It seems only fitting that Frozen 2 became the biggest box office animated movie of all-time. After all, back in 2013 … Frozen took that title and held onto it until its sequel hit theaters back in November of 2019. Look for the flick to break all kinds of home video feats now that it is available on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital download.
Being the father of a six-year-old girl, this writer has now seen Frozen 2 six times and I’m sure that number will creep ever higher now that the flick sits in our home library. As such, I could not be more qualified to review the Blu-Ray and digital versions of the latest from Walt Disney Animation Studios. First off, let’s just get this out of the way … the sequel to Frozen not garnering an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Picture was one of the bigger Oscar snubs in 2020. I mean, come on … the first one won Best Animated Feature!
Expectations were so high for the sequel six years in the making. For directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (the latter also wrote the script—the same filmmaking scenario as the first go Arendelle around), the pressure must have been immense. Not only did the first film conquer the box office, but it had the most seismic of pop culture moments. Kids were going gaga for all-things Elsa (Idina Menzel), Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Sven the Reindeer and of course, that lovable snowman who loves warm hugs, Olaf (Josh Gad). The film’s breakout song, Let It Go, won the Oscar for Best Original Song and became millions of little girls’ first song they memorized every single lyric. That was certainly the case in my house!
Topping that, heck even matching it, was so seemingly unreachable that the best thing Buck and Lee could do before starting to pen a follow-up story was to block out those anticipations mentally, any way possible. Thing was, that is not at all what the filmmakers did. They leaned into the pressure. For example, when Frozen’s in house composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, delivered what would be the signature song for Frozen 2—Into the Unknown—filmmakers made a point of letting it be known on social media that they believed that they had a track so resonant it will make people forget Let It Go. That’s some serious confidence. Then again, Anderson-Lopez and her husband/co-writer have a heaven sent gift. I would know on that front as well, given that the first film’s soundtrack is still playing consistently on family outings in the car!
Heading into my first viewing of Frozen 2, I didn’t know what to expect and knew that at the least it is next to impossible to capture lightning in a bottle twice. That was certainly what the first film was and judging by the response by (most) critics and vast audiences, wouldn’t you know that Lee, Buck, Anderson-Lopez and Lopez have done it again.
The sequel commences soon after the concluding events of the first film, with a few minor alterations. For example, that portable cloud that accompanies Olaf has been upgraded by Elsa to a “perma-frost.” That is a stroke of genius. Having that cloud follow the snowman around for the entire picture would get distracting for audiences and an added challenge for animators. Elsa is the Queen of Arendelle and her magic—something she felt in the first movie would have her subjects treating her like a pariah—is no longer something that is hidden. Our dramatic narrative arrives almost immediately. Our head royal is hearing voices of a siren from out there in the wilderness.
Lee ingeniously laid the groundwork for the entire storyline in the opening moments that mirror the first frames of the 2013 original. We meet toddler Elsa and Anna playing wintery fun in their room when King Agnarr (Alfred Molina) and Queen Iduna (Evan Rachel Wood) arrive to start the process of getting those two to bed. They had been playing with Elsa’s wintery powers and talking about an enchanted forest. Hearing that, their dad decides it’s time for them to hear about how he, as a teen, became King after a series of devastating events occurred in the mystical forest north of their kingdom. Every single event that occurs in Frozen 2 stems from that bedtime story where the girls’ pop informs them that his life was saved by a native girl after what was meant to be a celebration went south.
That siren that was summoning Elsa, now it’s starting to make a whole lot of sense. The secret to this voice that haunts her lies in that mysterious forest that no one has been able to enter or exit in years. The queen believes that the key to her principality’s future lies in answering the call of that siren and in the process, hopefully she and Anna will learn what exactly happened to their parents when they disappeared in the early moments of Frozen.
With Arendelle under duress, thanks to Elsa’ awakening the spirits from the enchanted forest, the queen, her sister, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven leave their beloved kingdom behind and head out … Into the Unknown (get it?!).
The story itself is exponentially more powerful and rich than the first one (not that we’re comparing, after all … these are two vastly different films tonally and dramatically). Filmmakers were smart in how they handled the sequel by getting our Fab Five out of their castle and into the wilderness and all the challenges that accompany that. For example, Kristoff is trying to find the right moment to pop the question to Anna and fate has many, many other ideas for how that is going to go down. Frozen 2 also introduces us to Northuldra, a native tribe whose spiritual connection to the natural wonder of the world is a priceless addition to the world first arriving in the form of a Hans Christian Andersen story (The Snow Queen).
Once inside that enchanted forest, viewers meet a military man in charge of the kingdom’s defense and someone who was there with Anna and Elsa’s father on that fateful celebration with the Northuldra that went horribly wrong. Mattias (Sterling K. Brown) is a fantastic addition to the character landscape of Buck and Lee’s magically frosty universe. His existence connects the past to the present and most importantly—to the future.
Somehow, Elsa (with her friends’ aide) must find a solution to the wrongs of two decades prior in order to secure any kind of hope for her people heading forward.
As was the case with the first film, so much of the emotive power of the story and these characters arrive through the musical menagerie laid down by the Lopez’s. That is even more the case with Frozen 2 as the sonic succulence doesn’t start and stop with the Oscar nominated (and should have won) Into the Unknown. From Show Yourself, When I’m Older to the immensely powerful The Next Right Thing the soundtrack for the latest Disney animated gem is beyond stellar. They manner in which the composers not only move plot along with their lyrics, but musically these two have grown and take chances and make out of the box choices that elevate the song quality and most importantly, its role in moving our narrative forward.
Now that I’ve seen Frozen 2 six times (!), I can unquestionably state that filmmakers and those music mavens have done something incredible with their latest film. Dare I say that Frozen 2 is the Godfather 2 of animated movies? Sadly, Oscar didn’t see it that way as the flick wasn’t even nominated for Best Animated Feature.
When it comes to bonus features, the Mouse House is always pushing the envelope with an entertainingly enlightened journey through the making of the film itself and so much more. There’s a sing-along version of the film that will instantly become a household favorite for the little ones who see stars when they gaze up at Elsa and Anna. There are some fascinating deleted scenes and even a cut song or two that are just a delight.
After the credits concluded (and filmmakers gave us a neat little post-credits scene), I dove into Did You Know??? The Bell narrated, four-and-a-half minute featurette showcases a bevy of fun facts that focus mainly on Easter Eggs that one would most likely never notice on your own. For example, there’s even a tiny tribute to Snow White and Dumbo!
Integral to the entire story are the fantastic four of weather elements—Air, Earth, Fire and Water. They all play a vital role in the dramatic momentum of the latest from Disney Animation. The Spirits of Frozen 2 focuses on the research that went into capturing these natural elements that most take for granted. That’s why it was so refreshing to see them serve as a key to Elsa’s powers and the past and future health of the kingdom. One thing Pixar and Disney both are celebrated for is the immense amount of research that filmmakers and their teams undertake before animating a single cell. That comes through immensely with this featurette.
Speaking of the elements, Gale Tests does an extraordinary job of spotlighting the animation geniuses at Disney who had to somehow find a way to deliver a physical manifestation of wind. There is Gale Test and Hand Drawn Gale Test. Each illustrates how Lee and Buck were given artistic choices with how to animate the wind by essentially making it a character. Truly fascinating stuff.
In case it isn’t obvious, we’re big fans of Lopez and Anderson-Lopez. The EGOT winners have done it again. Their talents met the task—a broader and some ways more intellectual musical journey north. The married duo get their due in Scoring a Sequel, which takes us to the front row seat beside composer Christophe Beck. Hearing Beck’s view on how he threaded his musical themes with the Lopezes’ far-reaching songs to produce some serious sonic succulence.
After that featurette, you’re going to want to head over to Sing Along with the Movie. You know you will! It’s Frozen 2 karaoke time. Don’t miss Outtakes … I always adore when animation houses take the time shed some light on the lighter moments of making and epic animated flick.
There are about 18 minutes of deleted scenes, as Buck and Lee introduce the five cut movie moments in Deleted Scenes. (1080p, 17:58): Director Chris Buck and Writer/Director Jennifer Lee introduce and essentially explain the decision-making process of making a movie. Those deleted scenes are Prologue, Secret Room, Elsa’s Dream, Hard Nokk’s and A Place of Our Own.
There are also two deleted songs. I can see why they were cut, but nonetheless, they’re a delight to enjoy … these too are introduced and contextualized by Buck and Lee. There’s Home and I Wanna Get This Right. For digital downloads—there’s another cut track … and it’s the best! Unmeltable Me—performed by our favorite zany snowman. The song basically explains his new perma-frost and is a choreographed musical while still bare-boned animation (pure storyboards) effort. From there, head over and Meet the Lopezes spotlights the musical masters behind those Frozen and Frozen 2 catchy, moving and momentous songs.
If you saw the Oscars, then you got to see a portion of the languages that Into the Unknown had been translated and performed in and Into the Unknown” in 29 Languages takes that Academy Award premise and knocks it out of the international music park.
In 2013, Frozen music producers recruited Demi Lovato to record her version of Let it Go and they even shot a video. Not that they didn’t want Menzel’s version to dominate pop radio, it was just that (at that time) Lovato was more well-known than the woman tapped to voice Elsa. Now that everyone involved in Frozen is a household name, producers probably do not have to ask a pop or rock music artist (or artists) to record a version of songs from Frozen 2. They don’t have to, but they did and they’re awesome. Among the bonus features are music videos for Panic! At the Disco’s take on Into the Unknown and one of this guy’s favorite bands—Weezer—for their recording of Lost in the Woods.
Lastly, have fun with Song Selection. It allows viewers to leap to any song from the film, and it’ll be like karaoke with lyrics across the bottom of the screen so you can channel your inner Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and of course … Olaf. Picture yourself belting out All Is Found, Some Things Never Change, All is Found Reprise, Into the Unknown, When I Am Older, Lost in the Woods, Show Yourself and The Next Right Thing.
Film Grade: B+
Bonus Features: A