Show yourself.
Frozen II continues the adventures of Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven. It could have easily been a cynical cash-in, where the main character regresses and learns the same lesson she did in the prior film. But Frozen II takes efforts to advance Elsa and Anna's character arcs--to challenge the sisters in ways they haven't been tested before.
In this film, we learn where Elsa's ice powers come from. And there isn't a traditional antagonist; the one person who could legitimately be considered a villain is long dead. Rather, this is a movie about dealing with sins of the past--of righting past wrongs, even if it comes at the cost of one's self.
The digital release of Frozen II is currently out, but if you're simply curious to know what special feature and deleted scenes come with it, we have the rundown for you here.. Make sure you purchase the digital version with "Plus Bonus Content," rather than the bare-bones standard version; on Amazon Prime, both editions cost the exact same amount.
1. Alternate Prologue
In the opening prologue of Frozen II, we see a flashback to the rift between Arendelle and the Northuldra tribe. An alternate prologue features Mattias in a more central, plot-pivotal role. He's the one who rescues a young Agnarr and Iduna (Anna and Elsa's parents) from the chaos, and he places them in the back of the wagon that brings them to Arendelle.
2. The Secret Room
In this scene, Anna and Elsa explore a secret room in the castle (which Olaf discovered). By reading through the books and journals contained within, they discover that their father, King Agnarr, was studying magic and the cause of Elsa's powers. The scene contains foreshadowing of Queen Iduna's link to the Northuldra tribe, and it reveals that Anna and Elsa's parents were protecting them more proactively than they realized.
3. Elsa's Dreams
This scene demonstrates another one of Elsa's powers; when she dreams, she projects her mental images into the real world via ice and snow. Anna sees Elsa's visions of their parents' past, and although they are pleasant dreams at first, they quickly devolve into nightmares.
4. Anna Gets Closure
In this scene, Elsa conjures for Anna a vision of their parents, right before they leave on their doomed voyage. Anna sees that her parents trusted her to love and care for her sister. She learns that they intended to tell her about Elsa's ice powers when they returned from their trip. And lastly, Anna learns how highly her parents thought of her. "Her love could hold up the world," Queen Iduna says.
Also, there's a quick throwaway line in this deleted scene that's very revealing. Anna is talking to Elsa about rebuilding the castle, which means that in an earlier draft of the script, Arendelle was probably flooded and destroyed, as Anna had originally intended. This makes perfect sense in retrospect; the ending the filmmakers went with--to have Elsa save Arendelle from flooding at the last minute--seemed like an instance of having your cake and eating it too.
5. The Nokk Test
The water spirit in Frozen II is a water horse called a Nokk. Originally, the filmmakers intended for the Nokk to read people's honesty; if you had truth in your heart, the Nokk would let you ride it; if not, it would try to drown you.
In this scene, Kristoff, who's hiding his romantic feelings from Anna, struggles to say what he feels as the Nokk continually submerges him in water. It's funny and just dark enough.
6. "Unmeltable Me"
Instead of covering Olaf with a mini snowstorm at all times, per his ending in the first Frozen film, Elsa gives him a perma-frost covering in Frozen II, which probably made the film's animators breathe a sigh of relief.
The current movie relays this information to the audience with a single throwaway line. But this deleted song, "Unmeltable Me," has Olaf celebrating his new permafrost with the castle's servants.
7. "Home"
Probably the best deleted scene/song left on the cutting room floor, "Home" has Anna running through Arendelle, singing about how she loves her kingdom and everyone in it. Not only is it catchy, it also foreshadows how she will eventually become Queen of Arendelle; her unyielding, effusive love makes her qualified for the position in a way that Elsa is not.
8. "Get This Right"
This deleted song has Kristoff singing about wanting to propose to Anna when everything is perfect--which, of course, will never happen. It ends with Anna proposing to Kristoff, which he happily accepts. It was probably a smart choice to cut this number; it takes away from Kristoff's character arc, and his feelings of love were better expressed in the '80s-esque pop ballad "Lost in the Woods," which remained in the film.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.