Earlier this week I was fortunate to be on the best Zoom meeting ever with cast and crew members of the Disney+ original series, Into The Unknown: Making Frozen 2. Directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, producer Peter Del Vecho, songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, animators Wayne Unten and Malerie Walters, actors Josh Gad and Idina Menzel all joined in, along with Megan Harding, director of the docuseries. To have so much talent staring back at me on a screen was inspiring!
Into The Unknown: Making Frozen 2 was filmed over the final 115 days of production on Frozen 2. The series follows the talented artists and technicians of Disney Animation as they race against time to finish the film, with both creative breakthroughs and frustrations along the way. Produced by Lincoln Square Productions and Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Josh Gad kicked off the conversation remembering how Frozen “became something none of us could ever expect.” Quite literally, the top animated film at the time, only to be surpassed by its sequel Frozen 2 six years later.
Jennifer Lee said: “We love these characters. They’re like family to us. We wanted to tell a story in which Anna became the Queen of Arendelle, as she was destined to be, and Elsa became the Snow Queen, free, as she was destined. But to tell that story took years of writing, re-writing, working and collaborating with the incredible talent at Disney Animation, our songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and our voice cast.”
While Frozen expanded the Disney idea of “true love” to include familial love, Frozen 2 went one step further to say “you are the one you’ve been waiting for” and summoning young audiences to “step into your power.” From Idina Menzel, Elsa herself, we can expect Into The Unknown to celebrate powerful women. Lee, who became Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Chief Creative Officer in June 2018, set up a precedence of support for everyone working on the film where “family comes first for all”. The idea being that when people feel supported, it brings out their best work. That’s not to say it’s all fun and games in the creative world! “It begins and ends with the collaborative spirit,” said Josh Gad. People bringing ideas and constantly trying to make things better.
This can also been seen from the animator’s perspective in the series as viewers get to see how a film like this comes to life. While there are plenty of fun moments where we get to see animator Malerie Walters using herself as a reference for multiple characters, we also get to see the learning process and look at some of the challenges.
There were moments during filming when the team knew they were making something unlike anything before it. Says Into The Unknown director Megan Harding, “In January 2019, only one month into filming, we went to a massive soundstage to see the 85-piece orchestra record the song ‘Into the Unknown’ – the Lopezes were there, of course, and Idina Menzel. Jennifer Lee, and Chris Buck all came to the studio to hear the recording. Capturing that moment of joy as the filmmakers were hearing the song come to life was one of the most inspiring days in our early filming.”
What do the docuseries filmmakers hope people take away from seeing Into the Unknown Making Frozen 2? Says Lee, “Animation is the most collaborative art form in the world. I used to love how Walt Disney would take the viewer behind-the- scenes on The Wonderful World of Disney, and loved the idea that a new generation would have the opportunity to learn what goes into making one of our film.”
I have so many other great tidbits to share from this press conference, but I will leave you with this last little talk about the birds and bees from songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez on her creative process with her husband: “When two people love each other very much, they go into a room, close the door, turn on the piano and create a son.” This was one of those special moments!
Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 releases on Disney+ June 26, 2020, and is created by Lincoln Square Productions and Walt Disney Animation Studios.
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