How ‘Frozen 2’ gets more adult and more political with each viewing

Set a few years after a supposed “happily ever after,” “Frozen 2” sees royal sisters Anna and Elsa embarking on personal, existential journeys, battling not any standard Disney villain but simply the often bristling path to adulthood. It’s just that, as Anderson-Lopez notes, “You wouldn’t want to hear a big song about water rights,” a key plot point that teaches the characters the world is less hospitable than they once imagined. “What we talk about with ‘Frozen’ is that it’s a reflection of growing up and becoming adults in the world,” says screenwriter and co-director Lee, who now leads Walt Disney Animation. “We had written a song for the soldiers and the Northuldra called ‘See the Sky’ and it was a big number about how they had never seen a clear sky,” says Robert Lopez. “But because you could replace that song with one line, there was no need to sit there for three minutes listening to them sing.” The challenge for Lee and co-director Chris Buck was to find a way to make a global issue feel personal, allowing for the characters’ leaps into maturity.