The royal family of Arendelle has left the comfy confines of their kingdom in Frozen II, and that is a good thing for any sequel. Shake things up, get your characters out of where they were and send them to places where they are going. That was the first thing that Frozen writer-directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck did right when approaching how one even follows-up the most successful animated film of all-time.
Something else that is striking is honestly, that this endeavor was taken at all. Sure, it’s going to make a mint and the money drives things aplenty at The Mouse House and all over Hollywood. But, I’ve talked to Lee and Buck repeatedly over the years since Frozen debuted in 2013 and they are about as strong on integrity as storytellers can be and there was no way they were going to let the magic, literally and figuratively, garnered by the Elsa and Anna saga of six years prior be soiled in any way, shape or form.
Now, the thing that has them swimming upstream is that their Oscar winning film for Best Animated Feature was truly a capturing of lightning in a bottle. It became (and still is) a sensation. Little kids were talking about Elsa and Anna, Anna and Elsa, singing Let it Go, Do You Want to Build a Snowman and other soundtrack gems from the motion picture CD that couldn’t have been more perfectly sewn together if Betsy Ross herself did sonic stitching. Even the score by Christophe Beck (included on the CD with Kristen Anderson-Lopez and her husband Robert Lopez’s simultaneously catchy music and memorable plot moving lyrics) has been learned by rote by entire generations of young fans (and their parents, older siblings and anyone else who enjoys movie musicals or was within earshot!).
There is some seriously rare air that Frozen occupies in the zeitgeist. It is not often that a film, television or Broadway show becomes topic of conversation A, B and C (like Hamilton did, for example) in a manner that transcends entertainment. Every single member of the cast (such as Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff) became permanently endeared to millions, simply for bringing to life Anna, Elsa, Olaf the magical snowman and Kristoff.
Now, how exactly do you bring them back and do so in a way that does not alienate all that goodwill in the slightest? First thing you do is forget it is even there at all. You can never replicate the success of what the first film achieved. Why even try?! Once you commence the storytelling and songwriting journey from that standpoint, all that pressure disappears. What you are left with are characters you know better than anyone and a world that you created (and thus control and therefore can manipulate anyway). That’s freeing and there is nothing more creatively empowering than storytellers with barriers removed.
Buck and Lee must have been thinking about nothing but Frozen 2.0 since before the first film was even released. The follow-up storyline had to begin taking shape as soon as the flick became the sensation that was sweeping the nation and the world. They knew exactly what they wanted to do and that attention to detail is seen all over their gutsy sequel. There is much to salute, so let’s break it down.
Frozen II embarks on its journey with a trip backwards. Anna and Elsa are the most adorable of little girls and their father and mother are starting the getting them to bed effort. They must hear a story and dad has a doozy. King Runeard (voiced by Jeremy Sisto) informs his girls about the enchanted forest they’ve heard all about but know very little. Mom cuddles with her little ones as dad waxes poetic about what was supposed to be a peaceful moment that he witnessed in the enchanted forest that went horribly wrong when natives and royal army drew swords. Let’s just say that that something that occurred is one of the keys to the secrets behind Elsa’s magic.
Fast forward to present day and the Fab Five (Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and of course Sven) are in the seaside castle playing a game of charades. Olaf and Kristoff are amazing at it. Anna and Elsa … not so much. If it seems Elsa is distracted, it is because she is—something is singing to her and its haunting melodies are all-consuming to Arendelle’s queen. It’s something she cannot shake. After promising no secrets to her sister Anna in the last film, she shares this fresh obsession and before they can delve too deeply into it, clues arrive in the form of wind, earth, water and fire. First wind rustles its way through the royal enclave, then just as Elsa figures it out—Earth—rears its head and the ground below the kingdom becomes unstable. She, Anna and Kristoff manage to get the entire community to higher ground. It is there that it hits Elsa. This songbird is singing its call to her from that enchanted forest her father told the girls about when they were little.
The Fab Five leave their community in good hands and head out towards a landscape that her father informed Elsa and Anna that no one has gone in or left since he witnessed that fateful battle. Knowing that their kingdom is at stake, the queen and the princess, along with her boyfriend, his reindeer and that magical snowman head into the mist and their lives will forever be altered.
There is a fascinating emphasis on change in this story. It was set up by Olaf, of all characters, early on and lessons are learned. Embracing it—and how sometimes change can be bad and sometimes it’s good and sometimes, things are just simply different. Given the audience that Frozen II is geared towards—and those who grew up with Elsa and Anna in their lives over the last six years—we know that alterations to life come in all forms. From the simple, one’s daily schedule evolving, to an enormous life altering change—perhaps a move—can be a supreme challenge to little ones. To see that addressed in such a way in Beck and Lee’s film is not only refreshing but is so welcomed as a parent. That concept is integral to the film’s overall tone and even is a bit meta if you think about it. Fans who expect Frozen II to follow the same path as the original will be grossly disappointed. That’s a change. The film is a completely different beast than the 2013 original and that is such a solid move by filmmakers and another way in which to upend expectations that were never going to be met, no matter what they gave fans with a follow-up.
Characters grow (and change) and that too is an enormous part of Frozen II. No details here, spoilers!, but let’s just say that heroes and heroines came in various forms beyond what one would expect. Fresh characters add layers of insight into the world beyond Arendelle that was merely teased in Frozen. There is an enormous big picture way of thinking in this film that not only goes beyond geographic borders, but it is present through every storytelling decision, big or small. It gives the impression that the world that Buck and Lee created in 2013 is firmly laid out in their minds, right on into the future. Not to compare it to Middle Earth, but I get a tad of a JRR Tolkien feel to Frozen in that its creators have a realm with Arendelle and beyond that is as well drawn as those maps that Tolkien included in his books.
The songs that comprise the soundtrack do their best to keep that forward plot motion moving, while still being wildly entertaining. Now, sad to report that those Anderson-Lopez and Lopez penned tracks are still catchy, albeit not quite as catchy as the first go around. Buck and Lee utilize them in the same manner as the first go-around—a powerful means with which to tell a story. They just don’t land the same way, emotionally, toe-tappingly and the mark they leave on your entire existence. From the first time I watched Frozen, I could name several of the songs without blinking. The same cannot be said about the sequel. First, one reason could easily be explained as that whole lightning in a bottle thing. It’s impossible, practically, to achieve that twice. Then, there’s the expectations game. Every single time a character launches into song in Frozen II I expected to be transported to another time and place, because that was what happened internally to me the first time around. They’re still good songs. They’re still catchy and informative. It’s just that do not remotely carry the same weight—in every sense of that word.
Now, in a different realm of storytelling, the stakes could not be higher this time around—which it should be … it’s a sequel, after all. There are several moments where a hand was placed over an agape jaw because of the daring choices made by our storytellers. So, maybe the songs aren’t as powerful, but I would argue that the plot makes up for that in other ways.
One way that Frozen II filmmakers listened to a few critics that had issues with the first film is front and center. New characters are always welcomed in a sequel, but a glaring omission in Frozen has been improved in Frozen II. There’s more diversity this time around from the crowd shots to someone who in charge of the royal army, Sterling K. Brown’s Mattias. He plays an integral role in how the drama will be resolved and should there be a third Frozen, Mattias’ presence will be even more present.
A priceless element in Frozen that one could argue lay at the heart of its success, was the sisterly bond between Elsa and Anna. It was so beautifully established in the first film and would you believe, is exponentially strengthened in the sequel. Yeah, seriously. Menzel is a marvel, both as a singing talent and as an actress. Yet again, Bell brings the thespian power that allows the emotional pull of these siblings’ relationship to embolden. As seen in the Frozen II trailer, Elsa enters a circle of fire on the enchanted forest and Anna follows her into harm’s way. The queen tells her princess to stop following her into fire, to which Anna responds by saying, “Then stop running into fire.” It seems simplistic in terms of dialogue, but it speaks volumes to the relationship of these two characters, what is required of each actress behind the characters and the resonance of Elsa and Anna and their sisterly bond have remained as fiercely strong in 2019 as it was in 2013.
Grade: B+