Frozen 2 was on Broadway for two years before it closed in the coronavirus pandemic. Disney has chosen not to reopen the show, but the US tour will continue once theatres are back up and running. While it is based on the first Frozen movie, Frozen 2 has an important part to play, as revealed in an exclusive chat with Express.co.uk.
In an exclusive conversation with Malerie Walters, an animator on Frozen 2, Walter revealed how her work in Frozen 2 was used in the Broadway show, and how working on something as monumental as the Frozen franchise has unexpected rewards.
Walters worked on various aspects of Frozen 2, for which there were almost 100 animators, with scenes including Elsa’s Into the Unknown finale.
She said of working on Frozen 2: “It felt like an opportunity of a lifetime. I was very aware of that opportunity the entire time I was working on it.
“The Into the Unknown finale, in particular, was one of the coolest thing I’ve ever got to do.
“I even remember having in the back of my mind how what acting choices you decide to put on screen, and what you have Elsa do right then, there’s a ripple effect of how it can affect people in the world and what could come out of it.”
For her, there was extra excitement in knowing so many people would be re-enacting her movements, with some of these re-enactments having unexpected consequences.
She continued: “Kids might be replicating a moment in their living rooms and I’ve seen my nieces and nephews do it already, so I can imagine how much kids might be doing that around the world.
“But there’s also thinking about Broadway; they did a Frozen on Broadway and they replicate a lot of those movements as well.
“I was lucky enough to see one of those performances and it’s really exciting to think you could have such a large impact on multiple different facets of the community and on the world.
“I was very aware of that and there was a lot of pressure, but there was so much excitement around it as well. I was very driven to make that moment shine.”
For Walters, it was very important to get the movements perfect for Elsa especially, as well as ensuring the choices she made were not “cliché.”
She added: “Movement is so complex and in order to make it believable it has to be grounded in reality and for me I can’t just make that up, I have to see what’s happening…
“It’s one of those things that when it looks right, it looks right, and when it doesn’t, there’s something really off about it…
“So when I’m taking my reference I really try to feel what Elsa is feeling and sometimes my face or my body might do a gesture which is surprising or something that I may not have thought of, so it helps stop you from making cliché acting choices.
“When you get in the character’s body you try and feel what they’re feeling, and you start thinking about it a bit more naturally than just thinking what the character would do, as your mind tends to make more cliché choices that way.”
Frozen 2 is out on Disney Plus now
