Despite claims to the contrary and the recent release of animated short Frozen Fever, Disney currently has no plans to push ahead with Frozen 2, according to directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck.
Speaking to Buzzfeed, the filmmaking pair revealed that although the beloved fairytale stands as the most successful Disney film of all time, the company is hesitant about fast-tracking a return to the kingdom of Arendelle.
“It’s been in the press that we are doing it, and we would ask each other, ‘Are we?’” Buck said. “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.”
“There is a bit of that drop-the-mic thing,” Buck suggested. “Just go, [drops mic] ‘I don’t know what else to do.’”
Alas, it would appear that should Frozen 2 materalize, it won’t be for quite some time — much like the gap between Toy Story and Toy Story 2 — so both Lee and Buck have the necessary time to flesh out a sequel that doesn’t simply dilute the brand. After all, the popularity of Anna, Elsa and Olaf et al. among young children can’t be overstated, and Disney is surely ruminating on their potential future adventures, even if they don’t make their way to the silver screen for a few years.
We’ll keep you right up-to-date as we learn more about Frozen 2. In the meantime, tell us, are you disappointed to hear of the lack of development on this sequel? Let us know below.