January theme: Into the “Frozen” Universe

Deadline: January 14th, 2020

To mark the recent astounding success obtained by Frozen II (2019, dir. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee), which has already managed to secure a place in box office history, Animation Studies 2.0 devotes its January theme to the Frozen franchise. Since its release in 2013, Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s feature has not only gone on to become one of the most successful animated features of all times but has also opened up a full-fledged transmedia franchise. The latter, aside from its recent sequel, includes numerous video games (e.g., Frozen: Olaf’s Quest [2013], Frozen Free Fall [2013], or Frozen Free Fall: Snowball Fight [2015]), two short films (i.e., Frozen Fever [2015] and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure [2017]), a Broadway stage musical, an Ice show (i.e., Disney on Ice: Frozen), various books, a graphic novel, and several theme park attractions. 

Why does this animated universe keep having a strong cultural presence? How has the Frozen storyworld evolved through its adaptations and expansions across media? And how the representation of gender? These are only some of the questions that we would like to find an answer to with our theme. For the month of January, we thus invite posts addressing the Frozen franchise, and its various installments form any angle, particularly encouraging contributions that look at this storyworld in terms of seriality and transmediality.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

  • Frozen II and the serialization of a contemporary classic;
  • From screen to stage via videogames, television, and paper: the adaptations of Frozen on other media;
  • Frozen, seriality, and gender representation;
  • The Frozen universe and Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen;
  • The Frozen franchise and audience studies;
  • Character development in the Frozen storyworld;
  • Elsa, Anna and the subversion of the Disney princess canon;
  • Merchandising the Frozen universe;
  • From Let It Go to Into the Unknown: the music of the Frozen franchise;
  • Frozen’s influences and legacies.

Posts of between 600 and 900 words, which discuss any aspect of the above topic are welcome. Contributors are encouraged to include clips and at least one image to support their posts. Please also include a short bio and 3 keywords. All permissions are the responsibility of the contributor. Please contact the managing editor Cristina Formenti (cristina.formenti@unimi.it) with submissions or questions.