Frozen II is Prince Caspian Retold
Frozen II (2019) is an animated Disney movie and the sequel to Frozen, whose praises I sang last post because of its potential to lead kids toward life with God in the church—that is, its potential to lead kids toward a good life.
Frozen II did not disappoint me as a sequel. In Frozen II, Disney made a movie that teaches kids how to have a good life, and they did so well that they painted a picture of the Holy Spirit and His work through His people on His fallen earth.
I write to parents who are uncertain about whether to show their kids Frozen II, because I don’t want you to miss the helpful messages in this film. Wealth and power attract the worst elements of humanity, yet despite Disney’s wealth and power, they’re teaching kids wisdom for life.
I write to grandparents who are concerned that the society their descendants will inherit is becoming more wicked, because I want you to know that God’s grace still shows up, even in the most popular kids’ movie of last year.
And I write to American believers, because I believe that God’s grace is at work, and I believe that we can get on board with what He is doing. Let’s notice and rejoice in His truth together.
Frozen & The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Frozen II & Prince Caspian
The sequels to Frozen and LWW have a lot in common with each other, too.
Both Frozen II and Prince Caspian have problems with pacing. Their beginnings last too long. The action starts late.
The beginnings of both are depressing. They dwell on the brokenness that sin has brought to the earth and her children. All creation groans under the consequences of man’s sin, and the audience kind of groans too.
In both Frozen II and Prince Caspian, God appears gradually. At first it doesn’t look like He’s going to set things right at all. The main characters get only glimpses of Him, barely enough to go on—but enough.
And then in both, when God does appear, He sets things right—but He doesn’t choose to do it alone. He works alongside and through His little servants to bring about the mending of all things.
The Story of Frozen II
Frozen II begins with Elsa and Anna ruling their kingdom, Arendelle, together. On the surface, things are good, but Elsa starts to hear a voice calling her away to something more—she doesn’t know what, exactly.
She struggles with the tension between her duty to her people as queen and her sense of calling. Finally, she confesses that she hears the call and needs to follow it. Immediately the fire, earth, wind and water of her kingdom start going crazy, and her people are in danger.
Now Elsa’s duty and calling are lined up: she has to follow the voice to the Enchanted Forest, locate the four spirits of nature that have gone crazy, and find out what went wrong. Elsa, Anna and several others leave on their quest together.
See, this is why I say that this movie starts out slowly. Frozen managed to get to the central conflict after just one song. Frozen II takes 15 minutes, a pop song and a travel montage.
In the Enchanted Forest, they find Arendelle’s soldiers fighting with a native tribe. The fight has been frozen in time for 40 years. Elsa’s group works out a truce, then Elsa and Anna continue north, following Elsa’s call. Elsa believes the call is leading her to a glacier in the far north where she can find out how to set nature right again. She sends Anna and Olaf (their sentient-snowman friend) away for their own safety.
The glacier acts as a library of the earth’s history. Elsa goes inside, where she learns that her grandfather (also a king of Arendelle) swindled the native tribe. He built a dam on their land that looked like it was for the tribe’s benefit, but it was a trick. It actually weakened their natural resources.
After the dam was built, the chief asked Elsa’s grandfather about the dam’s true purpose, so he killed the unarmed chief, sparking the fight in the Enchanted Forest.
To learn this, Elsa has to enter a part of the glacier so deep that she freezes solid. Just before she dies, she sends a message to Anna about what their grandfather did. Anna and Olaf receive the message, then Olaf dies. Elsa’s magic brought him to life, so when Elsa died, Olaf did too.
Anna grieves losing her two best friends, but she realizes that she has to do the next right thing: she has to destroy the dam. The dam is holding back enough water to wash away Arendelle, but she destroys the dam anyway. The dam was built to oppress the native tribe; it is both unjust and a symbol of an oppressive relationship between the two people groups.
When the dam falls, Elsa thaws from her deep freeze and comes back to life. She rides through the water to the front of the wave from the dam, freezing the wave in place just before it crashes over Arendelle.
Elsa has learned (somehow) that her powers mean that she is a fifth spirit of nature, whose purpose it is to rule earth, wind, fire and water and be a bridge between nature and humans.
Anna becomes queen of Arendelle, and Elsa rules the Enchanted Forest. Duty, calling and identity align, and they both serve the well-being of their people.
The end.
And this is like Prince Caspian?
Yes! Both Prince Caspian and Frozen II are about God intervening in the world through His people to bring about justice. In both, when God restores creation by freeing it from the power of evil, all of nature responds with joy.
The destruction of the dam reminds me of the fantastic scene in Prince Caspian where the river god asks Aslan to free him from his bonds. In response, Aslan sends Dionysus and the Maenads to destroy the bridge the Telmarines have built over the river. The Bridge of Beruna is gone, and Lucy happily declares, “It’s the Fords of Beruna again!”
Neither story has it in for technology, necessarily, but both stories celebrate responsible interaction with nature.
In Prince Caspian, the restoration of creation involves some characters who don’t show up at Sunday School much. Drunken, raucous demigods are really happy to see Aslan. Why? Because Lewis thought that God created nature. Nature belonged to Him before its appropriation by the Greeks.
In Frozen II, restored creation looks like the spirits of earth, wind, fire and water living in harmony with humanity.
Frozen II uses the imagery of animism to depict nature. Lewis used the imagery of Greek gods and demigods. I don’t have a problem with either use of imagery. The point in both cases is that the earth is groaning under the oppression of sin and evil, and it rejoices when God’s salvation comes.
And God’s salvation is coming to the earth, not just to humans (Rom. 8:20-22).
Frozen II is a retelling of Prince Caspian, with really just one major tweak.
Prince Caspian is about Jesus. He works alongside His people to heal His earth from injustice. Aslan is visible (eventually), doing what only He can do, but asking His children to cooperate and share in His recreative joy. It’s a story about the goodness and joy of God’s kingdom on earth, and it’s a story about waiting well.
Frozen II is about the Holy Spirit. He works within His people to heal His earth from injustice. As Elsa discovers, He calls her to be who He designed her to be. Her cold/ice/etc. powers are a gift from Him to equip her for her calling.
Frozen II adds a theology of work to Prince Caspian’s theology of waiting well. It’s a story about the time between now and Aslan’s appearance, the time when the main way God works in the world is by calling and empowering His people. Like the gospel, Frozen II calls us beyond salvation to a meaningful life with God.
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