Disney’s Frozen Movie and Sitron the Fjord Horse
by
Norwegian Fjord horse fans the world over were thrilled and excited when Disney’s upcoming animated movie, Frozen, was announced. The reason for this excitement? This new movie is set in Norway and the prince, Hans, rides a Fjord horse. Oh my!!
Stefan and I, inspired by our own Fjord horses, have twice traveled to Norway and fallen in love with the indescribable countryside. As a result, in addition to loving their little yellow horses, we have become enamored of the Norwegian land and it’s people. These facts alone ought be enough to make us the biggest fan-boys of the upcoming Frozen movie ever.
But, wait! Just take a look at this design development board on display at the Production Gallery room inside “The Magic of Disney Animation” at Walt Disney World. The boards on display here come directly from the animation department in California where they make the movies.
Look there, in the lower left hand corner of the design board for Sitron, Hans’ horse. That’s a photo of me riding my Fjord gelding Prisco at Palgrave! The text box beside Prisco reads, “ACTUAL horse coloring (NOTICE leg coloration/dark “socks”) for ENTIRE”. (Click on the photo if you want to see a bigger version where it’s easier to see the details.)
Here is the original picture from our web site that was used on the board. It was from a horse show we attended June 2-4, 2006 and I was showing Prisco in Third Level dressage. That season Prisco was a little plumper than I ideally would have liked him to be, and as you can see in the art work, they faithfully reproduced that round belly detail in Hans’ horse Sitron. 🙂
In this YouTube video we are walked through the Production Gallery room at Walt Disney World, and it zooms in and gives a close-up of the board with Prisco on it around the 3:00 to 3:14 minute mark.
With my new-found connection to Sitron, I have enjoyed searching the net to learn more about him. Some fans question his gender, saying he must be a female because of his eyes and lashes. Sitron the Fjord horse of course has been Disneyfied, with his “people eyes” that show the whites and are set too close together and not on the sides of his head. But the long full eye lashes are an authentic Fjord horse detail, and both genders have them. You can see this in the following detail of Prisco’s face on the left and Sitron’s on the right.
One fan-site puts Sitron’s age at 12 (qualifying that with, “in fictional Disney horse years, of course”). Prisco was 11 in 2006, the year that picture was taken, so maybe he was the real one-and-only inspiration for Sitron! Disney is all about imagination, and hope, love, and happiness, so that’s the story I am going to stay believing.
I am looking forward to Frozen’s release on November 27th, and seeing Prisco aka Sitron on the big screen! Join me and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
To learn more about Prisco, read my article Prisco : A Super-Star of the Fjord Breed.
Sylvia Blume wrote:
Great Blog and a fantastic Story 🙂
My New Book | Alice MacGillivray wrote:
[…] Although the book is not exclusively about the Norwegian Fjord breed, they figure prominently. Â Fjords are quite spectacular in many ways, and not well known. Â You may have heard that Disney’s movie “Frozen” features a Fjord named Sitron. Â I just learned today that Sitron is modelled after my horse’s sire Prisco. Â You can see Prisco’s photo in the lower left. Â It is exciting to have these links between the book, my horse, her sire and their former owner, Lori Albrough. Â To learn more, visit Lori’s blog. […]
Carol Boehm wrote:
This is very exciting but also comes with a big price for our breed as it will bring allot of exposure. My hope is that all breeders world wide will do what ever they can to protect the genetics and ensure they do their part when breeding to keep breed type first and foremost. Not just breed what ever they can get their hands on to fill a demand for product. I am really happy for Lori as she works very hard to operate and run a very good breeding program. Lori is very good steward of Norwegian Fjords here in Canada and very good promoter, knows good Norwegian fjord type, conformation and movement. For that reason I am really glad that Disney picked a horse that she owned and I suspect trained.
Carol Boehm
Red Wing
Sofia wrote:
Wow! I’m super excited to see that movie! Thank you for sharing! 🙂 Greetings from a Swede in Jordan (missing the fjord horses)
Inge Burr wrote:
Hi Lori,
Great, great!
A wonderful promotion of the Fjord Horses and for you as Owner, Breeder and Trainer.
Congratulations
Inge
Jesse wrote:
I currently call myself “in between horses” and, as soon as my husband is out of the Navy in a couple of years, we plan to add a pair of Fjord geldings to the family. I have been casually learning about Fjords for years but only in the last several months have I really buckled down and started researching (It helps to live 3 miles from a Fjord breeder!) and only now, on January 11, 2013, after the movie has been out for over a month, am I finally learning that Frozen has a Fjord in it! I am ecstatic to see the movie. I hadn’t planned on seeing it in theaters but now I must! Over the past several days I have also been watching various Fjord videos on youtube and several of them have been yours. Like the dog world, I am finding that the horse world is all tied together with many connections in many places. I am not new to horses but my past horses were just casual evener horses, some were mutts and one was a Thoroughbred. I had no idea that, when one delved into the world that involve the breeds and not just the sports, that I would find the kind of connections I have.
Horse Illustrated Magazine – The FJORD Factor wrote:
[…] are sections on the colours of the Fjord, Fjords in the Disney movie Frozen, and Fjords in the 2014 Rose Parade. Great job, Horse […]
Bambi Brusco wrote:
So glad they didnt use the mouth strap on the animated horse. Would have been a no go for me if they had.
Good call on the producers!!
Lori Albrough wrote:
Hi Bambi,
The flash noseband is traditional tack in basic and medium level dressage. We adjust it such that the horse’s jaw can stay relaxed and chewing and he can easily take a sugar or treat. The flash or dropped noseband has a long history of use in such places as the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
Such a noseband wouldn’t be traditional Norwegian tack, I agree!
Take care,
Shamsa wrote:
It doesn’t tell you what prince Hans’ horse is called?
Lori Albrough wrote:
Although it is not mentioned in the movie, the name of Prince Hans Fjordhorse is Sitron, which is Norwegian for Lemon 😉
My Book: Riding Horseback in Purple | Riding Horseback in Purple wrote:
[…] Around the time Frozen was released, I learned that Sitron was modelled after my horse’s sire Prisco.  You can see Prisco’s photo in the lower left.  It is exciting to have these links between the book, my horse, her sire and their former owner, Lori Albrough.  To learn more, visit Lori’s blog. […]