It’s been more than nine months since “Frozen” hit theaters and became the international phenomenon that caught almost everyone by surprise, and people are still hungry to know about the story of Princess Anna and Queen Elsa.
For most movies, a making-of special airing on TV more than nine months after its release might be a little late, but “The Story of Frozen,” which premieres tonight (September 2) on ABC, manages to stay relevant thanks to the only-slightly-cooled frenzy around the new Disney classic.
The special sheds a lot of new light on the making of “Frozen,” with plenty of new stories from the people behind the scenes. If you check it out tonight, which you definitely should, here’s five things you can expect to learn.
1. “Do You Want To Build A Snowman” was almost cut.
Just months before “Frozen” was scheduled to hit theaters, the song that young Anna sings to Elsa wasn’t even in the movie. It had been removed, but its popularity among Disney employees was strong enough to convince the filmmakers to add it back in.
2. Two lucky girls played very important roles.
The two actresses who voiced the different versions of Anna during “Do You Want to Build A Snowman” have a very personal connection to the film. Katie Lopez, who sang for the youngest Anna, is the daughter of songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Teenage Anna is played by Agatha Lee Monn, the daughter of director Jennifer Lee.
3. There’s a super-secret Donny Osmond reference.
Hyrum Osmond, the supervising animator for Olaf, is related to the famous singing family, and even slipped in a nod to Donny during “Love Is an Open Door.” When Hans steps out onto the rock with Anna, he makes a very Donny-esque arm movement.
4. Elsa was a big story problem at first.
A few details about the early version of Elsa have come out since “Frozen” hit theaters, but the making of special really goes in depth with how much trouble she was causing the creators. She began as a blue-skinned villain, totally unrelated to Anna, who wore a coat made of live weasels.
5. Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez wrote “Let It Go” insanely quickly.
The big breakthrough for who Elsa was came when the husband and wife songwriting team came up with tune that would win them an Oscar. Once they cracked the hook, the song was finished in a “day and a half or two days.” Though it wasn’t in keeping with who Elsa was at the time, Disney couldn’t resist the song and rewrote the character to fit it.
“The Story of Frozen: Making a Disney Animated Classic” airs on ABC on September 2 at 8 p.m. ET.
Kevin P. Sullivan
Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, I’m there. All three would be ideal.
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