‘Frozen 2 has too many songs’ – a critique

(Originally posted to the Disney Frozen Amino on 16 Jan 2020. Edits made.)

‘And if I heard you (which I don’t!) I’m spoken for, I fear.’

1. Number of songs

Below are the lists of songs WITH LYRICS that appear in Frozen and Frozen II, excluding outtakes, and the ones playing during the credits:

Frozen:

1. Frozen Heart
2. Do You Want To Build A Snowman?
3. For The First Time In Forever
4. Love Is An Open Door
5. Let It Go
6. Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People
7. In Summer
8. For The First Time In Forever (Reprise)
9. Fixer Upper

Frozen II:

1. All Is Found
2. Some Things Never Change
3. Into The Unknown
4. When I Am Older
5. Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People (Cont.)
6. Lost In The Woods
7. Show Yourself
8. The Next Right Thing

Notice how Frozen II has FEWER songs than Frozen. Furthermore, this is a list which lists the 31-second ‘Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People (Cont.)’ that comes IMMEDIATELY before ‘Lost In The Woods’, which means that Frozen II functionally should have 7, and not 8, songs.

2. Length of songs

The number of ‘long songs’ in both movies are the same. The ‘long songs’ are those above 2 minutes:

Frozen:

• Do You Want To Build A Snowman?
• For The First Time In Forever
• Love Is An Open Door
• Let It Go
• For The First Time In Forever (Reprise)
• Fixer Upper
  (6 total)

Frozen II:

• All Is Found
• Some Things Never Change
• Into The Unknown
• Lost In The Woods
• Show Yourself
• The Next Right Thing
  (6 total)

Someone could calculate the exact time each movie spends on songs, but my question is this: why would the judgment on 2 movies with the same number of ‘meaty’ songs be different?

3. Balance of songs throughout movie

The REAL issue is how unbalanced Frozen‘s songs were. Frozen‘s (2) to (8) basically happen one after another, and then there’s a long pause while Anna and Kristoff fall off the cliff and Hans goes up the mountain to find Anna, and then ‘Fixer Upper’. This is why ‘Fixer Upper’ feels so tacked on and isn’t a very well-liked song.

The fact that some people say that Frozen II had too many songs, that they were squished together, that they were coming too fast, actually shows that the songs were well balanced across the movie. It didn’t feel like any one part was really lacking in songs in Frozen II. The same could be said of Frozen, but that’s because during the drama after ‘For The First Time In Forever (Reprise)’, the tone of the movie darkens and songs aren’t quite so appropriate.

Which is a lie, because the Broadway musical version has 2 more songs in that section: ‘Kristoff Lullaby’ and ‘Monster’.

Besides, isn’t ‘ The Next Right Thing’ a song about Elsa dying and Anna needing to move on? Doesn’t get more dark than that.

The reason why some people thought Frozen II had more songs than it does is probably because at 3 points in the movie, parts of ‘All Is Found’ are repeated:

1. Anna sings Elsa to sleep before ‘Into The Unknown’;

2. Elsa speaks with Honeymaren in the Enchanted Wood;

3. Elsa nearly trips into the depths of Ahtohallan.

I’d say this is about keeping a consistent theme, just like how ‘Show Yourself’ literally repeats a 3/4 of a stanza of ‘All Is Found’, or how the AURORA call is repeated over and over and over again in the story and in the songs, but what do I know?

4. Conclusion

I suspect those who thought the movie was too filled with songs are actually thinking of something else: they didn’t like the songs.

Maybe a character undergoing a transformation in the space of one song (‘Into The Unknown’; ‘ The Next Right Thing’) is unconvincing. Maybe they just don’t have the oomph of the older songs. Maybe they thought the songs were nonsensical in the context of the plot, or maybe they flat-out thought the plot was nonsense and the songs therefore invalid.

I don’t mind these criticisms. When argued well, I believe someone can make them convincing.

What I do mind, though, is the statement that Frozen II has too many songs. It doesn’t. It has fewer but better-placed songs, and that it why it is balanced, and therefore why it seems to be filled with songs.

Moreover,

It’s an animated MUSICAL. Am I supposed to expect it to NOT be filled with songs??