--- title: Why Jordan Peterson Thinks ‘Frozen’ Is Propaganda description: But "Sleeping Beauty" and "Harry Potter" are genius, says the controversial author of "12 Rules For Life" in an interview with TIME canonical: https://time.com/5176537/jordan-peterson-frozen-movie-disney/ author: Belinda Luscombe article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-09T17:07:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:35.721Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why Jordan Peterson Thinks "Frozen" Is Propaganda og:description: But "Sleeping Beauty" is genius og:url: https://time.com/5176537/jordan-peterson-frozen-movie-disney/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93e1842377d5f5cd/698929fc86f68e48c76e885d/10q-jordan-peterson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: 10q-jordan-peterson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Jordan Peterson Thinks "Frozen" Is Propaganda twitter:description: But "Sleeping Beauty" is genius twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93e1842377d5f5cd/698929fc86f68e48c76e885d/10q-jordan-peterson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Jordan Peterson Thinks _Frozen_ Is Propaganda, But _Sleeping Beauty_ Is Genius > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Disney's Frozen Official Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): Disney's Frozen Official Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FQxk1ZM2.m3u8) (2:32)  _Published 2018-03-09. Disney's Frozen Official Trailer_  by [Belinda Luscombe](https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/)  ## Belinda Luscombe Editor at Large Mar 9, 2018 5:07 PM UTC  Daniel Hambury—Evening Standard/eyevine/Redux  by [Belinda Luscombe](https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/)  ## Belinda Luscombe Editor at Large Mar 9, 2018 5:07 PM UTC _Psychology professor Jordan Peterson’s recent book_ _has risen to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list. The Canadian academic has become a controversial commentator, including on his own YouTube channel. But before he was widely hailed and attacked for his stances on free speech, political correctness and transgender pronouns, he wrote a book about myths, fairy tales and religion, called_ Maps of Meaning_. TIME spoke with Peterson about his new book, his sudden rise to fame and his views on the news, at length_ [_here_](http://time.com/5175974/jordan-peterson-12-rules-book-interview/)_. But he also spoke about why he detests the 2013 animated movie_ Frozen_; TIME has included that portion of the conversation below._ **In your new book 1** **_2 Rules For Life_** **, you’re very critical of** **_Frozen_** **. Why do you call it “deeply propagandistic”?** It attempted to write a modern fable that was a counter-narrative to a classic story like, let’s say, _Sleeping Beauty_ — but with no understanding whatsoever of the underlying archetypal dynamics. You could say that Sleeping Beauty was raised out of her unconsciousness via a delivering male. Another way of reading the story is that unconsciousness requires active consciousness as an antidote. And the unconsciousness is symbolized in that particular story by femininity and active consciousness by masculinity. I could hardly sit through _Frozen_. There was an attempt to craft a moral message and to build the story around that, instead of building the story and letting the moral message emerge. It was the subjugation of art to propaganda, in my estimation. **Not just a lovely story about sisterhood?** No, not just a lovely story about sisterhood. No, ‘fraid not. No, you don’t spend tens of millions of dollars on a carefully crafted narrative that’s just a lovely story unless that’s what you’re trying to tell. That isn’t what the people who made _Frozen_ were trying to tell. Not in my estimation. **You regard it as more propagandistic than say,** **_The Little Mermaid_** **?** Those other movies are based on folktales that are maybe — some of those folktales have been traced back 13,000 years. **Aren’t we allowed to make up new stories?** Not for political reasons. **Who gets to choose what’s propaganda? I mean, they’re Disney movies. None of them are super subtle.** Well, that’s a good question. I wrote a whole book, _Maps of Meaning_, about that. It’s about 500 pages long, and it’s an attempt to answer that really complicated question. A properly balanced story provides an equal representation of the negative and positive attributes of I could say the world, but it’s actually a being. _Harry Potter_’s a good example. So Harry’s the hero, right. But he’s tainted with evil. There’s a dark and a light in every bit of that narrative. It’s well balanced. And in the propagandistic story, you don’t see that. You see the darkness all being in one place and the light all being in one place. **Isn’t the darkness and the light in Elsa, who has the power to freeze things, for good or ill?** The most propagandistic element of _Frozen_ was the transformation of the prince at the beginning of the story who was a perfectly good guy, into a villain with no character development whatsoever about three-quarters of the way to the ending. **He was a villain the whole time! He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing!** That’s how it turned out in the end, but there was no indication of that at the beginning. **That’s good story craft — not tipping your hand. Like** **_The Crying Game_** **.** It’s certainly possible that I’m wrong about _Frozen_, although I don’t think so. **Let’s make a bet. In 10 years, if** **_Frozen_** **hasn’t fallen off the** [**top 20 great Disney animated movies**](http://www.imdb.com/list/ls059541704/)**, you have to write a public retraction.** I’ve made a video about [_Sleeping Beauty_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUhzBvYfoOk) and about [_The Lion King_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iLiKMUiyTI)_._ And I’d like to make one about _The Little Mermaid_ and _Beauty and the Beast_. And I could make one about _Frozen_ too. That might be a good way of answering that question. Though I didn’t care for it at all. I doubt very much whether people will be watching _Frozen_ in ten years. **I think they might. Very catchy tune.** It is a catchy tune. _This interview has been edited and condensed._ ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Summer in the city of Arendell. It couldn't be warmer, it couldn't be sunnier, but that's about to change. Forever . >> Arendell . >> It's completely frozen. Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold. A real howler in July, yeah? The land's covered in eternal snow. Aah, whoa! Really? If we don't do something soon, we'll all freeze to death. You wanna talk about a problem? I sell ice for a living. That's a rough business to be in right now. I mean. That is really, [ COUGH ] that's unfortunate. My lady. Whoa, whoa. This is awkward. Not you're awkward, but just cuz we're, I'm awkward. You're gorgeous. Wait, what? [ MUSIC ] Hi everyone, I'm Olaf. Aah! Hi! You're creepy. Whoa! I don't want it! Whoa, whoa. No! Sorry, we got off to a bad start. I know how to stop the. This winter. Yah. Hang on. I like fast. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Get your feet down, this is fresh laquer. Seriously, were you raised in a barn? Let's go bring back summer. Man, am I out of shape. [ SOUND ] Wolves. Duck. Whoa. [ YELLS ] Are you okay? I've got a thick skull. I don't have a skull. [ MUSIC ] Head rush. It's so cute, it's like a little baby unicorn. Now, we just have to survive this blizzard. That's no blizzard. That's my sister! That would've been nice to know! Head's up! It is not nice to throw, snow people! Woah, woah, woah feisty- pants, just let the snowman be. I'm calm! Great. Come on! [ SOUND ] Olaf, you're melting! Some people are worth melting for. But just maybe not right this second. Aah! Aah [ MUSIC ]! Come on, buddy, faster. No! Olaf! Hang in there guys. [ MUSIC ] Whoa! I can't feel my legs. I can't I can't feel my legs. [ COUGH ] Those are my legs. Hey, give me a favor, grab my ****. That feels better. 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