Disney’s spectacularly popular animation is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, but while Frozen is an empowering story of sisterly love and learning not to fear your power, The Snow Queen has much darker beginnings, though a similarly happy ending. In the Snow Queen, the devil makes a magic mirror which shows people only the bad and ugly aspects of themselves. When the mirror is shattered, splinters get into the eyes and hearts of people around the world, freezing their hearts. Years later, a splinter gets into the eye of a boy called Kai, causing him to become cruel and reject his grandmother and best friend Gerda, making him an easy target to be enchanted and imprisoned by the Snow Queen. When he disappears, it’s assumed Kai has fallen into the river and died, but Gerda is sure he’s alive and begins an epic quest to rescue him.