Released in 2013, Frozen quickly became one of Disney’s most beloved modern classics. It won awards, filled theaters, launched endless merchandise, and embedded its songs into global culture. For many viewers, it felt heartfelt, empowering, and emotionally sincere — especially in how it replaced “true love’s kiss” with the love between sisters.
At the same time, some viewers sensed that something in the storytelling didn’t fully click. Elsa seemed strangely passive for someone with so much power. Anna’s journey felt almost too easy. Big dramatic turns came from magical accidents rather than from moral choices. The film clearly wanted to talk about fear, love, and acceptance — yet the path toward those ideas sometimes felt indirect, like the story was avoiding something deeper.
Instead of judging the movie or trying to “fix” it outright, it helps to look more closely.
When we place Frozen inside the lens of the Major Arcana — understood not as occult symbolism, but as stages of psychological and spiritual development — certain patterns become visible. We begin to see why the movie resonates so strongly on one level, while feeling strangely incomplete on another.
Two discoveries stand out right away.
First, Elsa functions less like a protagonist and more like unpredictable weather — powerful, dramatic, but largely outside her own control. Second, because the story shifts its weight onto Anna, her arc becomes warm and likable, yet never fully transformative. She is lovable from the beginning, and lovable at the end — which softens the impact of “true love” as a culmination.
Looking through archetypes gives clarity. We can trace where the film aligns beautifully with mythic structure, where it hesitates, and where it quietly hands responsibility away from the characters and toward fate.
With that in mind, let’s walk through Frozen archetype by archetype — beginning with the Magician.
Major arcana archetypes in Frozen
The Magician — will, light and manifestation ✅
Both girls are depicted as little magicians from the start. Elsa especially — but Anna is not far behind at all, since she manifests for herself a play-party with Elsa. Anna also clearly casts joy and happiness into the world.
The Devil — opposition to the Magician ✅
Without the Magician first casting or manifesting anything, the Devil would have nothing to oppose and challenge. Elsa is placed into the Devil’s role here, when her powers unintentionally oppose Anna’s joy and happiness and create danger where there should have been playfulness.
Justice — balance and free will, confusion ✅
Justice subconsciously balances our positive and negative thoughts. When the character is not outwardly negative, the environment opposes and challenges them, producing opportunity for free will. Confusion is allways the state from which choices are being made.
Because Anna is suddenly placed in a position where love is withheld and doors are closed, she is forced to respond and interpret what is happening — which is why she seems confused and unsettled when Elsa shuts her out.
The Hermit — isolation ✅
When Elsa’s powers go out of control and the parents suggest isolation, that also leaves Anna isolated from Elsa. Her loneliness was archetypaly inevitable as both sisters retreat into separate emotional worlds.
The High Priestess — object of inspiration ✅
The object of Anna’s inspiration arrives in the form of Prince Hans, who appears charming, attentive, and ready to listen.
However, Elsa also acts as Anna’s High Priestess. She is the older sister and heir to the throne — someone Anna deeply respects and longs to reconnect with, even when she doesn’t fully understand her.
The Lightning — a shock of light ❓
Anna is quickly impressed by Prince Hans. This sudden love arrives exactly like a bolt of lightning in the middle of a dull, mundane night — fast, bright, intoxicating.
However, Anna’s and Hans’s love story does not become the leading arc, which leaves this lightning strike feeling more like an temporary emotional jolt.
The Empress — elated self, arrogance, inflated ego, naïveté ✅
After Anna spends some time with Hans, she already thinks they should get married. Her joy expands into overconfidence, and she mistakes emotional excitement for destiny — exactly like a naive Empress.
The Wheel of Fortune — the ups and downs ✅
Elsa acts as the common-sense person here and forbids Anna to get married so irresponsibly fast.
Anna perceives Elsa as the “gatekeeper lion” to her happiness. The Wheel turns, and Anna feels thrown from joy down into frustration.
Strength — force, manipulation ✅
Anna wants to tame that gatekeeper lion forcefully. She gets angry with Elsa — and this turns out disastrous for everybody.
Note: Elsa’s uncontrollable outburst of powers is a direct consequence of Anna’s frustration and anger, therefore Anna should take responsibility for her emotions at some point. Yet the most she says to Elsa is: “I’m sorry for what happened.”
Note: Later, Anna tries to rather lovingly convince Elsa at her ice castle that they should work together to resolve the issue — as she gets hit in the heart with ice. To make this part and the rest of the story more believable, Anna should have been more forcefully pressing Elsa again.
The Star — wayshower, hope ✅
Childhood memories of Elsa guide Anna and give her hope that everything will be all right. Even when abandoned and betrayed, she still believes there is goodness at the core of things — and that her sister can be reached.
The Moon — twilight, illusion ❓
Nobody does any real lying to others or themselves, and there is almost no manipulation — so there are practically no illusions.
However, Hans does hide his lack of love from Anna, creating a softer, subtler version of Moon energy — deception wrapped in romance.
The Hierophant — truth told, surfaced ✅
Hans finally admits that he is not in love with Anna. The mask drops. Truth surfaces harshly leaving Anna exposed and humiliated.
The Emperor — control ❌
After Hans denies Anna love, she does not try to bend reality to her will or manipulate him into liking her that would a person who is yet to develop the heart inevitably do. It is obvious that Anna is already respectfull to other people’s realities.
The Hanged Man — the crashing of illusions, new viewpoints ✅
As Anna’s illusions about Hans crash, she is forced to view her reality from another viewpoint: she wasn’t chosen, she wasn’t loved, and she misread the signs.
Note: this actually comes as a big shock to the audience, since Anna herself didn’t do anything particularly negative. Her heart is pure and she is a lovable person.
The Sun — sincerity, heart-to-heart ❌
After illusions collapse and the ego gets humbled, there is usually time for a heart-to-heart conversation or sincere expression that would put some sun in people’s hearts.
However, Anna’s heart is frozen at this point in the story, so the usual warmth, openness, and clarity simply cannot arrive.
The Two Paths (Lovers) — determination for good/bad ✅
Anna has two choices: run into Kristoff’s arms to selfishly help herself, thinking he can thaw her heart — or help Elsa, who is almost killed by Hans.
She is determined for the latter, choosing love as action rather than as personal rescue.
Death — ego death ✅
Anna freezes, which is symbolic of dying.
However, this archetype points primarily to ego death. Anna doesn’t openly do any apologizing or explicit forgiving — which is normally what hurts the ego — yet her actions imply that she forgave Elsa and therefore herself.
Judgement / Resurrection — rebirth ❌
Anna is thawed by Elsa and therefore resurrected. But she is merely returned to her previous already positive and lovable self — not transformed into a new self capable of consciously understanding true love.
The Chariot — uninhibitedness, intuition ❌
After ego death, Anna should be able to achieve her goals with ease. However, she doesn’t have any other goals left to achieve. It is Elsa who saves the day instead — meaning the Chariot skips past her.
The World — reconnection with the divine (true love) ✅
Anna lovingly buys Kristoff a new sleigh at the end and is rewarded with a kiss in return. There is a sense of reconnection and completion.
The girls open the castle gates, reconnecting with the town, and the world becomes open and flowing again.
Temperance — lightness and moderation ✅
The “newly” achieved lightness on their feet is represented by the skating at the end. It symbolizes a return to balance, playfulness, and moderation, even if deeper transformation hasn’t fully happened.
Closing thoughts
By the time we reach the end, it becomes clear that the emotional center of the story rests on Anna’s shoulders. Her kindness carries the narrative, and the final message — love expressed through self-giving — is sincere and moving.
But because the film leans so strongly into accident and inevitability, much of Anna’s journey unfolds without real agency. The icy wound to her heart comes from outside, not from inner conflict, and it drives the plot forward while leaving her with very little to wrestle with. The passivity that surrounds Elsa quietly spreads to Anna, and the stakes begin to feel more like conditions to endure than choices to grow through.
Symbolically, a frozen heart works best when it reflects something internal: resentment, stubbornness, wounded pride, refusal to listen. Here, it becomes a magical consequence instead. The film does course-correct at the end by rejecting the idea that salvation comes from demanding love from someone else — it insists that love must be lived, not acquired. That idea is strong.
Yet Anna already lives that way from the beginning. When she sacrifices herself, it feels consistent, admirable, and moving — but not transformative. She doesn’t cross a difficult inner threshold; she simply stays true to who she already was.
A small shift would have deepened everything. If Anna’s heart had been frozen in the moment of pushing, insisting, and refusing to hear Elsa — rather than in a moment of care — then thawing it through selfless action would complete a real inner arc. The same story beats could remain, but the meaning beneath them would change: not just endurance, but responsibility; not just affection, but awakening.
As it stands, Frozen gestures toward initiation, brushes it beautifully, and then chooses comfort. What remains is a film that is heartfelt, resonant, and undeniably beloved — but one whose archetypal journey never quite steps into its full depth.
Thanks,
Ira