Disney
Frozen was one of Disney’s biggest blockbuster animated feature films from 2013 to date, boasting a Broadway musical, an ice show, a series of shorts and books, gaming options, rides and experiences at Disney’s theme parks, a sequel releasing later this year, and the characters have appeared in the TV series Once Upon a Time’s third and fourth seasons. Now, you can watch the movie that started it all, Disney’s Frozen, with Disney Plus.
The award-winning film – with two Oscars and two Grammy awards among many others – has earned more than $1 billion and is the second highest-grossing animated film ever; it is the fifteenth-highest grossing film, overall.
It was based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, with the screenplay written by Jennifer Lee. The song Let It Go, sung by Idina Menzel who voiced Elsa, reached the top five of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, the first Disney song to do so since Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas, and was the ninth best-selling song for 2014 in the US. Frozen merchandise is credited with Disney’s overall operating costs increasing by 46% in 2014. Here’s how to stream Disney’s Frozen right now:
How to Stream Disney’s Frozen – Exclusively on Disney+
Frozen is one of the many now-classic Disney movies that will be streaming exclusively on Disney’s new subscription streaming service, Disney+.
You can sign up for a 7-day free trial of Disney+ HERE, which will allow you to stream Disney’s Frozen and hundreds of other movies and shows on your computer, phone, tablet, smart TV or streaming device. If you extend past the free trial, the service costs $6.99/month. You may also opt for this discount bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99/month.
- 1. Sign up for Disney+ here
- 2. Go to Disneyplus.com or download the Disney+ app on your device
- 3. Log in using your information
- 4. Search for “Frozen”
- 5. Start streaming
Disney+ also boasts a vast library of Disney-owned movies and series — plus several new original series coming soon. The service includes unlimited downloads so you can watch offline whenever and wherever you want. The list of compatible devices and smart TVs includes Apple iOS devices, Apple TV, Amazon devices, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Chromecast, Roku, PS4, and Xbox One.
Disney’s Frozen: Overview
Release Date: November 27. 2013
Creators: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Shane Morris, Hans Christian Andersen
Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Starring: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santina Fontana
Rating: G
Synopsis: The new queen of Arendelle loses control of her magical powers, throwing her country into a permanent winter, and it’s up to her sister, whom she has injured with her powers before, to save both the queen and their land.
How Long Is Disney’s Frozen?
Frozen has a runtime of 1 hour 42 minutes.
Disney’s Frozen Plot
Elsa and Anna are princesses in the land of Arendelle, their parents are the king and queen. Elsa is born with magical powers that allow her to create snow and ice, but one day while playing she injures Anna. Afraid of the powers, the king and queen convince Elsa to hide her gift. This drives a wedge between the sisters, and after their parents are lost at sea, Elsa has the castle closed to everyone, leaving both she and Anna alone and lonely.
Finally, the time comes for her coronation and while Anna is excited to see people again, Elsa is afraid of her powers and worries she won’t be able to keep her secret. Anna, meanwhile, sings and dances and quickly falls for a visiting prince, Hans, who seems quite innocent and charming. She tells Else she wants to marry him and Elsa freaks out and loses control of her powers. Afraid, she runs from the town, but with her emotions out of control so are her powers and she sends the entire country into a sudden winter.
Anna convinces Hans, the prince, to watch over her people so she can go after Elsa. Hans agrees. On her trek, Anna meets Kristoff, an ice salesman, and his reindeer, Sven. They agree to help her on her quest to the North Mountain, where the winter is the coldest, and along the way meet a snowman named Olaf. She is certain that is where Elsa is. They finally get there only to find a castle of ice. Anna goes inside but Elsa refuses to leave and as the sisters argue, a portion of Elsa’s icy chill hits Anna, injuring her as when they were children. Desperate, Elsa conjures a snow monster to get rid of her sister.
Olaf, Kristoff, Sven, and Anna are forced to flee from Elsa’s ice castle, and once they are safe, Kristoff notices that part of Anna’s hair has turned white. This jogs his memory and, having followed the king and queen in their rush to safe Anna as a child, he knows what to do. He takes Anna to the trolls, who believe Kristoff and Anna are destined to be together.
They say an act of true love will save her; Anna believes a kiss from Hans is the answer and convinces Kristoff to take her back to the castle. Hans, meanwhile, has convinced the townspeople to go after Elsa and takes off for North Mountain. At Elsa’s ice castle, Hans battles the snow monster and two guards help him to corner Elsa, who they take prisoner.
Elsa awakes in the castle, chained to the floor and with her hands encased in steel mitts. Hans tells her that Anna is missing and begs her to stop the winter but she says she can’t and asks Hans to free her so she can go far away and not hurt anyone else. Kristoff and Sven get to the castle with Anna, who is barely alive. The staff takes her to Hans, and she says he has to kiss her to save her. Hans shows his true colors, refusing to save Anna and leaving her to freeze to death so that he can usurp the Arendelle throne.
He then tells the Duke of Weselton that though Anna has died, she first told him that Elsa was the one who injured her. As Anna’s widowed husband, he declares Elsa guilty of treason and plans to put her to death. Guards are stopped outside Elsa’s cell when part of the wall collapses under the weight of ice. Elsa has escaped. Olaf, meanwhile, has been wandering the castle looking for Anna and finds her freezing to death. He lights a fire to try to save her.
Kristoff and Sven, meanwhile, are leaving Arendelle. Kristoff looks back, sees Elsa’s storm cloud growing and runs to help Anna, who he is in love with. In the castle, Olaf spies Kristoff through a window and tells Anna everything Kristoff did to save her; she believes Kristoff may be her true love and asks Olaf to help her reach him. The two slide down the roof to get to Kristoff. On the ice, Hans has found Elsa and, when she tells him to go help Anna, he tells her that she killed her sister. In despair, Elsa collapses.
Hans takes out his sword, prepared to kill her, but Anna spots them through the storm and blocks his sword. Anna’s frozen heart finally consumes her, and she becomes an ice statue that shatters under Hans’ sword. Elsa breaks down and hugs her sister, who begins to thaw. She broke the spell on her own, by giving her own life to save her sister. This causes Elsa to realize she can stop the winter by loving her sister and not being afraid of her powers.
Arendelle thaws. Elsa places a permanent snow cloud over Olaf’s head so that he can’t melt. Hans is returned to his country by a French ambassador, and Elsa, now the queen, severs ties with the Duke of Weselton, who sided with Hans against her and her sister. Elsa makes Kristoff the palace’s ice supplier, clearing the way for Anna and Kristoff to truly fall in love, and Elsa promises to never close the castle gates again.
Disney’s Frozen Cast
The award-winning cast of Disney’s Frozen includes Idina Menzel, a Tony-winning Broadway performer, Josh Gad, and Kristen Bell. Here are the main players from the movie:
Idina Menzel as Elsa
Elsa has the power to create snow and ice, but she is afraid of her powers and lives in seclusion until her coronation as the Queen of Arendelle. Idina Menzel is a Tony Award winning Broadway actress. She appeared in the Broadway hit Rent, as well as movies including Enchanted, and the TV reboot of Beaches. She has voiced Elsa in several Disney shorts, the Disney hit Ralph Breaks the Internet, and in the Kingdom Hearts video game. She will star in Frozen II when it releases in 2019.
Kristen Bell as Anna
Anna is Elsa’s sister. Hurt as a child by her sister’s powers, Anna now doesn’t remember them. She goes after Elsa, trying to help. Kristen Bell is an award-winning actress, producer, and writer who is best known for her roles in Frozen, the series and movie Veronica Mars, and the TV series, The Good Place. She has reprised her role as Anna throughout the franchise, appearing in shorts, Frozen II, and the Kingdom Hearts video game series.
Josh Gad as Olaf
Olaf is a living snowman, created by Elsa when she was a child. He is good-hearted and funny and is willing to melt to save Anna. Josh Gad is an award-winning actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his roles in Disney’s Frozen and the live-action reboot of Beauty and the Beast, in which he plays LeFou. He has reprised the role of Olaf throughout the Disney universe, appearing in shorts, the Kingdom Hearts video game series, and in Frozen II.
Jonathan Groff as Kristoff
Kristoff is a commoner and an ice provider for Arendelle; he lives with his reindeer and best friend, Sven, and was raised by the trolls. Jonathan Groff is best known for his role in Disney’s Frozen franchise and will also reprise his role in Frozen II. His other famous roles include the TV series Mindhunter and Glee.
Santino Fontana as Prince Hans
Prince Hans pretends to love Anna but really wants his own kingdom. Santino Fontana is a Broadway actor and director; he is best known for his role in Frozen and will reprise his role in Frozen II. In addition, he has appeared in the TV series Mozart in the Jungle, and films including Sisters and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Ciaran Hinds as Pabble/Grandpa
Pabble is the leader of the trolls who raised Kristoff. He advises the King and Queen when Anna is hurt as a child and tells Kristoff that Anna can only be saved by an act of true love when she is hurt as an adult. Ciaran Hinds is an actor with more than 100 credits. He played Aberforth Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies, and also appeared in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Rome, and First Man.
Disney’s Frozen Songs and Soundtrack
When Disney’s Frozen released, fans went crazy and not just for the film. The soundtrack was a huge deal, with songs written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. Elsa’s theme song, “Let it Go,” won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It would also win two Grammy Awards: Let It Go would win Best Song Written for Visual Media and the soundtrack would win Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Disney’s Frozen at the Box Office
Disney’s Frozen was a huge hit at the box office and was the top-grossing film of 2013 even though it wasn’t released until November. It would also be the highest-grossing animated film until 2019 when it was unseated by The Lion King. Worldwide, the film earned $1.2 billion, with a sequel film set to release in 2019.
Disney’s Frozen Reviews – What the Critics Said
Critics were as enamored of the film as the children and families returning time after time to watch it in the theatres. Critics called the movie smart, charmingly poignant, and beautifully animated; on the Rotten Tomatoes site it holds a 90% approval rating from critics and an 85% rating from audiences.
Where Disney’s Frozen Fits in the Disney Movie Pantheon
Disney’s Frozen was a blockbuster film and has morphed into an entity all its own. Spawning a sequel and a series of shorts, a Broadway musical, an ice show, a book series, theme park attractions, and countless video and traditional games, toys and other merchandise. The characters of Anna and Elsa have also crossed over to live-action television, with appearances in the third and fourth season of the ABC series Once Upon a Time. The film was nominated for 137 awards and won 80, including two Academy Awards, for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, a Golden Globe, and two Grammy awards. The film is the fifteenth highest growing film of all time, and the second-highest animated and Walt Disney Pictures release. It was the top movie of 2013, and though it hasn’t been placed into the National Film Registry it is likely to be named to that list once it is eligible.
Disney’s Frozen Trailer
Disney’s Frozen Trivia: 5 Fast Facts
Disney’s Frozen has become a mega-hit, inspiring internet memes, several official shorts, and a sequel. Here are fist fast facts about the movie you may not know:
1. Disney’s First Female Director
Jennifer Lee, who directed Frozen and wrote the screenplay, is the first woman to direct a full-length, animated feature for Disney. She is the second woman, after Linda Wolverton who wrote Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, to write a whole screenplay for Disney.
2. Starring in Frozen Fulfills Bell’s Dreams
Actress Kristen Bell, who played Anna throughout the series, has said that starring in Frozen fulfilled a childhood dream of becoming a Disney Princess. A dream, she says, that started when she watched The Little Mermaid and Aladdin as a child.
3. Menzel Gets Elsa, Not Rapunzel
Idina Menzel, whose powerful vocals propelled Let it Go, didn’t get the first Disney part for which she auditioned. In 2010 she auditioned for the role of Rapunzel in Tangled but lost out to Mandy Moore. Kristen Bell also auditioned for Rapunzel. Both seem happy to have Frozen on their resumes.
4. Animators Draw Inspiration from Actresses Bodies and Voices
Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell didn’t just lend their voices to the film. Animators studied how Menzel and Bell moved as they were putting down their speaking and singing tracks, and then gave some of their physical traits to the characters as they were animating.
5. Disney’s Character ‘Easter Eggs’
Disney is famous for sneaking in characters from other movies and series into their films. The same is true of Frozen. Cast members Rapunzel and Eugene can be seen as the guests arrive for Elsa’s coronation, images of Mickey Mouse can be found in Oaken’s Trading Post, and there is candy from Wreck-It Ralph on a table during the party scene.
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How to Stream Disney’s Frozen: Your Family Viewing Guide