to write home about in the first film. While the story was solid, Arendelle was almost a non-entity despite the main characters being its rulers, with the most interesting minor characters coming from outside the kingdom.

In this film, we get a little bit more about Arendelle through the lens of its older soldiers and its past sins, as well as the surprise connection with another culture that Elsa and Ana discover through their mother.

The opening lullaby gives the world of Frozen a more epic, high fantasy feel, with elements of real world mythology and animism (such as the water horse, the Nokk, as well as some small parallels to Sami shamanistic beliefs) and its own mystical twist. While Elsa plays the biggest part in this film, the worldbuilding makes it clear that her role has bigger implications than her own magic.

The land of elements in which the Nolthuldra live, the strange black otherworld Elsa enters when she uses her magic, and even the double-bottomed lake she jumps into in search of answers - all of these give Frozen 2's world more to work with than the original film.

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Writer, artist, professional animator. Indie comics and Hi Nay podcast creator. Queer Filipino storyteller || @MotzieD on Twitter || Originally from Quezon City, The Philippines. Currently based in Toronto, Canada || motziedapul.com || hinaypod.com