Elsa

"In Arendelle's fair kingdom, a ruler did appear Born with a secret power so great, alone, she stayed in fear Although the force was hidden, one day she let it go And all the land was covered in eternal ice and snow"

- Frozen trailer's narration

Queen Elsa of Arendelle (also known as the Snow Queen) is the deuteragonist of Disney's 2013 animated feature film, Frozen. She is the firstborn daughter of former monarchs King Agnarr and Queen Iduna, older sister of Princess Anna, and the contemporary ruler of Arendelle. Her powers over ice and snow ultimately led her to become the Snow Queen at adulthood.

Elsa is loosely based on the titular character of "", a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, and to a much lesser extent, Kai from the same story. While the character from the original fairy tale was neutral and, to some degree, villainous, Elsa was rewritten as a tragic heroine.

Official Description

 * From the outside, Elsa looks poised, regal, and reserved, but in reality, she lives in fear as she wrestles with a mighty secret — she was born with the power to create ice and snow. It's a beautiful ability, but also extremely dangerous. Haunted by the moment her magic nearly killed her younger sister Anna, Elsa has isolated herself, spending every waking minute trying to suppress her growing powers. Her mounting emotions trigger the magic, accidentally setting off an eternal winter that she can't stop. She fears she's becoming a monster and that no one, not even her sister, can help her.

Development
Elsa was originally portrayed as a dramatic, theatrical villain in early drafts of the film, akin to villains of Disney's past such as Cruella De Vil in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Ursula in The Little Mermaid, in addition to being unrelated to Anna. However, as the film's development encountered several problems, story-wise, two major changes were made; the alteration of Elsa's moral role in the story, and her relationship with Anna. Once the two became sisters, the filmmakers felt it would open new possibilities for story elements, making the process of finalizing the completion of the Disney adaptation of "The Snow Queen" all the more accessible.

Elsa's original portrayal as the villain (her original intended villain role is shown in a deleted scene made early in the film's development) depicted her as being a ruthless, bitter, cold-hearted tyrant who had an entire army of giant snowmen as henchmen (who would eventually be replaced by a single giant snowman named Marshmallow). Designs for this version of Elsa included one that resembled actress Bette Midler, as well as one that was modeled after the late singer. These designs depicted her with spiky black or dark blue hair (and even blue-gray skin), a more angular body (as opposed to the final, heroic Elsa's curvaceous body) and a constantly malicious smile. Some concept art depicted her with a group of pet ermines who scurried up and down her body and formed themselves into a cloak for her.

Instead of being fearful and insecure about not wanting to reveal her powers, Elsa would have been very hostile and bitter toward others and simply resented everyone, especially Anna, whom she was incredibly jealous of because of the royal status she held. Songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez stated in a 2014 interview, that Elsa's original motivation throughout the film was to freeze Anna's heart to take over the kingdom. As stated by producer Peter Del Vecho in a 2017 interview, Elsa was originally unrelated to Anna and she was originally a scorned woman who was left single by her would-be fiancee at her own wedding day and froze her own heart in order to never love again. She would have been misunderstood as "Arendelle's bane" in the original prophecy and would have redeemed herself at the last minute to save all of Arendelle from an avalanche caused by Prince Hans (the real bane of Arendelle in the prophecy).

However, this did not work out very well, as it would have been difficult for her to reform if she was an outright evil villain, and after listening to the song "Let It Go", intended to be Elsa's villain song when it was written, the writers realized that her motivations of self-empowerment and wanting to be herself were too positive to be expressed by a villain and did not fit the villain role, and as a result, instead of changing the lyrics they ended up changing the plot, and therefore the character was changed from a villainous role to an anti-heroic role seen in the actual film.

Voice
Actress and singer Megan Mullally was originally cast to voice Elsa, but was replaced by Broadway actress Idina Menzel, best known for performing Elphaba from Wicked when the story changed. Menzel had previously auditioned for a lead role in the 2010 Disney animated feature film, Tangled. She was not cast for the part, but the casting director recorded her singing and later showed the recording to Frozen 's film executives. Menzel was surprised when she was subsequently asked to audition, and she received the role after reading the script out loud.

Director Chris Buck believed that Menzel's vocals would help in the portrayal of the character, saying, "Idina has a sense of vulnerability in her voice. She plays a very strong character, but someone who lives in fear—so we needed someone who could portray both sides of the character, and Idina was just amazing."

In an interview with Menzel, she acknowledged the similarities between Elsa and Elphaba. She mentioned they were both very powerful and misunderstood individuals, and she herself could relate to the characters, having hidden her singing talent from her peers at school. "I didn't want to alienate anyone," she explained. "If everyone was singing along in the car to a Madonna song, I didn't join in because when we're younger we're afraid of sticking out or showing off when in fact we should own those things that make us really unique."

Characterization
Following the casting of Idina Menzel, Elsa's characterization underwent several alterations. According to Menzel, she was originally scripted as a one-dimensional antagonist but was gradually revised as a more vulnerable, multifaceted figure. Menzel further described her character as "extremely complicated and misunderstood".

Director Jennifer Lee stated that Elsa is largely driven by fear throughout the film. Producers identified the scene in which Elsa sings "Let It Go" as a pivotal point in the character's development, as the scene depicts her choice to "let go" of her fear of using her powers and be herself. Character design supervisor Bill Schwab said, "Before 'Let It Go', Elsa is really buttoned up, her hair is up—everything is perfect. During the song, she gives herself permission to be who she is and everything changes — her hair is wilder, her gown is magical. She's finally free — even if she is all alone."

Lead writer Paul Briggs explained that Anna's support is what Elsa needs most when her secret is exposed. "The strength of the family bond is what makes this story so powerful because it's her sibling who's willing to look beyond her powers and stand between her and the world if that's what it takes."

Personality
As the of the kingdom of Arendelle, Elsa appears calm, reserved, regal and - unlike her sister - graceful and poised. Beneath this cool and collected appearance, however, Elsa is quite turbulent; in truth, the Snow Queen was, for a majority of her young life, troubled by her abilities, a feeling which stems from a traumatic incident as a child. When she was younger, she had cared strongly for Anna and, despite being the more mature and cautious of the two sisters, Elsa was still quite playful and used her magic to have fun and goof off.

However, after witnessing her magic cause her sister harm, Elsa lived in fear and trauma for a great amount of her life as she became too terrified to let her powers overdevelop. She consequently chose isolation from everyone she cared for, including Anna, out of the presumption that her isolation would protect them from her power. This would eventually result in years of loneliness, misery, bitterness, and grief. Regret would gradually take its toll on her as well when tragedies struck throughout her life from the accident with her sister to the death of her parents, leaving them both to mourn and grieve alone.

Elsa's damaging experience through the crucial stages from childhood to adulthood caused her personality to shift. She became reclusive, insecure, emotionally unstable, anxious, and depressed. For Elsa, her powers and nature grew more restrained as the years passed, slowly molding her into the cold-hearted queen others saw her to be. When given the chance to rest and relent, however, Elsa's true warm, kind, fun loving, and innocently mischievous personality came about - but only briefly, and with restriction, as seen on the night of her coronation.

Elsa also has an altruistic disposition that contributes to the compassion towards her people. Throughout the entirety of the film, the Snow Queen's actions are driven by the desire to protect her kingdom, and more intimately, Anna. Unfortunately, that comes with a price, as Elsa's upbringing would lead her to believe that, for the safety of her loved ones, and for the sake of remaining true to who she is as a gifted person, she is a living disaster that must be removed from society. Even with Anna's persistence to help end the curse, Elsa's method of solving the problem - enforced isolation - would remain prevalent. Her determination to solve her problems through singularity is Elsa's greatest flaw, driven by her anxiety and traumatic childhood experiences.

Though a benevolent and giving person, Elsa suffers from emotional instability due to years of keeping her emotions bottled up. When her strong emotions are triggered, Elsa often loses control over her emotions which can create dangerous situations for herself and others around her. An example of this is when Anna informed her that she had unknowingly plunged Arendelle into an "eternal winter", she began panicking as she realized she had brought harm upon her kingdom, which made her lose control of both her emotions and powers, resulting in ice bursting from her chest and striking Anna in the heart. But perhaps the prime example of this was when the Duke of Weselton's guards attempted to assassinate her and Elsa realizes she has no choice to fight back, and, unable to control her fury, goes from self-defense to fighting back more aggressively, nearly pushing a man off the edge of her ice palace and pinning another to the wall with icicles.

During "Let It Go", however, Elsa reveals a liberated side to her personality. Without stress, responsibilities, or the fear of hurting others, the queen is strong and unafraid, yet with an air of elegance still surrounding her. Based on this fact, she has confidence in her abilities and accepts them as a part of her, no longer worried or daunted by her restraints. In the segment, which was entirely about letting go of her fear of using her powers and embracing herself, Elsa decides to abandon what she was made to be so that she can be free to be herself. While expressing this, Elsa proves that she is notably creative and strong in geometry (her ice palace is made entirely out of geometric figures), and a daring young woman willing to reject her own fate as Arendelle's queen for the choice of her own personal freedom as well as to protect the people in Arendelle from her powers.

Following her return to power as Arendelle's reigning monarch, Elsa's original personality, not dominate since childhood, makes a return. With a warm, welcoming aura, Elsa rules her kingdom with a genuine smile and spends most of her spare time using her abilities for the pleasure of herself, her sister, and the entire kingdom. As seen in Frozen Fever, this aspect of Elsa's personality has not only remained, but strengthened, as the short heavily showcased Elsa's lighter side as fun-loving, and extremely devoted to her sister, yet retained her sense of elegance, vibrancy, and compassion. In spite of this, Elsa continues to feel guilt for the past, which manifested itself into a personal mission to ensure that Anna is content at all times; in Frozen Fever, she went to great lengths to give Anna a memorable birthday, and dedicated to ensuring that even the slightest detail was perfect. During their first holiday season as a united family, Elsa came to realize that she and Anna had no family traditions to share with one another, which she openly blamed herself for.

Physical appearance
At 21 years of age, Elsa has a tall and slender build, blue eyes, rosy cheeks, thin pink lips, a small nose, long platinum blonde hair, and very pale skin with a light dusting of freckles (a trait she shares with her sister Anna, though less prominent). During her coronation, she bore a striking resemblance to her mother, only with platinum blonde hair, unlike her mother who is a brunette.

Before her coronation, Elsa's casual outfits have consisted of a dress with a long-sleeved vest over blouse and bodice favoring a blue-black color scheme. Ever since the accident with Anna at age eight, Elsa wears white gloves to contain her powers. As she grew older, she started wearing darker clothes with purple colors thrown in.

For the coronation, Elsa wears a teal dress with a sweetheart bodice with bronze trim and dark teal, maroon and purple rosemaling on the skirt and bodice, a black long-sleeved turtleneck blouse with red and teal crystal-shaped prints on it, a magenta cape, a gold tiara, dark brown flats with gold outlines and teal stockings (which disappear after her transformation) underneath, and her hair woven in a French braided crown twist bun held together with a blue ribbon. For her gloves, she wears longer, cyan gloves with teal prints on, that go with her outfit. Her eyelids have a dusting of purple eye shadow and wears magenta lipstick.

In her Snow Queen state, Elsa wears her hair in a loose French braid that is swept over her left shoulder, tied with a hair band with a crystal-like snowflake on it. It is woven with snowflake incrustations, and wisps of her bangs slicked back on top of her head with a smaller piece resting down on her forehead. Her hair appears to be thick, although this may be so because she has much more hair (roughly 400,000 strands) than the average human (100,000 strands). She wears a crystal-blue off-the-shoulder dress made out of ice with a right knee-high slit, a crystallized bodice, and translucent powder blue sleeves. She also wears ice-made kitten heels and a long transparent floor-sweeping cape of sheer ice decorated with large snowflakes attached to the back of her bodice. Elsa still wears the same makeup as at the coronation, however, due to the change in lighting, the magenta lipstick becomes a dark pink, and her lavender eye shadow becomes a shiny purplish-pink.

In Frozen Fever, Elsa wears her hair in her signature French braid (tied with a hair band with a pink flower on it in place of a snowflake) woven with small pink flowers and a larger pink flower on the right side of her head. She wears an emerald green off-the-shoulder dress made out of ice with a right knee-high slit, just like her Snow Queen dress. Unlike her ice dress, her Frozen Fever dress has a sweetheart bodice which is covered in teal ice crystals that are patterned to resemble leaves and light green translucent short sleeves. Her sleeves and top of her bodice are decorated with pink flowers. She wears dark emerald green ice kitten heels and a long transparent floor-sweeping dark emerald green cape of sheer ice decorated with flower and leaf designs with pink flowers stuck on is attached to the back of her bodice. Her eye shadow is now a light pink and she wears dark pink lipstick.

In Olaf's Frozen Adventure, Elsa wears a midnight blue off-the-shoulder sleeved gown - displaying a return to her use of dark colors - that incorporates her signature Snow Queen style. The dress has a velvet texture though it has a large fur collar with small stones inside, and a small V-shaped cut at the center that exposes a purple undershirt. Fitting her regal status, Elsa's outfit features a transparent blue cape; however, this one is slightly less transparent than the previous capes. She wears dark blue ice kitten heels, similar to her first Snow Queen outfit. On the chest, cape, and rims of the outfit are diamond-shaped crystals scattered across, with some forming the lower half of her Snowflake emblem on the neckline and a larger pattern on the back of the cape. She wears a small winter berry wreath-pin in her hair.

Powers and abilities
"Listen to me, Elsa. Your power will only grow. There is beauty in it... But also great danger! You must learn to control it. Fear will be your enemy."

- Pabbie

Elsa possesses the magical ability to conjure and manipulate ice and snow. With her abilities (that she was apparently born with), Elsa can manifest and shape various structures made of ice and snow, or cold phenomena from snow flurries to blizzards. Most of her powers are unleashed via her hands and controlled by her emotions. If she is happy and at peace, she can control them better, but if she is angry, afraid or stressed, she will lose control and cause great harm to those around her. Near the end of Frozen, she has complete control over her powers.

Elsa was able to turn the entire castle's ballroom into a winter wonderland. She is capable of creating enchanted snowmen (both large and small), ice structures such as her ice palace, deadly blizzards, and more. She can move ice structures at will. It also appears that her control extends to almost all forms of winter weather, as she was able to create a snow cloud for Olaf, and manipulate wind streams to some degree. Interestingly, it would seem that nearly her entire body is capable of conjuring ice and snow, as seen when she flees across the fjord - the water immediately starts to freeze the moment her foot touches it.

Her powers are most prominently featured during "Let It Go" in which Elsa frees herself from the fear of using her powers and stress she held, and embraces such powers to the fullest of her ability for the first time. In the sequence, she created her ice palace, a stairway for entrance, Olaf, as well as her flowing ice gown. She even points out that her powers provide her immunity from the effects of cold weather.

It is also shown that, despite not having any formal training, she is capable of using her magical abilities for battle. When the Duke's thugs attacked her, she was able to hold them both off on her own and eventually manage to gain the upper hand.

It is also interesting that when Elsa is truly frightened or feels threatened, her powers will act on their own accord in order to protect her. When confronted by the Duke of Weselton on the night that her powers were revealed, Elsa made an attempt to avoid conflict, but her powers were unleashed upon the Duke and his men as the feeling of being threatened grew, nearly killing him. When she was attached by the Duke's men, a bolt was shot at her from a crossbow. Almost instantly, a wall of ice formed as a shield to intercept the bolt before it would otherwise lodge itself in Elsa's head. So it is possible that her powers have a will of their own to some extent, where they respond to Elsa's emotions. This could explain why she was able to create Olaf, Marshmallow and the Snowgies. Theoretically, in having a mind of its own, it would make sense if the ice powers split part of its sentience off into these external shells created by Elsa, each of whom represents a certain aspect of Elsa's personality. It also appears that her powers depend on which emotion she feels; if she is in sorrow, all the snow particles in the air stand still as if in a state of suspended animation, while anger creates a similar effect to fear but with an offensive direction instead of chaotic versatility.

The only way thought to conceal her powers is initially by wearing gloves on her hands, which appeared to negate her icy touch on other objects. However, this is nothing but a psychological mindset that helps to keep her anxiety and any icy outbursts under control all her life. Because it is her father, one of the few people she trusted, that claims that wearing them will stop her abilities, Elsa believes it to be true, so by wearing gloves she thinks truly stop her powers, as a result of said belief, they do. This is supported by the fact she is able to freeze through the hand shackles in Arendelle's prison cell, in her desperation to get away, proving that covering her hands does not actually stop her power, but rather, sheer force of will and belief.

It is shown that if she casts her magic on a living being directly, the victim will not only freeze to death, but slowly transform into an ice statue, and the process only hastens if they are in cold conditions. While the curse can be removed if the magic affects the mind, the heart is the most vulnerable and if this is the case, the victim can only be cured by an "act of true love". While Elsa had thought she cannot undo the frosty effects she creates, it is revealed that she is capable of removing such curses through her love for others, as it is the warmest emotion of all. When the person gets affected by her magic, the said person will also undergo physical changes; first, some of their hair will turn white as snow before it spreads completely; second, the person will start to feel cold and as it progresses, the person will get colder and soon become weak to walk nevertheless move; and finally, the person will notice ice emerging from their hands than the person will become enraptured in ice. When the curse is removed, the person's physical attributes will revert back as they were before the curse, as happened with Anna's hair, which returned to its original color (without any white locks), when she accomplished her act of true love towards Elsa, sacrificing her own life for the latter.

One interesting thing to note is that when the animators were creating her character, and coming up with ways for her to use her abilities, they came up with a Signature Snowflake for her. This snowflake can be seen multiple times throughout the film on almost everything she creates. Such instances are when she slams her foot into the ground to create the floor of her ice palace in "Let It Go", the pattern on the doors that led to the balcony of her ice palace, and it is the snowflake shown within the "O" in the in-movie logo.

In Frozen Fever, she can use her powers to create precise effects other than manifesting ice and snow, as she made several color changes to her and Anna's dresses, using flowers that were in the room at the time and integrated them into their gowns using crystalline ice. She was also shown to create ice sculptures out of thin air and reshape them in any way she wanted. She can also create a multitude of miniature snowmen whenever she sneezes throughout the short film while she was suffering from flu as Anna saw her condition and can make a giant snowball when she blows the horn to celebrate Anna's 19th birthday.

Frozen
Elsa was born with power over ice and snow. As a child, she often used her abilities to play with her younger sister and best friend, Anna. One night, while the two were playing in the hall, Elsa accidentally struck her sister in the head, giving her a platinum blonde streak of hair and knocking her out cold. Their parents, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna, sought aid from legendary trolls residing in the Valley of the Living Rock. Their leader, a shaman named Pabbie, was able to stabilize Anna's condition by cleansing her of all magic (including memories). Pabbie warns Elsa of the danger her power possesses, and stresses that she control them. Traumatized by the event, Elsa spent her life distanced from other people, including Anna, so not to harm them. With no memories of Elsa's magic, Anna took Elsa's distance personally, creating a rift between the two. Throughout her childhood, Elsa is taught to control her abilities by suppressing her emotions. To help even further, Agnarr gives Elsa a pair of gloves, which were temporarily able to suppress her powers (teaching her to "conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show").

During Anna and Elsa's teenage years, Agnarr and Iduna die at sea. Elsa does not attend the funeral, as her distraught state of mind causes her to lose control of her powers. Three years later, Elsa has come of age and is now ready to be crowned the new queen regnant. To celebrate the momentous occasion, Arendelle invites royalty from far and wide to join in the festivities, such as the dashing Prince Hans and the pompous Duke of Weselton, among others. Though she accepts her responsibility to the throne, Elsa fears that her still-unstable powers will cause harm to her subjects and guests. She copes by keeping her gloves at hand and reminding herself that the gates will only be open for the day. At the coronation ball, Elsa and Anna share their first (albeit stilted) conversation after quite some time, with Elsa leading the way. Their interaction proves that the connection between them is still there, but the reality of their situation starts to overwhelm Elsa, who distances herself once again while a crestfallen Anna excuses herself in response.

Later that night, Anna returns with Prince Hans by her side. The two announce their engagement and ask for Elsa's blessing. Cautious of Hans, Elsa denies their wishes, much to Anna's disappointment. The two begin to argue over the situation, upsetting Elsa to the point of ending the party and demanding the gates be closed. A furious Anna confronts her sister, which only adds to Elsa's anxiety. Overwhelmed with frustration, Elsa accidentally unleashes her powers upon Anna and the guests, who look on to their queen with fear (the Duke of Weselton even declares Elsa a monster and calls for her arrest). Horrified by her actions, Elsa sentences herself to exile and retreats into the fjord in an effort to protect the kingdom from herself. As she does, Elsa unknowingly plunges Arendelle into an eternal winter. Feeling responsible for the catastrophe, Anna sets out to find her sister, leaving Hans in charge during her absence.

Later that night, Elsa arrives at the North Mountain, where she comes to the conclusion that isolation is the only way to protect both herself and her people. Feeling less restrained as a result, Elsa experiments with her powers by building a snowman (whom she unknowingly imbues with life). She then claims the North Mountain as her new home, establishes herself as the Snow Queen, and creates a towering ice palace in which she plans to spend the rest of her days in solitude. Meanwhile, Anna has since partnered up with a mountain man named Kristoff, who agrees to act as the former's escort to the North Mountain. Along the way, they encounter the snowman that Elsa had created, who offers to guide them through the rest of their journey to Elsa's palace. Unfortunately, Anna's prolonged absence causes concern back in Arendelle. Hans comes to worry that Anna is being held prisoner by Elsa, and rallies together a group of volunteers to help him rescue her. The Duke of Weselton volunteers his own bodyguards to join the prince, with orders to kill Elsa in hopes that her death will end the winter.

At the palace, Elsa is initially elated to see Anna again, but remains firm on her decision to stay at the North Mountain. She encourages Anna to return to Arendelle where she'll be safe, but Anna reveals that Arendelle has been cursed with an eternal winter. The news comes as a shock to Elsa, who becomes overwhelmed with guilt over what she's done. Despite Anna's attempt to calm her sister, Elsa falls into a fit of panic and accidentally unleashes her powers once again. This time, however, they inadvertently strike Anna in the heart. With Elsa's powers becoming increasingly unstable due to stress, the Snow Queen demands that Anna leave the palace for her own safety. When Anna refuses, Elsa creates a gruesome snow-monster to forcibly remove Anna and her friends and ensure that they never return. Following Anna's departure, Elsa fearfully paces back and forth within the confines of her palace as she desperately tries to seize control over the curse. All of her attempts are futile, and her bleak state of mind is reflected in the palace's now-distorted interior.

Meanwhile, the effects of Elsa's curse starts to take its toll on Anna. She and Kristoff seek assistance from Grand Pabbie, who explains that Anna can only be saved by performing an "act of true love". Believing this to be "true love's kiss", Anna and Kristoff begin their journey back to Arendelle to receive a kiss from Hans. That morning, Hans and his guardsmen arrive at the North Mountain, where they are confronted by Marshmallow. Upon hearing the commotion, Elsa flees inside to avoid combat, with the Duke's goons in hot pursuit. They manage to corner the Snow Queen and attempt to carry out their orders, which forces Elsa to retaliate in defense. Eventually, the goons are overwhelmed by Elsa's power, but Hans calls out to the queen before she can murder the two. Upon realizing the monster she's becoming, Elsa pulls herself back. One of the goons seizes the opportunity to aim his crossbow at the Snow Queen in hopes of killing her, but Hans intervenes and alters the bolt's path, causing it to cut through Elsa's chandelier instead. The chandelier plummets toward the ground and the impact of the collision knocks Elsa unconscious. She is subsequently apprehended by Hans and his army, and taken back to Arendelle.

Some time later, a shackled Elsa awakens within the castle dungeon, where she is able to witness Arendelle's eternal winter firsthand from the cell's only window. She then receives a visit from Hans, who claims to be protecting her. Hans pleads for Elsa to end the curse, but she lacks the power to do so and instead demands that she be released for Arendelle's safety. Hans claims that he'll "do what he can" and leaves the cell. Afterward, Anna finally returns to Arendelle and warns Hans about the curse placed upon her by Elsa. Wanting to usurp the throne as king, Hans refuses to save Anna so that he can charge Elsa for treason and sentence her to death. Before the guards can carry out the execution, Elsa uses her powers to destroy both her chains and her cell, thus allowing her to escape. Due to the instability of her powers, however, this also triggers a whiteout that threatens to destroy Arendelle. Furious, Hans gathers his sword and sets out to kill the Snow Queen, himself.

On the fjord, Elsa is confronted by Hans, though she continues to resist arrest and instead pleads for the prince to take care of Anna in her absence. In response, Hans claims that Anna died of a frozen heart despite his efforts to save her, and blames Elsa for her death. Mortified, Elsa breaks down in sorrow, which effectively ends the whiteout. With Elsa defenseless, Hans slowly approaches the Snow Queen from behind and draws his sword, ready to decapitate her. His plans are foiled by Anna, who sacrifices herself to save Elsa just as the frozen heart curse consumes her body and kills her. Upon realizing Anna's fate, Elsa breaks down in tears as Arendelle's citizens look on, proving to them that Elsa is not a monster. Fortunately, Anna's body begins to thaw shortly thereafter, much to Elsa's surprise and relief.

Olaf deduces that the "act of true love" was Anna's sacrifice to save Elsa, which helps the latter to realize that the curse can be lifted with the power of love. With this revelation, Elsa thaws Arendelle, bringing summer back to the kingdom. With peace restored, Elsa rekindles her bond with Anna and is praised by her people for freeing them from the curse. After returning to her rightful position as queen of Arendelle, Elsa cuts off trade with Weselton, deports Hans, the Duke and his men for their attempted assassinations, and names Kristoff the "Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer". Additionally, she is shown to have become a generous, loving ruler towards her people; allowing the castle gates to remain open, while also creating an ice skating rink during a celebration for the kingdom's enjoyment. All the while, Anna expresses her happiness over the newfound way of life, much to Elsa's satisfaction, and the two sisters finally embrace their restored relationship.

Frozen Fever
"Come on, Elsa, this is for Anna. You can do this."

- Elsa planning Anna's birthday party

Frozen Fever centers the celebration surrounding Anna's 19th birthday. As a means to compensate for the years spent in forced isolation, resulting in lackluster and lonely birthdays, Elsa puts every ounce of her power into organizing a meaningful day to be spent between herself and Anna. After gathering a number of gifts based on Anna's personal interests, Elsa spreads them across the castle and kingdom and lastly puts her efforts into preparing the castle's courtyard, where the special cake is to be served. Assisting the Snow Queen are Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven, and although things seem to be going well, Elsa's perfectionist nature keeps her anxious. She is nevertheless assured by Kristoff that all will be well on his watch, and with that, Elsa departs to awaken Anna and officially start the day.

Following a trail of string throughout the castle and the village, Elsa and Anna begin their day of sisterly bonding while presenting the latter with her gifts, but throughout, Elsa constantly sneezes and sniffles as it becomes clear that a cold has consumed the queen. Whenever she sneezes, miniature snow-babies known as Snowgies are born, and they immediately rush to the castle courtyard and cause a mess as Kristoff, Olaf and Sven struggle to suppress them.

Meanwhile, Elsa's fever worsens to the point where she becomes delirious, thus affecting her actions. The hectic day leads to the city's clock tower, and a delirious Elsa nearly falls off the ledge, only to be saved by Anna. Finally coming down from her high, a comforting Anna manages to have Elsa admit the presence of her fever, and the sisters return to the castle. Guilty over the trouble she's caused, Elsa apologizes to her sister for ruining another birthday, though the latter assures that nothing was ruined and that Elsa just needs to rest in bed.

Anna takes her sister back into the castle gates, only to find Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, and the Snowgies having managed to successfully keep the party intact. A celebration follows, and Elsa, still delirious, insists on blowing the celebratory horn, which shoots out a massive snowball as a result of a sneeze, and flies all the way to the Southern Isles where it smacks into the conniving Prince Hans, causing the prince to be knocked into a wagon of horse manure.

After a successful birthday celebration, Anna helps Elsa into bed and happily remarks that taking care of her beloved big sister is her best birthday present ever.

Olaf's Frozen Adventure
In Olaf's Frozen Adventure, Elsa and Anna prepare to celebrate their first Christmas together since the gates have reopened. They do so by planning a party for the kingdom to enjoy at the castle, but their subjects instead choose to celebrate their own family traditions at home. Anna asks Elsa if they have traditions of their own, but because of Elsa's isolation, they weren't able to spend the holidays together as a family. Olaf looks to rectify the problem by going out and finding traditions for the sisters to share. Later that night, Elsa finds Anna rummaging through their old belongings in the attic. While doing so, Elsa finds a box filled with snowman memorabilia modeled after Olaf that Anna would send her every Christmas. The two declare Olaf to be their tradition, and celebrate the revelation by throwing a Christmas party out in the mountains with Olaf as the guest of honor.

Other appearances
Elsa and Anna make a small cameo appearance in the animated mini-series It's a Small World: The Animated Series, in the episode "Little Birds, Frost and Pine", happily playing in the winter snow together, building Olaf.

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

An emoticon version of Elsa appeared in the Frozen, Frozen Fever and Olaf's Frozen Adventure entries of the As Told by Emoji short series.

An otter version of Elsa appeared on the cover of Duke Weaselton's bootleg copy of Floatzen 2 in the film Zootopia.

In LEGO Frozen Northern Lights, Elsa and Anna embark on a journey to uncover the mystery behind the northern lights' disappearance. As an exaggerated version of herself, Elsa is portrayed as an overdramatic pessimist, though this stress also cripples her abilities, which adds difficulty to the adventure. A running gag includes Elsa preparing to sing "Let it Go", only to be interrupted before she can.

Once Upon a Time
Elsa debuts in the season finale of the show's third season and she is portrayed by Australian actress Georgina Haig. The flashbacks of Arendelle are set about two years after the events of the film, and approximately a year before the first Dark Curse was cast.

In the midst of preparations surrounding Anna and Kristoff's wedding, Elsa discovers that her parents set off on a mysterious mission in regards to her abilities. Elsa and Anna learn from Grand Pabbie that they were traveling to a land known as Misthaven; better known as the Enchanted Forest. Determined to learn why Anna travels to Misthaven, without Elsa's consent, and much to the latter's dismay. Meanwhile, Elsa and Kristoff defend the kingdom from an invading Hans, who concocted a scheme to trap the Ice Queen within an enchanted urn. Kristoff and Elsa get to the urn first but are cornered by Hans and three of his brothers. Elsa and Kristoff are able to defend themselves until Hans puts a sword to Kristoff's back, and threatens his life. Hans tells Elsa he will spare Kristoff if Elsa gives him the urn, which she does. When Hans opened the urn to capture the queen, however, a mysterious being is released, instead, and freezes Hans as punishment for his cruel ways. The being is soon revealed to be Elsa's maternal aunt, Ingrid. Like Elsa, Ingrid holds power over ice and snow and is universally known as the Snow Queen. Elsa welcomes Ingrid back into Arendelle and is soon greeted by Anna returned from her adventures. However, it is soon discovered that Ingrid has villainous intentions. Years before Anna and Elsa, Ingrid was the elder sister of Gerda (Anna and Elsa's mother) and Helga. One day, Ingrid accidentally killed Helga, resulting in Gerda, in grief, trapping Ingrid in the magical urn to prevent her from causing more harm. From there, Gerda asked Grand Pabbie to erase Helga and Ingrid from the records and minds of Arendelle. When Ingrid returned, she wanted a new family to fill the void her sisters left, but one where they are equally empowered with magic, thus decidedly plotting to eliminate Anna. In hopes of turning Elsa against her sister, as well, Ingrid entrances Anna, forcing the latter to confront a confused and frightful Elsa. Anna threatens to imprison Elsa within the same urn that trapped Ingrid, and although Ingrid intended for Elsa to kill her sister before she had the chance. Elsa refused to hurt Anna and Anna unseals the urn in which Elsa is then imprisoned. Ingrid in a rage takes the urn from Anna and freezes over all of Arendelle, Ingrid then erases Elsa's memories of ever meeting her so the two could have a fresh start after Ingrid released Elsa from the urn. However, before Ingrid could release Elsa, Rumplestiltskin appears and takes the urn from Ingrid and tells Ingrid he will give it back if she gives him the magical hat. Ingrid does not oblige to the Dark One's request and Elsa is stored in Rumple's vault.

Years later, Emma Swan and Captain Hook are transported back in time and after correcting their mistakes they are imprisoned in the vault of the Dark One by Rumple who believes the two of them can not return to the future. Hook attempts to search the vault for a way out and finds the urn that contains Elsa, Emma tells him to put it down which he does. Moments later Emma is able to recover her magic and open a time portal to the future in which Elsa's urn is accidentally sucked into. After Hook and Emma have returned to Storybrooke they leave the area, after they have departed Elsa breaks free from her urn, shatters it with her magic, and proceeds to walk out of the barn hastily creating a trail a frost in her wake.

Though initially frightened by her surroundings, causing great chaos as a result, such as creating a giant snowman that turns wild until it is destroyed by Regina. Elsa manages to retreat the chaos, and stumbles upon Anna's necklace in Mr. Gold's (Rumplestiltskin) shop. Elsa after finding Anna's necklace creates an ice wall the surrounds the entire town. Emma meets Elsa who was hiding behind the wall, and Emma nearly dies due to a cave in but Elsa saves her. Later that night Emma and Elsa go to the ice wall so Elsa can take it down but for some reason, her magic is unable to melt it.

As time passes Elsa and Emma form a strong friendship, and the other members of the town no longer see Elsa as a threat. Emma and the others decide to join their new companion in the search for her sister. The group would eventually encounter Ingrid who is using her magic to keep the ice wall up; though Elsa fails to remember her as her memory was wiped by the Snow Queen to prevent confrontations. Elsa and Captain Hook confront Ingrid after the latter has frozen Maid Marian but Ingrid tells Elsa everyone fears people with magic and tries to kill Hook to prove to Elsa that the town will turn on her. Emma is able to stop Ingrid but she gets away. Later Ingrid creates a false Anna to lure Elsa away from Emma and she traps her niece. Ingrid needs Elsa out of her way so she can obtain Regina's mirror. Elsa is able to break free from her bond's and stops Ingrid who was using her magic to choke Emma and Regina. Elsa tells Ingrid to fight her but Ingrid again flees.

Like before, Ingrid plots to recreate her family, and selects Elsa and Emma (who also has magical powers) as her victims. Convinced that she could only gain their love when she was the only one left, Ingrid obtained a mirror capable of bringing out the worst in people. The mirror was missing one piece which was a shard from Regina's mirror which Ingrid had just stolen. If a piece of the mirror were to get in someone's eye, they would see nothing but hatred in the world. Ingrid had planned to use this on everyone in Storybrooke (dubbed the Spell of Shattered Sight), forcing all of its citizens to turn against one another, and battle to the death, while her, Emma, and Elsa remained immune.

Back in Arendelle, Anna tried to track down a device known as a wishing star, which will have the power to bring her and Kristoff to wherever Elsa is. It was apparently the necklace Elsa had given her long ago, Elsa using it to bring Anna and Kristoff to Storybrooke. However, the Spell of Shattered Sight had already begun, and the only ones immune to it were Elsa, Emma, and Anna. Tracking down a note written by Elsa and Anna's mother right before her death, Anna brings it to Ingrid. It reads that Gerda requests that Ingrid is freed from the urn and states she truly loved her sister and regretted trapping her away. Realizing she always had her sisters' love, Ingrid destroys herself to ensure the curse is lifted.

With the help of Rumplestiltskin, Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff are able to discover a door that will lead back to Arendelle, though they will not be able to return, as the door will disappear after its use. Anna and Kristoff depart, while Elsa and Emma share a tearful goodbye before returning to Arendelle with her sister. Back in their home kingdom, Anna's wedding is underway, and the two sisters share a brief chat before heading to the chapel, hand-in-hand.

Sometimes after, Arendelle would be under siege again; this time by the pirate Blackbeard. Having learned and mastered some new magic, Elsa managed to defeat him. As punishment for how he mistreated her sister and her brother-in-law, including his collaboration with Hans, Elsa shrinks the pirate and his crew, and turn their ship, the Jolly Roger, into a ship in a bottle, unaware that she also trapped the mermaid Ariel as well.

In the episode "Beauty", a young girl is seen dressed as Elsa for Halloween.

Anna & Elsa: Sisterhood is the Strongest Magic
In the continuation of the film, Elsa is featured as the warm ruler of Arendelle struggling to both rekindle with her sister and care for her kingdom, which regularly requests her attention. This aspect is largely the focus of All Hail the Queen.

In Memory and Magic, Elsa encounters a young troll who claims to have the power to restore the memories of Anna that Pabbie erased years ago. However, a reluctant Elsa goes against the idea and chooses to create new memories, instead.

Elsa plays a more of a heroic role in A Warm Welcome where Olaf informs her of a summer queen with power over fire and heat. But when the snowman also mentions her land is trapped in eternal summer, the Snow Queen and Anna take action and launches a rescue mission.

In The Secret Admirer, Elsa receives a message from an anonymous lover, prompting Anna and Olaf to uncover the sender in hopes of pairing Elsa up. The book hints that Elsa may be romantic, showing that while she's flattered that someone has feelings for her and is curious who they are, she's not as curious as Anna or Olaf, who essentially look through every possible candidate. This suggests she is not necessarily against the idea of being in a relationship, but she puts her kingdom and her sister above all else. Although more social and in complete control of her powers, Elsa still has slight thixophobia (fear of being touched), having slight trouble with a kiss on her hand.

In Return to the Ice Palace, Elsa's relationship with the Snowgies is briefly explored; she treats them very much in the vein of her own toddlers, as she warmly allows them to play along with her dress during her visit to their home, in the ice palace.

Kingdom Keepers
Elsa is mentioned in the seventh book Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider, where she was asked to slow the storm approaching the park that the Overtakers were going to use to ignite natural gas flooding it.

Other books
The story, A Sister More Like Me, gives an expanded look at her character. She's revealed to be intelligent, a lover of academics, and has a fondness for tea.

A Year with Elsa & Anna (and Olaf, too!) describes Elsa's birth as having occurred at night, and in during which, the aurora borealis phenomenon took place.

Disney INFINITY
Elsa is included as a playable character in Disney INFINITY and its subsequent 2.0 and 3.0 editions, playable in the Toy Box Mode of all games. She was released both as a singular figure and with her sister Anna in a dual Frozen Toy Box pack with two customization Power Discs.

Elsa also has her own exclusive adventure called "Elsa's Slingshot Gallery". The aim of it is to hit targets with your slingshot to get as many points as you can within a certain time limit. Yellow targets yield 1 point, while red targets yield 3 points.

Disney Magical World 2
Elsa first appears shortly after the player arrives in Arendelle alongside Olaf. At the time, Arendelle was being plagued by a legion of mischievous ghosts. With Elsa's magic having no effect on the ghosts, she and Anna visit Grand Pabbie for advice. While in the Valley of the Living Rock, the sisters meet the player and are told of their magic powers. Elsa then enlists the player in cleansing Arendelle. Afterwards, she is found in the castle and regularly gives the player tasks throughout the game.

Kingdom Hearts III
At the 2018 Microsoft E3 conference, it was shown that Elsa will be making her debut in the Kingdom Hearts series in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III. She meets Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy after she flees from Arendelle and accidentally unleashes her eternal winter. Behind the scenes, Elsa becomes the unknowing target of Organization XIII, due to her potentially pure heart.

Other games
Elsa appears in Frozen Free Fall both as a child and adult on various levels. Her special ability is her ice magic, known as 'glacier' in the game.

An add-on costume of Elsa is also featured in LittleBigPlanet, as part of the "Frozen Costume Pack".

In Club Penguin, she is exclusively featured in the episode "Frozen Party", in both her Snow Queen wear, and Coronation Day dress.

In Disney Tsum Tsum, Elsa's special power is to freeze the bottom of the screen, so the player can tap to clear it.

Musical
In the stage adaptation of the film, Elsa's role was originated by actress Caissie Levy, and is slightly more developed than the animated counterpart. The musical puts more emphasis on the internal and external struggles that come with Elsa's powers. The show is also more blatant and direct with the darker themes that make up Elsa's arc, some of which were only hinted at in the animated film.

While visiting the hidden folk during the first act of the show, Elsa begs Pabbie to remove her powers, though he explains that he cannot as her powers are part of her. This leads Elsa to agree with her father that she and Anna be separated, even going as far as to counsel her hesitant mother about the decision. Despite Agnarr and Iduna's deaths early on, Elsa would occasionally look to them for guidance throughout the show.

Elsa takes part in several numbers, though two new solos were written specifically for the Snow Queen as spiritual companion pieces (and antithesis) for "Let It Go"—the first being "Dangerous to Dream", in which Elsa mourns the loss of her freedom and happiness at the expense of her powers. During "Monster", Elsa laments the tragedy that her powers have brought upon the world, and desperately looks for a way to end her troubles as Hans and his men seize the Ice Palace.

Disneyland Resort
In Disneyland, Elsa and Anna meet-and-greet at "Anna and Elsa's Royal Welcome", which is inside the Disney Animation attraction at Disney California Adventure. She also makes a special appearance in Winter Dreams, the winter-themed rendition of the nighttime spectacular World of Color, and stars in the Frozen: Live at the Hyperion musical.

Walt Disney World
Elsa appears in the Festival of Fantasy Parade. She is also featured briefly in Happily Ever After and performs "Let It Go" in Once Upon a Time. Also at Magic Kingdom, beginning in November 2014, Elsa took part in Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and hosted the nightly ceremony, A Frozen Holiday Wish of transforming Cinderella Castle into a shimmering ice castle.

Elsa was also prominently featured as the hostess of Frozen Summer Fun! at Disney's Hollywood Studios and took part in nearly every event (including the morning parade, sing-along show For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration and nightly fireworks show).

Elsa makes a cameo during the bubble montage scene in Fantasmic!, alongside Anna and Olaf.

Elsa is also among the final guests featured in Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire, where she encourages an impressionable Minnie Mouse to stay true to herself.

Elsa also appears as an audio-animatronic in Frozen Ever After in Epcot. During the attraction, she performs "Let It Go" in her ice palace, and is later seen dressed in her Frozen Fever attire performing "In Summer" alongside Anna and Olaf. In addition, Elsa currently makes meet-and-greet appearances near the attraction in the Norway Pavilion.

Tokyo Disneyland
In Tokyo Disneyland, Elsa is heavily featured during Anna and Elsa's Frozen Fantasy. Starting with the 2018 edition, she and Elsa began meeting and greeting guests.

Elsa and Olaf also appear during the finale of the nighttime spectacular Once Upon a Time. During the winter overlay, she appears in a much larger capacity, with the addition of a Frozen segment.

She and Anna also appear on the ice castle float as part of the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: Dreamlights.

Elsa, Anna, and Olaf were added to the Tokyo Disneyland version of It's a Small World when the attraction reopened in 2018.

Disneyland Paris
In Disneyland Paris, Although Elsa no longer meets, she appears in Disney Stars on Parade and is also the final character to encounter Mickey in Mickey and the Magician at the Walt Disney Studios Park. Every summer, Elsa and the Frozen cast perform in For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration.

Hong Kong Disneyland
Elsa appears in Mickey and the Wondrous Book, where sings "Let It Go" in the Frozen segment where Mickey and Goofy bring Olaf back.

Shanghai Disneyland
Elsa's likeness can be found on the Frozen mosaic mural inside of the Enchanted Storybook Castle. She also appears in the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration show in the Fantasyland theater, the Golden Fairytale Fanfare castle show, as well as the Mickey's Storybook Express parade.

She is also prominently featured in the fireworks show, Ignite the Dream, where she performs "Let It Go" and the "For the First Time in Forever" reprise.

Disney Princess
Anna and Elsa were originally slated to join the Disney Princess franchise as the twelfth and thirteenth Princesses, respectfully. The two were even given two-dimensional art, similar to those of Rapunzel and Merida. However, with the financial and critical success of their movie, the two are currently the stars of the Frozen franchise, rendering it unnecessary to include the two in another major franchise because of how well their movie did in the box office.

Despite this, the two have been commonly featured alongside members of the franchise in merchandise and media. They were referenced in the show Sofia the First. In "The Secret Library", a cold wind and ice droplets are shown in the secret tunnel, alongside other references to all the other Disney Princesses. Later, in "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle", Olaf is summoned by the Amulet of Avalor, due to the powers of Miss Nettle. It is implied by Olaf, however, that without Miss Nettle's intervention, Anna would have been summoned, as aside only Disney princesses have been summoned by the amulet.

The two were also included in the updated version of "The Glow", a Disney Princess song.

Inside of Shanghai Disneyland's Enchanted Storybook Castle, wall carvings of the official Disney Princesses are prominently displayed; Elsa and Anna are featured among them.

Trivia

 * Elsa is the only playable character in Disney INFINITY who cannot execute close combat.
 * In all the songs she sings, her powers are present too.
 * "For the First Time in Forever" - Freezing a jewelry box and candle-stick.
 * "Let It Go" - Creating her ice palace and Olaf.
 * "For the First Time in Forever (Reprise)" - Accidentally freezing Anna's heart.
 * "Making Today a Perfect Day" - Changing the look of her and Anna's dresses and creating the Snowgies every time she sneezed.
 * Elsa is 21 years old by the time of her coronation, according to Jennifer Lee, the Junior Novelization, and the age difference between her and Anna is approximately 3.5 years (Anna is 18 years old during the coronation).
 * According to Jennifer Lee and Disney, Elsa was born on the Winter Solstice. Given that the film takes place in July, Elsa would have turned 22 by winter. The map briefly shown in Frozen Fever suggests that the short took place in 1840, ergo Frozen took place during July of 1839 (hence Oaken's statement, "A real howler in July, yes?") Since Elsa was 21 years old during Frozen, then her birth year must have been 1817. And since she was born on the Winter Solstice, then she was born on the 22nd of December, 1817, since that is when the winter solstice occurred on that year in Norway. Her birthday is not celebrated on the Winter Solstice every year, necessarily, as that date differs. But she was born on the day that the Winter Solstice happened for that specific year. This birthday post by Disney was shared on the 22nd of December, 2015.
 * Also, Frozen Fever confirms Anna's birthday to be a year after the film, and the potential year it takes place (1840), indicating that Elsa should have turned 23 that December, and been 22 during the events of Frozen Fever.
 * Elsa's name (a variant of Elizabeth) is Germanic for "noble". It could also be a reference to Eliza, the heroine of another one of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, The Wild Swans.
 * Walt Disney had plans to adapt The Snow Queen in the 1940's, but after the character of the Snow Queen proved to be too hard to bring down to earth, the project was shelved.
 * Elsa was alluded to in the Sofia the First episode "Winter's Gift" by Winter when she talks about a princess who makes ice. She is also directly mentioned by Olaf in "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle".
 * Elsa strongly resembles her mother during her coronation, as she wore her hair in the same style, and she wore a dress that was a black-and-teal version of the dress her mother wore.
 * Elsa is very fond of chocolate, a trait she shares with Anna.
 * Contrary to how most adaptations (particularly the 1995 and 2012 versions) portray her, this version of the Snow Queen is not a villain, since the Snow Queen in the original fairy tale, though still the main antagonist, was not intended to be evil. Also, the fairy tale involved an evil troll (implied to represent Satan) building a mirror which he will use to make anything appear evil in the eyes of the beholders, only to accidentally smash it in the process, and one of the shards ending up hitting Kai (much like Elsa's frost shards hit Anna in the film). The Queen was based on a woman Hans Christian Andersen personally hated for being shrewd and distant.
 * Elsa may have been partially based on Kai from the original "Snow Queen" fairy tale, who after ends up being kidnapped by the title Queen after he is unexpectedly stabbed by two of the broken shards of a magic mirror created by an evil troll which he was supposed to use to corrupt people and becoming cold and resentful, therefore prompting Gerda to try and rescue him, combined with the Snow Queen herself. In some adaptations, Kai and Gerda are actually blood-related siblings with quite a genuinely strong and close brother-sister relationship; as do Elsa and Anna. Moreover, much like Anna, Kai was hit by two shards: one in the head (eye in some versions) and one in the heart, so in fact, both sisters share attributes of Kai and Gerda combined.
 * Elsa, Deidre from the Once Upon a Time series novel Winter's Child, and the Snow Queen from the 2005 anime of the same name are the only three incarnations of the character to be portrayed as heroic characters.
 * Based on the lyrics of the deleted songs "Life's Too Short" and "Spring Pageant", originally, Elsa's decision to flee the kingdom was because of an ancient prophecy claiming that Arendelle could one day be destroyed by an evil queen with a literal heart of ice, and since Elsa, who can control ice and snow, who was the queen in question, did not want to associate herself with this prophecy, ends up running away on her coronation day after revealing her powers, only to end up fulfilling it instead due to her being hostile and vindictive to anyone who knows about it.
 * Another early draft made note of Elsa being the "heir" and Anna the "spare". ("More Than Just the Spare")
 * Frozen writer Jennifer Lee once made a tweet jokingly suggesting that Elsa and Wreck-It Ralph would make a good couple during the 2013 D23 Expo. As a nod to that, in Disney INFINITY, if Ralph and Elsa are introduced to one another, Ralph will tell Elsa that she's "really pretty", and Elsa will reply "And you have a warm heart."
 * In the Disney universe, Elsa and Anna artistically and thematically coincide with an aspect of nature, as did Rapunzel: Elsa (the cold moon) which stands alone and half in darkness, and Anna (the warm sun) which spreads over everyone (hence her optimism and positive outlook, enabling her to make friends easily). This can also be noted, for in the beginning of the film, Anna explains how the sky is awake when there was a bright moon, therefore she is. Even though the two are different, they complete each other, hence the film's ending of sisterly love saving the day instead of romantic love.
 * The scene where Anna and Elsa get into an argument during Elsa's coronation party due to Anna's attempt to propose to Hans causing her to accidentally expose her ice powers to the public as a result of Anna pulling off one of her gloves and running away appears to be very analogous to the scene in the original Snow Queen fairy tale where Kai is enchanted by the Devil's mirror (with Hans as a stand-in) and becoming very jaded with Gerda resulting in him becoming more resentful with her and subsequently being found and kidnapped by the title Snow Queen. Since Elsa is also Kai, this would essentially mean that the Snow Queen kidnapped herself.
 * "Let It Go" is very unique for a Disney Princess for a general I Want song for them represents the Princess wanting a new life, or meeting new people, sometimes seeing new places. Elsa's song "Let It Go" is about her wanting to just to able to be herself and never have to worry about others (as she does not want to hurt them).
 * During the song "Let It Go", Elsa discards the three accessories worn during her coronation that she views as restraints: her gloves (what holds her magic back), her cape (her authority over others), and her tiara (her queenly title), which the latter is ultimately found by Marshmallow at the end of the film.
 * Elsa, along with Daisy Duck and Meg, is one of few Disney heroines to sport eye shadow.
 * It is also stated in the book A Sister More Like Me that Elsa loves geometry. This is shown when she uses her knowledge of geometry to create her ice palace, and describing her snow designs as 'fractals'; an advanced geometry concept for the time period.
 * Elsa originally wore her hair with a braid as a child, symbolizing her carefree and innocent personality. While growing up, Elsa wears her hair in a bun, showing her confinement and isolation. When she embraces her powers again after running away, she wears her hair with a braid again.
 * According to Jennifer Lee, even though the reason for Elsa's ice magic is never explained except for a mention that she was simply born with it, it has been hinted that the source of her magic may have been caused by a 1000-year alignment between Saturn and other distant planets like Uranus, Neptune, dwarf planets like Pluto, etc.; much like how Rapunzel got her blonde hair from the Sun's light.
 * Idina Menzel had previously auditioned for the role of Rapunzel in Tangled. Although she did not get the part, a Disney casting director recorded her voice, and it got her the part of Elsa two years later. Coincidentally, Kristen Bell, who voices Anna, also auditioned for the role of Rapunzel.
 * In the trailer (especially in the Japanese version), there are some scenes that did not appear in the movie that were meant to give audiences the illusion that Elsa was the villain. For example, the scene where she fires her magic from the top of the mountain at the camera does not appear in the film, in order to make it look like Elsa was cursing the kingdom, and the scene where Anna is in a monstrous blizzard yelling to Kristoff, "That's no blizzard, that's my sister!" pointing at Elsa, who is using her magic in order to make it seem like she was trying to harm Anna. These two scenes actually come from test animation of the scene where Anna and Kristoff jump off the cliff to escape Marshmallow, in which Anna was depicted as scared to jump off the cliff, and Marshmallow was actively trying to kill Anna and Kristoff instead of simply trying to scare them off.
 * Originally when Anna wanted to marry Hans, Elsa scolds her and says "I may not be our mother, but I am still the queen", to which Anna responds "You're a mean queen!" This line was removed, as it would've defeated the purpose of Elsa's inner vulnerability, as she was not afraid of pulling rank on others.
 * While Anna's clothes remain brightly colored even into adulthood, Elsa's clothes noticeably become darker, duller, and more restraining as she gradually becomes an adult (possibly to exploit her isolation from her subjects and especially Anna), but starts wearing lighter-colored clothing after singing "Let It Go".
 * At the beginning, Elsa wears gloves to hide her powers, but when she embraces her powers, she removes them. This is indicative of the symbolism of "the gloves coming off" - a person shows their true colors when they aren't wearing gloves.
 * According to the book Across the Sea, one of Elsa's recurring sources of amusement are Anna's condescending imitations of the Duke of Weselton.
 * In Zootopia, a little elephant girl wearing an outfit resembling Elsa's 'Snow Queen' gown can be seen wandering around in Tundratown.
 * In fact, there are several Frozen references in the film.
 * Elsa weighed seven pounds when she was born.
 * During renovations of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, beginning in 2014, Elsa was one of the character silhouettes featured on the wall mural.
 * Elsa might suffer from a combination of and . This is seen when Anna tries to convince her that they can be as close as they were when they were kids. Although Elsa was tempted by the idea, she becomes frightened after having a flashback of the night she'd accidentally hurt her sister with her powers. Elsa also goes to great lengths to try to not hurt anyone else with her powers, as she does not yet know how to strike other people in the head without knocking them unconscious, or strike them in the chest without freezing their hearts.