Frozen II is a 2019 American 3D CGI-computer animated film and sequel to the 2013 film Frozen. Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, it was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Lee returned for the screenplay, writing the script from the plot by her, Buck, Marc E. Smith, and the Lopez songwriting duo.[2] It is the 58th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and 10th film in the Disney Revival Era.
It was released in the U.S. on November 22, 2019, and had the highest opening of all time for an animated film at $127 million domestically, and $350 million worldwide.[6] Frozen II is the third highest-grossing film of 2019,[7][8] and currently the highest-grossing animated film of all time.[9] The film was generally well received by critics,[10] with some criticism for its plot and pacing.[11]
A third film was announced to be in development on February 8, 2023[12]
Plot[]
The film opens with young Anna and Elsa playing a game with Elsa’s snow creations in an enchanted forest of their own creation. King Agnarr and Queen Iduna enter, and Agnarr tells the girls he has seen an enchanted forest in real life. In his youth, he joined his father, King Runeard, and other Arendellian soldiers to venture into the Enchanted Forest, where they came to know the four spirits of the forest – Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. Suddenly, the forest’s inhabitants, the Northuldra, started attacking the Arendellians, and Agnarr lost his father before losing consciousness. He recalls being saved by a mysterious being. After he finishes his story, Iduna sings a lullaby to the girls (“All Is Found”).
In the present day, Elsa hears a melodic voice calling out to her, but nobody else can hear the sound. Anna joins Olaf outside as he contemplates the changes around him. Anna isn’t bothered by changes because she has all the people she loves (“Some Things Never Change”). Meanwhile, Kristoff tells Sven that he is planning on proposing to Anna. Later that night, the gang plays charades together, but Elsa hears the voice calling out to her again. Distressed, she leaves the room. Kristoff tries to find a good time to propose to Anna, but she is more concerned with how Elsa is acting. After assuring her sister she is going to be fine, they go to bed.
The voice continues to call Elsa through the night, leading her to leave her room and wonder what it is that is calling her, and how she wants to learn more about it (“Into The Unknown”). The magic around her shows her images of mysterious creatures. Suddenly, Arendelle begins to experience strange occurrences. A strong wind blows into the kingdom, the water from the fountains drain out, the fire from the lanterns go out, and the earth begins to tremble fiercely. Elsa helps lead the citizens to higher ground. The gang meets with Grand Pabbie and the other Trolls. He tells the sisters that the spirits of the Enchanted Forest are angered over a wrongdoing that must be corrected, or else Arendelle’s future will be in jeopardy. Elsa decides she must set off on her own to fix it, but Anna refuses to let her go alone. Naturally, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf join as well.
Everyone travels far from Arendelle until they eventually reach the outside of the Enchanted Forest, which is surrounded by a gigantic mist. They are pulled inside and find themselves unable to get out. When they reach a cliff, Kristoff is released to see that the dam is still perfectly intact. He explains that if it were to break, it would unleash a tidal wave big enough to wash away everything on this fiord, which includes Arendelle. The group gets separated from each other, with Olaf wandering by himself and not understanding the weird things happening in the Forest (“When I Am Older”). A tornado created by the Air Spirit then pulls everyone away, but Elsa tries to stop it with her powers. In the midst of everything, she sees what look like images of memories shown through water. She freezes these images, with one that looks like a young Agnarr, and the Northuldra girl that saved him. The Air Spirit appears to have calmed down, gently blowing across the group, and Olaf even names it “Gale.” The gang is then approached by a tribe of Northuldra led by Yelena, as well as Arendellian soldiers led by Lt. Destin Mattias, whom Anna recognizes from a portrait in their castle. They become aware of Elsa’s powers quickly, and Olaf even takes time to recap their last adventure together to everyone. Soon, they are attacked by the Fire Spirit, which starts to spread bright colored flames across everything. Elsa once again uses her ice magic to contain the flames. She then follows the Fire Spirit until it appears as nothing more than a little salamander named Bruni. When he sees that Elsa means him no harm, he settles his flames and warms up to her. They hear the mysterious calling once again. After Anna gets Elsa, they run back to the ice statues Elsa made and realize that the girl who saved Agnarr was Iduna, meaning their mother was Northuldra, and the spirits rewarded her deed by giving her a daughter with powers. This revelation allows the Arendellians and Northuldra to form a truce.
Kristoff meets a Northuldra reindeer tamer named Ryder, and the two of them bond over the way they treat their reindeer, specifically the way they give their reindeer voices. He tells Kristoff that because of the mist, most of the people there have only lived in the Forest and have never seen the outside world. Elsa befriends Ryder’s sister Honeymaren, who shows Elsa that in addition to the four main spirits, there is a fifth spirit that acts as a bridge between the other spirits. After witnessing Earth Giants roaming across the land, Anna notices Kristoff is gone, not realizing he is with Ryder, who has tried to help Kristoff come up with an elaborate proposal. She takes off with Elsa and Olaf, which leads Kristoff to think she has gone away after learning this from Yelena. He expresses his sorrow but also how strong his love for Anna is (“Lost in the Woods”).
Anna, Elsa, and Olaf continue their journey until they come across the ruins of Agnarr and Iduna’s ship. Through the water memories, Elsa learns that they set off to find answers about Elsa’s powers, even witnessing their final moments where they embraced as the waters consumed them. They search the ship until they find a map, revealing that their parents were headed for the fabled river of Ahtohallan. Elsa knows she has to go there alone, so she sends Anna and Olaf away on an ice boat that she makes. The two express their anger over Elsa ditching them, even if she did it for their own good. Elsa attempts to get to Ahtohallan across the water, but she keeps getting taken down by the Water Spirit, which appears as a Nokk. After taming the spirit, she rides it as she follows the voice, eager to find out where it’s coming from (“Show Yourself”). Once she reaches Ahtohallan, she comes across her own memories and learns that the voice is that of Iduna calling out to her. When Elsa tries to find out what went wrong, she learns the truth: Runeard wanted to subjugate the Northuldra due to their reliance on magic, which Runeard despised. To that end, he built the dam not as a gift of peace, but as a trap and a ruse, to limit their resources and wipe out the spirits altogether by starving the forest. Getting closer to the whole truth, Elsa finally dives down into the deepest, darkest, most dangerous part of Ahtohallan which the song warned her about. As her body starts turning to pure ice, she discovers that Runard also started the conflict with the Northuldra and the Arendellian soldiers when he murdered the unarmed Northuldra leader in cold blood when he starting getting wise to Runard’s game. Before too long, she completely solidifies into an ice statue, but not before she sends this information to Anna. Before she and Olaf set off to help, Olaf begins to disintegrate, realizing something is wrong with Elsa. Anna holds Olaf, and they reaffirm their love for each other before he is gone. Anna sits alone in despair until she picks herself up and vows to push forward (“The Next Right Thing”).
With a heavy heart, Anna pieces together that in order for the forest to be freed, the dam has to come down, but doing so would mean the destruction of Arendelle. She goes to wake up the Earth Giants and gets them to follow her toward the dam. Mattias sees this and tries to stop Anna until she explains that Runard committed treason against both the Northuldra and Arendelle. She convinces him that Elsa learned the truth about the dam and why it must be destroyed, he relents and lures the Giants there. The Giants hurl boulders to the dam, which breaks it and sends the water flowing toward the kingdom. Elsa is revived, and she rides the Nokk back to Arendelle where she freezes the water and brings it down before it hits Arendelle, thus saving the kingdom and lifting the mist in the Forest, freeing the soldiers and Northuldra. Elsa reunites with Anna and the two sisters hug. Kristoff and Sven run down there too, and Elsa revives Olaf. Anna and Elsa determine that Elsa is the fifth spirit, as she has become the bridge between the other spirits. Kristoff then finally manages to propose to Anna with something simple, and she excitedly accepts. The Giants then appear to show their respect and gratitude toward Anna and Elsa.
After returning to Arendelle, Anna is appointed the new queen, as Elsa has decided to stay in the Forest where she is needed. The sisters regularly keep in touch, and Elsa rides the Nokk back to Arendelle for a visit.
Voice cast[]
- For non-English voice cast, see Frozen II international voice cast.
Main[]
| Actor | Role(s)[1] | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Idina Menzel | Elsa | Protagonist |
| Kristen Bell | Anna | Deuteragonist |
| Jonathan Groff | Kristoff | Tritagonist |
| Josh Gad | Olaf | Secondary tritagonist |
Secondary[]
| Actor | Role(s)[1] |
|---|---|
| Sterling K. Brown | Destin Mattias |
| Alfred Molina | Agnarr |
| Evan Rachel Wood | Iduna |
| Martha Plimpton | Yelena |
| Jason Ritter | Ryder Nattura |
| Rachel Matthews | Honeymaren Nattura |
| Jeremy Sisto | Runeard |
| Ciarán Hinds | Pabbie |
| Aurora | The Voice |
| Alan Tudyk | Northuldra leader Arendellian soldier |
Additional[]
| Actor | Role(s)[1] |
|---|---|
| Maia Wilson | Bulda |
| Stephen John Anderson | Kai |
| Paul Briggs | Marshmallow |
| Jackson Stein | Young Agnarr |
| Delaney Rose Stein | Young Iduna |
| Halima V. Hudson | Halima |
| Alan Tudyk (Ahtohallan/archive recording) | Duke of Weselton |
| Santino Fontana (Ahtohallan/archive recording) | Hans |
| Hadley Gannaway Livvy Stubenrauch (Ahtohallan/archive recording) |
Young Anna |
| Mattea Conforti Eva Bella (Ahtohallan/archive recording) |
Young Elsa |
Other[]
- Isabella Acres
- Jess Harnell
- Nick Fisher
- Jeff Bennett
- Carlos Alazraqui
- Colleen O'Shaughnessey
- Arthur Ortiz
- Stephen Apostolina
- Jackie Gonneau
- Cathy Cavadini
- Claire Ryann Crosby
- Paul Pape
- Kimberly Bailey
- Franck Gourlat
- Mona Marshall
- Michael Ralph
- Dave Boat
- Daniel Kaz
- Akai Robinson
- June Christopher
- Phil LaMarr
- Steve Blum
- Lynwood Robinson
- Antonio Corbo
- Corey Burton
- Arnaud Leónard
- Maddix Robinson
- Ashly Burch
- David Cowgill
- David Kaye
- Mimi Maynard
- Alejandro Saab
- David Errigo Jr.
- Lizzie Freeman
- Alan Lee
- Kaitlyn Robrock
- Rob Paulsen
- Wendy Cutler
- Scott Menville
- Troy Baker
- Violet Schaffer
- Dawn M. Bennett
- Zeno Robinson
- Sam Riegel
- Erica Lindbeck
- Hudson D'Andrea
- Jim Cummings
- Melanie Minichino
- Pepper Sweeney
- Grey DeLisle-Griffin
- Tara Strong
- Max Mittelman
- Danny Mann
- Fred Tatasciore
- Grant George
- Jessica DiCicco
- Erin Fitzgerald
- Matt Nolan
- Yuri Lowenthal
- Jean-Alain Velardo
- Terri Douglas
- Kimberly Brooks
- Capri Oliver
- Veronica Taylor
- Kari Wahlgren
- Robin Atkin Downes
- Bill Farmer
- Matthew Wood
- Jim Ward
Trivia[]
- The film takes place in 1843.[13]
Production[]
Frozen II was officially announced on March 12, 2015, at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders[14] that a sequel to Frozen was in the works, an announcement that was later verified by Jennifer Lee on her Twitter account.[15]
In July 2015, Eva Bella was confirmed to return to voice young Elsa.[16]
On November 5, 2015, Peter Del Vecho said while visiting Duke University: "We're excited by the ideas we have, but it's too early to talk about them. We wouldn't be making a sequel if we felt that we didn't have a story to tell that was equal to or greater than the original."[17]
On March 17, 2016, Kristen Bell revealed to E! Online that the voice recordings will start in April of the same year,[18] following that in an interview for The Boss, she said that the filmmakers have got the whole story while doing several tweaks.[19]
Release[]
On April 25, 2017, the film's initial release date was confirmed to be November 27, 2019,[20] but later was pushed up a week to November 22, 2019.[21] The film had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on November 7, 2019.[22]
A sing-along version began screenings on January 17, 2020.[23]
Marketing[]
On February 13, 2019, Disney released the official teaser trailer.[24] Three months later, on June 11, 2019, Disney released the first official theatrical trailer.[25] A third trailer was released on September 23, 2019.[26] Disney UK released a fourth trailer on October 14, 2019.[27]
Reception[]
Box office[]
Frozen II grossed $477.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $972.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.450 billion. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $599 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues. According to Disney (who does not consіder the 2019 The Lion King remake to be an anіmated fіlm), Frozen II is the hіghest-grossing anіmated fіlm, surpassing the first Frozen.
Critical response[]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 78% with an average score of 6.7/10, based on 330 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Frozen II can't quite recapture the showstopping feel of its predecessor, but it remains a dazzling adventure into the unknown." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100 based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, and those at PostTrak gave the film an average 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 71% saying they would definitely recommend it.
External links[]
- Frozen II | Official Site
- Frozen II on Wikipedia
- Frozen II (@DisneyFrozen) on Twitter
- Frozen II on IMDb
- Frozen II on Rotton Tomatoes
- Frozen II on Facebook
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Frozen 2 Press Kit (PDF). Walt Disney Studios. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 HEAD ‘INTO THE UNKNOWN’ WITH THE ‘FROZEN 2’ SOUNDTRACK. The Pop Insider (September 30, 2019). Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- ↑ Frozen 2. Pathé Theatres. Retrieved on December 19, 2019.
- ↑ ‘Frozen 2’ Thaws Box Office, but It’s a Chilly ‘Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’. IndieWire (November 24, 2019). Retrieved on December 19, 2019.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Frozen II. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on January 12, 2020.
- ↑ ‘Frozen 2’ Breaks Box Office Records With $350 Million Worldwide Debut. Forbes (November 24, 2019). Retrieved on February 11, 2020.
- ↑ Frozen 2 Surpasses Original, Becomes Third Highest Grossing Movie Of 2019. Screen Rant (December 28, 2019). Retrieved on January 12, 2020.
- ↑ 2019 Worldwide Box Office. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on March 15, 2020.
- ↑ 'Frozen 2’ Is Now the Highest-Grossing Animated Movie Ever. Variety.com (January 5, 2020). Retrieved on February 18, 2020.
- ↑ Frozen 2 First Reactions Praise the Darker Disney Sequel. Sipusweb (November 9, 2019). Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- ↑ Frozen 2 gets lukewarm reception: Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda calls score 'gorgeous' but critics say plot is plodding'. DailyMail (November 19, 2019). Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- ↑ ‘Frozen’, ’Toy Story’ & ‘Zootopia’ Sequels In The Works, Disney CEO Bob Iger Says
- ↑ The map that the King and Queen used to find Ahtohallan in Frozen reads MDCCCXL, which in Roman Numerals is 1840. Given Frozen II takes place 3 years after Frozen, this is a plausible timeframe.
- ↑ Oh My Disney (March 12, 2015). Frozen 2 is Officially Announced And We Are Crying Icy Tears of Joy. Disney Blogs. Retrieved on March 12, 2015.
- ↑ Lee, Jennifer (March 12, 2015). At last, I can say – FROZEN 2!!!! I'm beyond excited to create alongside my Frozen family!. Twitter. Retrieved on March 12, 2015.
- ↑ Thompson, Heather (July 20, 2015). Young Elsa actress Eva Bella returns for Disney's "Frozen 2". M-Magazine. Retrieved on July 22, 2015.
- ↑ "Q&A: 'Frozen' producer talks Disney, sequels, and advice for aspiring filmmakers", The Chronicle, Duke Student Publishing Company (5 November 2015). Retrieved on 19 November 2015.
- ↑ "Kristen Bell Drops Frozen 2 Secrets", E! Online, E! Entertainment Television, LLC, NBC Universal (March 17, 2016). Retrieved on March 22, 2016.
- ↑ "'Frozen 2': Kristen Bell Says She's About to Head Back into the Recording Studio", Collider.com, Complex Media (18 March 2016). Retrieved on 22 March 2016.
- ↑ Disney's Frozen 2 Coming In November 2019 (April 25, 2017). Retrieved on June 13, 2017.
- ↑ 'Frozen 2' Release Date Moves up a Week. Variety.com (November 1, 2018). Retrieved on January 10, 2020.
- ↑ Is 'Frozen 2' better than the original? Early reaction calls new songs 'twice as catchy'. USA Today (November 8, 2019). Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- ↑ ‘Frozen 2’ Sing-Along Screenings Arriving Next Week. Slash Flim (January 10, 2020). Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- ↑ Frozen 2 | Official Teaser Trailer. YouTube (February 13, 2019). Retrieved on January 10, 2020.
- ↑ Frozen 2 Official Trailer. YouTube (June 11, 2019). Retrieved on January 10, 2020.
- ↑ New Frozen 2 Trailer Released by Disney. Comic Book (Septemeber 23, 2019). Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- ↑ This November, search for answers & brace for adventure with #Frozen2. Watch the brand new trailer now! ❄️ 🍂. Twitter (October 14, 2019). Retrieved on March 14, 2020.