Snow Queen (2002 film)
| Snow Queen | |
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Official DVD cover
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| Directed by | David Wu |
| Produced by | Matthew O'Connor Michael O'Connor Pascal Verschooris |
| Written by |
Hans Christian Andersen (original story) Simon Moore (teleplay) |
| Based on | The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen |
| Starring |
Bridget Fonda Chelsea Hobbs Jeremy Guilbaut |
| Music by | Lawrence Shragge |
| Cinematography | Gregory Middleton |
| Edited by | Yelena Lanskaya David Wu |
| Distributed by | Hallmark Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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180 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,250,000 |
Snow Queen is a 2002 made-for-television film made by Hallmark Entertainment, directed by David Wu, and based on the story The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. The film stars Bridget Fonda as the title character and Chelsea Hobbs as her rival and the story's heroine, Gerda. The film originally aired on Hallmark Channel as a two-part miniseries, but has since been released as a full-length film on DVD in the United States. The DVD came out on November 9, 2009, in the United Kingdom, and on September 2, 2011, in Australia. This was Bridget Fonda's last acting role to date.
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 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 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.
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