Into the Unknown: The Making of Frozen II (Or How the Sausage is Made)

I loved Frozen II. The fact that Disney made it available on Disney+ after most of us went into lockdowns and shut downs helped me get through those early days of this pandemic. It was comforting and something to entertain me.


Disney released a six part documentary that gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the last nine months or so of production on Frozen II. And I must say, I was very intrigued by the process and all the decisions that went into making the movie.

I’m going to warn of SPOILERS for both the movie and this documentary, which I encourage everyone who loved the movie or loves movies to watch.



The documentary follows many of the creatives behind the movie, but major focus is given to directors and writers Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck as well as songwriting team Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. We ping-pong between Los Angeles and New York City as they try to come up with a story and songs that will live up to the legacy of the first Frozen film.


One thing I think that surprised me and maybe it shouldn’t have was the entire process of creating an animated movie. I guess I always figured it was that the writers wrote the script, the actors then recorded the script and the animators then animated to that. But this documentary shows that the process is more collaborative and not as linear as I thought.


And that fascinated me.

(From l to r: Chris Buck, producer Peter Del Vecho, Jennifer Lee)

For example, Lee was rewriting the script up to almost the last minute and they were constantly bringing some of the actors back to do more lines. And the scene where Olaf recaps the entire first Frozen film for the Northundra and Arendellians trapped in the forest was a late addition – with Josh Gad doing a lot of ad-libbing for the scene.

(Josh Gad)

It was also fun to watch the animator assigned the scene have a lot of fun with Olaf retelling the story. Lee also loved his work as well.


What also surprised me was how much trouble they had with “Show Me” and that whole scene. “Show Me” has to be my favorite songs of the franchise and I was shocked to see how close it came to being scrapped because they were having such trouble with it. Well – they were having trouble with the scene as the writers struggled to figure out the source of the mysterious noise. It seemed that they were going to leave it as ambiguous and just have it lead Elsa to an image of the woman she was meant to be. Then the climax would be her accepting herself.


And while that’s not a bad climax and resolution…it sounds very confusing and something that would work better in a book than in a movie.


They do finally settle on the climax we have in the movie – the voice belongs to the mother, who guides Elsa to embracing her full powers as the bridge between the magical and the non-magical. And I absolutely think that was the right call. I’m also glad I got to glimpse at the process to bring that scene to life.


I also enjoyed watching Bobby and Kristen Anderson-Lopez working on the music. Especially when we got to watch them come up with the idea of “Lost in the Woods” and pitch it to Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck. They wanted to rectify the fact that Jonathan Groff (Kristoff) didn’t really sing in the first movie. They apparently wrote a song for when Kristoff tries to propose to Anna but I’m glad they went with “Lost in the Woods.”

(Kristen and Bobby)

Also, there’s apparently a cut song that featured Sterling K. Brown that I think needs to be released ASAP, please and thank you.

(Sterling K. Brown)

It was nice to get to know some of the other people behind the scenes at Frozen II. The cast is always out front during the press and publicity for the movie, which makes sense. They have the names and faces people recognize and can promote the movie pretty well. We also get to know the directors and the musical team. But the animators and other workers tend to remain unknown, faceless names on the credits screen that roll by when most people race out of to use the bathroom. It was wonderful to watch them work, to see them struggle through an issue and come up with a solution. To press on whenever there were changes and to challenge themselves with each new note.

(Animator Malerie Walters)

And then to watch them get all dressed up to watch their movie and celebrate their hard work. They definitely deserved it.

I recommend this for anyone who loved the movies or just wants to know more about how animated movies get made. It was definitely a fun and educational watch.