Disney Frozen - Blog Posts

(Comfort Characters part 6.) Queen Elsa ❄️

I still haven't figured out how I want to draw Elsa but this is my most recent drawing of her. I remember when I was a kid, when Frozen just came out that everybody was obsessed with Elsa but I liked Anna better, I thought she was the actual main character and hero of the story and that she was cute and funny and that everybody just liked Elsa more because she had cool powers. Then rewatching Frozen for the first time in years on New Years Eve I realized "oh wait, I've literally become Elsa". She's painfully relatable now, I even wrote an essay for my best friend Monique explaining why but probably nobody wants to read that :')

This also might be the last of the comfort characters series thingy because the rest of them are not human, lol

Basic Anna sketch (and by sketch I mean this took me like an hour and four layers). Gonna be honest and say I don’t know what my drawing style is anymore. Also I finally saw Frozen 2 last night so yay :D!!

I've been obsessed with Frozen again recently since watching it to celebrate New Years Eve so I had to draw my dear Elsa. I wanted to draw her with her old dress on but with her hair down cus I love that iconic moment in Let It Go when she lets her hair down.

I love this style! Could definitely read a whole comic in it 🩷

Full set of the single character illustrations I've posted so far for Tiny Gents, my silly Disney Prince crossover thing where they go to boarding school. Posted a lot about it over a decade ago. I have only become stronger. More to come! Pieces individually: Eugene / Naveen / Hans / Kristoff

Top row 👌 but I love that all of these are such vulnerable expressions.

I was scrolling Tumblr yesterday and OMG IM SIMPING FOR KRISTOFF (KINDA) 😂😂😂🩷🩷🩷

Like, he is a PERFECT MAN. I WANT MY KRISTOFF. WE ALL WANT. Also his outfits in FF and prologue Frozen are SOOO UNDERRATED, GOD! 😭😭😭😭😭

Speed sketch of Ryder Nattura — didn’t know that was happening today! And then you just draw it.

Frozen (c) Disney — fanart by @sunflowers-and-sandwiches, please do not repost or use my art without permission.

Rough Hands, Soft Heart

Inspired by the completely absorbing modern AU Kristanna fanfiction Big Sky Ranch by @kristannafever - you had me at Cowboy Kristoff 🧡

Frozen (c) Disney — fanart by @sunflowers-and-sandwiches, please do not repost or use my work for without permission.

Sketch edition — because I’m not sure which one I like more, but always yes to her wearing his sweater 🩵❄️

Looks Better On You

Yesterday I could smell that delicious aroma of fresh bread baking and thought of the adorable, fun and sexy Kristanna fanfic ‘Yeah, Just Like That’ by the amazing @firawren ! Thought I was hungry, turned out it was the perfect time for some overdue fanart of Anna wearing Kristoff’s sweater! You knead to read it! Rated E, 5048 words.

Frozen (c) Disney — Art by @sunflowers-and-sandwiches. Please do not repost or use my work for any purpose without permission :)

I’m right out here for you, just let me in

Hold up, cushfuddled made that video?? Cushfuddled, the RISD alum who made Warriors: Twin Shadows, an absolute masterpiece of a comic in terms of visual storytelling? Well THAT gave me whiplash to find out Like cushfuddled, I'm an artist, not a musicologist-- but I love looking at the scores for my favorite games and movies, and for Frozen, it was a special kind of musical fixation. So I've been putting off watching that video.

I made leitmotif compilations combing every animated feature and even the Broadway musical. Comparatively observing where the Frozen musics use themes and how. What I learned from doing that is, the way Frozen uses its leitmotifs, it's like the equivalent of consistent writing for music.

The goal is for those leitmotifs to be recognizable, and you can hear callbacks all throughout the film. (Sorcery shows up very often of course, which makes sense given how many magical duels are going down, and how often it's used to represent Elsa.)

But there's also PLENTY new recognizable leitmotifs which F2 introduces-- the spirits all share one (G#, G, E) in addition to each having their own unique one. More on this.

And concerning Atohallan's kulning / Dies irae, it actually does show up a lot, just not in a form that would be glaringly obvious to the audience.

The notes in the siren call are F# F, F# D#. As characters are moving through the mist, or find the ship, you get little inklings of the spirits' theme (that G#GE I mentioned, though sometimes it's transposed to something like E E♭ C or has a few notes changed to sound dissonant and create tension). The general formula though is: a root note, followed by a half-step down, and then three semitones down from that.

The relation of the siren call is that it's a resolved form of this dissonance. The first two notes will have the same relationship as in the spirits' theme but it ends with D#, completing the chord. Almost like Ahtohallan is a higher power presiding over the spirits...

There's a special leitmotif which plays whenever Elsa performs "the next step" in her journey (i.e. taming a spirit). This one begins F# E C. I'm pretty sure anyone who has watched the film can hear the moment when Elsa gets on Nokk's back and there's that triumphant swell of strings as she rides toward the glacier. That same motif plays again when she stops the flood. THAT'S THE ONE I'm talking about. That's beautiful! That's so beautiful actually!

And guess what! It's designed to resolve the spirits' themes (or at the very least Nokk's), and then it leads into Show Yourself, which is itself a resolution of the main theme which all the spirits share

Saying the music is bad because it's not putting up more glaring road signs about the siren's call... takes away the artfulness? It's intelligently written. It's also so fun to catch bits of other songs in parts of the score. The Epilogue does a really good job of weaving them all together, especially with how many new ideas are musically introduced with old ones.

If they're talking about the songs being unmemorable, there are entire videos dedicated to how wonderful SY and TNRT are. But even When I'm Older, which the thumbnail suggests they're using as the butt, messes with the playful instrumentation that Olaf is always known for. His musical entrances are a bit less cohesive, but they always sound like someone tripping up a set of stairs. He has a jazzy showtune feel to all of his songs (When Everything Falls Apart, from the Broadway musical, is so fun) and When I'm Older, I would argue, incorporates that instrumentation at center stage. So if anything they should not be couching their argument in that song, because it uses glaring instrumental choices that make sense for Olaf.

And if anyone who's actually good at music theory wants to articulate better on anything I’ve said, feel free-- I'm going back into hermitage while I try to survive finals

I feel I have to write something about this video critique on Christophe Beck's score of F2, especially since I'm mentioned favorably in the video description. The creator (cushfuddled on Tumblr) had a chat with me a while back on the Frozen 2 soundtrack, as they were creating this video.

Unfortunately, this video gave me great pain as I watched. I couldn't finish it and stopped at about 30minutes.

This is an opinion video, so, we can agree to disagree. The creator did tell me in Tumblr chat that they didn't like the F2 soundtrack, so, fair warning, but I was not prepared for the level of criticism in the video.

The creator said that the score of the film is not memorable - I totally disagree. I could play any of the themes from the score right now on the piano for you, even 5 years after the movie was released. The creator also set a 3 question quiz testing the listener on whether they could identify which 3 out of 12 excerpts of music was from F2, trying to "prove" that the music of F2 is forgettable and unrecognizable - well, I got all 3 questions correct. Easily.

The creator made a big deal about composer Christophe Beck not being "allowed" by Disney to use the 4-note "siren" call in his score because its use had to be reserved for the moments in the plot that the siren calls to Elsa. This is sort of true, Beck has mentioned this in interviews but I don't see the problem. He wasn't "banned" by Disney per se, it's mutual discussions between the filmmakers and the composer about what is best for the film and Beck is just doing his job and what a damn fine job he did!

This is not a personal attack on the creator, it's just my opinions. Agree to disagree, I'm not one to start online wars. The creator did mention me favorably in the description. I do recognize that I am on the other end of the spectrum in that I'm hyper fixated on the music, am a musician myself and I memorize and internalize music effortlessly, and most of all, I LOVE THE SCORE.

DISNEY COLLAGE 😊❤️👍🎨

Disney FROZEN II

Show yourself ❄️❤️🎆

Happy Father's Day, Agnarr!

Thought Elsa would look really good in short hair so

Welcoming Anna to Dreamlight Valley!

Welcoming Anna after doing the tasks for her and her sister in the frozen realm. Unfortunately Elsa couldn’t come, but Anna did to see Kristoff again for he had been in the Valley for a long time since he decide to stay and help!

Day 3: Forehead kiss

A/N: This is just a platonic kiss between the sisters, nothing else, okay?

Being the queen is hard work after all. That's what Anna would think as she stood on the balcony of her castle, gazing out at the kingdom of Arendelle.

The summer sun cast a golden glow over the land, but it couldn’t fully melt away the exhaustion she felt. The weight of her crown, figuratively seemed heavier today. Even with Kristoff, Olaf and Elsa’s help in navigating the responsibilities, there were moments when Anna felt overwhelmed.

She sighed softly, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. As much as she loved her people, her kingdom, and the role she now held, there was a part of her that missed the carefree days when she wasn’t burdened by endless decisions and duties.

A soft voice broke through her thoughts. "Anna?"

Elsa, who had quietly approached, stood beside her, concern in her eyes. "You okay?"

Anna smiled, though it was a bit tired. "Yeah. Just... it's a lot, you know? I don't know how you can manage this role."

Elsa nodded knowingly, her expression softening. "I understand. I’ve been there."

Anna chuckled weakly. "You make it look so easy."

"Trust me," Elsa said gently, "it never is."

For a moment, silence settled between them, the evening breeze cool against their skin. Then, without a word, Elsa stepped closer and pressed a soft, reassuring kiss to Anna’s forehead. It was a simple gesture, but it spoke volumes — of sisterly love, of understanding, of support.

Anna closed her eyes briefly, feeling the warmth and comfort of the moment. When Elsa pulled away, Anna looked up at her sister with gratitude shining in her eyes.

"Thanks, Elsa," she murmured. "For everything."

Elsa smiled. "You’re doing great, Anna. And you don’t have to do it all alone. We'll always be here and you got me."

Anna nodded, her heart feeling lighter. "I know. And that’s why I can do this."

With renewed strength, Anna took Elsa’s hand, and together they walked back into the castle, ready to face whatever challenges the next day might bring — as sisters would do.