By now it is well-documented that Disney‘s Frozen went through many twists and different iterations before they got to the version of the film about sisterly bonds that millions of fans now know and love.
Today, however, we now have more insight into what Frozen‘s original ending was – and the tough nut it was to crack, before the filmmakers got to the ending we know today.
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Speaking with EW, Producer Peter Del Vecho walked through the process of creative redirection that led them to making the characters of Anna and Elsa sisters. In an earlier draft of the story, Elsa was (as is known) a more classic version of a Disney villain – but that didn’t mean directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee didn’t have a fun ending planned.
Now you can read for yourself what that Frozen ending would’ve been, as reported from the mouth of Del Vecho himself:
NEXT PAGE: Frozen’s Original Ending
Frozen’s Original Ending
As Del Vecho Told EW:
“Frozen went through many different iterations, but here are some common elements from some of the early drafts: Frozen was to open with a prophecy that “a ruler with a frozen heart will bring destruction to the kingdom of Arendelle.”
We’re then introduced to Anna, our pure-hearted heroine, and Elsa, an unrelated evil Snow Queen. We learn Elsa is a scorned woman; she was stood up at the altar on her wedding day and froze her own heart so she would never love again. Both Elsa and the audience assume she’s the villain from the prophecy.
Fast-forward to the final act: Elsa creates an army of snow monsters to attack our heroes while Kristoff has “a Han Solo moment” and comes to help Anna. To halt Elsa’s attacking army, the two-faced Prince Hans triggers a massive avalanche — not caring that the avalanche also puts Anna, Elsa and all of Arendelle in jeopardy. Anna realizes Elsa is their only hope, so she convinces her to use her powers to save the kingdom.
The twist is that the prophecy from the beginning is actually not about Elsa, but about Hans — he’s the one with a metaphorical frozen heart because he’s an unfeeling sociopath. Elsa’s heart is then unfrozen allowing her to love again.”
Next Page: Why The Ending Was Changed
Why the Ending Was Changed
According to Del Vecho, the ending of Frozen had to be changed along with the entire premise, due to a lack of a connection with Elsa, in particular:
“The problem was that we felt like we had seen it before. It wasn’t satisfying. We had no emotional connection to Elsa — we didn’t care about her because she had spent the whole movie being the villain. We weren’t drawn in. The characters weren’t relatable.”
Once the characters of Anna and Elsa became sisters in the script, a new ending was easy to find, according to Del Vecho:
“Making them related led us to the idea of her living in fear of her powers… Now we had a character in Anna who was all about love and Elsa who was all about fear. That led to making Elsa a much more dimensional sympathetic character, and instead of the traditional good vs. evil theme we had one that we felt was more relatable: Love vs. fear, and the premise of the movie became that love is stronger than fear.”
Not only did Frozen accomplish that, it also became a milestone for young girls dealing with the challenges of sisterhood; the first Disney princess tale that was a love story between girls (not that way…); and so much more.
If you’ve ever wondered what kind of challange it is to make a Disney movie – now you have a slightly better idea of it.
Frozen is still sitting at a 3.67/5 rating in our user rankings – but that should probably be way higher! Let us know how much you liked the film by rating it below!
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