It features Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Ciarán Hinds, Alan Tudyk and Paul Briggs reprising their roles with Evan Rachel Wood and Alfred Molina replacing Jennifer Lee and Maurice LaMarche respectively.

Anna and Elsa arrange a truce between the soldiers and the Northuldra after discovering that their mother, Queen Iduna, was a Northuldran who had saved the Arendellian Agnarr.

[21] On June 10, 2014, Lee confirmed that Walt Disney Studios CCO John Lasseter had authorized her and Buck to explore a possible sequel.

Iger, Lasseter, and actor Josh Gad announced at Disney's March 12, 2015, annual shareholders' meeting in San Francisco that Frozen 2, a full-length sequel, was in development; Buck and Lee would return as directors, and Del Vecho as producer.

[41] The Voice's four-note call, derived from the Latin sequence "Dies irae", is delivered in a manner resembling the Scandinavian music form kulning.

[49] Frozen 2 underwent significant revisions after its first test screening in San Diego; Disney Animation discovered that although adults liked the film, children found it hard to follow.

The production team realized they needed to clarify the identity of the Voice and the point of Elsa's transformation, and add more comedy and shots of Bruni (the fire salamander).

A scene of expository dialogue in which the lead characters explained to the people trapped in the Enchanted Forest why they had come there was replaced with Olaf's humorous recap of Frozen.

[50] The last major animation scene completed before the production team locked the picture was "Show Yourself", the musical number in which Elsa enters Ahtohallan and learns all the secrets she has been seeking.

[51] Megan Harding directed an official documentary series on the production of Frozen 2, which depicted the process of Del Vecho and Lopez determining The Voice's identity.

[56] Creating the personal flurry effect was so difficult for the animators that the directors had Elsa put a permafrost coating on Olaf in Frozen 2 instead.

[72] Beck said that the score conveys Elsa and Anna's emotional growth, "matured and introduc[ing] more sophisticated musical concepts and thematic elements".

The elegant, noble Elsa wants to be free and live a normal life, and Anna is dreamy, cheerful and enthusiastic; both acted to defend their kingdom from danger.

[5][82] The Northuldra are modeled on the Sámi people, indigenous to Scandinavia and northwestern Russia, who experienced discrimination as pagans reputed to be skilled in magic and witchcraft.

A hydroelectric power station was built on the Altaelva river in Norway from 1979 to 1981; the controversial Virdnejávr Dam flooded a Sámi village, disrupting traditional hunting and herding.

[5] The Northuldra are presented in an appealing way, romanticized as a people with magical power who live in harmony with the spiritual and physical worlds.

[82] Racial issues in Frozen 2 are mitigated by making Elsa and Anna half Northuldran, and their mother is depicted as a heroine who saved their father (King Agnarr) from death during the battle.

Olaf describes the forest as a place of transformation, including venturing into the unknown, befriending the spirits and the indigenous Northuldra, and confronting trauma.

[92] Viewed 116.4 million times in its first 24 hours, it was the most-watched animated film trailer until the teaser of Inside Out 2 (2024) surpassed that record in November 2023.

[98] To support the film's marketing campaign, the lead voice cast made several public and televised appearances; these included a Friendsgiving stunt night on ABC, introductions on The Masked Singer, and a Women of Impact program on Nat Geo Wild.

[114][115] Megan Harding (who had directed a 2014 making-of ABC television special about Frozen) reached out to Disney Animation about documenting the production of Frozen 2; with the company's cooperation, Harding, working with Lincoln Square Productions, commuted from New York City to Burbank, California and shot 1,300 hours of footage in 115 days between December 2018 and the November 2019 world premiere.

[74] Disney Animation knew that Harding intended to take a "fearless" and "honest look" at the filmmaking process; her crew was asked to leave only once,[73] when the production team wanted to decide the mysterious voice's identity.

[120] Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $599 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it second on their list of 2019's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".

"[123] Frozen 2 was released with A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and 21 Bridges on November 22, 2019, in 4,440 theaters:[124] 2,500 in 3D, 800 in the premium large format (including 400 in IMAX), and 235 in D-Box/4DX.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Frozen II can't quite recapture the showstopping feel of its predecessor, but it remains a dazzling adventure into the unknown.

As before, the songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are pleasantly melodious with lyrics that can have the quality of a confession, as if a friend were sharing her inner-voice struggles.

[d] The New York Times critic Manohla Dargis called the narrative a "pink world of adventure and aspirational uplift", and Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com noted its frank, compelling depiction of issues which were understandable by audiences of all ages.

Dargis cited Frozen 2's engaging visual imagery, balanced by romance and history, and Minow noted the film's autumnal palette.

McCarthy praised its "catchy songs", "easy-to-like characters", and "astonishing backdrops", with humor and a plot driven by "female empowerment galore".

[e] In The Wall Street Journal, John Anderson noted that the sequel was not innovative and criticized the film's flawed narrative and low-quality music in comparison with Frozen.