Among Disney’s many record-breaking accomplishments in 2019 was the highly-anticipated Frozen II. Surprising absolutely no one, the sequel soared to become the new highest-grossing animated film of all time (if you don’t count Jon Favreau’s The Lion King). The movie had some memorable songs, such as “Into The Unknown,” and a quotable line or two: "Samantha?" But did you notice Frozen II's similarities to Thor: Ragnarok?
Yeah, that’s right. Taika Waititi’s first Marvel film and Disney Animation’s most recent hit have a couple of parallels. Check out Screen Junkies’ hilarious Honest Trailer of the movie and watch out for the connections between Thor: Ragnarok below:
Get all that? There’s a ton that’s been unpacked here in the five-minute Honest Trailer about Frozen II. As the video points out, this was one of the few sequels made by Disney that wasn’t a low-quality direct-to-video release. (There have been some strange ones.) But as Screen Junkies jokes, this one was in theaters, so it must be good, right?
The movie actually did quite well among critics and audiences alike – with some exceptions such as CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg, who gave the film a 2.5 star review. Like Honest Trailers likes to do, this video highlights some of the movie’s weak points such as the music being full of “B-sides” and the character’s story arcs not progressing past where they were in the first movie.
Anna and Elsa deal with many of the same challenges they did in the original movie, but Frozen II does have plenty of new outfits for them to show off (so they can sell more dolls). The trailer even points out how self-aware the movie is of not being as good as its original. It just keeps referencing the 2013 hit time and time again!
But back to Thor: Ragnarok. As Screen Junkies quipped, Frozen II could have totally been sued by Marvel if they weren’t part of the same parent company. Taika Waititi's sequel follows siblings who are much different from one another that meet their long-lost sibling Hela, who teaches them their family history of bloodshed. The side-by-sides seen in the vid show some pretty similar visuals, including Korg and the rock people both making appearances.
Considering a movie like Frozen II takes around five years to make, chances are high that the film was already quite far along when Thor: Ragnarok was being crafted, but who knows? It could have been an unwitting inspiration. The Honest Trailer ends on a high note by pointing out Olaf’s Seinfeld-like observational comedy and renaming that sequel Rise of Icewalker – not unlike Episode 9’s title in the Star Wars saga.
What did you think of this Honest Trailer? Did it parody Frozen II for what it really was? And what about that Thor: Ragnarok comparison? Sound off in the comments below.
