Frozen screenwriter and co-director Jennifer Lee is headed back into the unknown with Frozen 3 – and, thanks to the scale of the story so far, she's potentially embarking on a fourquel, too.
12DOVE met with Lee to talk about Wish, the latest animated film from Disney that's timed to mark the studio's 100th anniversary. Lee, who is Walt Disney Animation Studio's chief creative officer, co-wrote the new film.
After Disney CEO Bob Iger recently revealed that a fourth Frozen film could be in the works, we asked Lee if that meant the threequel was being conceived as part of a larger whole.
"We're really excited about where they're going, and we just have a lot of story to tell with that direction we're going in," Lee shares. "So, I think, in my head, there may be enough for two in that story. But I'm really, really loving working with the team and where they're going."
That's certainly an intriguing tease – and there are plenty of directions Frozen 3 (and 4) could be headed, considering Frozen 2 ended with Anna as Queen of Arendelle and Elsa coming into her powers in the Enchanted Forest.
While Wish is celebrating Disney's 100th anniversary, Frozen is approaching a big milestone of its own: its 10th anniversary is this November 27. The film is nothing less than a cultural phenomenon, so how does Lee see Frozen's legacy a decade later?
"What I love about Frozen, I think it was unexpected for all of us," she says. "And we went into it the way we go into every story, which is really from character out. And the fact that it became something special, and that these sisters – really at the core is two sisters – I think for a lot of us was just very exciting, about, 'Who are those protagonists that we can tell these great stories of women, particularly women who are on each other's side, not against each other?' That was really exciting, that people responded to it. So I think in some ways, Frozen, to me, has encouraged us to keep telling different kinds of stories of different kinds of heroes."
As Lee explains, Frozen also helped to inspire Wish and its spirited heroine Asha. "I think there wouldn't be Asha without Anna and Elsa, and this young woman who is her own hero," she says. "She has incredible courage, and what she has is one of the most generous wishes in our legacy. And I think that spirit of deciding, 'Who is she and where can she go?', for me comes off of all that I learned on Frozen."
Wish arrives in US theaters this November 22 and UK cinemas this November 24. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Disney movies for everything else the studio has in store. You can also stream Frozen and Frozen 2 on Disney Plus now.
