It Looks Like We'll Be Getting a Frozen 3
Frozen 2 premiered on November 22, 2019, six years after Frozen was released.
The sequel answers major questions about Queen Elsa's powers, and illuminates Anna and Elsa's family history.
Already, there's speculation about a third movie that would continue the sisters' story.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
There are certain things we should let go, as Elsa (Idina Menzel) instructs in her signature Frozen ballad. Elsa, for example, must let go of the fear that stops her from fully harnessing her icy powers.
But we can't let go of other things—like the notion of a third Frozen movie. Only weeks after Frozen 2 was released to theaters on November 22, speculation about a third flick in the Frozen series has already begun.
One hurdle to a third, however, is Frozen 2 itself. It wraps up the sisters' story in an airtight way. Earlier this year, co-director Chris Buck said that the two films "work together to form one complete story," Digital Spy reports. At the end Elsa declares she and her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell), are "done" with the kind of dangerous adventures in Frozen 1 and Frozen 2.
But even if Elsa thinks she's done with adventure, there's reason to believe a third Frozen installment will throw another one her way.
In an interview with Insider in November, Buck didn't rule out the possibility of a third movie. "As we say in our lives, 'never say never,'" Buck said.
The Disney/Pixar film about singing snowmen, sisterly love, and icy superpowers has been a sensation since it debuted in 2013. Until 2019's Lion King remake, Frozen held the title of the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The movie became so popular that Disney World has a built a Frozen ride in EPCOT's Norway, and the real Norway has experienced a tourism boom.
Importantly, Frozen is not based on existing IP. So, Frozen 2 was created as a response to audience demand—which clearly still exists. Frozen 2 has broken Thanksgiving box office records, and is on its way to making more than $1 billion.
In addition to being an undeniable financial success, Frozen is critically acclaimed—and for good reason.Aside from its decidedly modern animation style, Frozen at first appeared to be a return to the classic Disney princess movies. Like Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid, Frozen was based on a fairy tale (Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen") and involved orphaned princesses and the transformative power of a single kiss—Disney staples.
Though it incorporated familiar ingredients, Frozen cleverly subverted the tropes laid out in older Disney movies. At the end of Frozen, the healing power of "true love's kiss" wasn't found between a princess and her prince, but between two sisters. As for the prince? He ended up being a total villain.
And now, SPOILER, while resolving the sisters' story, Frozen 2 continues the first movie's precedent of challenging the genre. Elsa's version of happily-ever-after, for example, isn't found in conventional domestic bliss. She leaves Arendelle for her mother's ancestral community, where she can be even more in touch with her powers. Anna, her younger sister, gets married—but to a commoner woodsman, not a prince. And they both wear pants.
Ultimately, it's unclear whether Frozen 2 is a triumphant ending to sisters' story, or if it's another chapter in an unfolding saga.
Still, the post-credits sequence in Frozen 2 might offer a clue. Olaf is partying with some of Elsa's other creations, possibly implying that we'll get to know them in a future film. Could those little snowmen be the next Baby Yoda? Only time, and Frozen 3, will tell.
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