Original ‘Frozen’ Director Not Returning For ‘Frozen 3’

After shepherding both Frozen and Frozen 2 to massive success for Disney, Jennifer Lee will “let it go” to someone else. The Wrap spoke with Lee at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival where she revealed that she will not be at the helm of Frozen 3 which Disney announced during its Q1 earnings call earlier this year. The adventures of Anna and Elsa along with the rest of Arendelle will be guided by a new hand which the director couldn’t reveal at this time.

Lee is one of Disney’s most proven creatives on the animation side of things, penning the story for Zootopia and the screenplay Wreck-It Ralph. Her name is also attached as one of the writers of Disney’s upcoming animation Wish starring Chris Pine and Ariana DeBose. When it comes to Frozen, however, Lee’s done it all as writer, director, and producer with co-director Chris Buck. She shared in the glory with the rest of the team when the original film took home the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature back in 2014. Although she’s taking a step back from her directorial duties, she’s still apparently on board in an advisory position to help the new filmmakers who’ll take the reins of the franchise.

Regarding where Frozen 3 is in the development process, she couldn’t reveal much but she assured whoever is behind the new film will be able to fill her shoes well. “I can’t say where we are with Frozen 3,” she told The Wrap. “All our stories are driven by the artists in the studio. Where we’re going with Frozen did not come from me. It came from an incredible person. That’s a new piece, I’ve told no one. And I’ve been blown away by it and I’m just having a blast with that team.”

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What’s Next for Lee and the Kingdom of Arendelle?

Lee is excited to hand over Frozen 3 to a new creative to see what their plans are for Arendelle going forward. Her presence will still be felt on the project, but she also felt there were people at the studio who know the series just as well as she does at this point and were ready to step up to the plate. “I’m doing what I do with all the other projects,” Lee continued. “It’s really fun on ‘Frozen,’…cause we’ve lived the world for awhile together and a lot of the artists in the studio grew up with that film too, both of them, and have been there the whole way…They kinda own them as much as anyone else.” Of course, she’s not ready to rule out directing again, especially if it’s at the House of Mouse. “I know someday I want to be a filmmaker again. I’m old but I’m not that old! I’ve only done two films and I do believe there’s a time — I’ll know it — but there’s a time when you give everything you can and then you make room for innovation of the next person. I can’t imagine anywhere but Disney.”

Frozen 3 likely won’t arrive for some time considering the recent announcement. Bob Iger wanted to bring Disney back into the green after the controversial reign of Bob Chapek and thus greenlit a number of sequels of established franchises including Toy Story 5 and Zootopia 2. The hope is that the three films will bring in some serious box office numbers, especially after recent financial failures like Lightyear and Strange World.

Whatever happens with Frozen 3 and whoever returns, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez will likely be there to bring their award-winning musical talents at the very least, meaning more great tunes. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the new film and check out the trailer for Frozen 2 below.