Frozen Week Bonus: Why I'm Happy That Elsa Wasn't The Villian

Hello  & welcome  to a Bonus Frozen Week article.  Now I  went back and forth on what to cover for this finale but ultimately I decided to talk about something I'm glad that was changed in the final draft of the movie.   Watch this clip and you'll see what I mean.

It's not included with this clip but on the Blu-Ray, Chris Buck mentions that  they ultimately decided not to make Elsa the villain because they found her more interesting  as  a character on the side of good and ultimately,  I have to  agree.  Now  yes,   in The Snow Queen,  the main antagonist  was The Snow Queen but  the thing is adaptions are allowed to stray,  if they feel that it'll enhance or improve upon the story and here I think that did because Elsa being on the side  of good  makes  for  a more interesting character as we see her struggle and try to come to term with her powers and learn how to control to them and not let them control  her.    Take for example,  this scene from  when she's  a young girl.

This scene , she tells  her parents that it's getting worse and that's  another thing if Elsa were the villain,  she would  mostly  like already  have her powers under control.  Thus,   that would take away in my opinion, one of the most fascinating arcs  in the film.  Elsa learning to come to accept her powers and not fear them as we see by Let It Go, she has finally embraced them.

Speaking  of Let  It  Go,  that song played a part in  Elsa, not being the villain. 

Although unintentional, the song's composition was pivotal in the film's characterization of Elsa. Originally written as a villain, co-directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee gradually rewrote Elsa as one of the film's protagonists.

Looks like,  I found another reason to love that song.  I mean in my opinion,  Elsa  is much more complex, the way she is in the finished film as we have to watch her struggle with this burden that she's carried for all her life and that's why she has distanced herself so much fro Anna, not because she doesn't love Anna.  Quite the opposite,  she doesn't want to hurt Anna again.   She is scared of her powers and that is just more interesting.   I mean, I've heard some people claim that they thought Elsa was going to the main antagonist in the film, from the promos and I kinda get that but still,   I think in the end,  the right call was made.  Now yeah, the Elsa in that clip is not the same as the one that we ultimately got but maybe that's for the better.


Because as R8 pointed out in the thread about this,  Elsa as a villain might've ended up like Maleficent. Interesting look but not an interesting or even that good of a villain.

 













Now  ideally,  I would've loved it if Frozen had no villain.   Yeah, I'm at looking at you, Hans.

Man,  he sucked.  This is just one man's opinion but I just think that the story of Anna and Elsa's relationship and the rift that the separation had caused was interesting enough to hold a story on it's own.  And I'm sorry but the twist came outta nowhere.   I  just think that Disney needs to remember that not every story needs a bad guy.  And this was the perfect example of that, in my opinion.   But really,  he's the only thing, I don't like about this film. Otherwise, I can't  complain.


I mean, could Elsa have worked as a villain.  Maybe but would I like her as much as a bad guy?  I don't think so.  Again, this is just my opinion but I just don't think Elsa would've been a good villain and it was a wise decision to make a character on the side of good.  As her struggles with her powers, that way were more interesting and the way, she was made an outcast, you could actually feel for her.  And  when she had her big triumphant moment with Let It Go, you could feel that she had finally embraced her powers.  I wouldn't exactly say she accepted them at that point, but I would say that she finally embraced them and with Elsa as the bad guy, you wouldn't get that.


At the end of the day, this is just one thing, I'm glad that was changed in the final draft as I think it made for a better story.  What are your thoughts?  Let me know in the comments.  And thus Frozen Week has finally come to a close.