Understanding the Elementals: Disney versus Reality

In a conversation with one of my lovely followers, I was reminded of when Disney gave their take on the four elementals in Frozen 2. Having worked closely with many of the elemental spirits in my daily life as a practicing witch, I found the concept of Disney’s take versus the ‘reality’, or more accurately, folklore, to be an intriguing concept.

What are Elementals?

Elementals are the amoral embodiments of the element themselves. They are simply, the element as the element is, and these spirits embody those traits in everything they do. We work with these spirits as their correspondences allow, and it is important to work with them in as much balance as possible.

This is one of the many reasons I consider myself not just a sea witch, but an elemental witch. The element of water is loving and healing, but also fierce and devastating, and without the balance of the other elements, the grounding of earth for example, you can quickly feel like you’re drowning. The elements are also always interacting with each other, so to treat them as inherently separate only denies the practitioner the ability to find balance within their magic and themselves.

When Frozen 2 first came out, I was actually really excited to see this portrayal, and I have to say, despite a few Disney-fied changes that I’ve come to expect from the franchise over the years, they actually were pretty accurate in their design while adding lore to the Frozen universe in a very unique way.

That being said, I think it is highly interesting to compare Disney’s version to the original elementals, starting with the one they got the closest too:

Fire Elemental: Salamanders

Fire is passion, the creator and the destroyer. it is the only element out of the three than cannot exist in physical form without consuming something else. We feel it’s heat in a candle flame, a fireplace hearth, a raging forest fire, and the sun itself. Smoke is a great example of the blending of the air and fire elements. In fact, without air to feed it, a fire could not sustain itself and will be quickly snuffed out.

The salamander in Frozen 2 is pretty accurate to its description and certainly in its blazing heat and passion. Though I’m not sure about the cuteness factor of an actual fire elemental, Disney’s version of the little fire spirit definitely warmed my heart (especially when Elsa feeds him a snowflake)!

Air Elemental: Sylphs

The Sylphs, air, is freshness, its intellect, the intangible air we breath every day, the fierce winds of a storm that blow your hair back, and the puffy white clouds you find shapes in (also known as Aeromancy or cloud scrying). Clouds are also a great example of elements interacting together, specifically, water and air. 

The raging tornado / gentle breeze that is gale in Frozen 2 is actually another great representation of the air elemental, as air truly has no form.

Water Elemental: Undines

The Undines, water, is emotions, healing, clarity & intuition. It is the water and life blood in our bodies, the raging sea, the drop of rain on a rooftop. It is the realm of dreams and deep meditation. Mud/ clay is a great way that adds the solidity of the earth with the fluidity of water to make something moldable that will still hold its shape. 

This lack of form that we see in air also exists in the element of water, though most people tend to represent the Undines as young maidens in art. Disney’s approach in Frozen 2 wound up taking the form of a water horse, also known as a hippocamp or sometimes a kelpie. I’m not sure if Disney meant to pull on the darker aspects of the water horses here, or the unpredictability of water itself, because while there is an overlap, a water horse is not the same thing as an Undine water elemental.

The horse trying to push Elsa beneath the water during their clash suggests that Disney chose to lean more towards the water horses lore rather than just the unpredictability of the water in general, and is also shown with Elsa’s taming of the horse with a bridle, which is a take on folklore when a lucky few managed to ride a water horse safely rather than becoming stuck to the beasts and pulled beneath the water. Not exactly what Disney would have kept in the film.

Earth Elementals: Gnomes

This was probably Disney’s biggest change to the elementals (yes, pun intended). Earth is the guardian of wisdom and the cultivation of wealth, both material and what grows fresh from the soil. They are the protectors of physical matters and the resilience of life itself.

Traditionally, the Gnomes are smaller folk, the typical representation you see with the fae and in fairy tales that mostly live underground or in trees. But it makes sense why Disney chose to represent them as literal giants. Both to give a bit more action to the storyline, and to show another side to the elemental of earth, as large in scale and importance as the earth is to us. 

Conclusion:

Overall, I think Disney did a fantastic job with their representation of the elements in frozen 2, even if some of them differed from the reality of what I see in my practice. But that is the true magic of your imagination. We can’t all have Elsa’s powers, but the message of the movie holds true. We are all meant to be the bridge between worlds, and to connect back to nature so we may live our lives in harmony.

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