The Snow Queen

Plot
Hans Christian Andersen's story is simplified in this animated feature, which begins with an animated copy of his fairy tales, introduced by a little man, who says he is "Old Dreamy" ("Ole Lukøje"). Old Dreamy tells the viewer that on days when the master storyteller Andersen is not overtired, he puts him to sleep with his colorful, magic umbrella ("slumbrella") that also causes him to dream wonderful stories, which he then writes as his fairy tales. Old Dreamy then narrates the story of the Snow Queen, which he begins with Kay and Gerda up in their window box garden, planting two roses together, which Kay calls "our roses."

On a winter night following, Gerda's grandmother tells the two children the legend of the Snow Queen. While she tells it the viewer is taken to the Snow Queen's palace of ice in the far north (on Spitsbergen) where she sits on her throne and looks into her mirror. The Snow Queen's proud and frowning face is seen in Gerda's frosted window to Gerda's exclamation, "It's the Snow Queen!" Kay jokes, "Let her come in here, and I'll put her on a hot stove!" This angers the Snow Queen, who is watching the children from her mirror, which she smashes with her scepter, telling the ice splinters of the shattered mirror to go into the eyes and hearts of those who have offended her. Back at Gerda's home the window bursts open, letting in ice splinters that get into Kay's eyes and heart. His personality changes: he is hostile toward Gerda. When Gerda notices that the letting in of the cold wind and snow has killed their roses, which have turned black, Kay stomps on them and kicks them about in glee. He then leaves Gerda in tears to be comforted by her grandmother.

When Kay goes out on the next day to ride around on his sled in the marketplace of the city, Gerda wants to come along, riding on Kay's sled as she has always done. Kay pulls the sled fast, knocking Gerda off, but she tries not to cry. Kay ties his sled to the sleigh of the Snow Queen, which has suddenly appeared, to Gerda's horror. The Snow Queen pulls Kay on his sled out of the city, where she stops and confronts him, taking him into her arms as her willing captive, since his heart is as cold as ice. The Snow Queen's presence freezes a mother bird to death as she protects her young under her. These young birds will appear later in the story.

Old Dreamy then tells about Gerda's going out to look for Kay. She asks young birds and animals, to no avail, if they have seen Kay. A little lamb tells her, "I don't know from nothing, I was born yesterday." At the river side, Gerda begs the river to take her in a row boat to Kay. She gives her new red shoes to the river, and her boat is guided down the stream to the home of a kind, old sorceress. She comes out of her garden to the trumpeting and drumming of four toy soldiers, who stand at her gate as sentinels. As Gerda's boat approaches, the old woman uses her crook to pull it to shore. She takes Gerda into her garden, which is eternally in summer with flowers that sparkle. In her house, the old woman puts Gerda to sleep by combing her hair. It is her intention for Gerda to stay with her and forget looking for Kay, but Gerda awakes while the old woman is still sleeping. Gerda remembers that she is looking for Kay, but when she gets to the gate she finds that it is already fall outside in the garden. She begs the toy soldier sentinels not to sound their bugles and drums to awaken their mistress, and they comply.

Gerda is next found by the seashore where she is met by a raven, "Mr. Corax" (Latin for "raven"). Gerda tells him that she is looking for a "good, kind, brave boy." Mr. Corax tells her that such a boy is now living at the palace of the princess with whom he is "palsy walsy." Mr. Corax takes Gerda to the palace to find his "lady friend," a female raven, named Henrietta, who knows the palace and can guide Gerda through it. They arrive when there is a ball going on in the palace concluded with fireworks. When all are asleep the ravens take Gerda into the palace to the royal bedroom. Gerda takes a candle that she uses to see if the boy is Kay. However she finds a different boy, who is heavier than Kay. The shock of awaking him, awakens the princess, who calls her guards. The three intruders are apprehended, but when the princess is caught up in the romance of a girl seeking her boyfriend, she and her consort decide to help her.

An interlude follows with the Snow Queen and Kay talking in her ice palace throne room. Kay is playing with ice crystals when the Snow Queen asks him if he knows what love is. He remembers Gerda, but he stays there because his heart is a lump of ice like the Snow Queen's.

The princess and her consort send Gerda on her way with a golden coach and attendants. While the coach travels through a dark woods, they are stopped by a gang of robbers, who take Gerda and strip the coach of its gold plate, sparing the attendants. An old hag takes Gerda, but when she is bitten on the ear by her daughter Angel, who is riding on her back, she listens to her request to keep Gerda with her other captive pets. These pets include a fox, little rabbits, the young birds that were spared the Snow Queen's frost earlier, and a large reindeer, named Bucky Boy. The birds tell Gerda that they saw the Snow Queen take Kay with her to Lapland. The reindeer offers to take Gerda there. It remains for the robber girl to let Gerda and Bucky Boy go, which she does. She also releases the birds, the fox, and the rabbits, but they decide to stay with her.

Gerda and Bucky get to the Lapland woman, who warms them by their fire. She tells them that the Snow Queen had stopped there with Kay but went on farther north to "Finland". She directs them to her cousin in Finland who can direct them further, and she writes a letter to her on a fish that she sends with Gerda and Bucky. When Gerda and Bucky get to the cousin in Finland, she tells them that they are just 10 miles away from the Snow Queen's palace. Gerda and Bucky leave so quickly that Gerda leaves behind her mittens and cap.

Bucky, who collapses along the way, is unable to take Gerda up to the ice palace, so Gerda goes on alone. When Gerda finally gets to the palace through the blustery wind and snow, she encounters Kay, who is released from the splinters of ice in his eye and his heart by Gerda's warm embrace. Even though the Snow Queen suddenly returns, she and her palace melt away with the coming of spring.

Gerda and Kay are taken first by Bucky Boy to the Finnish woman, who takes them further on their journey home in her dog sled. The Lapland woman takes them further in her boat, and the robber girl takes them the rest of the way in the coach that had been stripped of its gold plate. They go past the princess, her consort, and the ravens who wave them on. They are now home again in their window box garden in springtime. Old Dreamy tells the viewer that later Gerda and Kay were married, but "that," he says, "is another story."

Plot
This tale tells of the wonderful journey a modest little girl named Gerda takes while searching for her friend Kay, who has been kidnapped by the wicked fairy, the Snow Queen. Gerda meets many obstacles in her trek before she faces a final decisive battle with the Snow Queen. But Gerda’s loyal heart will overcome all the adversities in this touching story of great love, human kindness and faithfulness to one’s duty. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale.

Plot
A spectacular production of one of the most beautiful, exciting and touching fairytales of all time, using live performers, animated characters and beautiful illustrations to create a unique fantasy world. The Snow Queen follows the adventures of Gerda, a little girl who sets out on an amazing journey to find her friend Kay who has fallen under the evil spell of the Snow Queen. On her journey she has to contend with the Summer Garden Witch, the Robbers in the Wood and above all the wicked and mysterious Snow Queen herself. Only Gerda, helped by birds and animals has the to overcome them all.

Tayna snezhnoy korolevy
English Title: The Secret of the Snow Queen

Plot
When the Snow Queen, a lonely and powerful fairy, kidnaps the human boy Kay, his best friend Gerda must overcome many obstacles on her journey to rescue him.

Plot
In this adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's longest story, the beautiful Snow Queen has captured two children and now keeps them apart. She has inserted a sliver of her own special ice into the eye of the boy, so that his heart will turn to ice and will be a proper match for hers. The boy's sister, meanwhile, has won free and attempts to find her brother. When she does, the warmth of her love for him melts his frozen heart and defeats the Snow Queen decisively.

Plot
This version of The Snow Queen is the first to be adapted from another adaptation. All of Sigourney Weaver's narration is from Amy Erhlich's 1982 picture book. Still, things are cut out and changed a bit. The troll/devil is gone. The mirror belongs to the Snow Queen and it is her only friend. She grows very angry and lonely and smashes her mirror. She wants a friend and since Kai is all fucked up, she takes him. The princess is cut from Gerda's journey and the crow turns out to be the Witch in disguise who helps her along the way. The Robber Girl has a mullet and is SUPER TOUCHY with Gerda. The Snow Queen lets Kai and Gerda go once she sees how much they love each other. It even melts her heart...and the rest of her.

Plot
Ellie and her brother Tom listen to their grandmother reading them a story about the evil Snow Queen. When their younger sister Polly asks Tom if the Queen is coming to their house, Tom says that she only exists in the story. However, the Snow Queen really does live in an icy palace in the North Pole with her three troll servants: Eric, Baggy, and Wardrobe. Her plan is to set up her huge magic mirror on a mountain to reflect the sunlight away so the entire world will become her kingdom. But the mirror falls down the mountain and lands on the trolls' flying machine where it shatters into pieces. Two of the pieces hit Tom in the eye and the heart that he falls into an evil curse.

The Snow Queen sends her bats to retrieve the pieces. As they cannot take the two that are inside Tom, the Queen goes out to kidnap him. Ellie and Tom connect their sleds to a bigger sled that is revealed to be driven by the Snow Queen. She takes Tom to her palace and cuts Ellie off of her sled, causing her to fall onto a talking bird named Peeps. Ellie goes out to save Tom from her and Peeps reluctantly decides to go with her. In a snowy forest, they find a house belonging to an old woman, who appears nice, but is actually an evil witch but traps them to use Ellie's heart for her elixir of life so she can be eternally young. Peeps tricks the witch's cat, Cuddles, into chasing after him and knocking over the elixir of life, and uses the confusion to unlocks Ellie's cell. Ellie and Peeps escape and trap the witch in the basement.

They then meet two humanoid birds named Les and Ivy, who, from Ellie's description of Tom, tell her that Tom is going to marry the princess, so Ellie becomes a member of the staff to serve the princess her food. However, she soon discovers that the prince is not Tom. Meanwhile, Tom is rebuilding the Snow Queen's mirror, as he is good at puzzles. The trolls try to warn him that the Queen is going to kill him to get the last two pieces, but the Queen convinces him otherwise and kisses him, putting him into a hypnotic state while his veins are full of ice, and will cause his death when it reaches his heart.

The princess and the prince give Ellie and Peeps a royal vehicle to ride to the Snow Queen's dominion, however they run into a robber gang of humanoid rats. The Robber King promises his daughter, Angorra, that Ellie can become her slave, but later changes his mind. Ellie is locked in a room with a flying reindeer Dimly who was captured by the robbers. Peeps enters the room and unties Ellie's hands, and she unties Dimly. Angorra enters, but they trap her with a barrel. Dimly flies them away, but the King grabs onto the rope that is still wrapped around Dimly, resulting in the King slamming into a building and falling over the edge on top of Angorra.

Dimly does not know where the Snow Queen is, so he goes to his flying reindeer school and asks Freda, a Lapland woman who runs the school. Freda has Dimly fly them over to the Queen's castle. There, they meet the three trolls, who ultimately decide to help them. Tom does not have much time left, and has finished putting the mirror together except for the two pieces that are inside him. Freda reveals that the two pieces inside him will kill him, then makes a potion that will dissolve the mirror. Ellie tells Tom to drink it, but just as he is about to, the Queen blasts the vial away with her magic staff. They fight the Queen but Eric and Freda get frozen, and Baggy and Wardrobe grab her staff just as they are frozen as well. The battle eventually causes the vial to fall on top of the mirror and shatter, dissolving the mirror and forming an icy cyclone that chases after the Queen's flying carriage and freezes her solid as she attempts to escape. The mirror pieces inside Tom dissolve and the effects of the Queen's kiss go away, freeing him. Freda and the trolls are unfrozen.

Freda warns the Queen is not dead and might return in the future. She has Dimly take Ellie, Tom, and Peeps back to the village, and then come back for her and the trolls. Dimly crashlands in the village and Ellie, Tom, and Peeps go to listen to the rest of the story as Dimly heads back to the Snow Queen's palace. The film ends with a close-up shot of the frozen Queen's eyes lighting up.

Plot
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale is told here as a digital theater piece. The visual point of departure is fashioned by découpages created by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who is also the narrator. The découpages serve to establish the mood around the story of the children, Kaj and Gerda. They consist of a countless number of clippings, which are subsequently subjected to the processes of computer animation and mixed with graphics, live actors and music into an unique fairy tale universe.

Plot
The film's story is roughly based on Hans Christian Andersen's story "The Snow Queen" but features a number of significant changes. Most prominently are that Gerda and Kai are openly romantically attached to each other, instead of simply being best friends. Another significant change is that the opening and ending portions of the film take place in a modern "realistic" setting, while Gerda and Kai's adventures are dream-like and surreal. It is never explained whether the events experienced by Gerda and Kai really took place.

Gerda and Kai
Gerda is initially in mourning over the death of her mother. Although her mother died nine years previous, Gerda has not been able to move on until she meets Kai. In this version Kai is a new staff member at the hotel owned by Gerda's father, and he immediately sets out to befriend Gerda and help her heal. It is because Kai has helped Gerda find new purpose in life that she sets out to rescue him when he is kidnapped by the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen refers to Gerda and Kai's relationship as "true love".

The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen in this version is intentionally malicious towards Gerda and desires to keep Kai for herself. Throughout the movie it is slowly revealed that the Snow Queen has been hoarding power for some time, intending to destroy all the other seasons and ruling the earth alone. She intended to achieve this goal using the Devil's mirror, which was shattered into thousands of pieces above the earth. The Snow Queen initially kidnaps Kai because the final piece of the mirror fell into his eye, but she takes him to her palace and charges him to fix the mirror the way it was. Additionally, it is implied that the Snow Queen caused the death of Gerda's mother because she was also a magically inclined rival of the mighty Snow Queen. There is also a minor sub-plot involving a fierce talking polar bear who is the Snow Queen's henchman, and stays by her side because he is in love with her. After her defeat he carries her off and is seen taking the form of an elegantly dressed man.

The Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Winter Autumn
Various characters that Gerda meets in the story have been altered. The witch of eternal summer has become the "Spring Witch", the prince and princess of the palace have been merged into the "Summer Princess" and the Robber Girl's mother has become the "Autumn Robber". In the film all three women are sisters of the Snow Queen who, like their winter sister, want to keep Gerda for various differing reasons. Together, the four sisters are known as the "Four Seasons". Gerda has to escape from all three women before she can face the Snow Queen herself. It is stated in the legend that the three sisters have been severely weakened by their sister's attempt to take almighty power. When they hold Gerda they claim they are doing it for her own protection as their sister is much stronger than they can ever imagine.

The Mirror
The magic mirror is the central piece of the plot and the catalyst for Gerda's adventure to rescue Kai. Listening to a legend it is learnt that the mirror was forged by Satan who gave it to the Four Seasons so they could admire their work. When Spring, Summer and Autumn looked in to the mirror it reflected the essence of their power and promise of life while Winter saw a cold and barren reflection, which was the way of her season. Satan however had made the mirror twisted so that, as Winter gazed at her reflection, she desired for that winter to be absolute. Thus the Snow Queen one day steals the mirror, taking it to where no one can find it. This was not enough for the now Snow Queen since her sisters still lived though greatly weakened. Taking the mirror up to the sky, she flew to Heaven to demand that winter be made the dominant power on Earth. The magic of the mirror and the magic of heaven did not sit well together and the mirror shattered scattering to the four winds and starting the quest for the recovery of the shards that fell into human eyes.