After six long years, the sequel to Frozen has finally been released in theaters. Frozen II has already broken numerous records at the box office and will likely break a few more before it eventually exits theaters.
The film follows yet another adventure between sisters Elsa and Anna as they try to uncover the secret of the enchanted forest and their parents’ death. Both critics and audiences are loving the new movie and all its showstopping music, but there are might be a few details you noticed while watching it for the first time.
Elsa pokes fun at herself
In one of the early scenes of the movie, Elsa, Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff play a game of charades. Olaf is obviously the best since he can rearrange himself. In one humorous moment, he imitates Elsa’s waltz from the first movie, particularly her hip swagger.
It’s a humorous moment and one that makes Kristoff immediately guess Elsa. It’s a very quick moment and if you blink you might miss it but Elsa actually shrugs and nods as if it say, “true,” while watching the scene happen between Kristoff and Olaf.
Grand Pabbie’s prediction comes true
Before Elsa takes off to find out the truth of the enchanted forest, Grand Pabbie warns Anna to keep a close eye on her sister. He says that they’ve spent years hoping that Elsa’s powers would not be too much for her but now they have to hope they’ll be enough to save them all.
Since everything ends up happily ever after, it’s easy to forget about what he said early in the movie. But it actually does play out in-line with his ominous warning. The reason Elsa freezes to death for a short time is that she went too far in her efforts to learn the truth about her magic. She was too impulsive and her magic wasn’t enough by itself, she needed Anna’s help to save her.
Elsa creates a sextant
One great little moment of feminism occurs towards the beginning of the film when Elsa is shown making ice sculptures for the children of Arendelle. A little boy asks for a teddy bear and then a little girl steps up and you might expect that she’ll ask for a doll or an animal too.
Instead, she requests that Elsa make her a sextant, which is a navigational tool used to measure distances. It’s a very quick beat but it’s nice to see a young girl in a film who is interested in something mathematical for a change.
How did Anna recognize Mattias?
Anna and Elsa meet Mattias, the leader of the Arendelle soldiers when they reach the enchanted forest. Somehow, Anna seems to know exactly who Mattias is. How would is that possible when He has been trapped throughout their lifetime?
If you remember in the first film, Anna used to spend a lot of time in the hallways of her home. She talked to pictures and kept herself company. It’s a clever nod to how familiar Anna is with the history of Arendella that she would easily recognize someone she saw previously in a portrait.
Anna makes a possible reference to another Kristen Bell character
While singing “Some Things Never Change” with Olaf at the beginning of the movie, there is a moment where Anna has to rush ahead and change the trolley tracks so that Olaf doesn’t get hurt. She does so by pulling a giant lever and redirecting Olaf’s little trolley.
If you like Kristen Bell, that scene might have reminded you of a moment from one of her other projects, The Good Place. The Good Place had an episode about “the trolley problem,” where a trolley will either hit one person or five workmen, depending on which track it goes down. The allusion may not have been intentional but it’s funny to consider it a shoutout.
Elsa’s death may have killed the Snowgies
After Elsa is frozen to death during the “Show Yourself” sequence, Olaf sadly begins to disintegrate while with Anna inside the cave. We know that Olaf’s life force is tethered to Elsa’s magic.
That means there is a good chance the Snowgies, and Marshmallow, from the first Frozen, were also killed due to the link between their ability to stay frozen and Elsa’s magic being tethered. Olaf did not magically come back until Elsa remade him. So unless she plans to visit the North Mountain again, they are likely dead.
Elsa and Anna play with Dumbo and Baymax
Only eagle-eyed viewers will notice that Elsa and Anna were playing with two other iconic Disney heroes during the sequence where they’re still children at the film’s beginning.
The two sisters are shown playing together in their bedroom with various snow figurines that Elsa has made. If you look carefully you’ll see that two of the figures they’re playing with are none other than Dumbo the flying elephant and Baymax from Big Hero 6.
Olaf’s death is very similar to another Disney death
Speaking of Olaf’s death scene, many Disney fans might have been traumatized by how eerily similar it is to another major Disney death that occurred on the big screen last year.
The way he starts to flurry and looks increasingly ill will be familiar to anyone who watched Avengers: Infinity War. In fact, Olaf’s death scene plays out almost exactly like Peter Parker’s infamous death in Tony Stark’s arms.
Elsa gets embarrassed about her past
During the “Show Yourself” sequence, Elsa walks through a room with many ice sculptures created from her past memories. At one point, she even sees the version of herself from Frozen singing “Let It Go.” Elsa winces awkwardly as she walks past, clearly a little embarrassed by the moment in time.
It is a joke for the audience since the song became so popular and overplayed that many got sick of it. However, it is also in reference to how Elsa was acting during that time when her powers were completely out of control and she didn’t notice.
Anna might have had déjà vu when seeing what Runeard did to the Northuldra
it is eventually discovered that King Runeard is the one responsible for causing the battle between Arendelle soldiers and the Northuldra. He gave them the dam not as a gift but as a way to choke them off from their waters and weaken their forces.
Runeard betrays the Northuldra by attacking their leader from behind while he is unarmed. Both Elsa and Anna are disgusted by this when they find out. It makes sense, particularly for Anna, as Runeard intending to strike the Northuldra while he is unaware is very similar to what happened between Hans and Elsa in the first film.
Next: Frozen 2: 5 Reasons The Soundtrack Is Better Than The Original (& 5 Reasons It’s Not)
