snowman and an adorably dopey reindeer.
It can also be read as a parable for recovering from an eating
disorder, according to one academic who has been studying
the film.
Dr Su Holmes, from the University of East Anglia, who
struggled with anorexia herself, was watching Elsa sing Let it
Go when she thought to herself: "Is it just me or does this
song seem to parallel my own recovery?"
After tentatively putting the search terms into Google she
realised she wasn't alone.
"Quite a big reading of it in this way had occurred on the
internet across fan fiction, across blogs of people who had
recovered who were writing similar things to the thoughts I
was having."
In the film, magical Princess Elsa has powers to control ice
and snow. Her parents discover this power and worry she
could be dangerous. The castle is locked and she is
encouraged to hide away, both emotionally and physically.
After accidentally freezing her sister's heart, she spends years
alone in an icy wilderness. She sings Let It Go when she
embraces her true self and realises that love will allow her to
channel her powers and save her sister.
Thousands of comments are made on sites promoting
anorexia where people with eating disorders discussed how
they identified with Elsa's experiences, according to Holmes.
"There were two key groups," said Dr Holmes.
"The first circled around Let It Go because in the song Elsa
talks a lot about the pressures around being the perfect girl
and the need to break free from those repressions.
"There's been a long history about anorexia developing in so
called 'good' or 'perfect' girls and that it's associated with
societal and parental pressures.
"They were saying things like 'Omg I identified so much with
girl and her desire to not have to be the perfect girl and not
be the good girl that you always have to be', this is so much
like what's happened with my anorexia."
She said the second group used Elsa to motivate them to eat
even less.
"They used the same lyrics about the perfect girl in completely
contrary ways. They said 'Yeah, this is exactly how I felt
when my mum found out about the anorexia. And I thought
I'm not going to be the perfect girl anymore'."
This wasn't the only connection she found between Frozen
and anorexia.
"The idea of anorexia and its association with cold and
wintriness is really complex. The idea that anorexics are often
literally cold, they are isolated, and many of your emotions
and sexual desires shut down."
There is no suggestion that Frozen is in any way causing
eating disorders.
"These people were already anorexic and they were interested
in the film.
"There is a lot of mainstream media that displays very very
thin bodies and that is part of the culture in which we live.
"I wouldn't isolate Frozen in that regard any more than I
would isolate Tangled or Cinderella or Snow White. That is a
much wider issue in society.
"What I really found from working on this site is that what
people were looking for was identification.
"They wanted to see people like them on screen and it was
very meaningful for them in that regard. I don't think I would
cast it as dangerous I think that's a much broader cultural
question about the kind of media that young girls and women
consume."
Beat, the eating disorder charity, told Newsbeat: "Eating
disorders are by their very nature complex and have multi-
causal factors.
"Many people who suffer also have perfectionistic
personalities - often striving for the unattainable.
"We know from the way eating disorders are often portrayed
in the media, how triggering images and text can be and Beat
campaigns constantly to educate and inform that perpetuating
the sensationalist side of these illnesses is dangerous and can
have serious consequences."
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