In my first viewing of Frozen — First day it hit theaters, naturally — I was quickly intrigued by all of the characters and how their relationships would play out. Hans seemed like a legitimately nice guy, but as soon as Kristoff showed up, I was conflicted. Who was better suited for Anna? How will this all play out? During the scene where Hans tries to convince Elsa to bring back summer, I thought I knew where this was going. I’ve seen this before. It would be just like Enchanted; the two female leads would switch love interests and they’d live happily ever after, but nope!
Not what I was expecting — not what ANYONE was expecting! The twist that no one asked for and possibly the beginning of this awful Disney “twist villain” trend. Sure, it was unexpected, but it was totally out of left-field! Why is Hans a villain? I was so invested in how this scenario would be resolved, but this felt like the laziest way to do it. Sorry, Disney, I still love you…
I’m not going to lie, it took me longer than it should to make this essay (previously a video but after all that hard work taken down by the YouTube police several times). However, that was not the only thing intervening. To tell the truth, I was having a bit of creative block. What could I say about this topic that hasn’t already been said? Hans shouldn’t have been a villain, this twist came out of absolute nowhere, there were already enough villains, and so on and so forth — So instead what I decided to do was figure out some other ways that Frozen could still have included Hans without making him Prince of jerks.
Before we begin, I love Frozen as is and fully accept it for what it is, whether I agree with all its decisions or not. These are just some ideas that I feel could have been fun to explore without having to create a bad person out of this genuinely enjoyable character.
1) The First Crush
So with this idea, most of the movie would still be the same. Anna meets Hans, Anna quickly falls for Hans, the two decide to get married, Elsa goes into a frenzy, and so on and so forth. However, the difference for this is once Anna is returned back to the castle, Hans does kiss Anna and nothing happens. The two are baffled, thinking that what they had was real. Hans could leave the room to allow for Olaf and Anna’s chat, but instead perhaps to get some more firewood for her or alert the guards to what is happening.
If he alerted the guards, the Duke of Weaselton might get frantic and go after Elsa, being the one to accuse her of treason instead of Hans, who could instead try and defend Elsa, trying to explain the situation but perhaps accidentally making things worse, helping build to everything in the climax.
While this is going on, Anna and Olaf have a heart to heart talk, much like they do in the final product. However, things could go a little deeper. They wouldn’t have to go too in depth, but I think it would be really significant if they could talk about the difference between infatuation and true love, something that could be really important for children to hear. I know the movie is going for more of sisterly love, which I equally admire just as much, but it wouldn’t have hurt to have had a little side lesson.
The ending could be more or less the same, but maybe instead of it confirming Kristoff and Annas relationship, it could be Anna breaking off her quote “engagement” to Hans, now acknowledging that she rushed into things and gives a glance to Kristoff in the distance seeing as how she learned through their adventure that they share a chemistry that she and Hans did not. Hans bashfully agrees and the two remain, friends, ending things on good terms.
In all honesty, this is the scenario I would have liked to have seen the most. Once again, it portrays the difference between a short-lived attraction and a long-term relationship as well as what a healthy break up looks like. Two people mutually agreeing to terminate a relationship because they think that’s what’s best for themselves and each other is something that could truly prove significant to kids who only know the sappy break-ups given to them in tween dramas and that’s not how things have to be. Although if they wanted to play it up a little, it could work for a second scenario.
2) The Romantic Rival
This scenario might add a little bit more to the story than needed, but to me, it’d make more sense to go this route than Han’s secret evil plot.
In this situation, Kristoff would go with Anna into the castle and see her to Hans, but just before Hans would go in for the kiss, Kristoff would intervene and say that he thinks he should be the one to kiss Anna because he’s fallen in love with her through their journey together. He and Hans begin to fight and bicker before finally asking Anna whom she thinks would be her true love. This can go either one of two ways:
One: Anna chooses one of the boys, leaving the other devastated. However, when she kisses him, the curse does not lift, leaving her to believe she made the wrong choice and asks the other to share in true loves kiss. However, this second kiss doesn’t work either. All three, baffled by what could have possibly gone wrong, sit in silence for a moment before the men reconcile to work together to save Anna and find something to keep her warm. This would again leave a moment for Anna to be alone with Olaf to talk about the meaning of true love.
The second option would be that Anna would come to this realization that she while she does like both gentlemen, she doesn’t love them yet because she’s only gotten to know them. The two of them look to her, concerned, and maybe even suggest for her to kiss the other, just in the hopes that it might heal her. However, she knows how she feels isn’t genuine and that the kiss will not work. Kristoff and Hans leave the room to get firewood, Anna and Olaf’s talk begins, and this all leads to the conclusion but with Duke Weaselton and his henchmen instead.
This would also alter the ending, Anna maintaining a friendship and not romantically attached to either of them. With this, both men might ignite a little rivalry to see who wins Anna’s heart (if either of them). I think that this ending would further the point of “you can’t marry a man you just met”. Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some KristAnna, but you can’t just throw in a lesson like that for it to be completely pointless. She knew Kristoff for two days, that’s… That’s not much better… But I’ll still ship it.
3) The Love Interest Switcheroo
As previously mentioned, this is the scenario I ultimately thought would happen upon my first viewing. Although I absolutely love that Elsa remains single, I also don’t think I would have necessarily minded this outcome if it were to come to fruition. It is a Disney movie after all, and again, why I was expecting this result.
So throughout the movie, we see Anna and Kristoff getting closer and closer, ultimately leading to a romance between the two. At a few points in the movie, we were coaxed into believing that Hans genuinely cared for Elsa and her well being. He saved her from the Duke’s henchmen in the ice castle and the way kind and gentle way he spoke to her when she was in the jail cell was very comforting. With a little more dialogue and screen time together, they could have had more of a connection.
I think for this situation to work out better, Anna and Kristoff would not have made it back to the castle yet. Elsa would escape on her own, just like she did before, but this time she gets caught by Hans, who maybe could have brought her some food or blanket. Elsa pleads to Hans to let her find her sister, knowing what she had done to her and that she needs to help her. Hans lets her go — Lets her go! Can’t hold her back anymore — Okay, you know what, you came into a Frozen essay, you can’t expect me to go without doing something stupid like this at least once.
Anyway, back to my point: Hans allows her to leave and tries to keep the Duke and his cronies away from the cell. However, him being only one person, they do make it to the cell and find that Elsa is missing. Perhaps he can even be temporarily jailed because they think he is under a spell or conspiring with the sorcerer-queen. His job is done, and he wouldn’t need to appear again until the end. This ultimately could have made a vast improvement also for Elsa’s character, showing how much she truly cares for Anna, which is something the movie did provide, but I think could have been strengthened.
In the epilogue scene, Anna and Kristoff’s scene could remain the same in this scenario, but this time Elsa gets one with Hans. I think the best way to approach it would be to subtly hint that there could be a romance between these two instead. Perhaps when Elsa goes to thank him, he gets a little awkward and bashful, and she does the same, blushing and playing with her hair timidly. If they really wanted to push it, maybe Elsa kisses him on the cheek in thanks, but I honestly think that would be a bit too much. In my opinion, Elsa isn’t ready for that kind of relationship yet. She has only just rediscovered what it means to truly love someone and has not had real social interaction in years, so if this ending were to occur, I think less would be more. Don’t look at me like that, Helsa shippers, I at least gave you this scenario!
4) The Childhood Friend
Okay, now this one would require a lot of editing to the final product. We wouldn’t need a backstory or to see him as a child, but when Anna and Hans first bump into each other, they recognize each other. Hans asks if she is Princess Anna, to which she responds yes and he reintroduces himself. Once she hears his name, she remembers him and knows that he used to come to the castle on business with his father every now and again — This all being before the incident with Elsa, of course, back when the gates were still open.
The “Love is an Open Door” sequence still remains the same, other than the fact that instead of getting to know each other, they are catching up, chatting about what their lives have become in the past few years. Sometime during this, Hans would admit that when they were kids, he had a huge crush on Anna. Anna, being desperate for love, immediately throws herself at Hans, leading to their little romantic montage and then their musical number.
So, all in all, the lesson could be similarly just “don’t rush into things” as later when Anna and Hans would reunite later, after they failed to save Anna through true loves kiss, perhaps Hans would display some sort of negative trait that Anna remembers her not being able to stand as a child that would start to make her reconsider her brash decision. Of course, it wouldn’t just be some nit-picky thing that could be overlooked (as we learned in “Fixer Upper”), but a general clash of personalities. For instance, Kristoff could clearly keep up with all of Anna’s spur-of-the-moment antics, which is one of the many reasons they are compatible. Perhaps Hans likes to take things more slowly and think rationally, and maybe this would be the point where he realizes that he’s doing exactly what he can’t stand by rushing into things or something along those lines.
Maybe then Anna could subtly mention how Kristoff did something or would do something for her to help her situation and Hans immediately recognizes that Kristoff is the one she has feelings for and leaves to find him. Confused about this, Anna sits with Olaf by the fire and he explains love to her just like in the final movie.
When the epilogue happens, Hans and Anna reconcile and both realize that they rushed into things and were reliant on their feelings of nostalgia and their desire to be acknowledged and loved. Maybe seeing how things with Elsa and Anna played out, Hans would be more inclined to try and work things out with his 12 brothers. Hans would say that while he would still love to remain in touch with Anna, it’s clear whom she belongs with and nods to Kristoff over in the distance. They would hug and bid each other farewell before Anna rushes to Kristoff to reveal her present to him and proceed with the epilogue as is in the film.
5) The love-struck fool
I figured I would include at least one scenario that if we have to go the antagonistic route. It would have worked out better for Hans in the end and he wouldn’t be an all out, scheming villain.
In this option, most of the story would play out as is until, once again, we are lead to the scene where Anna returns to Hans in a cold, frail state. Instead of really listening to what Anna has to say or explain anything about true loves kiss, Hans becomes enraged at the thought of losing his love. He asks her who did this, and naively Anna responds that Elsa was responsible. Before Anna can say that it was an accident, Hans is out on a vengeance quest. He now fully believes that Elsa is a killer and is off to find her and bring her to justice.
The movie proceeds exactly as it was except that Hans is not trying to trick Elsa, but telling her outright what he believes she did. Later after the curse is lifted and summer has returned, when Hans comes to, he still believes that Elsa must be stopped — that is, until he sees Anna alive and well. Puzzled by this outcome, he questions everything that happened, and Anna, who is still upset with Han’s actions, explains that she knew Elsa would never harm her on purpose and that she loves her sister. Hans feeling absolutely humiliated begs for forgiveness, which he does reluctantly receive from both sisters, but he is without a doubt dumped.
Anna now realizes what Elsa meant before, that while Hans was a well-meaning guy, you don’t fully know someone until you’ve spent enough time with them, and that a person’s true colors can be something you did not expect — the same lesson Frozen was going for without making him truly evil. In this event, Hans was in the wrong, but unlike what actually happened, his actions would be a true act of concern for the people of Arendelle and Anna rather than a selfish act. After denying the Duke of Weaselton’s claims, changes his mind once he supposedly sees for himself the result of what he thought was malicious intent. He would only be doing what he thought would be the right thing to do and end the reign of who he thought was the villain — Elsa.
These are all scenarios I would have preferred, but the reality is that I can’t change the movie and what is, is. At the end of the day, we have to face is: Hans is a Disney villain and “Love is an Open Door” is technically classified as a Disney Villain song… Things don’t always go the way you want them, but it is fun to speculate how they could have been. Either way, I love Frozen for what it is, and always will.
Read about why I think Kristoff is one of the most underrated Disney characters here!
Thank you for taking the time to check out my work!
If you’d like to see more from me, check out my Instagram, Twitter, and Ariaera Facebook Page to see what other art, cosplay, or other projects I’m working on!
If you would like to support my work, please check out my Patreon or my Etsy Shop! Patreon members get special rewards such as early access and sneak peeks of my latest articles!
Ariaera's Haven 