Deleted 'Frozen 2' Scene Explains Why Anna's Parents Never Told Her About Elsa's Powers
There’s a Frozen 2 deleted scene that explains why Anna’s parents never told her about Elsa’s powers
Both of Disney’s Frozen movies feature a powerful character arc for Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell), who we see grow over the course of two movies from a naive girl to the powerful queen of Arendelle, strong in herself and her abilities to love and rule. But seeing how much strength Anna has, there’s been one question we’ve always wondered: Why didn’t her parents ever tell her about Elsa’s powers? Why did they force the two sisters to live separate lives when we know how much more powerful they are together?
A never-before-seen deleted scene from Frozen 2 finally answers those questions. In an exclusive new video from Disney, directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck explain a little bit about the behind-the-scenes relationship Anna had with her parents, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna.
“Anna was struggling so much in earlier versions [of the movie] with ‘Did my parents really trust me? Why was I shut out?'” Lee explains. “She still had questions she needed answers for.”
Lee continues, “We loved this idea that after Ahtohallan, Elsa could give her a memory that would tell her how her parents felt about her.”
For those who haven’t yet seen Frozen 2, Ahtohallan is the magical place where Elsa travels to learn that she’s the powerful “fifth spirit” that links the human world with the magical realm. While she’s there, she learns that her powers can do more than create ice and winter — she can also manipulate water and use it to show memories of the past.
In the deleted Frozen scene, that’s what Elsa does — she uses water to show Anna a memory of their parents, just before the journey they took that ended their lives.
“Darling, I’ve been thinking,” Iduna says in the memory. “It might be time to tell Anna about Elsa. I can’t bear keeping her shut out anymore. She’s maturing now. She can be responsible.”
Agnarr replies, “It’s not Anna I’m worried about. What if we let them get close again and the feelings are too much for Elsa? Joy brings her powers out as strongly as fear.”
“But if anyone can find a way to help her, it’s Anna,” Iduna says.
“You may be right about that,” Agnarr says. “There’s not much that girl can’t do.”
Iduna replies, “Her love could hold up the world.”
Anna watches with tears streaming down her face as her parents decide to tell her the secret as soon as they return, but as we know, they never make it back from that journey. We don’t know why this touching scene didn’t make it into Frozen 2, but we’re sure glad to be seeing it now.
Frozen 2 will finally be available on Blu-Ray and DVD at the end of this month. Disney+ subscribers will be able to stream it starting this summer. Just make sure to keep this deleted scene in mind as you watch, because it answers so many of the questions that haunted Anna.
