Frozen II

Frozen II is a 2019 American 3D CGI-computer animated film and sequel to the 2013 film Frozen. Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, it was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Lee returned for the screenplay, writing the script from the plot by her, Buck, Marc E. Smith, and the Lopez songwriting duo. It is the 58th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and 10th film in the Disney Revival Era.

It was released in the U.S. on November 22, 2019, and had the highest opening of all time for an animated film at $127 million domestically, and $350 million worldwide. Frozen II is the third highest-grossing film of 2019, and currently the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The film was generally well received by critics, with some criticism for its plot and pacing.

Plot
King Runeard of Arendelle, establishes a treaty with the local Northuldra people by building a dam in the their homeland, the Enchanted Forest. However, a fight occurs and enrages the spirits who inhabit the forest. The spirits disappear and a wall of mist encases everyone in the forest. Runeard's son Prince Agnarr barely escapes with the help of an unknown savior.

Three years after her coronation, Queen Elsa celebrates autumn in the kingdom with her younger sister Princess Anna, Olaf the snowman, Kristoff, and Sven. Unbeknownst to any of her friends, Elsa has been hearing a mysterious voice calling out to her. Unable to ignore it one night, Elsa follows the voice and unintentionally awakens the elemental spirits of the Enchanted Forest. The spirits force everyone in the kingdom to evacuate. Pabbie and the trolls, aware of the situation, arrive at the outskirts of Arendelle, where the former informs Elsa that she must set things right by discovering the truth about the kingdom's past. Elsa deduces that they must follow the voice she has been hearing.

The five embark to the Enchanted Forest. They encounter the impenetrable wall of mist, but it parts open as Elsa uses her magic before closing behind them and preventing them from leaving. The wind spirit, in the form of a tornado, appears and sweeps everyone into its vortex. Elsa stops it by firing streams of snow, which results in the creation of a set of ice sculptures. Anna and Elsa discover the sculptures are images from their father's past and that their mother, Iduna, was the Northuldran woman who saved Agnarr. They encounter the Northuldra and a troop of Arendellian soldiers who are still at conflict with one another. Olaf manages to explain the situation, however before any further steps can be taken, the fire spirit appears and begins lighting the forest on fire. While attempting to stop its fire from spreading, Elsa discovers that the spirit is actually just an agitated salamander, albeit one with magic, and calms it down, stopping all the fires. Elsa and Anna form a truce between the soldiers and the Northuldra by explaining that their mother was Northuldran and their father was Arendellian. After talking to a Northuldran woman, Honeymaren, Elsa learns about the existence of a fifth spirit, whose apparent purpose is to unite people and the magic of nature. She deduces that this fifth spirit is the one who has been calling to her.

Just at that moment, the Northuldran camp is shaken by the footsteps of giant humanoids made of rock. Elsa moves towards them, hoping to calm them the way she did the air and fire spirit, however is held back by Anna, who fears for her sister's safety. Elsa comes to the realization that it is not safe, and that they must complete their mission and find the voice. She and Olaf prepare to leave the camp. Anna hesitates, unable to find Kristoff who, unbeknownst to her, has left with Honeymaren's brother, Ryder, in order to set up an extravagant proposal of marriage. Though the decision is difficult, Anna decides to stick with Elsa.

Elsa continues to head north with Anna and Olaf. They find their parents' shipwreck and a map with a route to Ahtohallan, a mythical river said to have explanations of the past. Feeling guilty her parents were lost at sea in search of answers of her magic powers, Elsa decides to travel alone and sends Anna and Olaf away in an ice boat for their safety. Anna, desperate to get back to her sister, unwittingly sends the boat off the path Elsa had made and into a river surrounded by Earth Giants. Unable to leave the boats, they have no choice but to follow the river. Anna mistakes a safe cave for deep, dark cavern, and she and Olaf become trapped.

Meanwhile, Elsa's trek is put on hold as she runs into a natural boundary between the forest and Ahtohallan: the Black Sea. She attempts several times to cross it, using a combination of magic and brute force in an attempt to break through the waves. She manage to freeze a particularly ferocious swell, however the sheer size and weight causes it to come crashing down on top of her. Underwater, where the current is less fierce, Elsa encounters the Nøkk, the water spirit that guards the ocean. It takes the shame of a horse, and by creating a bridle from her ice, Elsa manages to break in the spirit and travel to her destination. There, Elsa discovers that the voice was the call of Ahtohallan itself, which used the voice of her mother to speak to her. It revealed that her power was a gift from the magic of nature, bestowed upon Elsa because of Iduna's selfless act in saving Agnarr, making her the fifth spirit who unites differences. Elsa also learns that the dam was built by King Runeard, who feared magic, as a ruse to reduce the Northuldra's resources and power, and that Runeard was the one who initiated the conflict. Elsa manages to sends this information to Anna, but succumbs to the frozen environment of Ahtohallan and, much like Anna during her coronation, complete freezes. Anna mnages to receive and interpret Elsa's message, however without her magic keeping him alive, Olaf begins fading away, leaving a heartbroken Anna all alone. Eventually, after some intense reflection, she realizes that she must continue even without Elsa and repair the damage done by her ancestors.

After making her way out of the cave, Anna awakens the sleeping earth spirits, luring them towards the dam. As she runs, she is picked up by Kristoff and Sven, who help her stay safe and get her to the dam. Her taunts and antagonism, as well as the help of the Arendellian soldiers clanging their swords and shields together, cause the giants to fling boulders towards the dam. The rock of the dam crumbles, and though Anna was in the middle, she manages to leap to safety.

The destruction of the dam thaws Elsa, who is found by Nøkk. She returns to Arendelle, stopping a flood from the destroyed dam before heading back towards the Enchanted Forest. As the wall of mist lifts, Anna makes her way from the forest with Kristoff. She is distracted momentarily by the appearance of a snowflake and the sound of Gale tinkling, which leads her to the shoreline. Elsa reunites with Anna, who for a moment does not believe her sister is truly alive in front of her, and revives Olaf. Kristoff proposes to Anna, who accepts. Elsa points out that she and Anna are now the bridge between the people and the magical spirits. Anna becomes the queen of Arendelle and Elsa becomes the protector of the Enchanted Forest who regularly visits Arendelle as peace is restored in all the lands.

The movie ends with a post-credits scene showing Olaf visiting Elsa's ice palace and recounting the events he experienced to Marshmallow and the snowgies.

Production
Frozen II was officially announced on March 12, 2015, at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders that a sequel to Frozen was in the works, an announcement that was later verified by Jennifer Lee on her Twitter account.

In July 2015, Eva Bella was confirmed to return to voice young Elsa.

On November 5, 2015, Peter Del Vecho said while visiting Duke University: "We're excited by the ideas we have, but it's too early to talk about them. We wouldn't be making a sequel if we felt that we didn't have a story to tell that was equal to or greater than the original."

On March 17, 2016, Kristen Bell revealed to E! Online that the voice recordings will start in April of the same year, following that in an interview for The Boss, she said that the filmmakers have got the whole story while doing several tweaks.

Release
On April 25, 2017, the film's initial release date was confirmed to be November 27, 2019, but later was pushed up a week to November 22, 2019. The film had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on November 7, 2019.

A sing-along version began screenings on January 17, 2020.

Marketing
On February 13, 2019, Disney released the official teaser trailer. Three months later, on June 11, 2019, Disney released the first official theatrical trailer. A third trailer was released on September 23, 2019. Disney UK released a fourth trailer on October 14, 2019.

Box office
Frozen II grossed $477.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $972.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.450 billion. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $599 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues. According to Disney (who does not consіder the 2019 The Lion King remake to be an anіmated fіlm), Frozen II is the hіghest-grossing anіmated fіlm, surpassing the first Frozen.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 78% with an average score of 6.7/10, based on 330 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Frozen II can't quite recapture the showstopping feel of its predecessor, but it remains a dazzling adventure into the unknown." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100 based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, and those at PostTrak gave the film an average 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 71% saying they would definitely recommend it.