I finally watched Frozen 2 (I’m super late to the game, I know) and in preparing for the sequel I watched Frozen for the first time in forever!
Ha ha, seriously though. I remember seeing Frozen in the theaters back when it first came out (with my then-boyfriend/now-husband back when we got the lovey-butterflies about holding hands at the movies) and only watched it once more after that. I absolutely loved the Frozen music and couldn’t get enough of the soundtrack (still can’t!), but the rest of the movie I thought was perfectly fine and not really worth watching over and over and over again.
Until I watched it seven years later and LOVED it! The music, the hilarious Olaf, the feisty Anna, and of course Idina Menzel singing “Let It Go!”
Oh Idina. I know a whole generation will grow up knowing you as Elsa letting it go, but in my heart you’ll always be Elphaba defying gravity. You’re my favorite!
Despite how much I thoroughly enjoyed watching Frozen, it did remind me of my two biggest qualms with this movie that remain ever-present:
First: The ending is too easy. “Love is the answer!” *sparkle, sparkle, sparkle* All better! If Elsa had at least looked like unfreezing everything took even the smallest amount of effort I’d feel better. But let’s not dwell on that. I’ll accept your criticisms that I’m nitpicking here (and then I’ll tell you why you’re wrong), but let’s move on.
Second: Hans being a bad guy doesn’t make sense.
When I first saw the movie I audibly gasped in the theater when Hans revealed his true colors as a scumbag. Some people claimed to have seen it coming from miles away, but I’m calling all you people out. Check your pants, because they’re on fire!
I genuinely thought that Disney would try a new twist and throw a love triangle into the mix, unlike with all their previous Disney princesses. Anna fell head over heels for Hans because she was swept up in the romantic moment, but they were never truly in love. They were infatuated with each other, yes, charmed by each other, definitely, but not in love. Anna’s relationship with Kristoff, however, contrasted Hans to model the more realistic idea that love takes time to nurture and develop. Great duet partners, though lots of fun, don’t always make great true loves.
I was so impressed when I thought Disney was going for this new and unexplored route (mostly new and mostly unexplored; see the below clip) to tackle more realistic and complicated relationship dynamics. I was sure Hans would kiss Anna to try to save her life, but then they’d both be baffled as to why it didn’t work. The answer? Anna of course would discover it first: they weren’t actually in love. She loved Kristoff, while she only was charmed by Hans. Big difference.
Nope! Man, was I wrong!
Frozen tried to break many Disney stereotypes they themselves created, but they’ve over-corrected themselves on this one. They’ve gone from the one extreme idea: “Sing a duet with a handsome man and he’ll be your prince charming!” to the new idea: “Don’t sing duets with men because they’re probably just trying to kill you.” Wow. You never do anything halfway, do you Disney?
But that’s beside the point. The point is this: Hans being a bad guy is a mistake!
Look at the story from Hans’ point of view and we come to two possible explanations for his actions:
- He’s incredibly stupid, or…
- The writers were so keen on making his big evil reveal a surprise that they compromised continuity and plot for it. Aka, Hans is poorly written.
Think of other famous twist endings. A good twist doesn’t come out of the blue, but has lots of hints and clues littered throughout the movie that upon later re-watchings you finally see, but they were there the whole time!
But not so much with Hans. The closest to a clue I’ve seen is when the internet discovered that Hans wore gloves throughout the whole movie, a symbol of concealing secrets. Big whoop. For such a significant plot twist I need a little something more concrete than a vague reference to his outfit, please.
I will analyze the story of Frozen from Hans’s perspective and you be the judge: is he simply an unintelligent meanie pants or is he the product of poor writing?
Let’s dive right in.
Prince Hans, the youngest of a whole pile of princey brothers, hatches his evil scheme at home. “The only way I’ll ever get a throne of my own is to marry into one. Now all I need is a crown princess somewhere.” Ta da! Thus arrives the invitation for Princess Elsa’s coronation. Perfect!
“I can marry the mysterious and reclusive Elsa and become king, or I can marry her sister and then kill Elsa and still become the king! Coolio!” Guess who is the first to sign up to represent his royal family at the coronation ceremony? Good ol’ Hans himself.
Cue his arrival scene at Arendelle along with the other guests. Out bursts a cute, charming girl singing a catchy little song. She’s adorably clumsy, crashes into his horse, then nearly falls off the dock. Having no knowledge of who this girl is, Hans behaves very gentlemanly and helps her. Not a very villainous start, if you ask me. And what a coincidence indeed when this cute ginger turns out to be Princess Anna herself, his Plan B. Everything is working out just peachy so far, isn’t it?
“He knew who she was!” I hear some skeptics whining. “It was all a show!” To which I tsk my tongue. Remember this isn’t a universe where social media and profile pictures exist. Also remember that Anna has been locked up inside the castle for years with only the bare minimum of castle staff as company. Are you trying to tell me that one of the few castle staff was actually a sketch artist, drew her picture, and took it to the Southern Isles to show Hans? I’m going to go with no. Hans has no idea who this girl is until she introduces herself halfway through their little encounter. If you want to argue that the remainder of this little scene is Hans putting on a big show I might give you that except…
Pause the movie! This, right here: this smile.
What is the point of smiling behind her back? Remember, at this point he’s still planning to marry Elsa, not Anna, so I won’t accept any arguments thinking that he’s “wickedly” smiling because his plan to woo this girl is working; he hasn’t started wooing her yet because he wants to take a crack at Elsa first, remember? Besides, this isn’t the dark smile of a conniving murderer, but of a man genuinely happy with a cute encounter he had with a charming girl.
Smiling here has only one purpose: to throw the audience off, which is a cheap move by the writers. This is why I call foul on all you who try to claim you “just knew he was up to no good from the beginning.” Either you’re very confused or very unobservant.
But honest and heartwarming smile aside, let’s continue. Hans goes to the coronation and is disappointed to find that Plan-A-Elsa really is as reclusive and cold (ha ha, see what I did there?) as he’s heard, and so he turns his sights toward Plan-B: Anna. Happy duet, dancing through the castle, marriage proposal, and badda-bing, badda-boom! Things are moving even better and faster than he’d hoped; Anna is a pushover!
Then Elsa freaks out, forbids the marriage, and ices all over the place. Everyone is super spooked, including Hans.
Elsa runs away and Anna follows her, leaving Hans in charge. Things seem to be working out after all. This is what he wanted, right? So far, so good. He plays up his I-would-make-such-a-good-king-because-I-pass-out-blankets-like-a-pro-and-now-all-the-people-love-and-trust-me role quite nicely. Well done, Hans.
Hans didn’t expect to be dealing with an ice witch here, but remember he still wants the throne and he still needs to marry Anna and then murder Elsa to get it. His overall goal hasn’t changed.
Then the plot thickens. When Anna’s horse returns alone, Hans agrees that a second expedition to find Elsa—and now Anna—is necessary and rounds up volunteers, including the two big obviously-villainous Weselton cronies.
They all go to Elsa’s ice castle, battle Marshmallow the snow monster, and Hans watches those Weselton thugs run past the beast into the castle, weapons drawn. They are so clearly meant to distract the audience from Hans being the real bad guy, but even Hans clearly suspects them in this moment and surely must have some idea of what they’re planning to do: they’re planning to kill her. He follows them.
If Hans were smart, he’d put two and two together: Elsa has to die to leave the throne open for him, and these guys want to kill Elsa.
Hmm. What to do, what to do?
Come on, Hans, it’s not that hard. The stage is perfectly set. He should just let those Weselton baddies do the dirty work, then make himself out to be the hero who arrests and convicts those horrible murderers. It’s too easy.
He could go to Anna in tears and say, “I’m so sorry. I tried to stop them. I had no idea that’s what they were planning. I’ll avenge her!” and so on. Anna’s love and devotion to him would triple, the hero who tried to save her sister. All he needs after that is a quick wedding and the crown is his! Easy peasy. Hans’ evil plan is successful!
Roll end credits.
That’s what Hans should do. That’s what makes the most sense if he really is an evil villain. It’s not rocket science. Instead, let’s take a look at what Hans actually does.
He saves Elsa’s life. The Weselton bad guy aims his crossbow and has a clear shot, while Hans is across the room. It would have been easy, easy, EASY to just let that arrow fly and take Elsa down.
Not only does he knock the crossbow away, saving her life, but just moments before he encourages Elsa, “Don’t be the monster they fear you are!”
Think of that line in the context that Hans secretly wants Elsa dead. It would be to his benefit to allow Elsa to go completely nuts and start murdering people. Remember his I-would-make-such-a-good-king-because-I-pass-out-blankets-like-a-pro bit he was so successfully working? If he’s trying to gain favor among the people—which would be a very intelligent thing to do—then he should let Elsa crucify herself.
The people are already spooked by her out-of-nowhere ice powers, and their trust in her is quickly diminishing. Hans could easily play up the ice-witch-who-went-nuts-and-started-murdering-people bit, especially since Elsa’s greatest advocate, Anna, is currently MIA. “Wouldn’t you rather have someone stable, sane, and who can pass out blankets like a pro for your monarch?” “We want you, Hans! Not that crazy Elsa chick!” they would all sing back to him.
And to boot, the Weselton guys would still have been the ones to get their hands dirty by actually killing her, still leaving Hans in the clear.
So the motivation behind this particular line, “Don’t be the monster they fear you are,” makes no sense. Another big show, maybe? Or is it, like that smile at the beginning, the writers trying so hard to throw you off the scent that they’re erasing the scent completely?
To sum up, does saving Elsa’s life sound like a villain? No. Does he achieve anything by blocking the arrow? No. Does this action match up with his evil plot in any way? No.
I hear your counter argument; I thought of it initially, answering my own confusion when I first saw this gaping plot hole. It’s simple, right? Hans wanted to keep Elsa alive so she could stop the blizzard—no one wants to be king of a frozen wasteland, after all. Then he could kill her afterward and get back on track with his original plan. Of course!
Wrong!
Seriously, I thought this was the answer, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it didn’t add up. Keep this possible motive in mind and I’ll explain why it doesn’t work as we continue through the story.
Fast forward. Elsa wakes up chained, imprisoned, and with her hands bolted in these blocky cuff thingies. Enter Hans and he specifically tells her, “I couldn’t just let them kill you.”
Why? Why not, Hans? Why?
He asks her to end the winter. She tells him that she doesn’t know how.
What does he do now? Nothing. He leaves. He had her alone and at his mercy. Why not murder her there? With no witnesses he could tell the people anything; she attacked him and it was self-defense. Heck, he could even chalk up her death as suicide. Based on his next lie to everyone else about marrying Anna, he clearly has no qualms with lying and seems to prefer the no-witnesses M.O. But, for no purpose whatsoever, he lets her live.
Again, this action (or lack of it) doesn’t add up with his villainous intentions. Why wouldn’t he kill her then and there? Because the writers wanted to hold off on their big reveal for as long as possible—in other words, for no reason at all.
I brought this issue up to my family once and my brother actually came up with the only plausible answer for this: Why didn’t Hans kill Elsa right there in her cell?
“Maybe he forgot his sword.”
I laughed but it’s actually true. He’s weaponless in this scene (unless he’s got like a poison dart up his sleeve or something like that). So sure, for now I’ll give him that benefit of the doubt; stupid Hans forgot his stinking sword when asking Elsa to unfreeze Arendelle and then had to leave to go get it. While he’s looking for said sword, Elsa escapes.
Fast forward again. Anna returns half-frozen and begs Hans to kiss her—an act of true love. Hans finally makes his big reveal: he’s been a bad guy this whole time! He doesn’t actually love Anna, but is only using her to get the crown! Muah ha ha ha!
Let’s return momentarily to the idea that Hans isn’t very intelligent. He leaves Anna alone to supposedly freeze to death. Shame on him for not staying to make sure she was actually dead, which is the number one rule in the How to Avoid Shody Villain Work handbook. Shame, shame, shame.
Side Note: Of all villains, Voldemort gets a lot of flack online for not being able to kill a baby, but at least even his 16-year-old Horcrux-in-a-diary soul-bit had the basic intelligence to watch Harry die and not just walk away: Chamber of Secrets page 321: “I’m going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I’m in no hurry.”
Back to Frozen.
Next, Hans tells the castle staff that he and Anna performed their marriage vows right before she “died.”
Do you honestly think that’s going to hold up? There were no witnesses to this “marriage” and no officiator. So he thinks the Arendelle priests are just going to shrug it off: “You say you’re the king now? Okay, that’s cool.” Surely there would be at least some opposition to that. Do Elsa and Anna have distant relatives somewhere who are third, fourth, or fifth in line? Or maybe whoever was running the place during those three years in between the king’s and queen’s deaths and Elsa’s coronation might have some claim to the throne over Hans (where is that guy anyway? Why are the only ones trying to solve anything here are all of these foreign visitors?). I’m sure no one else in the world will object to Hans’ super shallow “we said our marriage vows” claim.
But this is all beside the point.
Again, remember we’re looking at this from Hans’ point of view. Anna is dead (or so he stupidly assumes) and “married” to him and he charges Elsa with treason, who is discovered to have escaped and is now out wandering who-knows-where.
And so he just marches out there to kill her.
At least he remembered to take his sword this time.
But why? Why, Hans?
Again, the stage is already set for an easy takeover. Anna is out of the way (or so he assumes), Elsa has taken herself out of the way, and everyone else already believes Hans is in charge. Dude, sit back and enjoy your victory! If Elsa ever comes back, resume Plan A and kill her! Put her on trial for that treason you charged her with and then sentence her to death. It’s not that hard.
Aha, now we come back to that one possible motivation I mentioned earlier: Hans still doesn’t want to rule over a frozen ice chunk. That’s why he saved her life, right? That’s why he captured her and asked her oh so politely to simply unfreeze things, right?
Let’s ponder that. At this point in the story, Elsa has already admitted that she doesn’t know how to stop the blizzard. At best, perhaps Hans now concludes that killing Elsa will end her eternal winter spell (a good conclusion if he’s ever watched something like The Little Mermaid; isn’t it lucky that killing Ursula ended all her magic and they didn’t have to sit and fret about how to turn King Triton and everyone else back from seaweed into Merpeople? Or Aladdin, or Sleeping Beauty, or a bunch of those. But I digress).
It’s a good conclusion, however, THIS TOTALLY NEGATES HIS ONLY REASON FOR SAVING HER LIFE FROM MR. WESELTON BADDIES’ ARROW.
If he thought killing her would end the blizzard, then he should have let her die way back then. Or later when she was chained and imprisoned, completely defenseless at his feet and admitting that she can’t end the blizzard, HE TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE KILLED HER THEN TOO!
Why bother asking her to unfreeze everything if he already assumes that killing her will automatically unfreeze it?
Do you see why this makes no sense? Hans’ end goal is for Elsa to be dead and for Arendelle to be unfrozen; killing Elsa—or allowing the Weselton Baddies to kill her—would achieve both his goals at once; it’s a two-birds-with-one-stone situation here, plain and simple.
Funny how that would work out so nicely, yet Hans so conveniently doesn’t do that. Twice. Why?
Poor writing, that’s why. Both of these scenes are gaping plot holes that everyone ignores. Hans himself is a gaping plot hole with no purpose to the story except for his forced and unnatural shock value.
I began this by saying Hans is either very stupid or the writers did a very poor job. There is actually a possible third option that I don’t take seriously whatsoever, but I do get a good chuckle out of. A popular internet theory regarding Hans is that the trolls cursed him. According to this theory, Hans actually was a good guy and genuinely did fall in love with Anna up until the trolls sang, “Fixer-Upper.” A line in the song says “get the fiancé out of the way” which some have interpreted as meaning that the trolls cursed Hans to no longer love Anna, which then turns him evil.
It’s kind of a funny little theory, except that it has no basis whatsoever in any solid evidence from the movie. But I find it so amusing because it shows that I’m not the only one who thinks that Hans’ motives are totally whacked.
So which explanation do you think fits the best? Is Hans either cursed by trolls, incredibly stupid, or just poorly written? Personally I’m going for that last option. I think the writers tried so hard to make his evil identity a surprise that they ruined it for themselves; the surprise was too surprising, literally unbelievable. Therefore, I don’t believe it.
