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Frozen (2013)

• Director: Chris Buck (Tarzan and Surf's Up)
• Producer: Peter Del Vecho (Winnie the Pooh and The Princess and the Frog)
• Screenplay by Jennifer Lee (Wreck-It Ralph)
• Story by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Shane Morris
• Music by Christophe Beck
• Editing by Jeff Draheim
• Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana
• Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Distributor: Walt Disney Studios, Motion Pictures
• Budget: $150,000,000

Idea

The idea came from the fairy tale "The Snow Queen".

It had been pitched many times before being successful.

Disney announced the title for the film "Frozen" on 22nd December 2011.

Script

• Lee revealed how the original plot differed sharply from the final version:
  -Firstly, Elsa, the villainous Snow Queen, deliberately struck Anna in the heart with her freezing powers
  -Secondly, "the whole second act was about Anna trying to get to Hans and to kiss him and then Elsa trying to stop her"
• Buck revealed that the original plot attempted to make Anna sympathetic by focusing on her frustration as being perceived as the "spare" in relation to the "heir," Elsa. The original plot also had different pacing, in that it was "much more of an action adventure" than a musical or a comedy
• To construct Anna and Elsa's relationship as sisters, Lee found inspiration in her own relationship with her older sister.

Development:

1943 – Walt Disney and Samuel Goldwyn has considered to collaborate to produce a biography film of the author and poet Hans Christian Andersen but Disney and their animators found it hard to adapt and relate ‘The Snow Queen’ to modern audiences. Due to this other things, this project was cancelled.

1990s – Walt Disney Feature Animation started on their own adaptation of ‘The Snow Queen’ after their huge success in their recent films but was scrapped completely in 2002 when Glen Keane quite the project.

In between this time, there were a couple of times when others had pitched their versions to the Disney executives but was turned down.

2008 – Chris Buck pitched his version with the project name ‘Anna and the Snow Queen’ and it was planned to be traditionally animated.

2010 – the project entered development hell (remains in development without progressing to production).

22^nd December 2011 – following success of ‘Tangled’, Disney announced a new title for the film ‘Frozen’, a release date of 27^th November 2013 and a different crew from the previous attempt.

The Snow Queen was originally a villain, after much thought they decided to rewrite the film’s protagonist –Anna (based on the character Gerda from ‘The Snow Queen’) as younger sibling of Elsa which then effectively established a family dynamic between the characters.