Frozen 2 becomes the biggest animated film of all time at the South African box office as Walt Disney Studios now holds first and second animation records in SA as well as top 4 highest-grossing film records.

by Thinus Ferreira

Frozen 2 has now become the biggest animated film of all time at the South African box office following its debut in December.

Since its release on 6 December 2019 in which the core characters venture beyond Arendelle, and following its debut as the biggest opening weekend for an animated film in South African box office history, this week Walt Disney Animation Studios' long-awaited Frozen 2 clinched another record as it became the biggest animated film of all time according to cinema sales. 

 Over 718 000 people visited cinemas across the country since Frozen 2 released in December, delivering a box office total of over R53 million so far in South Africa, surpassing 2018’s DisneyPixar's Incredibles 2 that was the previous record holder. 

"With this record, Walt Disney Studios now holds the number 1 and 2 all-time highest-grossing animated films records in South Africa, as well as the top 4 highest-grossing films of all time in South Africa with Disney’s The Lion King as well as Marvel Studios’ Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War."

"We are thrilled at the response of families and fans of all ages towards this breath-taking and sweeping animated adventure of Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven," says Christine Service, senior vice-president of The Walt Disney Company Africa.

"We are excited to share more magical animated, as well as live-action stories, with South African cinema-going audiences in 2020 including two releases from DisneyPixar with Onward as well as Soul, two from Marvel Studios with Black Widow and The Eternals, as well as brand new adventures from Disney studios in the form of Mulan, Jungle Cruise and Raya and the Last Dragon to name but a few." 

 Worldwide Frozen 2 now ranks as the 11th highest-grossing film of all time - and climbing - with a global box office haul of $1,4 billion.

Disney's Frozen 2 releasing 22 November will reveal that the past isn't what you thought it was.

The worldwide public couldn't let it go, making the animation film Frozen the 15th highest grossing film of all time, so when the sequel is released on 22 November the story will reveal that "the past is not what it seems".

The upcoming sequel that is set 3 years after the 2013-original and that will likely surpass the box office take of the original, will once again feature Elsa, her sister Anna, Kristoff, Sven and the snowman Olaf who this time all go on a new journey beyond their homeland of Arendelle in order to discover the origin of Elsa's magic powers.

At Disney's D23 Expo this past weekend but not yet released online some new clips of Frozen 2 were shown, with Disney Africa that also showed some of it this past Tuesday to the media at its annual upfront for its 2019/2020 content showcase.

Key is the phrase "The past is not what it seems".

Frozen 2 will answer all of the unanswered questions left from the original,

At the D23 Expo during the Frozen 2 presentation, the film's co-director Jennifer Lee said the sequel will explore questions like "Why was Anna born the way she was? Where were their parents really going when that ship went down? And is there really such a thing as happily ever after?

The other co-director Chris Buck said that Frozen 2 revolves around "a past that wasn't what it seems, a past that could threaten the future of Arendelle, a past that leads our gang to an enchanted forest".

"It's a story that starts in the past. In these Disney films, we tend to kill off the parents. Well, we're bringing them back."

About the enchanted forest that the group soon finds themselves in, Chris Buck said that it's "a place of transformation where change comes for you whether you like it or not. Relationships are tested, everything you thought you knew proves to be wrong, powers that were once too strong for the world are suddenly not enough, and it's easy to get lost."

"We can't tell you whether they solve the mystery of the past or whether Elsa ever finds the answers about her powers, but we can tell you that Frozen 2 is even bigger and more epic, but most importantly, in the end Frozen 1 and Frozen 2 work together to form one complete story."

The Walt Disney Animation Studios produced film will start off in the past with a prologue and the flashback will feature the mother of the princesses, Queen Iduna (Evan Rachel Wood) singing to her two young daughters to help them fall asleep.

The sequel will have 7 new, original songs, including an ensemble number with Elsa, Anna, Olaf and Kristoff. There will also be a big power-ballad called that will be the film's version of "Let It Go".

Let it go: Disney reveals first-look teaser-trailer of Frozen 2 with all the heroes split up and facing peril.

Disney has dropped the first official teaser-trailer for Frozen 2, the Disney animation hit getting a sequel that will be released worldwide from 22 November to ring in the holiday period.

Sister Elsa – who has ice powers – is seen running in a dark tableau across a patch of sea with the water that instantly turn into ice below her feet after she’s taken her boots off to sprint across the water. It looks however as if a wave prevents her initial try of either escaping from the land mass she finds herself on, or to get somewhere.

A second attempt is much more successful but again she doesn’t quite succeed.

Anna is seen inside a castle-like building and later going on a seemingly treacherous video-game like Lara Croft cliff-and-bridge quest, Kristoff is riding on the reindeer with a heart of gold, Sven; while Olaf, the snowman, also features.

The original voice cast is back including Idina Menzel as Queen Elsa, Kristen Bell as Princess Anna, and Jonathan Groff as Kristoff. 

Frozen ranks as the highest-grossing animation film of all time, and the 13th highest-grossing film in the world ever, according to Wikipedia.