Like many families with small children, we made it to the movie theater (on time!) to catch Frozen 2 opening weekend.
I am convinced Frozen will never leave us. There will never be a Halloween without an Anna, Elsa, or Olaf. And now that cute chameleon thing. Also, will a day go by without the Frozen I or II soundtrack playing in our house?
With Frozen culture woven so deeply into our daily lives, I figured I might as well pay extra attention to the movie so that I could glean lessons for our kids–Daniel Tiger style!
With four girls in our family, I was especially pleased to see how Anna and Elsa work together and show genuine concern and love for one another. I have already referenced this a day later to help resolve a dispute. Here are three other takeaways:
(I tried not to give major things away but there are some vague spoiler alerts ahead.)
1. Do the next right thing.
As Anna struggles with how to move forward, she repeats this catchy line. It’s not a Disney original thought of course, but it’s a good one. When tasks seem daunting or relationships enter shaky grounds for our girls, this guiding line would work nicely as advice. Take it one step at a time. Focus on what the next right thing is for you, even if others aren’t doing it.
2. I’m here. What do you need?
This line from Kristoff to Anna happens so quickly you could miss it, but it stuck with me. How refreshing that he is not swooping in and deciding what Anna needs in order to save her. He lets her know he is there and finds out how he can best help. He is very much talking about being physically there for her, but how well would this line work when your kids are upset? Or to teach kids to say this to their friends?
3. You’re not responsible for their choices.
I may be paraphrasing but Anna comforts her big sister with this statement. We are not responsible for others’ actions. We should not bear undue guilt. I have to repeat this a few times myself to absorb the message, so these will definitely be lessons that start simple but grow with my kids. I can also see this being a talking point when flipped, considering my kids would walk off a cliff sometimes if their friends did–we are responsible for our own choices.
Speaking of responsibility, the larger discussion of if/how we can wrong the rights of our ancestors will probably have to wait at least until my oldest is 6.5.
Did you have any takeaways from the movie?
I love the next right thing, it might be my new personal manta. I also really liked that Elsa’s path didn’t include a man and even though Anna has love it wasn’t controlling her choices in the end she got to be the queen, not a queen to a king.