Paris (AFP)

After the cult song "Liberated, delivered", place the chorus "In another world". Six years after the box-office records by "The Snow Queen", a new ice-breaker is preparing with the release of the sequel to this worldwide success of Disney Studios.

Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and her lover Kristoff, reindeer Sven and snowman Olaf return for "The Snow Queen 2", theatrical Wednesday in France and Friday in the United States.

In 2013, the first episode, inspired by an eponymous tale by Andersen, followed Anna's journey to find her sister Elsa, struggling with uncontrolled glacial powers, which allowed her to create ice and snow.

Awarded the Oscar for best animated film in 2014 and the best song for the iconic "Liberated, released" ("Let It Go" in English), "The Snow Queen" became the film of the most lucrative animation in history, raising nearly $ 1.3 billion worldwide, before this record is beaten this year by the remake of the "Lion King".

In France, the film had gathered more than 5 million spectators, also invading the imagination of children with its many products.

- Scandinavian myths -

The idea of ​​making it the sequel came to his tandem of directors - Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, again in charge -, after having released in 2015 the short film "The Frozen: a frosty party".

"We realized that we had not finished the story," Jennifer Lee, who became the Artistic Director of Disney Animation Studios after John Lasseter's departure in 2018, said in a press conference in Paris. accusations of sexual harassment.

"We had the feeling that Elsa's powers were accepted, but why did she have them, what are they for?" She added. "Once we started, we could not stop."

This second opus, which takes place three years after the first, focuses on the history of the royal family of Arendelle and the origin of the powers of Elsa.

A mysterious voice returns to haunt her, and promises him answers about herself. She encourages him to leave the castle where she lives peacefully, to embark on a new quest - along with her sister Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven - which will take her to an enchanted forest that holds secrets. .

While "The Snow Queen" was held in winter, his suite, which should not disappoint fans, is adorned with the colors of autumn to take his characters in adventures sometimes funny, sometimes dark and always very musical. It leaves plenty of room for nature and elements, drawing inspiration from Scandinavian myths and Nordic folklore, all in a whirlwind of technical and visual feats.

- Seven new songs -

The characters are also deeper, including the friendly snowman Olaf, whose comedian Dany Boon continues to be the voice in French.

Pillar of the first film, the songs are again at the rendezvous with seven titles composed by the same duo of songwriters, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

Among them, the heady song Elsa "In another world" ("Into the Unknown" in VO), or that of Kristoff "I lost the north" ("Lost in the woods"), in which he is accompanied by singing reindeers in a comic parody of the boy bands of the 80s and 90s.

"We have designed + The Frozen 2+ as a kind of second act of a musical", in which "we can go a little further, be more in the emotion", not to mention the "funny songs" said Chris Buck.

Jennifer Lee emphasized that this second album was also "a film about growing up and being confronted with the real world, your role in the world".

While it promises to be a new success, it ensures that a third part is not in the boxes. "I have not personally thought about what could be beyond," she said.

© 2019 AFP