Earlier this week, as it was in the middle of collecting two Academy Awards trophies, Disney’s Frozen passed another major milestone, becoming Walt Disney Studio’s seventh feature to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office. Frozen now stands as the second highest grossing animated movie of all time, and the biggest non-sequel animated film ever released.
Incredible.
We sometimes hear from readers who claim we write too many Frozen articles. Like the surprise sing a long screenings. Or the GIF reviews. Or Let It Go sung in a million different languages. I get it. But how do you ignore something that’s historic? We haven’t seen a film dominate quite like this, and I’m not sure if we’re going to see anything like it for a long time.
With this in mind – from the Oscars to the $1 billion mark – we reached out to Disney Animation and asked them to share with us some of the movie’s most mind-blowing accomplishments. They came back with so many, that we had to compile them into this list. I hope that you learn some interesting facts about this beloved animated feature!
1. It’s a box office juggernaut
Globally speaking, Frozen is the biggest Disney Animation release ever. In addition to the stats listed above, Frozen currently stands as the 18th-highest grossing film of all time. It holds Disney’s record for the No. 1 all-time Thanksgiving debut. It is the No. 1 all-time Disney Animation debut, as well, earning $93.6M from Wednesday to Sunday in November, and $67.4M from Friday to Sunday of that weekend.
Frozen remained in Top 8 films at the domestic box office for all 14 weeks in wide release, which gives it the longest run in top 10 since 2009, when Avatar lingered for 14 weeks. It is the 10th Disney release to reach $300M domestically.
2. It is an international juggernaut
As of March 5, Frozen has earned $611.5 million overseas. In Korea, Frozen is the No. 1 animated film of all time, the No. 2 highest foreign release (behind only Avatar), and the fifth-highest overall release of all time. Denmark and Venezuela claim Frozen as their highest grossing animated film of all time. In the UK and Ireland, the animated smash is the highest grossing non-sequel animated film, and the fifth-highest ranked animated film of all time. It’s also the No. 1 Disney animated film, ever.
Disney tells us that Frozen currently sits as the highest grossing Disney or Pixar animated release in over 25 territories including Russia, China, and Brazil. It is the highest grossing Disney animated film ever in more than 50 territories including UK/Ireland, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, and the Latin America region as a whole.
Which helps explain this:
3. It is an awards juggernaut
Last Sunday, Frozen claimed the Academy Award for Best Animated Film, besting movies like The Croods and The Wind Rises. It also took home the Best Original Song Oscar for "Let It Go." Of course. But this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Frozen also was last year’s Golden Globe winner for best animated film. It took home the BAFTA Award winner for Animated Feature Film, the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature, as well as the Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures (for Peter Del Vecho). Frozen was the winner of five Annie Awards this year, including Best Animated Feature, Directing, Music, Voice Acting (Josh Gad), and Production Design. The film also ,took home four Visual Effects Society awards for Animation, Animated Character, Created Environment, and FX and Simulation.
Regionally, the film was the winner of numerous critics associations’ awards for best animated feature.
But we’ll always remember this adorable speech:
4. It is a musical juggernaut
And we don’t just mean Let It Go, though that’s certainly a hit.
The Frozen soundtrack has sold more than 1 million copies, and spent five (nonconsecutive) weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It’s the first film soundtrack to do so since 1998, and the first animated film soundtrack to do so since The Lion King in 1994 and 1995.
In the top 5 since early January, the album has held the No. 1 or No. 2 spot for eight consecutive weeks. It hit No. 1 on iTunes Overall Album Chart in 31 countries including the U.S. Both the soundtrack and the Oscar-winning song "Let It Go," performed by Idina Menzel, are certified Platinum.
And beloved. Which helps explain this:
5. It is a social media juggernaut
Frozen fans LOVE You Tube. The "Let It Go" film clip featuring Menzel's performance has been viewed over 121 million times on YouTube as of March 5. Frozen has gained a significant viral web following with numerous fan postings throughout its theatrical run, including interpretations and covers of the song "Let It Go."
Dude’s sing it:
Kids sing it:
Celebrities sing it:
And local news reporters sing it:
We barely have enough room on the Internet to share the number of Frozen tributes and parodies with you. Throw a rock at Google and you will hit a Frozen tribute. Guaranteed. It is an historic animated movie that has left its fingerprints all over the industry. So, who’s ready for Frozen 2?
