Sven

"Reindeers are better than people Sven, don't you think that's true?"

- Lyrics from "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People"

Sven is a major character in Disney's 2013 animated feature film, Frozen.

Background
Sven is the loyal pet reindeer and companion of Kristoff, a rugged mountain man. According to Frozen: The Essential Guide, Sven was rescued by Kristoff as a young calf, and remained by his side ever since.

Together, the duo run an ice harvesting business (which has greatly enhanced Sven's overall strength, making him quite the force) and reside outside the city of Arendelle in the Valley of the Living Rock, where a community of trolls thrive. The trolls adopted both Kristoff and Sven when they were children, and raised them.

Though Sven cannot speak, Kristoff has come to fully understand the reindeer merely through the latter's actions and expressions, to the point where he does his own (surprisingly accurate) voice-overs for Sven.

Official Description

 * A reindeer with the heart of a Labrador, Sven is Kristoff's loyal friend, sleigh-puller and conscience. He makes sure his mountain-man companion is the stand-up guy Sven knows and loves, and does so without saying a word. A few emphatic snorts usually get his point across. Life would be perfect if only Kristoff would lose that ridiculous reindeer voice he likes to use when speaking for Sven (as if reindeers really talk that way).

Personality
In spite of being a reindeer, Sven has the heart of a dog, namely a Labrador, and as such, he serves as a loyal and fun-loving companion to Kristoff. To the mountain man, Sven not only acts as a supportive best friend, but doubles as a conscience, often advising Kristoff to do the right thing, whenever the latter acts selfishly or refuses to follow his heart. This shows a more stubborn side to Sven, and can sometimes cause a bit of tension between himself and Kristoff. Because of their love for one another, however, their bond continues to prevail, as does Sven's wholesome suggestions, being a positive influence on the mountain man. Interestingly, Sven serves as a physical embodiment of Kristoff's softer nature, being goofy, playful, valiant, and selfless; shades of Kristoff's personality that aren't revealed until the latter half of the film, though unlike Kristoff, Sven expresses these traits regularly and unabashedly.

Though he can be valiant, Sven is rather clumsy and can be easily distracted by simple things such as frozen vines and snowflakes. With a childlike outlook on life, he makes a perfect companion to Olaf the snowman, who holds a similar personality that allows the two to bond rather easily. This side of Sven's personality also allows a close kinship with Anna, who he immediately takes a shine to, foreshadowing Kristoff's eventual affection for her.

With Sven having a childlike personality, another shade of Kristoff's softer side occasionally comes to pass, one that's along the lines of a protective parent, with Kristoff being unable to abide anyone giving his reindeer orders or commands (aside from him), talking down to him in the form of "baby talk", as well as constantly going out of his way to ensure Sven's safety and well-being is put to the forefront, despite the reindeer being rather capable on his own.

Frozen teaser
Along with Olaf, Sven appears in the animated short teaser used as the film's first trailer. Here, Sven is feeding in a snowy forest when he hears pattering upon the frozen lake nearby. He turns and notices a carrot, and the mere sight is enough to get him smiling enthusiastically. The reindeer leaps onto the ice to retrieve the carrot, but the slippery surface makes it beyond difficult to do. Along with Sven, a snowman (Olaf) is also after the carrot, and a comical competition to retrieve it ensues. The two finally reach the center of the lake, where the carrot lies, and whilst Sven has a grip on it with his lips, Olaf grabs it as well, and accidentally flings it back onto the snow. Sven doesn't hesitate to rush over, leaving Olaf behind and saddened at the lose of his nose. Fortunately, Sven returns, revealing he was only trying to help Olaf, and the two set aside their supposed differences, becoming friends, much to Sven's absolute delight.

Frozen
As youngsters, Kristoff and Sven spent their time with the ice harvesters, learning the ways of the profession and tagging along whenever they can. One night, Kristoff and Sven notice the royal family (the king, queen, Princess Elsa and Princess Anna), rushing over to the Valley of the Living Rock. Curious, the boy and reindeer follow behind to watch what all the commotion is about. As they spied, they're discovered by one of the trolls, Bulda, who decides to adopt the two orphans. From there, Kristoff and Sven are raised by the trolls. Years later, Princess Elsa is set to become queen after the death of the original monarchs, and whilst the kingdom is abuzz with royals from all around, Kristoff and Sven are out and about, too, but don't attend the castle festivities, likely because it's meant for royalty only.

Later that night, Queen Elsa was revealed to have great power over ice and snow, and as she flees her kingdom due to being called a monster. She accidentally curses the kingdom, causing an eternal winter in the process, and just as Kristoff and Sven were making their way to the North Mountain. The next night, Kristoff was busy buying equipment for his travels, as well as carrots for Sven, from Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, but gets kicked out for calling the store owner a crook, much to Sven's disappointment. They decide to sleep in a stable for the night, and as they sing their lullaby "duet", with Kristoff singing his reserved lyrics. Princess Anna pays them a visit, and asks Kristoff to guide her to the North Mountain to find her sister. Kristoff denies until Anna shows that she has purchased the equipment and carrots he failed to buy. Sven is more than happy to help at that point, and the trio head off.

After facing a wolf attack, however, Kristoff wants to call it quits, but Sven doesn't want to leave Anna out alone, knowing she'll die, and persuades Kristoff to continue forth. Later on, they meet an enchanted snowman, brought to life by Elsa, named Olaf, who offers to guide them to her ice palace. Sven immediately takes a liking to the goofy snowman, and the two form a bond. But Sven also takes a liking to Olaf's carrot nose, which he tries to eat a few times, with no success. Soon enough, the friends find Elsa's palace, but he's unable to make it up the ice stairs. Kristoff tells Sven to wait outside, and when the others return, they are being chased by a giant snowman monster. Kristoff, Olaf and Anna head off, and Sven goes in a different direction, meeting up with the gang at the bottom of a mountain cliff.

At that time, Kristoff realizes that Anna's been cursed when Elsa accidentally blasted her heart with ice back at the castle, and he leads the way to the Valley of the Living Rock. Grand Pabbie, the king of the trolls, tells the group that unless Anna performs an act of true love, she'll freeze to death. Riding on Sven, the group rushes back to Arendelle for Anna to kiss Hans, her fiancé, believing true love's kiss would break the curse.

Once they arrive at the castle, and the princess is taken into royal care, Kristoff reluctantly takes his leave, despite his romantic feelings for Anna, believing himself irrelevant with Hans apart of her life. Sadly, the mountain man heads back into the mountains with Sven trudging along, only to eventually halt in his tracks, look back at the kingdom, and realize that leaving Anna without Kristoff confessing his true feelings isn't right. The reindeer rushes in front of the ice harvester, stands his ground, and tries to convince him to head back. Kristoff angrily denies, telling Sven going back would be pointless as Anna's with her true love. Sven can only repeatedly go against this, just as a gust of frosty wind hits the duo. Looking back at the castle, they see the kingdom being consumed by a potentially deadly blizzard. Knowing Anna must be in danger, Sven and Kristoff rush back to Arendelle to her rescue.

Rushing back to the castle, the blizzard becomes much more powerful, though it only prompts Sven to increase his speed, as the reindeer is highly devoted to getting Kristoff to his true love. From the castle library, Olaf and Anna are able to spot Kristoff and Sven rushing to them in the distance, having the duo head out into the frozen fjords to meet them. During the chaos, Olaf is separated from the princess, and likewise, a ship causes the icy ground beneath Sven to crack, unleashing freezing waters. Sven tries to avoid them, but only manages to get Kristoff to safety before falling head-first into the freezing waters, apparently drowning, much to Kristoff's horror. However, Sven luckily survives and pulls himself onto a drifting iceberg, telling Kristoff to keep moving without him, which the mountain man obliges to.

When he reunites with the others, he finds Kristoff, Olaf and Elsa mourning over the death of Anna, who's body was completely frozen solid, the curse having consumed her. As Sven joined in the mourning, Anna's body begins to thaw, as she managed to perform an act of true love before the curse completely took affect; sacrificing herself to save Elsa from the treacherous Hans. After Anna revives, the friends join in a celebration. It's at that point Elsa realizes love is the key to thawing the kingdom, and with the warmth in her heart, she does just that, with Sven licking at the snowflakes appearing during the spectacle, hungry for a bite.

With the kingdom thawed and restored to natural peace, Elsa reclaims the throne as queen and a celebration is held in her honor. Kristoff is appointed Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliver, whilst Sven is given a Medal of Honor from the Snow Queen in gratitude for his heroic deeds. Anna, meanwhile, proclaims her mutual love for Kristoff, as well as presents him with a brand new sled; with Sven's help. Meanwhile, Olaf is given a snow flurry to enjoy the summer weather, joyfully wandering around the city with his new-found gift as he stumbles upon some flowers. After taking a whiff, the snowman sneezes, his carrot nose landing directly in Sven's mouth, and the reindeer immediately gobbles it up. However, this was merely a jest, as Sven quickly returns the carrot into Olaf's nose, revealing he was merely being playful, and the two proclaim their friendship. Lastly, Sven joins the others in an ice-skating rink built by the queen, for the kingdom's enjoyment.

Frozen Fever
Taking place nearly a year after the events of the film, Sven is assisting Kristoff, Olaf, and Elsa in making the final preparations for Anna's birthday. On the day of the event, Elsa leaves Kristoff in charge to ensure the castle's courtyard remains in one piece during her absence. Though Kristoff believes things will be absolutely fine, resulting in the trio consisting of himself, Sven, and Olaf taking a nap, the friends are soon encountered by tiny snow-babies known as Snowgies, who quickly prove to be mischievous toddlers bent on eating Anna's birthday cake.

As Kristoff and Olaf scatter to collect them, a playful Sven follow suit, immediately taken by the adorable creatures. Before long, however, their trouble gets out of hand, and during the chase, Sven's tongue is accidentally stuck to an enormous ice sculpture. After struggling to do so, Sven manages to free himself, but the now massive army of Snowgies continue to run amok. By the time Anna and Elsa arrive, however, the courtyard is in one piece, with Sven, Kristoff, Olaf, and Snowgies, creating a spectacular formation, which earns a delightfully surprised gasp from the birthday princess. With the party a success, Sven distributes the cake and the day comes to an end.

Sometime later, Sven joins Kristoff and Olaf in delivering the Snowgies to live with Marshmallow, up on the North Mountain in Elsa's Ice Palace.

Cameos
Sven also makes a small appearance alongside Anna, Elsa, and Olaf in an advertisement promoting Sky Movies.

In Zootopia, a moose version of Sven appeared on the cover of Duke Weaselton's bootleg copy of Frozen 2.

Once Upon a Time
Sven plays a small role in the fourth season of the ABC series, appearing in the episode "A Tale of Two Sisters". After Anna embarks on a journey against Elsa's wishes, Kristoff and Sven are left to distract the Queen of Arendelle to prevent her from pulling her younger sister back. Elsa soon arrives and confronts Kristoff and Sven on Anna's whereabouts. Throughout the scene, a sassy Sven responds to the banter between Kristoff and the Queen through snorts. After Elsa gathers the truth and rushes out to the docks to stop Anna, Sven urges Kristoff to go after her, which the mountain man does. After he leaves the barn, Sven sighs out of annoyance. Notably, according to Kristoff, Sven finds an uptight Elsa to be bossy. It was also mentioned that Sven would be formally attending the wedding of Anna and Kristoff, who were recently engaged.

Sven was then seen alongside Kristoff when they hiking up the Southern Mountain to intercept Hans and his invading army head for Arendelle. Kristoff orders Sven to stay put while he spies on the evil prince and his brothers.

Prior to Anna returning from her trip in the Enchanted Forest, Sven feels moody and uninterested in eating his carrots, even Kristoff offered him some. When an exasperated Kristoff commented out loud what's wrong with him, Anna appears in the stable's doorway, having returned from her trip thanks to her temporary controlling Rumpelstiltskin with his dagger, and suggest that Sven probably missed her.

Video games
Sven makes numerous appearances in video games and apps based off the film, as well as crossover properties such as the Disney INFINITY series, where he is also mentioned by Anna wondering what he and Kristoff are up to. Additionally, costumes of Sven are also featured in both the "Frozen Party" episode of Club Penguin, as well as the "Frozen Costume Pack" of LittleBigPlanet.

Disney INFINITY
Sven appears as an unlockable mount for the Toy Box in Disney INFINITY 2.0.

Frozen: Olaf's Quest
Sven made appearances alongside Olaf in a few special, mini-game levels, following the hapless snowman through the map.

Frozen Free Fall
Sven was one of the latest additions to the popular app, Frozen Free Fall as a character companion. He is unlocked upon reaching level 92 and has the special ability of Carrot, which destroys a total of nine random block tiles.

Disneyland Resort
In World of Color, ' s winter rendition, Winter Dreams, Sven makes a brief cameo pulling a sled holding Kristoff, Olaf, and Anna. In the 2014 reprise of the show, Sven appears alongside Olaf after the performance of "Love is an Open Door".

Walt Disney World Resort
An audio-animatronic of Sven will appear in Frozen Ever After in Epcot. Sven will also play a role in the story, assisting Olaf in preparing for a winter festival in Arendelle.

Tokyo Disney Resort
An animatronic version of Sven appears in the Tokyo Disneyland parade for Anna and Elsa's Frozen Fantasy, where he is seen on the first float, attached to the sleigh carrying Anna and Kristoff.

Shanghai Disneyland
In Shanghai, Sven's likeness is featured on the Frozen mosaic mural inside of the Enchanted Storybook Castle. He also appears as part of the Frozen parade float in Mickey’s Storybook Express.

Trivia

 * Sven was originally set to be a one-antlered reindeer.
 * His favorite snacks are carrots.
 * He also likes pies, as seen in the "In Summer" song.
 * The Frozen filmmakers invited a real-life reindeer into the Walt Disney Animation Studios, observing the animal's physical makeup and mannerism, which were later caricatured in the design of Sven.
 * Whilst the filmmakers have noted Sven's behavior being based off that of a dog (or a Labrador to be more precise), real reindeer actually do pant much like canines. Real reindeer also scratch the back of their ears with their legs, much like dogs, and that was also incorporated into Sven's character.
 * For an animal that is not a horse, Sven is an incredibly fast reindeer (even as a calf), which is actually a big reference to his species, as reindeer are fast enough for Eskimos and many other cultures to use them in sled races in the Northern hemisphere.
 * Sven has the antlers of a female reindeer.
 * As Olaf symbolizes Anna and Elsa's bond, Sven symbolizes the bond between Anna and Kristoff.
 * Sven was originally going to be known as "Thor", after the Norse god of thunder, but was changed to avoid confusion with the Marvel superhero of the same name.
 * It's possible that Sven, along with Hans, Kristoff and Anna, is named after Hans Christian Andersen, the author of "The Snow Queen" and also "The Little Mermaid".
 * Well adapted to snow and cold, reindeer can lower the temperature in their legs to near freezing levels, to keep their core body heat consistent in extreme weather. They are also surprisingly fast; a new reindeer calf can easily outrun a man, which explains why Kristoff relies on Sven when he needs to get to Anna quickly.