Frozen 3 Theory: Kristoff’s Parents Are Still Alive

Although the Frozen movies place a lot of emphasis on the value of family in Elsa and Anna’s journeys, Kristoff’s biological parents have yet to even make an appearance. The first Frozen film shows how, through chance and dedication, Elsa, Anna, Krisoff, and Olaf all come together to form a cohesive team, while Frozen 2 examines Anna and Elsa’s ancestry and the legacy of their nation. In addition to the importance of family, the other themes in both movies include self-acceptance and tenacity, often favoring internal struggles over external ones, which is why neither Frozen movie has a true villain.

Despite that, not much has been revealed about Kristoff Bjorgman in either film. Although he is the first major character to be introduced, substantive backstory is only provided in the form of his profession as an iceman and his adoption at an early age by trolls. Importantly, his upbringing by the trolls is mostly taken for granted, even when he brings Anna to meet them; the fate of his birth parents aren’t referenced at all – though that’s not necessarily a bad thing since it’s important for Disney to acknowledge that the term family isn’t solely equal to being blood related.

Still, this large swath of unexplored story territory leaves open the potential for Kristoff’s parents to make an appearance in a future film. If they do, they would be uniquely suited to introduce an active generational dynamic that isn’t possible with any of the other main characters, and given the significance that is placed on Elsa and Anna’s parents, and the secrets that they kept from their children, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect something a bit more consequential than a passing cameo for the Bjorgmans. Even disregarding their significance in the story, by simply showing their perspective as parents separated from their son, Frozen could recontextualize the world around Kristoff, specifically the trolls, giving credence to their more malicious depiction in Scandinavian folklore. Opening up the story to outside influence in this way could also be the perfect opportunity for the franchise to take inspiration from some aspects of a popular fan theory.

The theory, popularized after the release of the first movie, connects Frozen with a number of other Disney movies, namely Tangled and The Little Mermaid, by suggesting that King Agnarr and Queen Iduna were en route to Rapunzel’s wedding when their ship sank, later to be found by Ariel. Now that Frozen 2 seems to have definitively disproved certain elements of this theory by placing the King and Queen’s shipwreck north of Arendelle, the same basic idea could be repurposed and applied to Kristoff. Through the identity of his parents, there is potential to relate him to another Hans Christian Andersen tale, be it The Little Mermaid or one yet untouched by Disney. After all, the earliest roots of Frozen involved the studio’s plans to combine The Snow Queen with many other Andersen stories. It’s unlikely that this would be the start of some Andersenian shared universe, but given the amount of artistic license Disney took with Frozen‘s source material, there is always the possibility of stretching beyond Frozen‘s roots and incorporating additional influence from the beloved author.

Frozen 2 plays around with a lot of ideas about heredity; even Olaf’s comic relief song, “When I Am Older”, is about a certain optimistic faith in the inheritance of knowledge. Kristoff, thus far, has been less included in those themes. His only solo song, “Lost in the Woods”, apart from being a loving ’80s pastiche, mainly serves to demonstrate how devoted he is to Anna, which is reaffirmed by their eventual marriage. In a roundabout way, though, this does give him some skin in the game of heritage that Anna and Elsa are involved in, so it would be especially interesting to contrast his newly-minted royal responsibilities with a different, potentially conflicting loyalty in the form of his parents. If Frozen 2 is any indication, as the series’s heroes look to the future, it seems likely that they will also be looking toward the past, and there is clearly much left to be explored with Kristoff in that department.