Frozen 2 Not in Production

If you’re like us, you would tend to just assume that this week’s much anticipated “Frozen Fever” animated short film, which might debut with more hype than the feature its attached to in one Disney’s Cinderella, is simply a testing ground—the pit stop on the way to the full fledged and all but inevitable Frozen 2. All one needs to do is consider for a moment that Frozen is the most successful animated film of all time with over $1 billion worldwide.

Well perhaps we shouldn’t be so eager to give in to cynicism; Frozen directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck certainly have not.

While chatting with Buzzfeedabout the highly anticipated “Frozen Fever,” they both seemed apprehensive about jumping into Frozen 2 and emphasized that no work has begun on such a project.

“It’s been in the press that we are doing it, and we would ask each other, ‘Are we?’”

Lee, who also co-wrote Frozen, added, “It all comes down to the story. Like with the short, it was so daunting until we found the story. Then it was all of the things it usually is and we were thinking of every emotion, and moment, and feeling…Until we find our way into what’s next emotionally, it will feel too big. We just finished the short two weeks ago. One year ago, t was a lot to even think about doing a short. We were quite tired; we don’t really know what it’s like to stop for a minute and think about what we want to do next.”

Buck elaborated by comparing “Frozen Fever” as a potential mic drop—an encore that ends the show.

Somehow, I doubt it. To be fair, it is true that Walt Disney Animation Studios has only made one official sequel in its entire existence: 1990’s much forgotten The Rescuers Down Under. However, WDAS is now revitalized after Frozen (and Wreck It Ralph and Tangled) and it’s in a new environment where sequels are not just commonplace; they’re also expected. Sequels are not the dirty words they once appeared, and Disney’s recent animation acquisition Pixar, a very respected studio, is unashamedly delving into sequels, threequels, and even a Monsters Inc. prequel.

Also of note, all of Disney’s animation studios are now overseen creatively by Pixar’s John Lasseter and Ed Catmull. And unlike almost all of those aforementioned sequels (save for Toy Story 3), Frozen is the only film to make $1 billion worldwide at the box office.

When one compounds the pop culture saturation of an impending Broadway musical, toys, theme park attractions, and even a stint on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, Frozen has been less an animated wave for Disney and is more of a tsunami….no matter who is directing it, Frozen 2 feels like only a matter of time.

“Frozen Fever” is in theaters Friday March 13^th alongside Cinderella.