Frozen II

Disney’s fierce princess sisters Elsa and Anna are back in the sequel to the worldwide phenomenon Frozen (2013). Three years after saving Arendelle from Elsa’s uncontrollable, arctic powers and proving the love of family can warm the coldest hearts, the sisters learn of an enchanted forest whose elemental spirits are accidentally awakened to wreak havoc on their kingdom. To once again save the day, Elsa and Anna embark on an epic journey with Kristoff, Olaf and Sven to uncover the source of Elsa’s powers and discover a devastating family secret.

Building on the $1.2 billion dollar success of the first film, Frozen II (2018) likewise avalanched across the globe. With all the main cast reprising their roles, including Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell, and featuring brand-new songs, Frozen II became the second highest-grossing animated feature in history, just behind Disney’s The Lion King (2019).

Charting the growth of the princesses from the first film, the character designers came up with new looks (as well as the technology to make them) to demonstrate their evolution. The concept art above is an early illustration of a key scene where Elsa hears the siren song of the enchanted forest calling to her. As she’s awoken in the middle of the night, Elsa wears an ethereal magenta nightgown and her iconic braid from the first film appears more casual – after all, she’s been asleep. Small details are important. In the first film, when Elsa retreated from the world, her hair was tightly confined to a bun until she “Let It Go”. Likewise, Elsa’s hair becomes freer as she discovers more about herself after the performance of “Into the Unknown” from this scene.