Disney didn't skimp on the new footage during its big D23 presentation, but even with Marvel and Star Wars represented it was that old standby, animation, that won the day. That goes double for Frozen 2, the upcoming sequel to the studio's massive 2013 hit. While the new footage from the film hasn't hit the internet quite yet, Collider was in the room to see—and hear—the songs that are going to populate your head for, say, the next six years or so.
The first scenes we saw showed off the big news of the panel: Evan Rachel Wood is joining the cast as Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna's (Kristin Bell) mother, as is Sterling K. Brown as a character named Lieutenant Matthias. (Who is not the sisters' father, as I'm pretty sure most of the room thought at first.) We saw a quick flashback scene in which young Anna and Elsa climb into bed with their mother, who sings them a sweet lullaby-ish song. That was followed by another flashback, in which Matthias gives a teenaged Anna some life advice at a woodland campsite. Can confirm: Evan Rachel Woods and Sterling K. Brown both have voices that are as nice as their faces. Check out their characters below:
We then flash-forwarded to the present, where Anna, Elsa, Olaf (Josh Gad), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), and Sven hang out like a family playing charades. Anyone who was all about Olaf as a scene-stealing cracker-of-jokes will love the tone here. "This is a lot easier now that I can read" got a big laugh. But the scene ends on an emotional note; Elsa hears a voice in her head calling her name and storms out of the game. Anna, worried about her sister, doesn't notice that Kristoff is trying to propose.
Anna lulls her worried sister to sleep with the same lullaby their mother sang in the flashback, but the voice in Elsa's head returns to wake her up in the middle of the night. That led into one banger of a ballad from Idina Menzel that I can guarantee will be the sequel's inescapable "Let It Go." I am genuinely mad at how good it is. It's not fair. It's a slow-building, almost eerie scorcher of a song with a refrain of "Into the unknown"—or, in Menzel's hands, "Into the unknooowwWWnnNNN"—that's impossible to get out of your head.
For more out of D23, check out the links below:
- New ‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ Footage Reveals Rey with a Red Double-Sided Lightsaber
- Tom Holland Gets Emotional over Marvel-Sony Split at D23: “I Love You 3000”
- Disney’s Animated Movie ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ Cast and Release Date Revealed
- First Images for Pixar’s ‘Soul’ Revealed; Cast and More Musical Details Announced
- First Look at Emma Stone as Cruella in Disney’s Live-Action Remake