Meet The Arendelle Royal Family–A Review Plus Custom Doll Project!

Ack! I forgot Valentine’s day! How does this keep happening to me? I was going to make cute cards and post pictures of my dolls’ dates on Instagram. Tink even had a short story to share.

Oh well. There’s no use whining over time lost. Let’s go ahead and jump into today’s doll review: The Arendelle Royal Family by Hasbro!

Last October, about six weeks before Frozen 2’s theatrical debut, Hasbro released a doll set featuring Queen Iduna and King Agnarr (Anna and Elsa’s parents) along with Anna and Elsa as toddlers. The set is a Target exclusive and costs around $39.99.

The dolls themselves are incredibly basic. King Agnarr and Queen Iduna are barely poseable; their clothes are a cheap, felt-like fabric; and Agnarr’s pants are sculpted to his body (a thing I detest).

Still, I’m a Frozen fan and doll collector. There was no way I was turning down the chance to add Anna and Elsa’s parents to my collection. Plus, I had a plan to fix these less-than-perfect aspects by giving both Agnarr and Iduna brand-new, fully articulated bodies.

Meet Queen Iduna:

Who is Queen Iduna?

The first Frozen movie doesn’t tell us much about the former Queen of Arendelle other than she was Elsa and Anna’s mother and died in a shipwreck. The sequel, however, dives deeper into Iduna’s character showing us who she is and how she met Prince Agnarr.

A Little More About Queen Iduna:

• Iduna was born in the Enchanted Forest and is, in fact, Northuldran.
• Because of her heritage, she is deeply connected to nature and can interact with the elemental spirits.
• During the battle between the Northuldra and Arendellians, young Iduna saved Prince Agnarr and escaped with him to Arendelle.
• Iduna tells her daughters about Ahtohallan, an ancient river (or glacier) “full of memories.” According to her lullaby, those who visit Ahtohallan can learn about their past by viewing its icy walls; however, they mustn’t “go too deep” or they’ll be drowned (freeze to death).
• Queen Iduna and King Agnarr were heading to Ahtohallan to find the source of Elsa’s powers when their ship sank.

Now that we know more about Iduna, let’s check out the doll.

Like her animated counterpart, Iduna has light skin and blue eyes. Her cheeks are lightly blushed, and she has dark pink lips.

Iduna’s hair is brown. It is cut short and curled up in the back to give the illusion of a bun.

I think Hasbro did a terrific job on Iduna’s face. She looks beautiful!

Now, let’s take this gorgeous girl and give her an articulated body.

The Swap:

Finding a poseable body for Iduna was easier than I expected. Her skin tone matches the Made-To-Move Purple, Peach, and Pink Top Barbies.

I almost used the Peach Top doll, but ended up picking the Purple Top because I’m not ready to toss out Iduna’s dress.

I can’t envision Iduna wearing a modern Barbie outfit, but I’m not ready to bring out my sewing machine (too much construction). Even though this dress is nothing special, at least it’s already made and looks Arendellian.

Swapping the bodies was a cinch. I didn’t have to alter Iduna’s neck or the M2M Barbie’s neck peg at all.

Iduna went from having just 5-points of articulation to a whopping 22-points! All this range of motion makes photographing her so much more fun.

The only bummer is that her dress doesn’t fasten in the back anymore. Her waistline grew during the “operation,” and the Velcro strips on the back of her outfit no longer meet.

The dress still slides over her hips, though, so I’m letting her wear it with the back open until I have a chance to sew her a new one. As long as I avoid taking pictures of her back, no one will know she isn’t buttoned up (except for you guys, of course😉).

I also had to find new shoes for Iduna because the original ones are too big for her delicate Barbie feet. Thankfully, black Barbie flats are easy to find.

Meet King Agnarr:

King Agnarr is Queen Iduna’s husband and Anna and Elsa’s father. He is a kind, caring father who will go to great lengths to guard his family.

In Frozen, he vows to protect Elsa from harm and tries teaching her how to conceal her power using gloves. In the second film, he awes his daughters with a story about his adventure to the Enchanted Forest and the mysterious figure who saved him.

A Little More About King Agnarr:

• King Agnarr was born in Arendelle to King Runeard and Queen Rita.
• When he was fourteen, Agnarr visited the Enchanted Forest with his father to celebrate an alliance between Northuldra and Arendelle.
• Because he is afraid of their connection with the elemental spirits, Agnarr’s father attacks the Northuldra leader, causing a war between the Northuldra and Arendelle’s soldiers.
• Agnarr gets knocked unconscious during the fight and is rescued by a girl. We later learn that Iduna was his savior.
• His personal guard, Lieutenant Mattias, becomes trapped in the Enchanted Forest when the elemental spirits seal it off with a magical mist.
• Agnarr is crowned King of Arendelle after his father perishes during the battle in the Enchanted Forest.

King Agnarr has green eyes, blonde hair, and a small mustache. His black jacket is the only part of his outfit that is removable. It has gold epaulets on the shoulders and several emblems printed across the front.

I’m happy with Hasbro’s depiction of King Agnarr. His face looks superb. Sadly, I can’t say the same thing about the rest of him. Those rigid limbs and painted legs seriously hinder my ability to use him in photos. They have got to go. So, let’s see if we can give him a better body—one with elbows and knees and no painted legs.

The Swap:

I assumed giving King Agnarr better articulation would be hard (if not impossible) since poseable male dolls are hard to come by–or at least they were.

I’m sure you all have seen the new Made-To-Move Ken dolls from the Barbie BMR 1959 series. Well, I had the bold idea to use one of these boys for Agnarr’s new body. I ordered the only light-skinned M2M Ken available (the one with the hoodie), hoping he would match King Agnarr.

Unfortunately, he didn’t. The M2M Ken is way too pale compared to Agnarr.

I can’t say I’m entirely disappointed. I started having second thoughts about my little experiment the moment I opened Joe’s box. (Oh dear, he has a name. That’s never a good sign!).

Before I knew it, I found myself giving this cool dude a personality, backstory, and even a girlfriend (yikes!).

Yep, it’s official–Joe Cool is here to stay! Who knows? Maybe he’ll pop up in some of Tink’s stories. Meanwhile, I still have a problem to solve:

How to give King Agnarr elbows and knees?

After a few days of pondering, it hit me: A Disney Store Classic Prince!

Disney Classic Princes have a good range of motion. They can turn their heads, lift their shoulders, bend their elbows, lift their legs, and have click knees that bend ever so slightly,

It’s not the very best articulation, but it’s a heck of a lot better than Agnarr’s. They’re also fairly affordable–about $15 each.

Since Prince Phillip isn’t doing anything important in our miniverse, I chose him for my next guinea pig. I brought him out and compared his skin tone to Agnarr’s.

What do you know! It’s a perfect match!

Thanks to Phillip, King Agnarr gained a pair of elbows and knees and lost those ugly painted legs.

He can shake hands, hug his daughters, or chill out on the couch after a long day’s work.

Agnarr’s only flaw is that his head and neck are uneven. The base of his head juts past his neck a bit.

I think some sanding might even this out; however, I’m not doing anything about it right now since his shirt covers his neck. At any rate, I’d rather have a tiny, hideable imperfection than a stiff, unarticulated body.

Meet Little Elsa and Anna:

While Queen Iduna and King Agnarr needed some work, little Anna and Elsa are perfect just the way they are. Their little faces are too cute! I particularly like Anna’s pigtails and spunky grin.

Both Anna and Elsa have five-points of articulation, which is perfectly acceptable for smaller dolls. Their nightgowns are the same felt-like fabric as Iduna and Agnarr’s clothes, but they’re not as offensive as the dress and coat. Maybe because there’s less fabric? Still, I want to make them new nighties using better quality material.

Final Thoughts:

In the end, I paid around $75 (plus tax) for these dolls:

• The Arendelle Royal Family: $39.99
• The Purple Top Made-To-Move Barbie: $23.19
• Disney Classic Prince Phillip: $12.00

Were they worth it?

For me, the answer is a big fat YES!

I’m thrilled with the Arendelle Royal Family, especially after upgrading their bodies. They are going to add a fun, new dynamic to our dolly world and are sure to have a role in Tink’s memoirs😉.

I do need to change the toddlers’ names, though, since Anna and Elsa already exist in the miniverse. The other dolls might think Iduna and Agnarr are a little kooky if all their kids have the same name.

What about Eleanor and Marianne?

Yeesh! I didn’t realize Tink was so…possessive.

Now it’s your turn!

I hope you guys enjoyed seeing how I gave Queen Iduna and King Agnarr articulated bodies. Don’t forget like this post if you did and, of course, share it on Pinterest.

Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram to see more pictures showing the rest of my Frozen 2 collection. I’m determined to up my Instagram game and showing off pretty pictures of Elsa (and her family) sounds like the perfect way to do that😉.