So Disney Pixar recently released a box-office and family-friendly success Frozen. Released on Nov. 27, the story is about two sisters left a kingdom after their parents were lost at sea—the elder, Elsa, has this power where everything she touches turns into ice and runs away from civilization after her powers were discovered; the younger, Anna, craves for a relationship with her sister (who shuts herself away from Anna) and longs to be in love and free from that household. (I know the story is more complex, but this is the abbreviated version.)
Meanwhile, thespians around the world are well aware of
Wicked, the prequel to
The Wizard of Oz. It describes the backstory of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and how she became the witch we all know and love, but by rebellion against the wizard Oz.
I personally believe
Frozen and
Wicked have extremely similar qualities. Here are 10 I noticed (feel free to comment).
1. Idina Menzel plays (sings, rather) both main female leads (Elphaba and Elsa), who were both misunderstood and ran from the societies they knew and grew up in. (Not to mention their key songs, Defying Gravity and Let It Go, are about going against the crowd and becoming the person they were meant to be.)
2. Both female leads (Elsa and Elphaba) have magical powers the townsfolk fear.
3. Both supporting girls (Glinda and Anna) are constantly loyal to their companion and seem opposite of them.
4. Both supporting girls are played by well known blondes of the same name (Kristen Bell and Kristin Chenowith).
5. Both supporting girls have character songs that show them as caring and wanting to reach out and connect to their buddy (Popular and Do You Want to Build a Snowman?).
6. Both supporting males (Fiyero and Olaf) sing songs about having a carefree life and not realizing what they're singing can really mean. (Dancing Through Life hints that Fiyero will become the Scarecrow and In Summer hints that Olaf doesn't understand he would melt in the sun.)
7. Both supporting girls (Glinda and Anna) fall in love with men that don't return their affections. (Boq fell in love with Elphaba's sister Nessarose and Hans was only using Anna to gain the throne.)
8. There are animals that are important in the story. (Sven the reindeer accompanies Kristoff and Anna as she goes to find Elsa and Doctor Dillamond was a talking Goat professor at Shiz and partly inspired Elphaba to go against the Wizard.)
9. Both main females had some harm come to their sisters (Anna became frozen in ice and Nessarose was crushed by a house).
10. Marriage was mentioned in both stories. (Kristoff's family insisted that he and Anna should wed and almost set up a marriage, while Glinda was engaged to Fiyero, Elphaba's love.)
