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Writing
The filmmakers approached the story by focusing on the on the bond between Anna and Elsa. Rather than a standard princess finding her prince story, they want to explore the special bond sisters share, a bond that can endured years of separation and misunderstanding. Disney artists organized an internal Sister Summit event where women from across studio gathered to discuss and explore their own experiences with their sisters. Lee stated while classic fairy tales and princess movies often revolve around romantic themes, the dynamics between siblings remain overlooked in these narratives.

During production, story artists worked to transform abstract ideas into visual sequences. The process involves multiple passes, with writers initiating the story and artists contributing their creativity. Each artist typically handles one sequence per week, aiming to convey maximum emotional and visual impact. They aimed to make the fairy tale elements feel magical yet believable and appealing to modern viewers. The studio followed a tradition of storyboard sessions where each artist would present their boards and explain or perform the characters’ actions. In particularly, John Ripa pitched the challenging climax of the film, and his compelling narrative emotionally resonated within the filmmaker.

Initially depicted as a villain, Elsa's character evolved throughout the writing process, revealing a character who had been compelled to conceal her true self. Lee clarified that Elsa is not a villain; rather, she made regrettable choices due to her incredibly challenging circumstances. Anna serves as the emotional core of the story, akin to classic Disney fairy tale heroines like Snow White. Unlike typical films where the main character possesses special powers, Anna, who initially believes she is neither special nor interesting, had to be transformed into the central focus. This approach was distinct from previous films like "Tangled," where the heroine had supernatural abilities, making Anna's character development creatively challenging to write.

The filmmakers aimed to endear the audience to Hans and his possible romance with Anna. However, the character undergoes a substantial transformation and surprises the audience, and his deception helped establish a significant plot twist at the story's conclusion. They aimed to highlight his stark contrasts between his initial charm and his later unexpected personality. However, the biggest challenge writing him was addressing all facets of his personality without fully revealing his true intentions to the audience.

Design
Initially set in the late 1600s, the film's costume designs were shifted to the 1840s for a more classical fairy tale appearance. The designers focused keenly on fine details, intricately replicating the unique properties of various materials. Their designs featured elaborate embroidery and rosemaling depictions, balancing bold color choices with distinctly clear shapes. They adhered to the traditional Norwegian style by predominantly using wool fabric. and velvet, linen, and silk as accents. Wool, being less reflective, served as an ideal base for the vibrant colors.

The designers aimed for a stylized setting that complemented the characters and the story rather than a realistic travelogue. Arendelle's designs feature asymmetric elements from Balestrand's architecture combing Victorian aesthetic and Norwegian rustic design, and its castle drew inspiration from twelfth century Norwegian stave churches.

To create Elsa's magical winter conditions including frozen fjords and extreme ice formations, they drew inspiration from Great Lakes lighthouses where continuous spraying results in unique and bizarre ice sculptures forming on top of ice. Elsa's magic ice follows snowflake patterns, but on a larger scale. Her growth of the ice is characterized by a melodic and rhythmic pattern, which gives it a unique and magical appearance. Similarly, her palace incorporated various types of ice, ranging from clear and reflective to frosted and opaque. Clear ice areas allowed for distorted images and reflections, while frosted parts concealed views. The choice between them is influenced desired atmosphere and temperature, reflecting the narrative and intended emotional tone of the scene.

Animation and effects
The design process involves careful management of lighting, shadow, and color hues to prevent the setting from overpowering the character. Adjustments including lighting, object decorations, textures, and patterns are made to ensure elements blends harmoniously with the scene. Buck aimed to infuse the film with stylized designs reminiscent of Disney classics like "101 Dalmatians," "Sleeping Beauty," the traditional Disney Little Golden Books, and midcentury American design. He also remarked on the importance of strong, shape-oriented visuals. To achieve this, he recruited Michael Giaimo who popularized this style. Buck was intrigued by Giaimo’s sense of shape and design and innovative approach to push the boundaries of color and shape for realistic depiction in CG.

Translating drawn actions in CG requires careful rigging to ensure realistic movement. The team studied intricate costume designs and rosemaling patterns, aiming to incorporate them into the film's graphic and animation style. (72) When applying effects, achieving believability is challenging because the characters engage in activities like singing and building palaces, which demand a higher level of believability despite the fantastical elements.

Rigging Anna and Elsa require subtle refinements to highlight their individual traits due to their roles as heroines and sisters, with both characters needed to exhibit high performance and appeal while retaining their unique personalities. When modeling the snow monster Marshmallow, they had to create realistic icicles, determining edge hardness for correct lighting, and avoiding a rubbery appearance. Elsa's outfits and physical appearances requires strong, purposeful shapes that accentuate and support the characters' physical and emotional performance, Her costume is akin to a walking special effect, resembling ice crystals with its refractive and reflective qualities.

Snow
Creating a realistic snowy landscape involves intricate lighting techniques. The filmmakers emphasized the challenge of making the snow appear believable without resembling concrete. They developed various subsurface techniques to convey the effect of light penetrating the snow and altering its color as it travels through. As light travels deeper into snow, red wavelengths are absorbed, giving it a bluer tone. Rendering refractive objects like ice takes extensive time in CG, adding to the complexity. Lighting the clear ice presented another hurdle, requiring careful consideration of how it reflects light realistically. They aimed to create a visually stunning and intricate ice environment without strict adherence to physical accuracy. The designers faced the challenge of creating realistic visuals for snow, ice, and their combination in "Frozen." They had to consider various aspects, such as geometric and painted snow, different snow shapes, and snow sparkles. The goal was to ensure a stable, renderable, and art-directable appearance for these elements in the film. After receiving insights Dr. Ken Libbrecht who explained the formation of snow crystals at a molecular level, they approached such elements by illustrating natural growth and shapes in their animations and avoiding morphing or artificial movements.

The animation team also noted importance balance the brightness and contrast of the snow in the film. They strived to create a winter atmosphere with the sun appearing low on the horizon, adjusting lighting conditions according to the story and emotion. In the process, they faced difficulties maintaining the brightness without making the scenes look overly blinding, and also to make the snow visually appealing and pristine without making it appear gray or dirty. Frozen's entire stage is predominantly white, and as such, the team faces the task of maintaining audience engagement with the characters while preventing them from feeling overwhelmed by the snowy backgrounds, requiring careful lighting techniques. They use A "Frost Modifier" to cover the entire world in frost and encase everything in ice, enhancing the film's visual depiction of a frozen environment.

Character rigging supervisor Carlos Cabrol explained that since they had never animated a snowman before, there was extensive back-and-forth with animation. They prototyped movements and capabilities based on the animators' needs. Buck was involved in the process, suggesting ideas such as Olaf coming apart or having his head fall off. The rig was designed to enable Olaf to move and behave in ways that are unique to snowmen and beyond the abilities of humans and animals. Animating Olaf presented challenges due to his vague anatomy and the need to make him stand out in a snowy environment. To address the issue of blending in with the snow, subtle differences in Olaf's texture were introduced. Collaboration with the lighting team ensure that Olaf stood out distinctly amidst the snowy backdrop. The challenge of making Olaf stand out in a snowy environment was addressed by the lighting team. Lighting supervisor Josh Staub acknowledged the difficulty, mentioning the use of traditional techniques like rim and bounce lighting. The goal was to ensure Olaf doesn't appear like a cut-out but rather seamlessly integrates into the snowy surroundings, making him feel like he belongs in the scene.

Creating believable ice for Elsa's Ice Palace require intricate optical properties. This is challenging because unlike snow, ice is optically active and its colors can shift based on the surroundings. It can refract light into rainbow highlights, vary from transparent to opaque, have a smooth or patterned surface, and reflect or distort its surroundings like a fun house mirror. Achieving realistic ice effects proved difficult due to these complexities. The ice hotel in Quebec City served as inspiration for Elsa's palace. It featured snow sculptures with transparent ice frameworks and refractive ice pillars, which influenced the interior and exterior walls of Elsa's palace. During the day, natural lighting highlighted the ice and snow's qualities, while at night, the hotel became a colorful light show. Assistant art director Lisa Keene noted the dynamic lighting effects in the bar, where changing colors altered the perception of space, creating a visually striking and immersive experience.

Artists use the negative and positive space of snowflurries to produce intricate snowflake shapes. They introduced the concept of giving Elsa a distinctive snowflake pattern, making it her signature. This unique design element served as a recognizable symbol, distinguishing Elsa's creations from natural snowflakes throughout the movie. The effects team applied effects that followed a narrative structure with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Unlike typical effects, these elements were integrated into the storytelling process, aligning with the vision outlined by the director and contributing to the overall narrative arc of the film. This approach added depth and excitement to the creative process. The design of Elsa's palace in "Frozen" is intricately linked to her emotional journey. As her character evolves from anger to contentment, the palace transforms in response. Initially aggressive in design, it gradually becomes more sculptural and refined, mirroring Elsa's changing mood and her journey toward self-discovery and acceptance.