7 things we learned during Disney’s Frozen 2 press event

Disney’s animators turned into singers

A keyword nearly everyone involved with Frozen 2 uses is “research,” and that leads them down several unexpected paths. In the case of Frozen, the animators have to make sure the characters themselves look like they’re singing. So, what’s the best way to learn how to sing? Take singing lessons, of course. Animation supervisors Michael Woodside and Justin Sklar revealed that, to sell the “illusion of life,” all the animators working on the feature took lessons from a vocal coach brought in to teach breath control and singing techniques.

Sklar said, “Breathing is a great way to show power and energy…the breathing that sets this up makes everything feel a little bit bigger because breathing shows effort, and effort feels earnest and helps us sell the idea that something impossible is happening.”

During the “Into the Unknown” sequence, specifically, the audience can witness Elsa’s transition through singing. There’s less emotion in Elsa’s body at the beginning of the song that’s more energetic and freeing, coupled with her higher breaths in the song itself. The knowledge gleaned from this training helped them with the finer details of musicality, such as where to place vowels. Some animators were so inspired they continued on with the lessons!