Book Review: “The Art of Frozen 2”

Hi everyone!

We received The Art of Frozen 2 by Jessica Julius to review. It is available to buy now, I received it a little after the publication date. I had been wondering previously why the book wasn’t released before the film as is the norm – but now I know. It is a VERY spoiler heavy book, and really is best if you’ve seen the film first before reading it. What I really like about The Art of Frozen 2 is that there is plenty to read. Some of the “Art of” books lately have been very light on text. I like to read about the concept art and not just look at it. The book isn’t text heavy, but it does explain a lot of the decisions that went into creating the look for the movie.

The foreward is by filmmakers Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho. They talk about the concept for the new film, and about learning the difference between myths and fairy tales. The Introduction talks about how the filmmakers knew they wanted autumn for the new movie, with the rich autumn colors. It also mentions design principles for Frozen 2.

The Art of Frozen 2 is divided into 5 chapters: Arendelle, Air, Earth, Fire and Water. It says that the filmmakers studied the elements of nature and they became “the guiding iconography for the design of Frozen 2“. For example, the Fire section includes “the salamander” who is a Fire Spirit. I don’t believe it mentions the name Bruni, which is the name now given to it (nor do I recall the name in the film). The book talks about how in European folklore, the salamander is “connected to fire”. The fire element can be seen in the film and artwork.

There are about 150 pages of concept art and text. The artwork includes character studies in various outfits and how the few years of maturing informed the decisions on how to dress Anna and Elsa in particular. That includes their travel outfits and their epilogue outfits, which is where the biggest spoiler comes in if you have not watched the movie yet. For example, Elsa’s final outfit is explained and it features all the elements I mentioned earlier.

Whether you love the film or not, there is no getting around the artistic beauty of it. And a section of the book includes the Enchanted Forest, which art director David Wommersley says “had to have emotional context and almost be a character in its own right”. The production design team researched tree species that would grow in this region of the world and shaped them into “Eyvind Earl-inspired silhouettes”.

Other characters are shown and discussed, including Kristoff and Olaf, Agnarr and Iduna, and Honeymaren and Ryder.

The Art of Frozen 2 offers hundreds of pieces of concept art within it. I found myself a little confused at times with the film and honestly, the book fills in a lot of details. I always look forward to “Art of” books for not only the concept art but any additional information about the movies.

If you are a fan of Frozen 2, I definitely recommend the book! Or if you are just interested in the art of Disney – there is a lot of lovely concept art within it.

You can purchase The Art of Frozen 2 at Amazon here.

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