\u201cFrozen 2\u201d arrive in theatres this week and with it comes an iceberg of expectations.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0original film\u00a0arrived in 2013 and became an instant Disney classic, eventually making over $1.2 billion at the box office and driving parents crazy with the song \u201cLet It Go\u201d becoming every kid\u2019s favourite earworm.<\/p>\n
Now, six years later, much of the creative team behind the original is back as well as many of the voice actors, including the films\u2019s biggest stars, Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell, who reprise their roles as Elsa and Anna respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrozen 2\u201d picks up three years after the first film and life has continued splendidly in Arendelle \u2014 until Elsa starts hearing a mysterious voice that calls her to an enchanted forest. The producers say the film will explore where Elsa\u2019s ice powers come from as well as other mythical elements, inspired largely by research trips to Norway and Iceland.<\/p>\n
That all sounds good but, with the notable exception of the \u201cToy Story\u201d films, animated sequels have a terrible history of being, well, terrible. This film is the first ever sequel to a Disney musical, so one of the first questions for Bell and Menzel, who were in Toronto in early November, was if they felt any pressure to follow up such a beloved hit.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, you bake a cake with certain ingredients. If you try it again the next day, chances are it\u2019s going to be a great cake,\u201d said Bell.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the first one, in my gut, I felt pride when I first saw it because I knew we had broken some stereotypes and some moulds, and really made a great film. I had no idea that the response would be what it was. And I don\u2019t think anybody knows. It\u2019s all, like, what\u2019s the emotional temperature of Earth at that moment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m a little bit more results-oriented on this one,\u201d said Menzel.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first one, I was not at all. I was just proud to be in a Disney movie playing a princess character that was going to sing. But I feel like I\u2019m in such good hands with the creative team on this project. They really didn\u2019t exploit this for a sequel for monetary value, for commercial value.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey \u2026 wanted to only do it if there was a story to be told. It wasn\u2019t until they were travelling all over the world and people would ask them why? Why does Elsa have these powers? So they started to delve into that storyline.\u201d<\/p>\n
I tell Menzel a story I know she has heard a million times. I distinctly remember my 2-year-old daughter started singing \u201cLet it Go\u201d quietly to herself after seeing the film. It was one of the first popular songs she sang, which then led to constant YouTube plays and a house filled with \u201cFrozen\u201d merchandise \u2014 which Disney had to scramble to make at the time, because even the House of Mouse underestimated the demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m flattered and honoured. Thank you. And I also feel sorry for you a little,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it might be because I\u2019m a creature of the theatre. I\u2019m used to doing eight shows a week. I\u2019m used to finding the nuance in every single show and breaking up the monotony by finding those moments. And so when I\u2019m on tour and I get to sing this music, \u2018Let it Go\u2019 onstage every night, it\u2019s sort of a little reminder of how lucky I am,\u201d Menzel says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted a big song like this your whole life. It also connects me to the audience in a way, to all these young people, in a way that I think is sort of hard to explain. But I feel a tremendous responsibility and gratitude for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also reminds me that because I am a quote, unquote, role model, that I need to walk the walk, talk the talk. And that song about empowerment, and celebrating what makes you unique and exceptional in the world, and not walking away from that, stepping into it, owning it, is something that we as human beings can stand to be reminded in life in general, but especially for women.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGet ready for \u2018Into the Unknown,\u2019\u201d adds Bell, of a song from the new film. \u201cIdina does it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can say I have two amazing songs in this film,\u201d acknowledges Menzel. \u201cOne they don\u2019t talk about as much because they think it\u2019s more of a spoiler, but I think it\u2019s equally as good. I think they\u2019re both really special and emotionally epic.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the reasons the original \u201cFrozen\u201d was lauded was because it subverted some of our traditional ideas about Disney films, like the prince who turned out to be a cad or the fact the main love story was about a pair of siblings. Bell says the second film shares that quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not what you think it is. The underlying metaphors are beautiful learning lessons. I think the reason children gravitated toward the first one was because we underestimate their ability to be drawn to complexity and suffering. Elsa was suffering. She was two different things at once. She didn\u2019t know if she was too much for this world or enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this movie, whereas the first one was about a sort of intimate problem, you know, breaking down the walls between family, becoming vulnerable and fighting for one another, this movie is \u2026 \u2018Who are we in the world? Who am I in the world? Who are you in the world? Is that at odds with one another?\u2019\u201d says Bell.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone has a really good arc in this one. No one is a bystander character.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel says she and Bell \u201ctake great pride in being a part of something that\u2019s pretty groundbreaking in a number of ways,\u201d including doing so well at the box office despite having two women as lead characters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this film remains true to itself,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt explores love in many other ways, not just romantic love, it\u2019s about familial love, the love of these two sisters and their love for each other being so unconditional that it helps them understand self-love. And it\u2019s just so refreshing to be in a movie, especially a Disney film, where it\u2019s not all about the love being by another man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrozen 2\u201d opens Nov. 22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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