By Marisa Silk, Staff Writer

Frozen 2 Directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Drama, Fantasy, Family, PG, 2019  

1 h 43 m 

Rating: ✩✩✩✩

*Warning Mild Spoilers*

Fans of “Frozen” just haven’t been able to “let it go” as the sequel has broken Disney box office records from making an estimated $127 million this weekend in North America. The original movie made $93 million in the box office during the five-day Thanksgiving holiday in 2013, according to CNN Business. 

“Frozen 2” once again follows the loving, sisterly story of Anna and Elsa in Arendelle six years after the original film. A mysterious force has caused disruption in Arendelle as Elsa hears voices in her head calling to her. The movie introduces the Enchanted Forest that has been closed off to Arendelle after the civil fight between the people of the Enchanted Forest and Arendelle soldiers that ended in bloodshed. Elsa and Anna must go “into the unknown”, and solve the mysterious story of the voice calling out to Anna, the natural elements harassing Arendelle, and why this conflict between Arendelle and the people of the Enchanted Forest began. Elsa also searches to learn more about herself and her powers. It feels like no time has passed since seeing these characters last, but there are also reminders of how they have changed and will continue to change like the rest of us.

The story revisits beloved characters from the first film, such as Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven, but also introduces new characters that children will come to love. A salamander, named Bruni, has similar qualities to Pascal in “Tangled” and will be another long-loving character that kids will constantly be asking their parents for a toy for Christmas. 

The movie contains the same, catchy tunes that children will be singing for days, but their tone is not the same as the first “Frozen.” The movie has songs that expressed full character development of internal conflicts these characters face throughout the movie. As Elsa continues to hear this voice in her head that no one else seems to hear, she goes into a song about how she is searching for something more than a voice, but answers to how her powers came to be. She also yearns to find someone or something that relates to her unique powers in the song “Show Yourself”, an equivalent to “Let it Go”, which is a prime example of why we love Elsa’s strength. “Frozen 2” contains songs of depth, darkness, and some sadness. The songs allow the audience to understand the characters on a deeper level than they might not have felt in the first film. One of the most notable songs is Kristoff’s 80’s pop/rock song about Anna being his guiding force and how he is lost without her. “Lost in the Woods” is an upbeat song that makes everyone love Kristoff so much more. 

The film contains beautiful imagery of the Enchanted Forest with inspiration from the forest in “Sleeping Beauty”. The forest in autumn is eerie yet beautiful. Water becomes an essential element as well during the film. The realistic imagery of the water reflects the time and effort put into the animation over the past six years. 

“Frozen 2” is not the happy-go-lucky movie that people would expect to come out of a sequel.“Frozen 2” reflects the maturity and aspects of darkness. This movie was clearly made for the children that grew up watching “Frozen” and who are getting older now, like these characters. This movie is geared towards a mature audience that is comfortable with these characters, dark action scenes, and have the ability to understand intricate plot lines. The use of nature and civil conflict also comes into play. This theme of maturity and growing up is shown through Olaf himself. He sings a song called “When I am Older” which refers to ideas of adapting to life. This song adds a layer of depth to a fun-loving character. 

Another controversy fans were eager to see resolved was if Disney Studios would make Elsa gay. There has been an outcry for this representation in a Disney movie. However, Elsa is shown again to be single. The cast and directors explain that the reason she has no love interest at all is because the story is about the sister’s love between Anna and Elsa. This love continues to be at the forefront of the movie. The movie lacked a villain and the damsel in distress plot line that could be seen in the first movie with Anna. The movie reinforces that Elsa does not need a love interest because she is strong on her own with the need of no help from a man to do so. This is a step towards the progressive age of children’s movies, but hopefully, in the future, even more representation will be shown. This movie will help reinforce feminist themes that every child can benefit from seeing. 

Overall, the sequel was well-done and does not suffer greatly from “sequel syndrome.” This movie is very different from the first and should be in its own category. The songs may not stand out as much as the first, but “Frozen 2” makes it clear that it is not trying to be better than the first, but a different entity in itself. There are a series of flashbacks in the sequel from scenes of the first film. The sequel is a well-developed, unique deviation of the first film as it continues the story of Elsa and Anna with a different tone. This movie will be another Disney classic to go down in history as it elevates the themes of love, loss, acceptance, and female empowerment through sophisticated plot elements that cannot compare to the original.