Anna (Frozen) Disney considered collaborating with Samuel Goldwyn to produce a biography film of Hans Christian Andersen. However, the story and particularly the Snow Queen character proved to be too problematic to Disney and his animators. Namely one of the troubles they encountered was that the original story lacked necessary interaction between the main protagonist, Gerda (who later served as an inspiration for Anna), and the Snow Queen. Most obviously, Andersen's version did not feature any confrontation between them: when brave little Gerda enters the Snow Queen's ice castle and sheds her tears on Kay, the Snow Queen is nowhere to be
Alan Menken The challenge was to create an animated musical film of this Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that could sit alongside the Disney films "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Cinderella". "The Little Mermaid" opened to critical and commercial success and signaled a new Disney era called the Disney Renaissance. The film gave them their first Oscar win: Best Song for the song "Under the Sea". Menken also won the 1989 Oscar for Best Score. Menken and Ashman's "Beauty and the Beast" garnered them three 1991 Oscar nominations for Best Song, winning for its title song. Menken won another Oscar