FROZEN UNBOXED
Original movie and its sequel deliberately resist easy categorization
Almost immediately after the first Frozen film hit theatres in 2013, Disney fans were left asking themselves the same question: when’s the sequel?
But bounding into a suite in a downtown Toronto hotel, Kristen Bell — who voices Princess Anna of Arendelle in the animated feature — says Frozen II, which opens Friday, was never a guarantee.
“Of course, in order to come back for anything, you have to have an audience that desires to see more, which we had. But the second component to that is you have to have a story that is worth telling. Our team is so careful about this property and they wanted to make sure that even though the fans were wanting more we weren’t just writing Episode 2 of Frozen: Elsa loses her shoes. That it wasn’t meaningless,” she says.
During a day of press ahead of a recent sneak peek, Bell spoke more about taking the franchise in a new direction and revealed what happens to the songs that don’t make it into the film.
Q Outside of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, I don’t know that there was a more anticipated sequel this year. Did that pressure weigh on you?
A I’m not sure if this is just my optimism, but I’m not feeling too much of the pressure because I’m a firm believer in that philosophy that if you bake a cake with great ingredients it will come out awesome. And, if you bake it again tomorrow, the chances are it’ll come out great again. You want people to love it but I have confidence that we have done right by this world.
Q Early reaction to the trailer has teased Frozen II as being a darker, more grown-up movie. How is this movie different?
A It’s much more action-adventure oriented than the first one. The first film was a big story about intimate problems. It was about being vulnerable with your family members. It broke boundaries and smashed some old tropes by exploring familial love as opposed to romantic love, and making familial love as important as romantic love. This movie, it’s as if all the characters turn outward and they’re looking to the world to say, “Who am I and what am I doing here?”
Q My niece had a question when she heard I was talking to you. She wanted to know if the new movie is going to answer why Princess Anna doesn’t have powers?
A She does have powers. Her power is love. Her power has always been love. Anna has always had the strongest power of all. You can tell your niece that.
Personally, I’ve walked through life feeling like I have a superpower because I’ve practised trying to love everyone around me and it has filled me up with a ton of self-esteem.
I’m far from perfect, but I love when I’m good to people. I love it. I love that about myself. That might sound selfish but I sleep so well at night being kind to everyone around me. It’s not to say that I don’t have bad days, I do.
But when people ask me that question I always tell them: Anna does have a superpower and that power is love.
Q I feel like when I was a kid, children’s entertainment got streamlined into content that was specifically for little boys and girls. Frozen was different, though, as it appealed to everyone.
A Well, human beings think easier when things can be put into boxes. We think in categories.
I’ve listened to enough NPR and podcasts to understand a sliver of the brain (laughs). We go through life boxing things in but this movie unboxed some things. I think there are little boys out there that gravitate to princess movies and there are little girls out there that gravitate to adventure. But I like the challenge of making something for everyone.
This new movie, though, has enough adventure and enough vulnerable moments that it will appeal to kids and still entertain the parents.
Q Are you seeing this now as one complete story arc, or will people be left at the end saying, “I still want more.”
A I think people will be very satisfied at the end of this movie. It answers a lot of questions. You’ll learn why Elsa is different. And if people want more, I’ll be knocking on Disney’s door.
Q Frozen is known for its iconic music soundtrack. This new film has seven new songs, but I know that there’s a bunch of tunes that don’t make it in. What happens to those?
A I perform them at benefits. Jonathan (Groff ) and I have this amazing duet that was cut from Frozen II and I’m still jamming to that song. Then there was a song that they wrote as Anna’s I Want song.
The original was called More Than Just a Spare, because she was suffering a little and feeling like she didn’t have a purpose. Now I just keep it in my back pocket and when I’m at a benefit I’ll tell the crowd, “This was a song that was cut from Frozen.” It’s a showstopper.