Frozen is one of the most popular Disney movies of the last decade. After the release of its two parts, many women tried to cosplay the two beloved sisters, Elsa and Anna. However, only one managed to look like Elsa without any plastic surgery. With her doll-like features and 20-inch waist, Andressa Damiani from Brazil is widely known as the ‘real-life Elsa.’
Unlike many others out there, this 23-year-old woman from Brazil has done very little to look like Disney character Elsa. Regardless, her resemblance is uncanny!
Though some people have been pleasantly surprised by her look, there has been some negative attention. ‘People don’t believe me when I say I have never had any plastic surgery, and they think I starve myself because I’m so thin. They call me a liar,’ she said.
And at least there is some truth in that, as she does have a tiny waist and large bust, with doll-like features. She naturally has brown eyes but admits to wearing blue contacts that enlarge her eyes and false eyelashes.
Her pictures on Instagram with her blue contacts make her look like an anime character or a human Barbie.
She explains that she barely wears any makeup on a daily basis, so you wouldn’t think she looks like a Disney princess in her everyday life.
She also says that she doesn’t diet, and her only exercise is walking her dogs in her neighborhood.
This picture of Andressa as a child shows that she is indeed a natural brunette with brown eyes.
Although Frozen features fantastical creatures like ice princesses, a talking snowman, and trolls, the movie received a peculiar allegation of stealing a real-life story. The obscure Peruvian writer Isabella Tanikumi claimed that the enchanting fairy tale movie was actually based on her autobiographical work. Therefore, she sued Disney for plagiarism for an astonishing sum of $250 million in 2015.
The author insisted that the creators of the iconic Disney movie used her 2010 book, Yearnings of the Heart. According to Tanikumi, Disney copied the story about her childhood in the Andean Mountains in Peru, using the plotlines and characters to turn it into one of the most successful animated movies in history.
Despite the staggering differences, Tanikumi insists on the similarities between Frozen and Yearnings of the Heart, highlighting the fact that both stories involve a dynamic between loving sisters where one retreats from public life due to the shame of causing harm to the other.
According to the Amazon synopsis of Yearnings of the Heart, this autobiographical book takes its reader on a compelling journey through crucial periods of Tanikumi’s life, such as surviving the catastrophic Huaraz earthquake in 1970 with her family and handling the first heartbreaks in her youth.
In the first Frozen movie, Elsa was 21 years old, while her sister Anna’s age was 18. Since Elsa’s coronation was the central theme of the movie, Arendelle waited for a suitable age to hand her the queen title. The second part is set 3 years after the first one, so Elsa is now 24 and Anna is 21.
Unlike most other animated Disney movies about young princesses, Frozen takes a more mature age (21) as an ideal time to rule. This sets the movie apart from the Disney princess franchise, as both Elsa and Anna are several years older than the average Disney princess. By giving the characters space for personal growth before the coronation, Frozen emerges as a breath of fresh air in kid’s stories - both literally and figuratively.
Image Source: Bruno Antonucci
Frozen’s storyline was loosely based on the famous Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen,” originally known as Snedronningen. The original story focuses on Gerda, an innocent and kind-hearted girl who embarks on a journey to save her best friend, Kai, from the Snow Queen.
The multiple extensive rewrites and false starts delayed the project for many years. However, the creators of Frozen still managed to preserve the author’s chilling atmosphere and keep the original story themes of loss, isolation, and selfless acts of love. Furthermore, the main characters' names (Anna, Hans, Sven, and Kristoff) are a tribute to Hans Christian Andersen.
Still, there are some fundamental differences between Frozen and the original Snow Queen story. Unlike the cold-hearted Snow Queen in Andersen’s fairy tale, Elsa doesn’t use her magical powers for evil and is not a villain to root against. Frozen focuses on Elsa and Anna’s unwavering sisterly love as the story’s driving force.
