"You can't top pigs with pigs." Walt Disney once said this to explain why he had little interest in making a sequel to the phenomenally successful Three Little Pigs cartoon. As a result, Disney Animation went decades without making theatrical sequels. Even in the '90s, when many classic Disney movies got sequels, they went straight to video. My how things have changed.
After testing the waters with early sequels like The Rescuers Down Under, Disney has now gone all in on franchises. Wreck-It Ralph became the first of a new generation of theatrical sequels, but it was Frozen II that really showed sequels could be as successful or more so than the original. So it wasn't actually a shock when it was announced that Frozen 3 was on the way. Here's everything we know about the upcoming movie.
What Is The Frozen 3 Release Date?
Officially, Frozen 3 doesn’t have a release date yet. However, based on what we know of the release dates of other upcoming Disney movies, we can come up with a pretty compelling answer to that question.
Walt Disney Animation Studios has release dates locked in for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for the next three years. We know that the Moana 2 release date is set for November 2024, and Bob Iger announced that Zootopia 2 will be released in 2025. The next release date on the calendar is November 25, 2026, and since Frozen 3 is also the only other movie that has been announced from Walt Disney Animation Studios, it’s a safe bet (at least for now) that the movie and that date will go together.
The Frozen 3 Cast
No official cast has been announced for Frozen 3 but we can fully expect the four major voice actors, who have all been named Disney Legends since the release of Frozen II, to return. It certainly wouldn’t be a Frozen movie without Idina Menzel as Elsa, Kristen Bell as Anna, Josh Gad as Olaf, and Jonathan Groff as Kristoff.
There are a few other characters who might reprise roles from previous films. Sterling K Brown debuted in Frozen II as Lt. Mattias, and he was hoping to return for a theoretical Frozen 3, because he wanted to sing, and his Frozen II song was ultimately cut. Returns for Evan Rachel Wood and Alfred Molina as Anna and Elsa's parents (in flashbacks, obviously) can't be ruled out.
Who Will Direct Frozen 3?
The question of who will direct Frozen 3 may be the most interesting, because while one would expect Jennifer Lee, who previously helmed both Frozen and Frozen II, alongside Chris Buck, to return, that won’t be the case. Lee, who currently heads Walt Disney Animation Studios, and thus has a full plate of responsibilities, has confirmed she isn't directing Frozen III.
This could mean Chris Buck will be directing the film solo, or it could mean somebody new will come in to handle the project. We know the idea for Frozen III came from Marc Smith, the Director of Story for Frozen II, so he may have received a promotion in order to see his vision come to life.
The Songwriters Of Frozen And Frozen II Will Return
If there’s a pair of behind-the-scenes talents who might be even more important to the success of Frozen III than the director, it could be the songwriting duo of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The spouses, who won the Oscar together for Let it Go, penned all the songs in the first two films, and they have confirmed they will be back for the third film as well.
Having said that, they haven’t had a great deal of time working on it. Andserson-Lopez admitted that she and her husband were only made aware of Frozen 3 on the same day in February 2023 that the project was officially announced to the public.
What's Come Out Since Frozen II
While Frozen and Frozen II are the tentpoles of the franchise, there has been plenty of other Frozen media outside of the films. We saw the shorts Frozen Fever and the holiday special Olaf's Frozen Adventure prior to the film sequel, and there's been plenty of Frozen animation since.
Once Upon a Snowman acted as a prequel to Olaf's story, showing, if not necessarily explaining, how Olaf came to be alive. We also got a pair of short animation series. At Home with Olaf was a series of simple shorts released during the pandemic, highlighted by a beautiful song sung by Josh Gad. We also got the Olaf Presents series on Disney+, where Olaf retells classic Disney stories in the same fashion that retold the story of Frozen in Frozen II.
We also got an Anna and Elsa podcast series, called Forces of Nature which was a story set following the events of Frozen II. Whether the events of that story could play into the sequel film, we don't yet know.
What Frozen 3 May Be About
Frozen II was a movie of massive change for the main characters of the franchise. Elsa has relinquished her crown, and gone to live among the magic of the enchanted forest. Anna has become queen of Arrendale and accepted Kristoff’s proposal. Even Olaf went through a significant maturation process throughout the film.
At this point, no plot details have been released regarding Frozen 3, and story elements can go through pretty significant changes in animated films, even late in the process. What we do know is that the general concept for Frozen 3, the idea that the new movie is built on, was conceived by Marc Smith who had been the Head of Story for the previous film. Whatever his idea was, Disney thought it could support a feature film.
Frozen 3 May Not Be The End
While Frozen 3 will mark the first trilogy for a Walt Disney Animation project, that doesn’t mean that the story will end here. Bob Iger has already teased that Frozen 4 is a project that is also in development, and while anything can happen between now and then, including a fourth movie being scrapped, the fact Disney is even talking about a fourth movie would seem to indicate that it’s a very real possibility.
This has potential ramifications for Frozen 3 as well. The first two Frozen movies were self-contained stories, if for no other reason than the fact that neither could be sure a sequel would happen. If Frozen 3 and Frozen 4 are being developed in unison, we could end up with a story that crosses both movies. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a movie done as part one and part two, and we have to believe that’s at least possible here.
With at least a couple of years between us and Frozen 3, there's a lot left to be revealed, and a lot more that could change between now and then. Keep checking back as we'll keep updating things here as more information is learned.
