Original release date: November 22, 2019. It had its premier at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on November 7th.

Rating: PG

Length: 1 hour, 44 minutes

Background:

Strangely enough, a lot of this movie is about “the background” of the characters. We’ll get to that in a bit.

“Frozen II” was announced officially in March 2015 after the phenomenal cultural impact of the original “Frozen” movie. Remember when you couldn’t take five steps without seeing a little girl in an Elsa dress and hearing “Let It Go”? Parents, remember when you couldn’t turn the corner in your own house without hearing “Let It Go”? Remember when you secretly loved the soundtrack and listened to it even witout the kid around?

Wait, that was just me? Oh.

When it was released in theatres, its opening weekend saw it soar to $130.3 million, the fifth-highest opening for an animated film in history. It would go on to gross over a billion dollars worldwide.

“Into the Unknown” – the “Let It Go” of this film – would go on to receive a nomination for “Best Original Song” at the Academy Awards, an award it would lose to Elton John. It would win two of the eight Annie Awards it was nominated for, including one for Josh Gad’s voice acting and one for animated effects.

Review:

The first thing you notice about “Frozen II” is the same thing you noticed about the original – it’s gorgeous. The snow and water looks real. The colors pop like crazy, from Elsa’s blue dress to the shine of the colored ice crystals. The salamander is bright and moves quickly.

The second thing you notice about “Frozen II” is the music. The soundtrack was part of why the first was a success, and the second is just as good. The same team from the first movie was rightfully brought back and they struck gold a second time.

The musical flourishes pull the story all together, and what a story it is. If you haven’t seen “Frozen”, I’m afraid I have a seven year old spoiler for you. Ready?

Anna and Elsa lose their parents. I know! That never happens in Disney movies!

“Frozen II” kicks off with King Agnarr, in a flashback, telling his young daughters Elsa and Anna about their grandfather King Runeard. Their grandfather established a treaty with the Northuldra tribe to their north and built a dam in their enchanted forest. Much like the real-world parallels being drawn, the Arendelle gang and the Northuldras find a disagreement, breaking down the peace. Unlike in the real world, however, this causes a wall of mist to trap everyone in the enchanted forest and the elemental spirits to go crazy in the forest. It leads to Runeard’s death as well.

With that groundwork out of the way, we also meet our “B plot” – Kristoff and his plans to propose to Anna. He has a ring ready from the beginning of the movie, but things just don’t seem to work out for proposing.

Elsa sings – of course Elsa sings – after hearing a mysterious voice calling out to her from the enchanted forest. She then goes – you guessed it – INTO THE UNKNOWWWWWWWN along with Elsa, Kristoff, and Olaf.

Olaf? He’s going through some things. He’s maturing and realizing that the world kinda sucks. He sings “When I’m Older,” a song about everything making sense when he is older. Bad news, snowman. It makes less sense than ever.

As our heroes progress through the mist, they separate and Elsa learns the voice calling her was her mother’s. Of course it was. She learns her grandfather was actually not such a nice guy and that the damn was less of a gift and more of a barrier.

You can probably figure out how it goes from here. The good guys do some stuff, the kingdoms are united, and everyone lives happily ever after. Anna stays on to rule Arendelle while Elsa takes over as ruler of the north.

Oh, and yes, Kristoff proposes. One of the highlights of the movie is his song with Sven, the reindeer (that is better than people). Seek it out.

Extras:

The only extra at the moment is the “Frozen II Trailer” running at two minutes. Due to “Frozen II” being rushed to Disney+ with the Coronavirus going on, I’d expect the special features to appear later on.

Should you watch it?

It’s a great movie. Yes, watch it. “Frozen” at least thus far always equates to quality. It’s a good story, great voice acting, and a fantastic soundtrack wrapped up in a gorgeous package. Watch the first if you haven’t seen it, then come back for round two.