Frozen 2 Is Happening, Says Elsa's Voice Actor

[Steven Bogos]

Frozen 2 Is Happening, Says Elsa's Voice Actor

Are you happy at this news, or do you wish Disney would just let it go? (I'm so sorry)

Last year, all over the world, be them children or adults, thousands got wrapped up in Frozen fever. The 53rd animated feature from Walt Disney's Animation Studios was a mega-hit to say the least, thanks in no small part to its incredibly catchy theme song: Let it Go, which invaded radios for several months. It seemed obvious that Disney would milk this one a bit longer, and now, the actress who played Elsa (Idina Menzel) in the original film is claiming that a sequel is already in the works.

When asked about the possibility of a sequel, Menzel replied that "[It's] in the works, ha ha!" She also went on to say that a stage adaption of the film (ala, Disney's The Lion King) is also happening, though she was cautious of her role in both of these projects.

"Ah, yeah sure... Not the stage show - I don't know what will happen with that - but the movie hopefully. We'll see. I'm just going along for the ride."

We would assume her to be reprising her role, however, as Menzel's powerful performance as the Ice Queen is part of what made the movie so memorable.

In her full interview with The Telegraph [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11252911/The-actress-who-is-Frozens-Elsa.html], Menzel also talks about how she has become a role model for the thousands of young girls who related to her portrayal of Elsa.

"But more than you'd ever think. I remember some of those classic Disney songs from movies, and you knew the character but you didn't know the person behind the song. But this is different, this is weird. All the little girls love Elsa but they also want to meet me. I think that's because of social media, and their parents say, 'Watch this, this is the girl at the Oscars,'" she reflected.

To put into perspective just how popular Frozen is, it is currently the 5th highest grossing movie of all time, and the highest grossing animated film ever [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-milestone-frozen-becomes-692156], surpassing Disney's prior effort, Toy Story 3.

Source: The Telegraph [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11252911/The-actress-who-is-Frozens-Elsa.html]

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[Draconalis]

Disney is making a sequel to something?!

Especially something that was a huge success?!

I for one am shocked by this turn of events.

 

[Zontar]

I'm not surprised in the slightest, but god am I disappointed. I realize this years addition to the Disney canon (Big Hero Six) hasn't been the smash hit they where hoping it would be (maybe they should have advertised that it was based on a Marvel property?), but dame it I want Wreck it Ralph 2.

 

[Vault101]

go back around 10 years I'd be concerned

however since they've mostly put a stop the Direct-to-video bullshit AND we live in an era where big sequels to big movies are profitable it *could* be decent

but what fascinates me about this is we've never had a proper sequel to a Disney Princess movie...I mean honest to god "were actually trying" sequel, what happens after the happy ending? you know?

 

[Brian Tams]

"Now Milk the fuck out of it."

-Disney Executives

 

[Risingblade]

Is she going to save herself this time?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Um...I'm hoping that we just mean early, early stages. As in concept art and story suggestions. There needs to be a bit more time before the next Frozen film even begins to make the rounds.

 

[Veylon]

At least this is something that has potential to it. It's not like everything was tied up with a neat bow at the end with nothing left to do. Elsa still has superpowers, is still single, and has a job where problems will inevitably fall into her lap. Neither of the villains are dead and could easily show up again. It's also been clearly established that this is a highly magical setting, so stuff can happen from that end as well. It looks a lot easier to make a decent sequel to Frozen than Wreck-it Ralph or to do another Toy Story.

 

[RicoADF]

(I'm so sorry)

You LIE!!!! lol

OT: Yeah there was never a question of if, but rather when the sequal was coming. I just hope it's got the quality of the first movie, Disney seems to be hit and miss with sequels.

 

[Micah Weil]

...damn you for beating me to the punchline...

OT: That's all fine and dandy, but where are they going to go with this? The story was...well...finished.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Maybe this one will be good? >.>

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Disney Animation Studio+Direct Sequel=It has never worked ever.

Even with the new Management in place, I highly doubt they could make a Frozen 2 work. Eisner's crew couldn't make The Rescuers Down Under work, and from what I've seen, that movie was much better then the original The Rescuers. Disney just shouldn't ever do Direct Sequels, because they either fail profit wise (Rescuers Down Under) or just flat-out suck (All the Direct-to-Video Spinoffs at the end of the Eisner era).

A Frozen 2 will sadly fail...

 

[Aggieknight]

however since they've mostly put a stop the Direct-to-video bullshit AND we live in an era where big sequels to big movies are profitable it *could* be decent

Really? They put a stop to it?

I walked by a "Limited Edition" boxed set of the Cinderella trilogy in Costco the other day.

Let me run that by you again: a Limited Edition boxed set of the Cinderella trilogy.

Not intentionally piling on to you. /hugs

I doubt there's a property that the Mouse won't run into the ground chasing the almighty Disney Bucks. Making a sequel or 14 to Frozen doesn't surprise me at all. They've also ripped out one of the classic rides from EPCOT (the Norwegian boat ride, Maelstrom) to put in a Frozen themed one , thus enabling them to have the two princesses in three of the four parks (not exaggeration).

I suspect that they are working to figure out how to add reindeer or snowmen to the Animal Kingdom so that they can throw Frozen in there as well(that's exaggeration).

 

[Metalrocks]

very skeptical of course. this could be either very good or very bad. i can see already at work how my little female students will go all crazy again.

 

[Vault101]

At least this is something that has potential to it. It's not like everything was tied up with a neat bow at the end with nothing left to do. Elsa still has superpowers, [b/]is still single,[/b] .

ohh...OHHHH FIRST GAY DISNEY PRINCESS PLEEEEAAASE!!! YES YES!!

*ahem*

Really? They put a stop to it?

I walked by a "Limited Edition" boxed set of the Cinderella trilogy in Costco the other day.

Let me run that by you again: a Limited Edition boxed set of the Cinderella trilogy.

yeah but I thought they came out at least some years ago

...then again when did Lion King 1 1/2 come out?...man that was the most depressing thing ever

 

[Uriel_Hayabusa]

I know that some people are going ''They're milking it!'' all cynical like; but I'm looking forward to it and hoping it'll be good.

 

[DoctorM]

Walt Disney Animation Studios does NOT do sequels (Rescuers Down Under aside). The division that WAS responsible for all those direct to video crap was DisneyToon Studios.

Walt was always against it and John Lasetter is responsible for stopping the sequels. I have a lot of respect for him for doing that.

He put DisneyToon onto original material such as the Disney Fairies and Planes series.

Now here is the important bit: DisneyToon has had a lot of layoffs and no announced movies in the pipeline. All that is left is a final Fairy movie that they are wrapping up. Normally we'd know what they're coming out with for the next coule years.

It's not impossible that they may go back to doing sequels, but Lasetter seemed pretty adamant about those things being an embarrassment to the studio.

A final note, the last sequel from Disney was The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning in 2008. Anything else you see is an older re-release.

 

[Therumancer]

Is she going to save herself this time?

This pretty much gets to the core of the entire problem I have with a sequel to Frozen. The story works because it's self contained. If they do a sequel to a film with an ensemble cast like this, where the characters were all developed specifically around their role in the story, they are sort of trapped into doing pretty much the same thing. Basically if Elsa can use her powers easily there isn't much of a threat for her to face unless they turn it into a flat out action movie. What's more the other characters in the storyline pretty much exist to get Elsa out of her funk, and comparatively speaking have little role to play in a case where they have "The Ice Queen Of Kislev" (award yourself 50 geek points if you understand the reference) running around a Disney movie is pretending she's Bobby Drake. If you say do a story where fire demons are invading the kingdom or whatever, what exactly is there to do with say Anna, and she's as big a part of the equasion as Elsa is.

I have mixed opinions about sequels to self-contained Disney properties after some very mixed results with their direct to video sequels. Some stories just work better on their own. If Elsa can just be awesome and save herself, it's not really going to be "Frozen".

As far as doing a "what happens after the happy ending" type sequel, to be a story it means things can't be happy, and as a general rule that kind of a story works best for a more adult audience, not the core audience for a film like this. What's more things like "The Tenth Kingdom" tried to do this and while decent failed to catch on, a sequel or spin off TV show never materialized for example. Fantasyland going to pot where you see the classic princesses as fat old ladies (albeit still trying to do the right thing as supporting characters) can be amusing, but I doubt little girls that empathized with Elsa will get into that at this point in their lives, not to mention that if she goes running around flat out as Supergirl I doubt she'll have the same kind of appeal.

That's my thoughts at any rate. To a lot of us hardcore nerds I suppose it might be cool to have a sequel that's an action movie involving all kinds of huge battles involving Ice Manipulation, but as I said... that's spiritually the opposite of what this is supposed to be all about.

That said I'd be deeply amused if they decided to get together with the estate of Ralph Bakshi and do "Frozen 2: Fire and Ice", rate it up to an R, and re-do the story of fire and ice with Elsa dressed in leather playing the role of Nekron, destroying the world in response to the death of her sister at the hands of marauding beast men. A certain former ice salesman must get over his depression and embrace the power of steroids and body building to become manly enough to finally stop her. At the end Olaf can open the gates to the volcano... and of course we'd have to have a currently animated version of that trench/cave run on the back of the Peradactyls... oh sure, it will be a critical flop and an affront to everything Disney tends to stand for, but chances are it would become another one of my favorite movies. Sadly Frank Frazetta passed on so can't consult on the artwork.

 

[Dark Knifer]

I don't care but can this one please not be plastered all over the internet for an ungodly amount of time with so many references everywhere and being called the best thing ever?

Least I never hear about the direct to dvd disney movies.