Frozen 2 trailer reignites fan frenzy with hints of new songs, messages about climate change and maybe Disney's first gay princess
In case you somehow missed the global frenzy the first time round in 2013, the musical tale of Snow Queen Elsa and her fearless sister Anna became one of the highest grossing animated movies ever.
This week saw the release of the first two-minute trailer for the sequel, which notched up more than 116million views in 24 hours.
Frozen 2 will not be out until November, yet social media is buzzing with speculation.
Kate Jackson takes a look at the frosty phenomenon and what to expect from the sequel . . .
The £1billion phenomenon
NOT since Star Wars has a movie dominated the toy market in the way Frozen has, with Elsa dolls out-selling Barbie.
Disney is estimated to have been shifting a billion dollars-worth of Frozen related products in both 2014 and 2015.
Elsa doll sales, like the soft toy below, were worth £430million in the US alone.
And the blue evening dress worn by Elsa as she sings power ballad Let It Go is Disney’s all-time best-selling costume — with Anna’s outfit in second place.
Children were named after the tormented ice queen, merchandise spun out of control and Let It Go was belted out in homes and playgrounds across the world.
In Britain, 1.45million DVDs were sold in the first three weeks after the film’s release in 2013 and the Frozen Snow Glow Elsa doll became the most popular Christmas toy.
It didn’t stop there, a year later merchandise continued to increase tenfold, and was still going strong in 2016.
Fans could buy everything from Frozen chairs to ride-on toys cars, board games and backpacks.
And it was Elsa and Olaf, the naive snowman, who were shifting the goods, rather than the film’s heroine Anna.
On top of that, the icy tale proved to be the biggest-selling DVD of this decade, shifting more than three million copies in 2014 alone.
The original Disney movie cost £117million to make and went on to be the highest grossing animated film of all time, taking $1.287billion. It won two Oscars — Best Animated film and Best Original Song — plus a Golden Globe and a Bafta.
However, Spencer Lacey Ganus — who played teenage Elsa — earned just £600 for her one-day of work. She ended up with ten times that from royalties.
New viewers (if there are any) start here
INSPIRED by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, Frozen is a fairy tale for the modern era, with fierce princesses Elsa and Anna as the heroines.
In the original movie the kingdom of Arendelle is trapped in an eternal winter after princess Elsa’s incredible powers are unleashed following her coronation as Queen.
Elsa flees, and her sister Anna, her new friend Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven and naive snowman Olaf set off to persuade her to end her self-imposed isolation and save her homeland.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Weselton schemes to take control of Arendelle by getting rid of both Elsa and Anna.
Elsa is able to conquer all – but only by letting go of her fear.
Where STAR they now?
KRISTEN Bell: Anna
Before voicing heroic princess Anna, Kristen, 38, had appeared in US comedies Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Couples Retreat.
The mum of two, who is married to actor Dax Shepard, had dreamed of being in a Disney animation since she was four.
She said of the movie’s success: “When we were making it, there was a part of me thinking, ‘This is really, really special’.”
Idina Menzel: Elsa
As Frozen brought global fame, Glee actress Idina was dealing with a divorce.
The New Yorker, 47, was balancing the glamour with going to “mediation with my ex, figuring out which days he was visiting our son and the sadness and regret.”
When asked a couple of years ago if her son, now nine, was excited about Frozen 2, she admitted: “He doesn’t give a s***.”
Jonathan Groff: Kristoff
While voicing Kristoff the Broadway actor was also filming the American TV series Looking, in which he got to have raunchy scenes with History Boys actor Russell Tovey.
On stage in 2015 he played King George III in Hamilton, which earned him a Tony Award nomination.
Jonathan, who stars in Netflix crime drama Mindhunter, describes Frozen as “like crack for children”.
Josh Glad: Olaf
The voice of the world’s most famous snowman grew up in sunny Florida and didn’t see snow until he was 15.
Prior to Frozen, the 37-year-old played tech icon Steve Wozniak in the film Jobs and more recent movies include Murder On The Orient Express and Beauty And The Beast.
The dad of two said: “If I had to be remembered for one character, Olaf would be fine.”
The trailer clues
THE teaser has a dark, fearful tone, starting with Elsa running across a rampaging sea, which many fans have interpreted as her being trapped on a mystical island.
The girls are wearing new combat-style outfits and Anna is wielding a sword, which some have likened to a superhero movie.
And rather than winter, it seems to be autumn — although this may not be in their native Arendelle.
Writer and director Jennifer Lee said it will be “bigger, more epic” than Frozen, adding: “They’re going to go far out of Arendelle.”
While most fans have been poring over the trailer, they should be paying more attention to the poster.
Josh Gad, the voice of snowman Olaf, tweeted: “If you look hard enough, this teaser poster will reveal quite a few surprises (like how pretty a snowflake is up close).”
There has also been speculation that Frozen 2 could send a message about climate change.
In the trailer, Elsa is either trying to reduce the temperature of the sea as she crosses it or she may simply be freezing it so she is able to walk across it.
It could, though, simply be that this story takes place during a different season or that the characters are in a different land.
The other problem with the climate change theory is that Frozen is clearly set before the industrial revolution, so any rise in the Earth’s temperature is unlikely to have been made by humans.
The new songs
THERE were two versions of mega-hit song Let It Go in the original movie – the empowering one sung by Elsa as she refuses to hide her secret powers any more, and a pop version by Demi Lovato at the end credits.
The song Let It Go won a Grammy and an Oscar, and sold more than ten million copies in 2014, making it the year’s fifth best-selling song.
Husband and wife team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have promised at least seven new songs.
Director Jennifer Lee reckons one could rival Let It Go’s success. She said in November: “We have a new song that I think is an evolution. It’s our own song. Bobby and Kristen just delivered it three weeks ago. We’ve been working with them for two years and this song just came and I love it.”
The snowflake
THERE is just one bold image on the new movie’s official poster – this snowflake-like formation with four diamonds.
Each diamond contains a different symbol inside it, and fans have speculated that they might stand for the four elements of earth, water, air and fire. Or perhaps, for the four seasons.
Others suspect the four diamonds might stand for four kingdoms, and that the snowflake’s eight points might hint at more princesses.
The new characters: could we have Disney's first gay princess?
BLINK and you’ll miss them but two new characters are glimpsed in the Frozen 2 teaser — a redhead female and a blonde figure, who is blown upwards in a pile of leaves.
Some fans reckon they could be Anna and Kristoff’s children, even though the pair haven’t aged.
Could these be voiced by the new cast members, Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood and Black Panther actor Sterling K Brown?
Not even respected movie website IMDB knows what their characters names will be in Frozen 2 — yet.
An alternative theory is the sequel will glow under the LGBT rainbow.
There is a twitter campaign titled #GiveElsaAGirlfriend, where lesbian fans have pleaded with the writer to have the heroine fall in love with a woman.
Idina Menzel, who plays Elsa, gave the idea her support, saying: “It would be a great thing.”
Writer Jennifer Lee was also very aware of the drive and said: “We have tons of conversations about it and we’re really conscientious about these things.”
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