Walt Disney Animation Studios 58th animated feature Frozen 2 helped make 2019 the studios highest grossing year of all time, earning nearly $1.5 billion worldwide. Audiences were inspired and touched by the continuation of Anna and Elsa’s journey, a story the filmmakers envisioned as one complete story when paired with the original film. Now you can take the adventure wherever you go with the digital release available from all major digital providers.
Life in Arendelle is seemingly normal, but Elsa is secretly haunted by a musical call from the impenetrable enchanted forest. When she finally gives in to the voice, the elements of nature go haywire in the kingdom and Elsa sets off on a quest to return things to normal with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven in tow. But once inside the forest, they discover secrets of the past provide answers to some of their biggest questions.
It’s easy to see why audiences were so taken with the film, with seven new and memorable songs from Kristin Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez, including the Oscar nominated “Into the Unknown,” the 1980’s rock ballad “Lost in the Woods,” and the haunting lullaby “All is Found.” Music was such a big part of the first film and the songwriters rose to the challenge with the sequel, although none of the musical moments feel as iconic as in the original.
The themes of Frozen 2 touch on current events. Anna and Elsa know a version of the past that isn’t true, discovering a hard truth about a hero of theirs who did something bad before the events of the first film. There’s also a message about finding your own place in the world, wherever that may be, even when it defies societal expectations. And there’s also a message about how colonies should treat indiginious peoples who neighbor their land. Frozen 2 speaks to a lot of current events in a healing way.
That being said, the plot is thin, the answers are vague, and Frozen 2 is more successful when you approach it from a less analytical viewpoint and just explore how it makes you feel. If you pause to dissect the diverging plot lines and their necessity, you’ll find that the story is more like water than ice. It tries to make an ensemble piece out of a single character’s journey and likely would play better if Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf didn’t come along for the journey.
When a film hits all the right emotional beats, it’s easy to overlook its faults. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized the film’s issues and it wasn’t nominated in the Best Animated Feature category as a result, but there are still plenty of reasons to love Frozen 2. If you’re a diehard fan who can’t wait for the February 25th DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K release, then the digital release has a lot of fun in the bonus features section.
Bonus Features:
- Sing-Along – Watch the movie with on-screen lyrics for every song.
- Meet the Lopezes (8:37) – Kristin Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez take you behind the music of Frozen 2 in this narrated featurette with limited animation.
- Deleted Song: “Unmeltable Me” (2:49) – An unused song for Olaf in which Elsa replaced Olaf’s personal flurry with his new “Permafrost.” The song is accompanied by an introduction by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck and uses animated storyboards and temporary instruments.
- Outtakes (2:27) – The voice cast mess up their lines and goof off at the mic in this blooper reel.
- The Spirits of “Frozen 2” (12:03) – Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck host this exploration into the elemental spirits of the enchanted forest.
- Did You Know??? (4:28) – Olaf and Anna host this feature that points out all of the easter eggs in the film.
- Scoring a Sequel (3:50) – Chritopher Beck takes on the challenge of composing new music for the world of Frozen.
- “Into the Unknown” in 29 Languages (3:06) – Elsa’s big ballad is spliced up between many of the dubbed international versions of the song.
- Deleted Scenes (17:58) – Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck introduce four deleted and alternate scenes in storyboard form.
- Prologue (4:09)
- Secret Room (2:38)
- Elsa’s Dream (2:57)
- Hard Nokk’s (4:23)
- A Place of Our Own (3:07)
- Deleted Songs (11:46) – Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck introduce two deleted songs with demo recordings and storyboards.
- “Home” (4:27)
- “I Wanna Get This Right (6:26)
- Gale Tests
- Gale Test (3:02) – Test animation of the wind spirit interacting with young Agnarr and Iduna.
- Hand-Drawn Gale Test (0:54) – Animator Mark Henn used hand-drawn animation to explore how Gale could be animated.
- Music Videos
- “Into the Unknown” (3:17) – Panic! At the Disco performs Elsa’s big song backstage at a theater.
- “Lost in the Woods” (3:06) – Weezer recreates Kristoff’s power ballad with a cameo from Kristin Bell.
- Galleries – Still images of concept art and publicity photos are accessible through iTunes.
- Trivia – An iTunes exclusive gallery of trivia questions and answers.
Final Thoughts:
Frozen 2 doesn’t quite live up to the grandeur of the original film, but takes the characters you love on a new adventure with memorable music and powerful emotions. This digital release reveals behind-the-scenes secrets throughout the many bonus features, including deleted scenes and songs. The film will inevitably come to Disney+, but most of the bonus features will remain exclusive to the home video release.