Warning: spoilers ahead for Frozen 2.
For decades, each Disney princess got her own Prince Charming, from Aurora and Prince Philip in Sleeping Beauty to Belle and the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. But in 2013, Frozen‘s Elsa made history when she became the first Disney princess to remain single throughout the film. Though her relationship status felt like a positive statement—the ice-wielding character comes to own her wintery powers and reconnects with her sister instead of pursuing true love—Frozen fans still wondered: Is she seeing anybody? After #GetElsaAGirlfriend went viral in 2016, rumors began that hinted Elsa’s future love interest would make Disney history. Below, everything to know about the princess’s relationship status in the new sequel.
This is your last warning! Spoilers below.
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Does Elsa actually get a girlfriend in Frozen 2?
Although the sequel reveals how Elsa got her powers and offers insight into the mysterious death of her parents, Elsa does not get a girlfriend in the film. She does get two standout new songs, “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself,” and the latter is a duet with Evan Rachel Wood’s character. Fans won’t have to look far for queer messaging within the lyrics; the first song is about Elsa seeking new adventures and experiences as ruler of Arendelle, while the second is “Let it Go”-esque. “Show Yourself” is about finding a sense of purpose and a home after feeling like an outcast.
Though fans speculated from the trailer that Wood’s character, Iduna, would be Elsa’s love interest, she’s actually revealed to be Elsa and Anna’s mother.
While Anna and Kristoff get engaged by the sequel’s end, Elsa becomes more committed to her personal growth than ever.
Where did the idea that Elsa is gay begin?
Back in 2016, the idea for Elsa’s girlfriend started with a tweet from Alexis Isabel Moncada, who wrote on Twitter, “I hope Disney makes Elsa a lesbian princess imagine how iconic that would be.” Eight minutes later, Isabel tweeted, “Dear @Disney, #GiveElsaAGirlfriend.”
The hashtag took off, and Moncada wrote about it for MTV. She argued that “giving young girls the chance to understand that a princess can love another princess the same way Cinderella loved her Prince Charming is vital to their development.”
She also wrote, “the entertainment industry has given us girls who have fallen in love with beasts, ogres who fall for humans, and even grown women who love bees. But we’ve never been able to see the purity in a queer relationship.”
Others pointed out on social media that certain lyrics in “Let it Go” hint at Elsa’s sexual orientation.
What have the people behind Frozen said about Elsa getting a love interest?
A few months after #GiveElsaAGirlfriend trended, Idina Menzel spoke to PRIDESOURCE about the possibility of Elsa getting a female love interest. “Maybe at first I was a little surprised because it’s Disney, but I can say that I’m excited that the conversation is happening,” Menzel said, adding, “I can’t promise anybody that that’s what’s gonna happen… But deep down am I really happy that it’s causing people to talk about it and have these kinds of conversations? Yeah, I am.” When Tyler Oakley asked Menzel which Disney character Elsa could fall for, she offered Tinkerbell, stoking fan excitement further.
Director Jennifer Lee remained more tight-lipped when speaking to Huffington Post in early 2018, saying, “I love everything people are saying [and] people are thinking about with our film—that it’s creating dialogue, that Elsa is this wonderful character that speaks to so many people,” she said. “It means the world to us that we’re part of these conversations.” She went on to say that the team at Disney was “conscientious about these things…we’ll see where we go.”
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By the time press for Frozen 2 had commenced, rumors about Elsa’s sexuality had cooled. Lee told ET definitively, “Elsa’s not going to have a romantic relationship in this.” She elaborated further that the storyline simply didn’t make sense:
“We found this is a woman who wasn’t ready for a relationship at all. She’s carrying a lot of pressure and the weight of her kingdom on her shoulders and struggling with this call for her powers. That’s where she was, so for us, it really hadn’t come up in terms of what fit with where the story was going. And we knew the end we wanted for her. So it just didn’t fit with where she was in her life. I don’t know if it’ll fit in the future. We haven’t asked that question, and I’m not stretching past Frozen 2 about what happens to these characters in their lives! [Laughs] But it’s just not where she was now.”
At the Frozen 2 premiere, Variety got the rest of the cast’s takes on Elsa getting a girlfriend. Kristen Bell (Anna) said simply, “that’s up to Elsa.” Jonathan Groff, who voices Kristoff, said, “I love that Elsa, unlike any other princess, is not defined by any kind of romantic relationship—that she’s just an independent woman.”
Lyricist Kristen Anderson-Lopez reiterated that sentiment, explaining, “Elsa doesn’t define herself by a romantic relationship, as I do not try to define myself by a romantic relationship. She’s just figuring out why she has these powers and where she belongs and she’s got the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders.”
As the voice of Elsa, Menzel got the final word: “Elsa doesn’t focus on romantic love. That’s what we love about the entire franchise, is that’s not what’s important. The love that we focus on is self love and our love between the two sisters.”