Let It Go? No chance! First glimpse of Frozen, the sequel
THE first film made more than a billion dollars and became a firm favourite with children – and some parents – around the world.
Now fans of Frozen – Disney’s interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen – have been treated to a first look of the sequel, set to be one of this year’s biggest blockbusters.
The trailer for Frozen II, released yesterday, gives little away in terms of plot but hints at a darker and more action-packed film.
It opens with a determined-looking Queen Elsa, who fought to harness her magical powers in the first film, attempting to run across the sea but being pushed back to the shore by a giant wave. The other main characters from the original – Elsa’s sister Anna, Olaf the Snowman, Anna’s love interest Kristoff, and his reindeer Sven – all remain. The sisters appear to find themselves in a number of perilous situations in the teaser, culminating in Anna brandishing a sword at an unseen enemy.
The first film told the story of Elsa as she inadvertently brought a freezing winter to her kingdom of Arendelle using her powers. But the ice melted and the land was returned to normal at the end.
In the trailer for the sequel, Anna and Elsa gaze out over a far more autumnal-looking Arendelle.
The clip also teases the first few bars of a new song, which could rival the huge success of the original’s Let it Go, sung by Idina Menzel, which won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2014.
Directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck return for Frozen II, which is due to be released on November 22, as have songwriters Kristen Anderson- Lopez and Robert Lopez. The original cast have also returned, including Miss Menzel, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff.
Frozen is the highest-grossing animated film ever, raking in more than $1.2billion (£931million) globally, and the 13th biggest movie of all time. It was released in 2013 and won two Oscars, then snowballed into a worldwide brand, complete with merchandise, theme park rides, video games, books and TV spin-offs.
There has been a Disney on Ice show, and a stage musical adaptation opened on Broadway last year. At the end of last year, it was announced that the musical would come to London’s West End in 2020 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.