Frozen and The Lego Movie are two seemingly unrelated movies when you look purely on the surface. At first, it seems that the only similarities they share are the fact that they are targeted for the same general age group. After digging a little deeper, it is clear that the underlying structure of these two films are surprisingly similar. These two movies are both set in very structured societies with their own specialized set of rules designed for all individuals to live by.
The ideology in The Lego Movie is to live by the rules and follow all of “the instructions” set by President Business. To do this, everyone must give up their individuality and do everything the same way, otherwise they will be subject to punishment. The group of individuals that openly chose to defy the boundaries forced onto them by society are the master builders. The master builders believe in the power of one’s one unique qualities, ideas, and capabilities. They repeatedly focus on the specialness of every individual. In this film Emmett, or “the special”, is a seemingly ordinary person who follows all the rules, all of the time. He doesn’t know anything other than living inside of the rules forced on him by the society in which he lives. The thing that ends up making Emmett special is the belief that he is special. There is no such thing as “the special”, but if given the opportunity to add some creativity to life and color outside the lines a bit, anyone can be special.
Similarly, in Frozen, there are rules that Elsa must abide by in order to live in and rule Arendelle. She is forced to conceal a huge part of her life and hide the fact that she has magical powers from everyone. She has to hide the thing that makes her special in order to fit in with society and be a part of it. When Elsa runs away from her kingdom she is freeing herself from society and the rules that it forces onto her. She can finally be herself and learn what she is capable of.
(below: a picture of Elsa embracing her new found freedom from societal pressure and the ability to break social norms and finally be herself)
When others try to change her mind and persuade her to not be a “monster” anymore, she resists. After much time and effort spent by Elsa trying to keep her new found freedom, she is forced back to Arendelle where she is then isolated from the world and literally placed in the chains of society.
(Below: a picture of Elsa, once again bound by the society she lives in to hide her individuality)
Both of these films have an ideology focused around individuality, but only within some limits set by society. In The Lego Movie, the reason that Emmett is the hero is he is a combination of an ordinary individual and a master builder. This means that he lives his life rather moderately. He lies somewhere between the polar opposites of the master builders and the ordinary citizens. In Frozen, Elsa is only released from the chains of society when she learns to be herself and she is no longer a threat to society. Both of these movies have the theme that only when you can learn to be yourself within the limits of society can you be a part of a functional society. This means that Elsa and Emmett can show their individuality but only within the means of the society that are already put in place. In both of these films there are individuals that break the social norms of their societies and escape from the pressures that each of their societies push onto them. But, in the end, they change the limitations of their societies and (in a way) compromise by following some of the rules while still holding onto and embracing their individuality.
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