Friday, January 3, 2014

Frozen Heart: Or why Prince Hans is one of the most dangerous Disney Villains

Speaking of spoilers...
So, I have a bad habit of obsessing over new things, and movies are no exception.
Especially if their Disney movies.
Having seen Frozen (Which by the way was fantastic) I was struck with how devious the villain was. At first your set up for a couple of red herrings. Even before you see the movie the advertisements had made it seem like Elsa (The deuteragonist of the film) would be the villain. While Elsa does do some rather extreme actions during the film, I think that for a scared young woman who's spent her whole life keeping a dark secret hidden only for it to backfire spectacularly AT THE WORST POSSABLE TIME is kind of justified for wanting to be a hermit. The second red herring we (The audience) is given is the Duke of Weaseltown Weselton (Who's never named.) Is he a villain? Yes, he wants to cheat Arendelle of it's good and resources. Is he a threat? Yes, he has two surprisingly competent guards who he sends to KILL Elsa. (Granted she was in that whole 'Snow Queen' phase, but still...) But what really differentiates him from who I consider to be the real villain of the story is that he has absolutely no tact. It's made clear from his very first scene that he's a slimeball whose up to no good, in sharp contrast to the reason Frozen puts Shyamalan to shame, Prince Hans.
Yes, Prince 'Nice-Guy' Hans.
Not only did he fool Anna (Which, lets be frank, wasn't that hard) but he also fooled the audience.
You know, US.
After the reveal (One of the most terrifying scenes in that movie) everything he does is to further his goal. His horse 'accidently' hitting Anna? So he could meet and seduce her. Him being kind to the townspeople? Making them like him so that his transition to ruler would be as smooth as possible. Volunteering to lead the search for Anna? He didn't care about her, only her power. And then you remember that this is a Disney movie. In Disney movies, love at first sight is a big thing. (It's also one of the reasons that Frozen is one of my favorite movies in the Disney lineup, what with them completely demolishing that idea.) So, when you have a villain that can fake love at first sight in a Disney movie...
Yeah, he's a completely terrifying sociopath.
That smug jerk.

1 comment:

  1. True.This is a big turn for Disney movies to make. I mean, going from repeated plot in every movie, to actual character development and plot twists! Unheard of!

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