Frozen is still a merchandising machine, a year after the blockbuster movie’s release. Source: Supplied
PARENTS, brace yourselves, because, when it comes to the movie Frozen, it doesn’t look like the kids are going to “Let it go” just yet.
Frozen took the world by icy storm when it was released a year ago, taking more than $1.23 billion at the box office and becoming the top-grossing animated movie of all time ahead of favourites such as Toy Story 3 and The Lion King.
And by the looks of Australian shop shelves, laden with Frozen dolls, art supplies, costumes, jewellery and furnishings, it appears the childhood obsession with the Disney animated movie isn’t going to let up any time soon.
Far from seeing its popularity wane in the year since its cinematic release, Frozen’sicy grip on the nation has only tightened with time.
So much so that the film’s director, Jennifer Lee, has apologised to parents.
“A year ago, I’d meet people who, when they found out who I was, they’d say, “Oh, we love the songs! We sing them all the time”,” Lee told a US reporter.
“Now they’re like, ‘Yep, we’re still listening to those songs’. I’ve gone from, ‘Thank you’, to, ‘Sorry!’”
Libby Williamson hosts snow queen parties made all the more popular due to Frozen.
Party planner Libby Williamson says snow queen-themed parties are all the rage for young girls at her South Melbourne business, The Party Room.
Williamson says little girls love to dress up as Elsa, in particular, because she wore a beautiful dress and was a strong and confident character they could identify with better than some of the older-style Disney princesses. But many girls come to parties dressed as Elsa, regardless of the theme of the event.
“Elsa is beautiful and she has super powers — she’s a really strong female character for girls to connect to,” Williamson says.
“We have snow queen parties for girls as young as three right up to eight and nine-year-olds.”
Frozen doesn’t just appeal to kids. It has inspired popular culture in all manner of ways, too.
The cult hit TV series Once Upon a Time is adding Frozen characters to its cast of storybook characters this year with Aussie actor Georgina Haig taking on the role of Elsa.
Princess Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff in a scene from the animated feature. Picture: AP/Disney
There have also been viral YouTube tributes by young fans and their parents, celebrity skits by Kristen Wiig and Ellen DeGeneres, and even a line of Frozen wedding gowns created by fashion designer Alfred Angelo.
Then, of course, there is the ongoing success of the Oscar-winning theme song Let it Go!, which was also released as a platinum-selling pop song by Demi Lovato. The original song, sung by Idina Menzel, has been described as “musical crack” and become an anthem for young girls.
The success of Let it Go! also catapulted Menzel into the spotlight, particularly after John Travolta famously introduced her at the Oscars by the wrong name — “Adele Dazeem”, spawning a series of amusing internet memes.
So popular is the song that not even Menzel herself can live up to the hype. The Tony winner was slammed for her “off-key” rendition of the ballad when she performed it live on New Year’s Eve in New York’s Time Square.
The interest in Frozen, which is the only animated movie among the top 10 grossing movies of all time, is sure to reach fever pitch when Disney releases Frozen Fever, its much-hyped short film sequel later this year.
Frozen Fever will be released with Disney’s big-budget reimagining of Cinderella, starring Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother and Helena Bonham Carter as the fairy godmother. It is hoped Frozen will bring some of its box office magic to Cinderella when they are released together.
And unlike when Frozen was first released and Disney severely underestimated the pulling-power of the film, which led to an international Frozen doll crisis, there is sure to be no shortage of merchandising opportunities this time.
In 2013, desperate Aussie parents were shelling out huge sums to import Anna and Elsa dolls when Australian supplies dried up.
This Christmas was a very different story.
There were singing, toddler Elsa dolls, light-up Anna costumes, karaoke machines and make-your-own Olaf sets so if “you wanna build a snowman” you literally could — in the middle of summer.
A Target spokeswoman said the icy Queen Elsa, with her sparkly blue dress and flowing white hair, was by far the most popular character of the film, with Elsa dolls outselling the more-sensibly attired Anna by three to one.
She said the store sold a range of Frozen products but the most popular were DVDs, toys, books, themed-scooters, clothing and bed linen.
“We haven’t seen anything as popular as the Disney Frozen phenomenon for years, not since Disney’s family favourites Cars (2006), Finding Nemo (2003) Toy Story (1995), and the Lion King (1994) — the success of Disney’s winning formula continues,” says Jen Goonniah, head of brand communications for Target Australia.
ICY REALM’S TOY KINGDOM
IF you want to build a commercial empire, it seems all you have to do is build a snowman.
Raking in more than $1.2 billion worldwide, the blockbuster success of Disney’s Frozen was quickly echoed in the commercial realm with businesses reaping the benefits of its unwavering success.
The 2013 Disney film was the highest-grossing animation of all time, the fifth-highest of any genre, and Apple’s most downloaded movie last year — even the name Elsa, made popular by the film, jumped 256 places last year to No. 75 on preferred baby names globally.
The film’s cult-like following has almost every toy under the snow now produced in Frozen-variety, from plush dolls to clothes, tents and even Monopoly, and retailers are revelling in the popularity.
A recent IBISWorld report showed that toy and game demand is driven by social perception of popular items.
IBISWorld senior industry analyst Caroline Finch said with the industry declining in revenue, toys from popular franchises were the only tangible avenue for retailer growth.
“In this challenging environment, stores have only been able to grow by competing over market share, using, for example, access to toys from well-known movie franchises as a way to attract consumer attention,” Finch says.
Start collecting the Disney Read to Me Storybook and CD collection from tomorrow with a free copy of Frozen and a collector case for all 14 books. Collect the rest for $2.50 each day with a token from that day’s Herald Sun
FIND YOUR NEAREST OUTLET: BRING HOME SOME DISNEY MAGIC
Originally published as Frozen fever fails to thaw a year on
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