12/30/2014 Elsa the Snow Queen - DisneyWiki Search this wikia Start a wikia Elsa the Snow Queen “In Arendelle's fair kingdom, a ruler did appear. Born with a secret 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.” ʊFrozen trailer's narration Queen Elsa of Arendelle (also known as the Snow Queen) is the deuteragonist of Disney's Academy Award-winning 2013 animated feature film, Frozen. She is the older sister of Princess Anna and was next in line for Arendelle's throne, until her powers over ice and snow led her to becoming the famous Snow Queen. She is voiced by Idina Menzel. Elsa is loosely based on the title character of "The Snow Queen", a short story by Hans Christian Andersen, and to a much lesser extent, Kai from the same story. While the character from the original fairy tale was neutral, Elsa was rewritten as the deuteragonist. She will join the Disney Princess line-up, along with her sister making her the 13th Disney Princess and the first queen in the line-up.[2] Contents Background Official Disney Bio From the outside, Elsa looks poised, regal and reserved, but in reality, she lives in fear as she wrestles with a mighty secret—she was born with the power to create ice and snow. It's a beautiful ability, but also extremely dangerous. Haunted by the moment her magic nearly killed her younger sister Anna, Elsa has isolated herself, spending every waking minute trying to suppress her growing powers. Her mounting emotions trigger the magic, accidentally setting off an eternal winter that she can't stop. She fears she's becoming a monster and that no one, not even her sister, can help her. Development Elsa Elsa was originally portrayed as a dramatic, evil, heartless, theatrical villain in early drafts of the film, akin to Background information villains of Disney's past such as Cruella De Vil in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Ursula in The Little Feature Frozen films Mermaid, as well as being unrelated to Anna. However, as the film's development went into several problems story-wise, two major changes were made; the alteration of Elsa's moral role in the story, and her Television It's a Small World: The Animated programs Series (cameo) relationship with Anna. Once the two became sisters, the filmmakers felt it would open new possibilities for Once Upon a Time story elements, making the process of finalizing the completion of the Disney adaptation of The Snow Video Frozen: Free Fall Queen all the more accessible. Elsa's original portrayal as a villain (her original intended villain role is shown games Disney INFINITY Disney INFINITY 2.0 in a deleted scene made early in development) depicted her as being a ruthless, cold-hearted tyrant who had Hidden Worlds an entire army of giant snowmen as henchmen (who would eventually be replaced by one giant snowman, Club Penguin Marshmallow), and was designedEntertainment to resembleVideo either Games Bette LifestyleMidler (Georgette the poodle's voice actress) or Park World of Color the late singer Amy Winehouse, where she was depicted with spiky black or dark blue hair (and even blue- attractions Disney Dreams! Celebrate the Magic gray skin), a more angular body (as opposed to the final, heroic Elsa's rounder body) and constantly Disney Magic on Parade malicious smile, and wearing a clearly sinister-looking outfit made from live ermines; as opposed to having Festival of Fantasy Parade Princess Fairytale Hall an innocent, angelic appearance and personality seen in the final film, and was originally going to be very Mickey's Soundsational Parade hostile and bitter toward others and simply resented everyone instead of being fearful and insecure about not A Frozen Holiday Wish Mickey's Once Upon a wanting to appreciate her powers, and was going to by voiced by Will and Grace actress Megan Mullally An early 3D model for the Christmastime Parade villainous Elsa. (Mullally likely voiced "Evil Elsa" in aforementioned deleted scence, since her voice sounded nothing like A Christmas Fantasy Parade that of Menzel's). However, this did not work out very well, as it would've been difficult for her to reform if Portrayed by Georgina Haig (in Once Upon a she was an outright evil villain, and after listening to the song "Let It Go", intended to be Elsa's villain song Time) when it was written, the writers realized that her motivations of self-empowerment and wanting to be herself were too positive to be Animators Wayne Unten expressed by a villain and did not fit the villain role, and as a result, instead of changing the lyrics they ended up changing the plot, and Tony Smeed therefore the character was changed from a villainous role to an anti-heroic role seen in the actual film (this may have also led to the Voice Idina Menzel Eva Bella (as a child) creation of the film's real villain, Hans, as with the evil Snow Queen Ingrid, her aunt). Spencer Lacey Ganus (as a teenager) Voice Performance Katie Lowes Actress and singer Megan Mullally was originally cast to voice Elsa, but was replaced by Broadway actress Idina Menzel, best known for model performing Elphaba from Wicked. Menzel already knew Kristen Bell, who voiced Anna, and had previously auditioned for a lead role in the Designer Brittney Lee 2010 Walt Disney film Tangled. She was not cast for the part, but the casting director recorded her singing and later showed the recording Bill Schwab to Frozen's film executives. Menzel was surprised when she was subsequently asked to audition, and she received the role after reading Jin Kim the script out loud. Inspiration Kai and the Snow Queen from the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale Director Chris Buck believed that Menzel's vocals would help in the portrayal of the character, saying, "Idina has a sense of vulnerability in The Snow Queen Elphaba from Wicked her voice. She plays a very strong character, but someone who lives in fear—so we needed someone who could portray both sides of the Honors and 1st Place in Time's Most Influential character, and Idina was just amazing." awards Fictional Characters of 2014 http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Elsa_the_Snow_Queen 1/18 12/30/2014 Elsa the Snow Queen - DisneyWiki In an interview with Menzel, she acknowledged the similarities between Elsa and Elphaba. She mentioned they were both very powerful 6th Place in WatchMojo.com's Top 10 Modern Disney Animated and misunderstood individuals, and she herself could relate to the characters, having hidden her singing talent from her peers at school. "I Characters didn't want to alienate anyone," she explained. "If everyone was singing along in the car to a Madonna song, I didn't join in because when Character information we're younger we're afraid of sticking out or showing off, when in fact we should own those things that make us really unique." Full name Queen Elsa of Arendelle Characterization Other names Elsa The Snow Queen Following the casting of Idina Menzel, Elsa's characterization underwent several alterations. According to Menzel, she was originally Queen Elsa scripted as a one-dimensional antagonist but was gradually revised as a more vulnerable, multifaceted figure. Menzel further described her Monster character as "extremely complicated and misunderstood". Personality Elegant, powerful, caring, reserved, warm, protective, kind, remorseful, Director Jennifer Lee stated that Elsa is largely driven by fear throughout the film. Producers identified the scene in which Elsa sings "Let It insecure, selfless, intelligent, independent, playful, artistic, Go" as a pivotal point in the character's development, as the scene depicts her choice to "let go" of her fear of using her powers and be practical, down-to-earth herself. Character design supervisor Bill Schwab said, "Before 'Let It Go', Elsa is really buttoned up, her hair is up—everything is perfect. Appearance Slender, beautiful, 21 years old, pale During the song, she gives herself permission to be who she is and everything changes — her hair is more wild, her gown is magical. She's skin, light freckles, rosy cheeks, pink finally free — even if she is all alone." lips, long platinum blonde hair, blue eyes Lead writer Paul Briggs explained that Anna's support is what Elsa needs most when her secret is exposed. "The strength of the family Birthday December 21[1] bond is what makes this story so powerful because it's her sibling who's willing to look beyond her powers and stand between her and the Occupation Princess of Arendelle (formerly) world if that's what it takes." Queen of Arendelle Personality Alignment Good As the queen regnant of the kingdom of Arendelle, Elsa appears calm, reserved, regal and, Goal To suppress and control her abilities for the safety of her family, friends unlike her sister, is experienced in grace, energy, and poise. Beneath this elegant and subjects (succeeded) appearance, however, Elsa is quite complex; in truth, Elsa is troubled with her abilities — a Home Arendelle trait that stems from a traumatic incident as a child. When she was younger, she had cared Relatives Anna (younger sister) strongly for Anna and, although she was the more mature and reserved of the two sisters, King Adgar and Queen Idun Elsa was still quite playful. However, ever since her magic nearly caused her sister's (parents; deceased) Once Upon a Time: death, Elsa had lived in fear and trauma for a great amount of her life, too nervous to let Ingrid and Helga (aunts; deceased) her powers overdevelop.