I had a chance to see FROZEN again and it was even better the second time. So this blog follows the first, “Frozen” and Sacrifice. What struck me this time was the contrast between Elsa, the older sister with the power to freeze things, and Olaf, the little snowman she creates along way. The first time I saw the film, Olaf seemed like a comical, secondary character, and at times, an interruption to the plot. Why did Disney give him so much attention? He even gets to sing a solo about his desire to experience summer. But watching it this time, I saw how incredibly central Olaf is to the moral of the story. Olaf is the ying to Elsa’s yang.

Here are a few points of contrast between Elsa and Olaf.
1. When Elsa feels the coldness of fear within her, everything outside of her freezes. When Olaf feels the warmth of the sun outside of him, everything within him melts.
2. Elsa cannot thrive in the winter even though the cold doesn’t bother her. Isolated in her ice castle, her self-expression fails to benefit others. Olaf cannot thrive in the summer; if he tries, he will melt into nothingness, serving no one, his purpose gone.
3. Elsa’s purpose is to grow up, be real, and care for others. Olaf’s purpose is to stay young, animated, and be cared for by others.
4. Elsa needs to keep an emotionally-controlled climate (to master fear rather than be ruled by it) so she can be her true loving self, a friend again to her sister, and a kind queen to her subjects. Olaf needs to keep a physically-controlled climate (a constant winter cloud above his head) so he can be true to himself, a snowman no matter what the temperature around him. If possible, both are capable of delighting others.
5. Elsa learns to stay warm and loving even in the cold, frozenness of winter, without losing herself. Olaf learns to stay cold so he can be himself, even in the season of love, passion, and heat, i.e., in summer, without losing himself.
6. In Olaf’s solo, In Summer, he flirts with losing himself, of melting from the inside out, completely. In Elsa’s solo, Let It Go, she flirts with losing herself, of freezing from the outside in, completely.
7. Elsa and Olaf are one and the same. They are two sides of the same coin. They each represent opposite extremes. Why is this important?

At ZinnHouse, students learn the soul-traits (virtues in action) that will serve them in life. But if those traits are under- or over- developed, they will get burned or freeze out themselves and others. FROZEN is a lesson in the wisdom of becoming familiar with the different measures of our personal traits. Life is our practice field for refining the proper balance of each trait in order to reach our highest potential. Films that raise our awareness about the value of self knowledge and self mastery in doing so, can only help.

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