When Frozen arrived in cinemas in 2013, its quick progression from hit movie to global phenomenon took many by surprise. As it turned out, the world clearly needed a story of sisters helping each other, and friends working together for the benefit of their community. Its global box office take of $1.3 billion earned it a spot in the top ten highest grossing films of all time – ninth, to be exact – and made the prospect of a sequel inevitable. However, there’s been little in the way of news or fanfare around Frozen 2 – until now.
Returning cast member Josh Gad – who plays snowman Olaf – has Tweeted a photograph taken as he began recording lines for the developing sequel:
It’s such a joy 2 back in the booth after this journey began 5 long years ago. The creative team has come up with a story worth the wait #F2 pic.twitter.com/RGYK48J4DT
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) September 28, 2017
Gad assures his followers that the story is “worth the wait,” but it seems anything more than that’s being kept a well-guarded secret. For Gad’s character of Olaf, though, some secrets may be revealed in the short film Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, which is due to accompany Disney’s Coco into theatres from November 22nd.
At the time of its release, Frozen was regarded in many quarters as something of a leap forward for Disney in terms of delivering female-led projects. While the film is most assuredly not an exercise in intersectional feminism, it does represent a rare instance of a female writer and director being afforded the space to deliver a story about sisterhood and the power of friendship. The screenplay for Frozen was written by Jennifer Lee, from a story she developed with Chris Buck and Shane Morris – and Lee co-directed the film with Buck.
Frozen takes inspiration from the Hans Christian Andersen tale of The Snow Queen, and tells the story of two sisters who are the offspring of the King and Queen of Arendelle. One sister – Elsa (Idina Menzel) – has the power of crykinetic magic, and accidentally injures her sibling, Anna (Kristen Bell), while playing. The two girls become estranged, and Elsa suppresses her powers, instead of learning how to control them. When the time comes for Elsa to lead the kingdom, and the sisters come under the influence of outside forces with nefarious agendas, Elsa flees and plunges the kingdom into eternal winter. Anna must then find her to save the kingdom, her sister and herself.
The ending of the film gives no real hints as to where the story might go in the next installment but, as previously reported, the sequel could well bring a new perspective on the first movie. Whatever that means, Josh Gad is clearly very happy with the latest developments on Frozen 2 – but the rest of us will have to wait a little longer to learn more.
