No movie universe has shaped young minds or found a place in kids’ hearts like the decades
of Disney’s animated adventures. So it’s no surprise that fans have spent time and
energy trying to prove that every film connects to those around it, sometimes looking a bit
too closely at a random easter egg. With the surprise success of Disney’s Frozen, fans
have come up with a theory that is out of this world, claiming another Disney hero is
a long lost sibling of the starring sisters. With Disney keeping quiet on any official
canon, the theories are all in the name of fun, and using a bit more imagination in between
releases. We’ve done our best to lay out the theories that work – and the ones that
don’t – in our first Docu Series exploring The Secret Family Relations Between Disney
Movie Princesses.
Frozen IN-Tangled
By now, every Disney fan knows where this theory starts: with a single split-second
cameo from two other Disney stars. But before we get to Queen Elsa’s coronation, we’ll
have to explain why the throne is empty in the first place. It’s nothing new for a
Disney hero to be without their parents, so seeing the King and Queen of Arendelle leave
the picture was less than shocking. That doesn’t make it any less tragic, with Anna and Elsa
bidding farewell as their parents head out to sea for a two week roundtrip journey.
The ship is lost at sea, leaving the girls without their parents – and Arendelle without
a monarch. After three years Elsa is old enough to claim the crown, and the entire kingdom
and visitors from far-off lands show up to celebrate. The doors are opened, and Anna
heads out to greet the guests – two of which are instantly recognizable. Rapunzel and Flynn
Rider, the stars of Tangled are impossible to miss, thanks to their hairstyles and clothing.
It might seem like a tiny easter egg, but it got fans thinking: Frozen would have to
be set after the events of Tangled for the cameo to make sense – so perhaps the two
movies are more connected than they seem…
Fans have spun some wild theories, claiming Rapunzel and Elsa’s mothers look alike because
they’re sisters, married to the kings of two different kingdoms. One daughter is born
with the gift of healing thanks to a magical flower, while the other is born with control
of icy magic. It’s impossible to actually prove the princess is there to see her cousin’s
coronation… but Arendelle should have sent someone to celebrate Rapunzel’s return home,
and wedding. Like, say, the King and Queen?
Unfortunately, Frozen never explains where the Royal Couple is headed, or why – only
that their ship sinks on the way. But using the countries that the fictional kingdoms
of Frozen and Tangled were based on takes this theory even farther. Disney’s animators
took a trip to Norway to help create the mountainy kingdom of Arendelle, and Rapunzel’s home
of Corona is likely inspired by 18th Century Germany, the same place the Brothers Grimm
wrote their famous version of the story. That would put the two films on opposite sides
of the North Sea – with the ship being sunk somewhere off the coast of Denmark. Why does
that matter? Well, no Disney movie is explicitly set in a Danish kingdom, but one of the studio’s
most beloved classics was written by a Danish citizen – a fact that takes this theory
into time-bending, shared universe territory.
The Little Mermaid
The writer in question is Hans Christian Andersen, whose version of The Little Mermaid was a
bit darker than Disney’s version. But some have claimed that the movie actually ties
into Frozen directly, with the shipwreck explored by Ariel in the opening scenes the exact ship
that Elsa’s parents died on. The theory can lose some steam with that twist, since
it’s… a bit of a reach. But the biggest problem is the climate: Andersen also wrote
“The Snow Queen,” which Frozen was based on. And that’s a better fit for the North
Sea than a story filled with tropical fish and sandy beaches.
But don’t worry, conspiracy fans, the shipwreck in The Little Mermaid can still come from
Arendelle – it’s just nowhere near Denmark, or the North Sea. When the directors of Frozen
were asked point blank about Elsa’s parents’ destination on Reddit, they gave direct answers.
Jennifer Lee said it was a wedding, with Chris Buck clarifying that the King and Queen didn’t
die on the ship at all. In fact, it didn’t even sink. The ship, and the couple, survived
weeks, possibly even months lost at sea… until they washed up on a jungle shore, and
had to build a home next to a family of gorillas.
Tarzan
That’s right, according to Buck, the King and Queen of Arendelle were the shipwrecked
parents of the boy who would grow up to be Tarzan. They also learned the lesson that
traveling at sea when you don’t know you’ve got a baby on the way isn’t wise:
“They get shipwrecked, and somehow they really washed way far away from the Scandinavian
waters, and they end up in the jungle. They end up building a tree house and a leopard
kills them, so their baby boy is raised by gorillas.” (Reddit)
So the storm didn’t sink the ship, it just tossed it out into the Atlantic, to travel
south to Africa before bursting into flames and sinking – something that happens pretty
often in Disney’s universe. That might be a hard trip to believe, but in a world of
ape men and magical attacks, a storm being really powerful is actually easy to believe.
Just to be clear, weird family relations in the Tarzan story aren’t anything new, either.
In the original version of the story, Tarzan’s real name would have been John Clayton – a
cousin of the movie’s villain. Frankly, we’re all for a different explanation.
There are still a few problems with the theory, but it’s what director Chris Buck believes
happened – and since he also directed Tarzan, he’s kind of an authority on the subject.
It’s still an unhappy ending for the King and Queen, but Elsa and Anna’s brother finds
a family and happiness of his own. Even if the details don’t match up, it’s what
the director believes is the true story.
As for the wrecked ship? For those who love the idea of Ariel investigating it, who’s
to say it couldn’t drift a bit farther before sinking? After all, there’s another hint
that these locations aren’t as far apart as you might think.
The Cinderella Factor
To prove that these Disney kings, queen, princes and princesses really do share the same social
circles, fans can watch when Prince Eric is almost duped into marrying the wrong woman
in The Little Mermaid. A split second shot shows the King and Duke from Cinderella, having
traveled to see the Royal Wedding. And when the doors to Arendelle’s castle are opened,
the first few frames feature a woman sharing more than a passing resemblance to Sleeping
Beauty’s Princess Aurora AND The Princess and The Frog’s Princess Tiana. With all
those details, it’s hard to believe Elsa’s parents WEREN’T headed to the wedding of
another Disney princess.
It isn’t likely that Disney will ever confirm or deny any official connections, and in the
end, they don’t really need to. Since the characters aren’t likely to ever meet, it’s
enough to know that in the mind that helped to create Tarzan and Frozen, Anna and Elsa’s
long lost brother in a far away land was the King of the Jungle. The ship that got him
there… well, that’s just for fans to do what Disney is all about: use their imagination.
To summarize everything, the theory claims that Elsa and Anna are actually the sisters
of Tarzan, since their parents lived long enough to deliver him as a baby to the gorillas
who raised him.
A part of their ship kept on drifting until it came to rest on the ocean floor, where
Ariel eventually explored it for trinkets. The rest would eb used to build a treehouse…
She would marry Prince Eric not long after - a prince who was apparently close enough
to Cinderella's family to have her father the King, and his right hand man the Grand
Duke at the wedding.
Disney royalty apparently make a point of attending other royal weddings, and Frozen's
director confirms the King and Queen of Arendelle were headed to one when they disappeared.
It could have been Cinderella's wedding to Prince Charming, Aurora's wedding to Prince
Phillip, or even Tiana's wedding to Prince Naveen, since they're both shown arriving
for Elsa's coronation.
But if the Queen of Arendelle really was the sister of Rapunzel's mother, or they're just
neighboring queens, it's a safe bet they were headed to Rapunzel's wedding to Flynn Rider
when they disappeared. Not one to forget such a sacrifice, Rapunzel and Flynn made sure
to see Elsa's coronation in person.
It's not as complicated as it may sound, if fans realize that the characters may be familiar,
or even friendly, with stars of other classic movies. Which all lead to one big question:
are all Disney films part of the same shared universe? They may never give a clear answer,
so until then, let us know what YOU think!