With the falling of the Frozen soundtrack off the top of the Billboard charts, it seemed like the unstoppable billion-dollar Disney juggernaut would finally be laid to rest.
Well, ABC and Disney just made sure that Queen Elsa will be reigning well into May 2015.
At least on television, if the season finale of Once Upon A Time, is to be believed. The season’s cliffhanger had an urn, brought from Rumplestiltskin’s secret magic room in the past, falling open and a mysterious liquid pouring out. That liquid materialized into a woman wearing an icy blue dress with a large blond braid.
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If that iconic look wasn’t enough of a dead giveaway, the mysterious woman threw her arm out and materialized ice.
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It’s official, folks, Queen Elsa has arrived in Storybrooke.
If you are wondering how its possible for the newest Disney queen to show up so soon, remember that ABC is owned by Disney. What’s really interesting about Elsa’s appearance in Storybrooke for Season 4 is the possible positioning of her as the villain. It’s all very Wicked, isn’t it (seriously, no pun intended)?
Lots of questions to be asked, though.
Will Elsa be the misunderstood menace that she was in Frozen, freezing everything in sight by accident? Or will she be the new Peter Pan and just be all kinds of messed up? Will she be related to anyone on the show, like the Wicked Witch of the West was to Regina? Is Storybrooke in for the longest winter ever ? (So much for Game of Thrones, we’re still waiting on that one.)
The biggest question of all is, when will Frozen die? At the looks of it, not very soon. It is the biggest hit that Disney has seen in nearly a decade, with $1.1 billion in box office receipts alone. It was clear that the House of Mouse would probably milk the hell out of this franchise, but this is pretty unexpected, and even a bit genius. Elsa in Storybrooke looks to offer a new perspective to the story and opens Frozen up to a new audience (i.e. those who don’t have or aren’t in the vicinity of children). It’s also far more subtle than commissioning a direct-to-video sequel or animated TV series, like previous Disney properties have. They seem to be shoring Frozen up as a classic alongside The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, and succeeding at it too.
Frozen’s signature song may be called “Let It Go” , but it doesn’t apply to the film. Elsa and Anna and the snowman aren’t going anywhere, for a very long time.
