In 1937, Walt Disney had an idea for a biographical film about Hans Christian Andersen. In 1940, he arranged a co-production with Samuel Goldwyn, who would shoot live-action sequences to accompany Disney’s animated sequences, but World War II brought an end to the project. In 1952, Goldwyn released a live-action film starring Danny Kaye, with songs by Frank Loesser, which received six Oscar nominations. It wasn’t until the 1990s that Disney returned to Andersen and his 1844 tale “The Snow Queen,” but the idea was scrapped again by 2002. Disney’s latest attempt began in 2008, when director Chris Buck pitched several ideas (including “The Snow Queen”) to Disney animation head John Lasseter, who gave the go-ahead on Anna and the Snow Queen. In 2010, development stalled once again.
The primary challenge that Buck and producer Paul Del Vecho encountered was the title character herself, who is a villain in the original story. The first major breakthrough was the decision to make Anna (based on Andersen’s protagonist Gerda) the younger sister of the queen, establishing a family dynamic. The story underwent several more revisions before beginning production in 2011. “There is snow and there is ice and there is a queen, but other than that, we depart from it quite a bit,” said Del Vecho.
Songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and screenwriter Jennifer Lee joined the project in early 2012. Several core concepts were already in place, such as the film’s hook, “an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart,” but the next breakthrough was the song “Let It Go,” presenting Queen Elsa as more vulnerable and sympathetic, which Del Vecho said “rippled through the entire movie.” At its core, though, Lee notes the film remains Anna’s coming-of-age story, “where she goes from having a naive view of life and love … to the most sophisticated and mature view of love, where she’s capable of the ultimate love, which is sacrifice.”
In November, the creative team was confident in the direction of the story, but by February, they felt it wasn’t quite working, which led to more rewriting. The final breakthrough came in June, with the “I Want” song “For the First Time in Forever,” which Lopez calls “the linchpin of the whole movie.”
Disney conducted two test screenings in late June, and the team realized they were done. Frozen premiered at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre on November 19, 2013, starring Kristen Bell (Anna), Idina Menzel (Elsa), Jonathan Groff (Kristoff), and Josh Gad (Olaf). The film was nominated for two Oscars (for animated feature and the song “Let It Go”) and won both. It also won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, and Annie Award for best animated feature. The chart-topping soundtrack picked up two Grammys, including one for the song “Let It Go” (watch here).
Adaptations include the animated shorts Frozen Fever (2015) and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure (2017), the animated sequel Frozen II (2019), and a Broadway musical (2018) starring Patti Murin (Anna), Caissie Levy (Elsa), Jelani Alladin (Kristoff), and Greg Hildreth (Olaf).
Listen to the Grammy-winning soundtrack, then read more about the making of the movie in The Art of Frozen (2010) by Charles Solomon. The film is available in various video formats from Disney and streaming on Disney+.
NEXT, explore Moulin Rouge! (2001), the first musical to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination since Beauty and the Beast (1991). This jukebox musical from Baz Luhrmann features one original song, “Come What May” (watch here), which missed an Oscar nomination because it was written (but unused) for Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet (1996).
AFTER, look for La La Land (2015), Damien Chazelle’s homage to Hollywood musical classics such as Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon, and particularly An American in Paris, with an Oscar-winning score and song, “City of Stars” (watch here), by Justin Hurwitz with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.