Is The “Frozen” Sequel A Good Idea?

According to BuzzFeed.com, although a “Frozen” sequel is in the works, the directors don’t really know much about it.

You cannot deny the success of the movie “Frozen,” but without a doubt, there are many people that don’t understand its popularity. It seems even the directors and co-creators, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, had their doubts with the original, the upcoming short and the sequel to “Frozen”:

“It was the scary thing of, ‘How do you follow Frozen up?’” Lee told BuzzFeed News. “We were scared. I don’t think we even began to understand what people liked about the movie.”

“I don’t think you can ever quite get your head around it,” Lee continued. “And just when you think you’re starting to figure out why, you realize you have no idea. You go out to dinner and there’s kids wearing a ‘I Like Warm Hugs’ T-shirt and it hits you again. Two years ago, we were writing that and wondering if kids would even like this character. Every day we’re still surprised. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand it.”

“To have something like this take off is unreal,” Buck added. “And to see it and hear about it all the time, you kind of pinch yourself. It’s kind of an out-of-body experience. Like, ‘Whoa. We did that.’”

Eventually Buck and Lee agreed to, at least, brainstorm possible ideas for a Frozen short. A lot of the early pitches that emerged were Olaf-centric stories because, Buck said, “it just felt like he was perfect for a short.” But the filmmakers and their team quickly came to realize the story had to focus on Frozen’s most popular relationship: the one between sisters Anna and Elsa, especially since they could finally have some fun with a curse-free Elsa.

After much brainstorming, head story artist Mark Smith pitched a very simple idea: What if Elsa has a cold? That scenario sent a lightning bolt of excitement and enthusiasm through the room, and soon enough, Frozen Fever was born.

The short — which debuts before Disney’s Cinderella, in theaters March 13 — takes place a few months after the events of the first film and sees Elsa planning a birthday party for Anna. But when Elsa gets a cold that throws her powers for a loop, Olaf, Kristoff, and even Sven band together to help the ice queen.

Rumors of Frozen 2 have swirled since the original turned into a full-fledged phenomenon, with countless reports claiming a sequel was already in the works. “It’s been in the press that we are doing it, and we would ask each other, ‘Are we?’” Buck said with a laugh, refuting the rumors. “They’d have a date and they’d have a cast and it was like, OK…”

“It all comes down to the story,” Lee added. “Like with the short, it was so daunting until we found the story. Then it was all of the things it usually is and we were thinking of every emotion and moment and feeling. I think that’s all we can do. Until we find our way into what’s next, emotionally, it will feel too big. We just finished the short two weeks ago. One year ago, it was a lot to even think about doing a short. We were quite tired. We don’t really know what it’s like to stop for a minute and think about what we want to do next.”

And while both Buck and Lee are fairly certain they will eventually return to the world of Frozen they love so much, they also like the idea of going out on top. “There is a bit of that drop-the-mic thing,” Buck said. “Just go, [drops mic] ‘I don’t know what else to do.’”

Maybe they are right and should they just go out on top. And to answer my own question, if Disney only cares about making money, of course it’s a good idea. “Frozen 2” will make a ton of money regardless if the story is worse than Disney’s “Home On The Range.”

It does make me worry that we are going to get another sequel that will be more of a cash grab instead of a good story and follow up to the original.

Disney started making sequels to their classic animated movies under Michael Eisner’s reign, even though Walt himself was adamantly against sequels. Those sequels where without a doubt cash grabs. For the most part, they were horribly written, horribly animated and the songs were less than memorable. I remember direct to DVD sequels to the Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Lady And The Tramp, Cinderella, Peter Pan and may other sequels to classic Disney animated films and none of them added anything to the story. If anything they cheapened the overall experience and made you think, “Is that what really happened to them after the original movie? That stinks.”

The only sequels that I felt matched or even surpassed the original story were the “Toy Story” sequels. I remember that “Toy Story 2” was originally supposed to be released directly to DVD, but after it was shown to people higher up in the company, they decided that they needed to release “Toy Story 2” in theaters. Probably because it was actually a good movie.

It seems that even if a movie is critically panned, as long as a movie makes a ton of money, there will be a sequel. I’m looking at you “Cars 3.” Let’s hope that they do put some real care and consideration into the story for “Frozen 2” and we dont get another sequel that should have never been made.

Source: Buzzfeed.com