Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee released the new film“Frozen II” last week. Photo from TheWeek.In.Com
by Kayla Michaud and Kayla Laguerre-Lewis
“Frozen II” lets viewers know early on “Some Things Never Change” as we see the same characters we know and love, but with a little twist of maturity.
For example, in “Frozen II” Olaf becomes one of the most relatable characters for college students as he explores the concepts of growing up, existentialism and trying to make sense of the world around him. Just listen to his big number, “When I Am Older,” and you can hear the subtext of confusion and fear mixed with the jolly bliss of ignorance. Olaf is struggling to understand just why everything is happening, but putting complete trust in the fact that when he’s older it will all make sense. While crazy things are happening, he tries his best to trivialize them with the help of an overly-optimistic attitude.
However, we’re sure that many college students related to Olaf’s philosophies of life when they were younger and perhaps still hold onto them today. The songwriters manage to perfectly unite audiences of all ages with these unique, but altogether human experiences (all sung by a magic-made snowman).
We meet Elsa again three years into her reign as Queen of Arendelle, and while she’s now a beloved queen, it doesn’t mean all of her troubles are behind her. She is now not just trying to determine her future, but also unravel the truth of the past. Elsa’s always been seen as more mature, especially beside her sister Anna, but her actions in this film cause both of them to do some growing up.
Anna must once again journey to save her sister and her country, but this time, she must take the lead on her own. In the original “Frozen,” Anna was a boy-crazy, hopeless romantic, and to an extent, she still is. However, here we see her begin to prioritize her relationship with her sister above all else. She recognizes that there are some things that she must do on her own, as a sister and as a princess.
This is not to say that she did it all on her own, she still had Olaf partially on her side, learning from each other along the way. Don’t worry, Kristoff is still around, he’s just a little “Lost in the Woods.” While Olaf is singing about a better, less complicated future, Anna is only just now realizing that just because she has an older sister, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t have to act older as well.
A lot of the understanding of the character’s development throughout the film comes from seeing the first one. However, if you happened to miss it, don’t worry Olaf will recap it for you.