With Kristen Bell’s recent confusing announcement of Frozen III as her way to not actually officially announcing it but to motivate Disney to green light it (did you get all that?), we began to think that if there is indeed a Frozen III, then what would it be about exactly?
Presenting to you an article about all the possibilities would be a bit boring. So, we will stick to one story that we believe can definitely be the plot to Frozen III and, if not, many elements of it certainly should find their way into the film.
Just to be clear, this is purely speculation on what we want to see as the story of Frozen III.
We decided to break the movie down into 10 parts so that it will be easier to understand.
A New Life
Frozen II ended with Anna as the new queen of Arendelle and with Kristoff her husband. It only seems appropriate to begin Frozen III with new life in the form of a princess. Queen Anna thus becomes a mom and Kristoff a dad (he seems like he would make a great dad, doesn’t he?!).
A Love Interest for Elsa
This is the most obvious missing piece thus far in the Frozen series. It seems to be the proper time to have Elsa fall in love and, since she is now living in the Enchanted Forest, it seems only natural that it would be with someone from the Northuldra tribe. One choice that we wouldn’t be against is Ryder. We already met him in Frozen II and it would make sense if he were to work more closely with Elsa in the Enchanted Forest.
Conflict
So, what would the conflict be of Frozen III? In the first two films, the conflict puts Arendelle in danger at some point. Frozen sees Arendelle at the mercy of a brutal Elsa-induced Frozen Summer, while Frozen II sees Arendelle nearly destroyed by water thanks to the destruction of the dam. If Frozen III also puts Arendelle at risk, then what would be that danger?
An opposing kingdom is possible, and one that brings back Hans of the Southern Isles or even the Duke of Westelton (or both) would be intriguing. That could happen and it would make sense. However, Arendelle is basically a seaport so it seems piracy would be both an obvious danger that makes sense as well as offering numerous elements of entertainment.
When I first offered this idea, I ran it by someone else here at WeGotThisCovered.com and they said pirates played a part in some of the Once Upon Time episodes of Frozen, though it had to do with Captain Hook and Blackbeard. We think doing something with those pirates would be a mistake but we do still believe that piracy can become the conflict of Frozen III.
Additional Trouble for the Protagonist
For numerous reasons, Frozen III can benefit from having Elsa realizing that her powers may not last forever or, in the least, that there may be a kryptonite for them. Speaking of kryptonite, perhaps a Superman II element would make sense. In that film, Superman gives up his powers in an attempt to live a normal life. In doing so, he realizes how important his powers are and gets them back just in time. Elsa doesn’t necessarily need to desire a life without her powers but it would be a strong plotline to have her lose them at some point.
The Main Conflict Causes Other Minor Conflicts
With the port of Arendelle being naturally vulnerable to piracy, this can offer many other subplots including the possibility of the Queen being permanently moved closer to the Enchanted Forest and away from the port. This would be sort of like moving the capital. Of course, this is a minor aspect but when this piracy conflict arises and threatens Arendelle then it will cause further conflict amongst those who are threatened. Perhaps some in the Forest seem to be more against the capital area moving than the piracy itself, at least at first. Perhaps some of the residents of Arendelle become sick and tired of so many bad things happening in Arendelle since King Agnarr and Queen Iduna died that there begins to be murmurs of a desired change of leadership, leaving Anna to doubt herself as Queen. Perhaps some murmurs wish for Elsa to be Queen again. This can create some conflict between Elsa and Anna, which would be an unfortunate theme in the series as there is a minor conflict between them in each film before things get better.
Death of a Main Character
Another thing that can be done is to kill off a main character but that will likely not go over very well. Nonetheless, the possibility of a main character’s death would heighten the sense of danger and, quite honestly, a new character can be created in the film so that the writers can sacrifice him at the hands of the pirates.
Villains Emerge
With the introduction of pirates, it creates a golden opportunity to create an unforgettable villain or two. Disney hasn’t had any memorable animated pirates, and I doubt a Jack Sparrow appearance would make sense, so a new band of pirates would be highly entertaining. We can just picture the Frozen III trailer if they took our advice here.
Conflict increases
It would be a wise move for Disney to create two pirate leaders who work together, so that they can kill one off and keep the other for perhaps a future installment or side stories within the series.
There needs to be a true element where it seems impossible for Arendelle to defeat the pirates. Their navy can be overwhelmed and defeated; sending out Lieutenant Mattias who then gets defeated himself. They could have Mattias as the character who seems to die but is later revealed to have survived at the end.
They could add a personal aspect to the conflict as well, perhaps by making the pirates interested in kidnapping Queen Anna’s new child. This can be later revealed to be because Hans is working with the pirates and/or paying them to kidnap the child for ransom with his motivation being that, since the events of Frozen, he has been subject to hard labor in the Southern Isles partly because of what he foolishly views as Arendelle’s lack of forgiveness. Hearing of the birth of the child can also trigger a strange jealousy and since he realizes that he needs a lot of money to get himself out of his present situation and perhaps even begin a new life, he can have the child kidnapped for ransom and use part of that money to pay the pirates and use the rest to buy his freedom.
Of course, Hans would know that the pirates can also double cross him and decide his idea is a fine one to just make money for themselves so he offers, untruthfully, open trade between the pirates and the Southern Isles.
Triumph Over Conflict
Obviously, the earlier minor conflict that puts Elsa and Queen Anna at odds needs to be resolved before the main conflict is, partly because they and the kingdom need to realize that working together makes them stronger. This can also tie in to Elsa regaining her powers.
This would then allow Elsa to use those powers just in time against the pirates arriving for a final battle. She can freeze the sea between Arendelle and the pirates, thus halting their progress, and also freezing the ships.
Of course, the pirates would then decide to attack by foot, so they run onto the ice and charge at Arendelle. By this time, Elsa can be weakened by her use of powers, as if getting them back in full takes time. This allows the audience to know that the pirates are not threatened by Elsa freezing them. This also means that we need a new hero and with Lieutenant Mattias temporarily out of commission, this offers a perfect opportunity for Ryder to lead a large group of Northuldra to battle with the pirates.
Perhaps the strategy that makes the most sense is that Arendelle cannons fire upon the ice, leaving the pirates to not be able to reach Arendelle since they would have to swim the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Ryder can be leading his tribe who arrive at the frozen pirate ships in a sneak attack, thus stopping any cannons from firing by the pirates who have not departed their ships. This sneak attack would happen thanks to Ryder flanking the ships, arriving not from the port directly but having departed farther away from the port, going out to sea, then heading unnoticed toward the ships. This can be made easier by Ryder and his warriors simply walking on the Elsa-made ice most of the way.
It would also not be unlikely when you consider the pirates would be fully focused on the battle in front of them and, to add additional probability for this happening, it should probably take place at night. We’re certainly not against a nighttime showdown at the port of Arendelle against pirates while fire lanterns of the city light up the Elsa-made ice. There is a lot there that anyone working on the visuals of the films can play with.
The taking over of the pirate ships also means that the majority of the pirates, who now just had their attack cut off by Arendelle cannons breaking the ice, now have their retreat cut off by Ryder who threatens to shoot the cannons of the ships.
This is possibly where we can have the two pirate leaders fight, as one would blame the other. After one of them wins the fight, he can steal a navy ship of Arendelle’s that rests just outside of the ice, which could be one that was weakened by the pirates earlier, and escape that way.
With plans ruined, that pirate can then learn of Hans’ lies about the Southern Isles doing trade with them which can motivate him and his remaining friends to decide to target the trade routes of the Southern Isles.
Conclusion
Arendelle is saved, mostly because they work together. Keep in mind that although Frozen II brought us unity among everyone in Arendelle, they didn’t necessarily work together to resolve the conflict so if this were Frozen III’s plotline then it would tighten their unity and truly make them one Arendelle. Thus, Frozen III’s theme would be “We’re stronger as one.” This is a natural progression from the events of Frozen II while also offering a positive message. It also shows, by way of the pirate leaders disagreeing throughout and ultimately fighting at the end, that not working together will only bring failure.
Lieutenant Mattias would be shown to have survived and Elsa, who has already began falling in love with Ryder, now knows for sure that he is the one. After all, he is our new hero and their love would have already blossomed throughout the film.
In order to bookend the movie and connect the beginning to the end, it would great for the final scene to take place about 3 years later as Elsa and Ryder, now married, welcome a new child (similar to how Anna and Kristoff welcomed a new child to start the film). Anna could have a daughter and Elsa a son but that doesn’t really matter. However, that final scene, and thus the movie, could end with a quick moment of Elsa’s child showing that he has powers similar to his mother.
This can also end the Frozen series, at least in terms of who the main characters are. If they make a new movie, it can be about their children and thus begin a new series for their adventures while Elsa and Anna and the others take a back seat to the new characters.
Olaf, of course, would still be the same and would be the audience’s connection to the entirety of the series because, as he is mostly unchanged, he would remain the most familiar to us.
And thus ends my heavily involved script idea for Frozen III. Who knows? Maybe Disney will reach out to me and be like, “Dude, we need to talk.”