Disney’s Animation Struggles Show Why Frozen 3 Is Inevitable

Disney‘s struggles at the box office indicate that Frozen 3 is an inevitability. Frozen, the 53rd Disney animated feature film, was a massive financial success for the Walt Disney Company when it was released in November 2013. The film grossed over $1.2 billion against a $150 million budget, cementing 3D CGI animation as the future for the company over traditional 2D hand-drawn animation, following the success of Tangled in 2010. A sequel was then green-lit in 2015 and became even more successful when it was released in 2019, grossing almost $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office.

The Frozen franchise has been extremely lucrative for the Walt Disney Company, especially with Frozen II and Frozen becoming the second and third highest-grossing animated films of all time, respectively. However, due to a number of factors, Disney has struggled to release an animated smash hit since the blockbuster success of Frozen II. While Disney is known as an animation powerhouse in the industry, with subsidiary companies like Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios under its belt, their box office difficulties indicate the need for a guaranteed smash hit.

Disney & Pixar’s Animated Movies Have Struggled At The Box Office

Since Frozen II‘s immense financial success in 2019, Disney and Pixar’s animated movies have consistently underperformed at the box office. Disney’s Strange World, released in theaters in November 2022, grossing just over half of its reported $135 million production budget. 2021’s Encanto fared slightly better, making just over $256 million, though this is still a fraction of the money that Frozen II made. Pixar has suffered similarly, with 2022’s Lightyear failing at the box office, making just over $226 million worldwide, against a $200 million budget.

There are a number of factors as to why these films have bombed at the box office. First, and foremost, is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affecting all theatrically-released films. However, this is not the sole reason, as many films released theatrically since the first shutdowns in 2020 have made a significant profit, including Disney’s own Avatar: The Way of Water. As part of their response to the downturns caused by the pandemic, Disney released all of their theatrical films on their in-house streaming service, Disney+, very shortly after their theatrical premieres.

For example, Strange World was theatrically released in domestic markets on November 23, 2022, and began streaming on Disney+ exactly a month later, on December 23. This short theatrical release disincentivized audiences from watching Strange World in theaters. Instead, many waited for its streaming debut, as evidenced by Strange World quickly becoming the most-watched film on Disney+ following its release on the service. Similarly, Pixar’s Soul, Luca, and Turning Red were all released straight to streaming on Disney+ with only limited theatrical releases for each film.

Frozen 3 Is The Easiest Guaranteed Animated Hit For Disney

Given the disappointing box office results of Disney’s animated movies in the early 2020s, the Walt Disney Company needs a guaranteed animated smash hit to retain its reputation as a powerhouse for animation. A continuation of the Frozen franchise would be the perfect project with which to achieve this. Both entries in the series have grossed well over $1 billion each, and the franchise is yet to come to a definitive close.

The similarly successful Toy Story franchise would be another great candidate for this level of success, especially given Pixar’s relegation to Disney+ post-pandemic, save for Lightyear. However, both Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 have provided excellent endings for the franchise. Another entry may turn off audiences as it has the potential to be seen merely as a cash grab, particularly since spin-off Lightyear bombed. Frozen 3, therefore, would be far easier for audiences to accept than yet another entry in the Toy Story series.

When Could Frozen 3 Happen?

Just because Frozen 3 would be an almost guaranteed smash hit does not mean that it has the potential to release anytime in the near future; there was a six-year gap between Frozen and Frozen II. In addition, it took four years for Frozen II to release following its green light in 2015. Therefore, it would likely be several years before Frozen 3 would happen, even if it was announced any time soon.

If Frozen 3 were to follow Frozen II‘s production timeline, then it would take approximately four years for the film to release. However, this does not necessarily mean that the Walt Disney Company is in any trouble. Many of Disney’s live-action movies have performed well at the box office, 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made over $955 million at the box office. Both Disney and Pixar also have a slate of animated movies releasing in 2023 and 2024, such as Wish, Elemental, and the sequel Inside Out 2. Though it may not release soon, Disney‘s animation box office struggles indicate that Frozen 3 must happen.