Domasian, Audrey Mae

B240 1st paper

Narrative Theory on Disneys Frozen

Theories such as narrative analysis provide a lens for us to review various media in terms of the content or plot and how is it presented, whether presented uniquely or presented as something we've seen time and time again, but with a different packaging. Narrative theory breaks down the structure of the stories present in the medium, from plot (beginning to end), the story or inferences created, characters and archetypes, details such as blocking of the characters and framing in the film, that all culminate to bring the film to life despite its plot that may or may not be as original as it seems.If following Vladimir Propps narrative theory in which all narratives are constructed out of 31 actions or functions (Uts.cc.utexas.edu, 2014), all Disney movie plots follow a certain pattern regardless of character or content. Propps first function, members of family absent itself from home is present in every Disney movie, from Snow Whites lack of parental figure that could have told her not to eat Apples from strange old ladies, to Lion Kings lack of father figure, to Frozen where the parents of protagonists, Elsa and Anna, have died. All Disney films have lacked parental figures or a parents lack of presence triggers a characters reaction which ultimately leads to the main plot. Propps theories of functions mixed with archetypes that form the basis of characters gives us a narrative look at all of Disneys major films. Protagonists are often seeking true love, such as Little Mermaids Ariel, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Frozen. All protagonists must give up a certain aspect of themselves prior to achieving true love, Ariel sacrificed her voice, Cinderellas midnight curfew, Rapunzels cutting of her hair, and Frozens Anna who nearly sacrificed herself for her sister.Despite many traditional formulas, specifically the portrayal of true love always being between a man and a woman (with the man saving the damsel-in-distress), Disney itself explored new narrative in Frozen by the main characters Elsa and Annas definition of true love. Not limited by man and woman notion, Frozen presents a different Disney through 4 main acts of love. Elsas sacrifice to distance herself from her sister, Anna, in fear of hurting Anna, can be counted as love. Annas sacrifice to save her sister instead of choosing true love is the most widely known act of love that the film promotes. Olaf the Snowmans sacrifice to bring Anna closer to the warmth of the fire even if it means melting, and saying Some people are worth melting for is another act of love. Lastly, is Hans dedication to save Anna as she was freezing to death by bringing her over to her betrothed Duke to be cured, and by doing so letting go of Anna with whom he was so in love with. Interplayed with causality and intetextuality, Disney mixes these acts of love into Frozen thus turning it into a hit movie that, for once, wasnt about the hero saving the damsel in distress, but about the love that needs sacrifice in order to stay true.

Characters explain key points of their personality and relationship with each other through songs (forming a semi-musical) as their own form of narration, like Do You Want To Build A Snowman or Love Is An Open Door, or Let It Go. Information from the songs are offered to the audience based on the characters lyrics and the matching actions on screen. Despite being an animation, the blend of characters movements and tune of the song becomes a cue for the audience to recognize a key moment. Both the narrative structure and the musical portion creates a relationship between the decoder and encoder, in which the decoder feels they are truly part of the Disney film and begin to root for the characters as if it were their own sisters. Roland Barthes states that narratives form by a hermeneutic code which enables the audience to understand a story, the code being enigma, delays of solution to enigma, and resolution to enigma (Cla.purdue.edu, 2014). In Frozen, the enigma is presented in 2 forms, the 1st being Elsa accidentally cursing the kingdom into eternal winter, and the 2nd being Anna wondering why Else is so distant and cold. The delay to the solution is the main question, how do you thaw a frozen heart? Finally, in resolution to enigma, Anna is told that only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart, thereby her act of true love (sacrificing herself to save her sister) warms her sisters heart and in turn warms the kingdom. While thawing a frozen heart seems the main point of the film, it can be seen as a metaphor for how to mend damaged relationships thus being the enigma to the film.The films peak reaches when the main characters are all in a snowy search for each other, which presents the range of knowledge to the audience. Compared to the restricted narration, where Elsa cant see where she is going and believes her sister to be dead, the unrestricted narration which is shown through multiple points of view shows us the sisters are just close to each other yet unaware due to the low visibility of the snowstorm. The audience waits at the edge of their seats cheering for the two sisters to meet shows how the restricted versus unrestricted narration play out at this climactic moment. Finally the snowstorm stops and our main characters gain visibility, however we see Anna almost frozen to death. The audience knows that an act of true love is needed to save Annas life, so we see Hans desperately trying to reach her for a kiss. On the other hand, Anna and the audience also see her sister who is about to be killed unknowingly. Which true love does Anna perform? As characters play out their role, the audience realizes their identification with the characters, and makes thus Disney successfully lures them into the Disney magic.The narrative of Frozen drastically changes the fairy tale ever after storyline that Disney itself established, yet all the while following a formula for success. Despite love and archetypes still present in the narrative, Froze defies traditional Disney in which a woman ends up with a man, but rather enforces love of family as true love. While Disney has built an empire on their animated films, its important to note that most of these narratives literally come from literary works. A narrative from a narrative, where Frozen is originally lifted from Hans Christian Andersons Snow Queen, shows us how a story can be translated from one medium to another. While themes are kept intact and some new twists are added, the fact remains that Frozen came from Snow Queen yet was created with new elements that ultimately a new narrative in its own right. Is anything truly original or is everything always a reinvention? Disney shows us how a classic story can still be explored by presenting a different light to a well-known tale.Sources:

Uts.cc.utexas.edu. (2014).Propp. [online] Retrieved from: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~timmoore/propp.html [Accessed: 5 Jan 2014].Cla.purdue.edu. (2014).Introduction to roland barthes, module on the five codes. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/narratology/modules/barthescodes.html [Accessed: 5 Jan 2014].