Gretchen Lee — Staff Writer

After the smashing success of Frozen in 2013, it was only a matter of time before Disney created a thrilling sequel. Since the release of the first teaser trailer earlier this year, fans have been waiting with bated breath to see if Frozen 2 would be as successful as the first, or if it would join the ranks of many other Disney sequel flops.

In my humble opinion, Frozen 2 is just as much of a success as its predecessor.

Frozen 2, begins with a flashback to Elsa and Anna’s youth as their father tells them a bedtime story about an enchanted forest to the north of Arendelle. The people there, the Northuldra, formed an alliance with the people of Arendelle…until something went wrong, and the two groups began to fight one another. Since then, no one has been able to get in or out of the forest. The storyline then picks up a few years after the first film left off, with the characters preparing for a fall celebration. Olaf (Josh Gad), the loveable sentient snowman, is experiencing the hardships of growing up; Anna (Kristen Bell), the youngest princess, is trying to raise Olaf’s spirits and keep an eye on her older sister; Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Anna’s boyfriend, is trying to set up the perfect marriage proposal with his trusty reindeer, Sven; Elsa (Idina Menzel), the queen of Arendelle who possesses magical ice powers, is trying to ignore the singing voice that only she can hear. As Elsa discovers that the voice is coming from the magical forest her father told her about when she was young, she and the other main characters head to the north to find the source so that they may set Elsa’s mind at ease, and possibly discover the source of her powers.

From there, the plot becomes more convoluted and is difficult to explain without giving away spoilers, but it is incredibly well-written. The character development between the first Frozen movie and this one is evident enough for the audience to believe that several years have passed, but there is still room for the characters to grow over the course of the movie. New characters were interesting and added to the story without taking over the plot.

The songs were also excellent, although they were not quite as catchy as the songs from the first film. Many of them sounded very similar, which made it hard for any of the songs to stand out. The exception, of course, being the long-awaited solo by Kristoff, “Lost in the Woods,” which was a delightfully weird 80’s love ballad with reindeer backup singers. While this song was a little out-of-place with the rest of the film, it was easily one of the funniest, but also most meaningful, scenes in the movie. While Kristoff is still a supporting character in this film, he begins to stick out as an individual and may have earned the title of Best Disney Prince with his touching supportiveness towards Anna and Elsa, excellent humor, and willingness to express his feelings, even if he is a bit clumsy. Other songs, like “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself,” were paired well with the visuals of the movie, which made them cool in the grand scheme of the film, but otherwise they didn’t really give me the same emotional reaction that I had to “Let it Go.” The lack of emotional reaction to these, however, was more than made up for by other scenes and bits of dialogue throughout the film.

Technically speaking, this movie is beyond gorgeous. Every scene has tedious effort put into the animation that makes the entire film look like a moving work of art. The colors of each scene beautifully reflect the mood of what is happening in the story. Overall, the animation department for Frozen 2 went above and beyond in their work, and the results are astonishing.

Overall, this is a well-written movie with great music, fun and unique characters, stunning visuals, and enough unexpected turns to keep everyone engaged. It’s a great movie for the whole family.