Anna Daniels
In the past, Disney sequels have often lacked the quality and heart of their predecessors. Rather than attempting to raise the stakes, many of these sequels ultimately looked like half-hearted attempts to provide something, anything, that allowed fans to continue the experience of the first movie. This approach led to dismal films like Mulan II and Kronk’s New Groove — movies that typically went direct to video and focused on secondary characters, mundane plots, and a general lack of the type of quality fans have come to expect from Disney.
Not so here. Rather than feeling decidedly less interesting, Frozen 2‘s compelling storyline simply feels like a continuation of the original story. In a certain sense, one could argue that it serves as the second half of a story that had to be finished, even if you don’t realize this until you see the sequel.
On top of the quality of the story, Disney also poured a reported $150 million into the production — for those of you keeping score at home, that’s one and a half times the estimated budget for The Lego Movie 2. The obvious takeaway is that right out of the gate, Disney clearly committed to a high-quality sequel that was meant to rival the original film.
Written by: Looper
