Finally! Disney fans have been clamoring for weeks for a trailer that shows the formerly eponymous Snow Queen, Elsa, in all her glory. Well, the wait was worth it because the Elsa Frozen trailer is finally here.
Playbill got the exclusive trailer, which not coincidentally is the first trailer to showcase the film’s incredible songs by songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. Elsa and songs in one trailer? I think I may just die and go to snow heaven.
Watch the trailer below or here:
Trailer Breakdown
Alright, so first off, we hear an ominous-sounding narrator introducing the film’s main conflict in a storybook-like rhyme: “In Arendelle’s fair kingdom, a ruler did appear. Born with a power so great, alone she stayed in fear. Although the force was hidden, one day she let it go. And all the land was covered in eternal ice and snow.” From this simple introduction, the viewer understands that this is a fairytale that we’ve come to love and expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
I also love the internal conflict we see within Elsa from the very beginning. During the coronation and her icy powers begin to slip out while holding the royal sceptre and globus cruciger as we hear her say, “Get it together. Control it.” We even get a glimpse of little Elsa at 0:17, hiding in her room as ice radiates around her. Obviously, hiding these powers have been a nonstop challenge and battle for her entire life.
We see Elsa flee and it finally became clear to me what was happening in this scene. Elsa is running away from Arendelle on the water, each step she takes on the water turns to ice, allowing her to safely cross without falling in. How cool is that?! She also begins to unleash her powers in front of the kingdom residents, to their horror.
We also get to see how important gloves are to containing Elsa’s powers (much like Rogue from X-men). After Elsa flees, we see her discard the gloves and they float into the wind, ultimately signifying that she is ready to “Let It Go.”
We then move into the Kristoff, Anna, Sven, and Olaf traveling scenes, which help to lighten up the mood. I love the part where Olaf (unbeknownst to Anna and Kristoff) is walking behind them and says, “I bet she’s the nicest person ever.” Anna and Kristoff turn around, thinking Sven just starting talking, and Sven makes the goofiest face.
While Elsa is out of the picture and in hiding, we still see scenes of her: creating Olaf, hiding, using her powers. The second half of the trailer features some reused footage from the first theatrical trailer: feisty pants Anna, the attacking wolves, Olaf’s unicorn nose. Although, we are also introduced another interesting plot line: Anna’s hair progressively becoming more and more white. She starts out with a simple white streak, then that expands, until finally her whole head is white. Another comedic moment happens when Kristoff says, “Your hair. It’s turning white.” Anna replied, “Does it look bad?” To which Kristoff slightly pauses before answering, which Olaf joyfully calls out. We also We see Olaf dancing with the, until now, nonexistent trolls.
Hans also appears a lot more in this trailer. We get to see a tender moment between Prince Hans and a vulnerable Anna. Then we see Hans barging into Elsa’s ice fortress and then pleading with her “to stop the winter, please.” To which Elsa replied, “Can’t you see? I can’t.” I also am pretty fond of Elsa’s fall, which has become the staple move of Disney heroines during distressing times.
The saddest part of the trailer is seeing Elsa captive in prison, bound by chains. But then the title cards say that “Family is the strongest magic of all.” So hopefully, Anna will come to her rescue.
Also, you’re not an official Disney princess until you do the classic “Disney princess fall.” You know what I’m talking about: that moment in every Disney princess film where the heroine falls down in despair, completely overcome. Snow White did it after escaping the scary forest, Aurora did it after learning she couldn’t meet Prince Phillip, and even Cinderella did it after her dress was destroyed and she couldn’t go to the ball. Well, looks like Elsa does it too!
The Music
We finally get to hear a bit of Anna’s song “For The First Time in Forever”, which thankfully sounds nothing like “For Always and Forever” from The Swan Princess. It’s a charming song that even features a little bit of a duet with Elsa. Kristen Bell definitely has that sweet-sounding Princess singing voice we’ve come to love over the years.
The trailer claims this is the “Greatest Animated Event…since The Lion King.” Wow. That is a really high standard. Let’s hope it lives up to that promise.
Final Thoughts
The trailer really does a fantastic job portraying the more serious plot elements, while balancing that with the humor that his “comedy adventure” has.
Frozen opens in theatres November 27, 2013.