‘Frozen 2’ Co-Director Responds to Fan Requests for a Lesbian Plotline: ‘We’ll See Where We Go’
“Frozen” co-director Jennifer Lee — who will revisit Arendelle with Chris Buck for next fall’s sequel — wants Disney fans to know she’s heard their pleas to give Princess Elsa a female love interest.
“We have tons of conversations about it, and we’re really conscientious about these things,” Lee told The Huffington Post while promoting her adapted screenplay for Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” “Elsa’s every day telling me where she needs to go, and she’ll continue to tell us. I always write from character-out, and where Elsa is and what Elsa’s doing in her life, she’s telling me every day. We’ll see where we go.”
Lee also said loves that Elsa “speaks to so many people” and that the film is “creating dialogue” about LGBTQ representation: “It means the world to us that we’re part of these conversations.” Tony winner Idina Menzel, who voices Elsa, previously said she thought an online petition to give her character a girlfriend was “great.” Co-stars Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Jonathan Groff have all signed on for the follow-up.
Reactions were mixed to a “gay moment” for Gad’s character, Le Fou, in the studio’s live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast” last year. Earlier this month, Florence Kasumba — an actor from “Black Panther,” released by Disney-owned Marvel Studios — confirmed earlier reports that her alter-ego’s queer flirtation scene was omitted from the final cut.
Released in 2013, “Frozen” currently holds the Guinness World Record for the highest-grossing animated film. It earned nearly $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office and inspired a Broadway show, which opened February 22 (the opening immediately preceded by workplace sexual harassment allegations made against Disney theatrical group president Thomas Schumacher in The Wall Street Journal).
The film won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Let It Go”, by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez). This weekend, the Lopezes will attempt to win the category again for “Remember Me,” their medley from Pixar’s “Coco.”
“Frozen 2” will be released on November 27, 2019.
