Disney has released the second trailer for Frozen 2, revealing a lot of new additions to the mythology but also leaving some pretty big unanswered questions. The first Frozen film released all the way back in 2013, a reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, and it proved to be a massive success. The film grossed over $1.2 billion in the global box office and the song “Let It Go” became as firmly established in popular culture as any Disney classic.
Disney teased Frozen 2 not long after the first film was released, but they’ve taken time with the production, keen to get it right. The first teaser trailer dropped in February, promising a mysterious quest for the sisters and their friends, but now Disney has released Frozen 2‘s first full trailer. It only adds to the mystery, assuring viewers that Disney is about to expand the lore underpinning the Frozen franchise in quite dramatic ways. Frozen 2 will reveal new lands, new characters, new creatures, and even new magic.
What secrets are hidden in the Frozen 2 trailer, and what mysteries are raised by it? Here’s our full Frozen 2 trailer breakdown to guide you through what we know of the plot.
16. Elsa Training
The Frozen 2 teaser trailer included an extended scene of Elsa training, attempting to cross a stormy sea. She attempted to use her ice powers to create a bridge that essentially allowed her to walk across water; however, the sheer force of the waves kept breaking her ice bridges, meaning she plunged back into the sea. The full Frozen 2 trailer opens with a part of the same scene, but reveals that Elsa encounters something while briefly underwater.
15. Nokk, The Water Horse Spirit
The Frozen 2 trailer introduces what appears to be a brand new magical creature, Nokk, a horse spirit that manifests through water. In the first shot, Elsa encounters the horse when her attempt to cross a stormy sea goes badly wrong, and she’s plunged beneath the waves. The horse doesn’t appear to be malevolent; in fact, it looks as though it’s just curious about Elsa, approaching her and then disappearing again in a flurry of bubbles. Elsa, for her part, appears startled; as though she’s still unused to this magical creature, and isn’t entirely sure what to make of it.
14. The Trolls Return
Arendelle appears to be faced with an unknown crisis, one that has forced the trolls to make themselves known to all the people. In the first Frozen, the trolls were a reclusive race who seemed to be known by just a few of the citizens. In Frozen 2, they have sought out Elsa and Anna in order to offer advice, and they’ve done so even though the Queen and her sister are stood alongside a group of citizens. Pabble, the wisest of the trolls, is very much familiar with magic; he has shocking news for Elsa.
13. There’s A Secret In Elsa’s Past
The trolls are the ones responsible for sending Elsa on her mysterious quest in Frozen 2. Pabble cautions Elsa that secrets and mysteries lie in her past, and that some present-day crisis requires her to travel North in order to discover these hidden truths. The trailer carefully sets up the idea that these mysteries are somehow related to Elsa’s powers; perhaps how she acquired them, or the role they play in the magical balance of the world.
12. Elsa’s Mother and the Northern Lights
Pabble’s words are accompanied by images from Elsa’s childhood, with a shot of her mother staring out at the Northern Lights. Songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez told Variety that, after Frozen 2, “we know the parents a lot better,” indicating they play an important role in the sequel. That’s led to some speculation that Elsa’s powers may actually be genetic, and that her mother too was a sorceress. Alternatively, though, it’s also possible that the Aurora Borealis is the key; many legends turn the Northern Lights into manifestations of magic. It could be significant that they manifested over Arendelle while Elsa was just a child.
11. Elsa’s Vision of Horses and Giants
The Nokk returns in a vision, and this time Elsa is overjoyed to see it, thrilled as it leaps around her. It seems that the Nokk is serving spirit guide, showing Elsa just what forces she will have to face in order to complete her quest. In this case, it summons an image of two massive giants.
10. Elsa’s Castle Returns
The Frozen 2 trailer includes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse of Elsa’s ice castle, created during the “Let It Go” sequence in the first Frozen film. Elsa made the ice castle high in the mountains, which probably means it never gets warm enough to melt the ice. Elsa and her band ride past the ice castle and on, towards the Enchanted Lands.
9. The Enchanted Lands
According to Pabble, Elsa must travel North across an area he refers to as “the Enchanted Lands.” This comment is actually quite an important development in Frozen lore; just as there are some people who are gifted with magic, this implies some places are characterized by it as well. Later scenes imply that the giants live in the Enchanted Lands, perhaps created by its magic.
8. The Waterfall
One shot in the Frozen 2 trailer show Anna and Olaf sailing a boat into a cavern – and then, to their horror, straight down a waterfall into the depths of the Earth. It’s unclear how the two have become separated from the rest of their party, and may bode ill for Elsa given Anna later swears to protect her. Meanwhile, note that the waterfall will take Anna and Olaf deep underground; that seems significant and may suggest they discover some sort of ancient magic there.
7. Magic In The Forest
The Frozen 2 trailer includes a number of shots of magical forests, with an extended sequence in which magic flares across the trees, scattering a crowd of people. This may well be part of the Enchanted Lands, demonstrating just why they’re known by that name. It’s unclear whether this is a freak of nature, the kind of event that happens all the time in the Enchanted Lands, or whether the magic has been unleashed by another sorceress.
6. Kristoff Saving Anna
The runaway magic has placed Anna in peril, and it falls to Kristoff and Sven to come to the rescue. It’s quite interesting to see Kristoff playing a more traditional hero role, given Frozen carefully subverted that. At the same time, though, remember that this is just one scene – it doesn’t mean Kristoff will be the one who saves the day. More likely, the love between Anna and Elsa will be Arendelle’s salvation.
5. What Are The Crystals Elsa Creates?
In one of the most spectacular displays of her power to date, Elsa chases a will-o’-the-wisp up what appears to be an ice-plinth and then generates mystical runes in the dark night sky. Runes like these are traditionally associated with Norse religion, and always carried a strong and profound meaning. This presumably means that Elsa is casting an enchantment of some kind over her land.
4. The Runestones
The Frozen 2 trailer includes a brief shot of what may be the goal of Elsa’s quest, as she approaches an area of dense mist and reaches out her hand. When Elsa touches the mist, it rolls back to reveal a number of standing stones, each of which is inscribed with the same mystic rune – the rune Elsa generated over Arendelle. It’s quite interesting seeing Elsa connected to these runestones; most scholars believe similar Norse standing stones were typically associated with masculinity, not with women.
3. The Portal
There’s a portal at the center of the runestones, shimmering with cold blue light. The color may be in response to Elsa’s ice magic, meaning every sorcerer or sorceress unlocks something different when they stand among the runestones. Whatever the case may be, Elsa and Anna step through the portal. It may be that this is how they return to Arendelle, so Elsa can use her magic to cast back the darkness, or stepping through into a new world.
2. Anna’s Promise
Anna may be older in Frozen 2, but she’s not necessarily wiser; she promises Pabble that she’ll make sure nothing happens to her sister. That’s not really a promise she’ll be able to keep, given she’s dealing with a world of magic that even the trolls don’t seem to know everything about. Naturally, including this in the Frozen 2 trailer means audiences will expect something to go badly wrong.
1. The Giant
The Frozen 2 trailer ends with an ominous shot of Elsa hiding from a monstrous giant. This may be a whole new race, especially given the horse summoned a magical representation of a giant earlier in the trailer. Alternatively, it’s also possible that this is a rock creature formed by another sorceress, perhaps serving as a warrior or guard; the design is visually similar to the ice monster Elsa herself created back in Frozen.
Key Release Dates
Frozen 2
Release Date:2019-11-22
