Computer Graphics World

Winter 2019

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w i n t e r 2 0 1 9 c g w 7 W ell, Disney just couldn't "Let It Go." The "It," is the animated feature Frozen, which set off a flurry of devotion around the globe and broke all manner of historic box-office records following its 2013 debut. So, what would lead Walt Disney Animation Studios to venture "Into the Unknown" and risk making its first-ever musical sequel by revisiting this mega-successful film? The answer is simple. There was more story to be told. One question that returning producer Pe- ter Del Vecho was asked repeatedly following the original Frozen was, where did Elsa get her icy powers? Also, where were the sisters' parents headed when their ship went down? And, is there really such a thing as "happi- ly ever aer?" As it turned out, returning directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee were wrestling with those questions as well. "We realized there was more story to tell. Frozen's ending was really just the beginning for Anna and Elsa, newly reunited as sisters," says Del Vecho. And thus, another journey began. On November 22, Frozen 2 blew into theaters, as the beloved sisters Anna and Elsa, along with Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven, leave Arendelle and journey deep within an autumnal forest in an enchanted land to uncover the source of Elsa's powers in order to save their kingdom. But, there are some dangers that Elsa must face alone. "Six years ago when Frozen was released, we could never have imagined how much that film would mean to people of all ages. How it would resonate with audiences around the world. We've never for one moment taken that for granted," says Del Vecho. "And that's how we approached Fro- zen 2. At Disney Animation, we never make sequels unless the filmmakers themselves have an idea for a film and a desire to tell it. That's why even though Frozen 2 is our 58th animated feature, it is only our fourth sequel, and the first animated musical sequel that we have made, at that." Also rejoining the creative team are the original song writers and warblers, and of course, the voice cast, along with many of the artists and animators from across the various departments. Frozen 2 picks up three years from when we last visited with the characters, who are now good friends. The season has evolved from winter to fall. The gates to the city are now open. The characters have matured. Elsa has become more confident and comfortable with her powers, while Anna has her sister and her happily ever aer. Kristoff is in love with Anna, and Olaf has become an avid reader and seeks answers to more grown-up questions. However, Elsa becomes unsettled, hearing a voice calling to her that only she can hear. When danger envelops Arendelle, Elsa and the gang set out to make things right, guided by childhood stories told by the sisters' parents of an Enchanted Forest that may hold the answers they are looking for. The film, epic in scope and scale, is steeped in the imagery and folklore of the Nordics, influenced by Del Vecho, Buck, and Lee's own journey to the enchanted lands of Norway, Finland, and Iceland. According to Buck, there was a stark contrast between Norway and Iceland that framed the film's concept for them. "The character of Anna felt home in Norway, with its fairy-tale set- tings, but Elsa felt strangely at home in dark, mythic Iceland," he says. "We realized on this trip that Anna is your perfect fairy-tale char- acter; she's an ordinary hero, not magical. She's optimistic. Whereas Elsa is the perfect mythic character; mythic characters are magical. They carry the weight of the world on their shoulders." Mythic characters also oen meet a tragic fate. And fear of that tragic fate was something Anna has been worrying about and trying to protect her sister from. Chacts Frozen 2 opens with King Agnarr telling a young Anna and Elsa a "true tale" about a real enchanted forest he visited as a boy that was ruled by the magical spirits of nature: air, fire, water, and earth. Sometimes these spirits can be enchanting, other times dangerous. During that visit, something went wrong and enraged the spirits. He wasn't sure how, but he escaped, barely, aer hearing a haunting voice crying out and glimpsing a magical mist that enveloped the forest. The king warns the girls that the forest may wake again. This warning appears to have come to fruition, as the sisters and the friends make their way to the Enchanted Forest, which no one has entered, or le, since that fateful day of the young king's visit. Here in the Enchanted Forest and later in the Dark Sea, Images ©2019 Disney.

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