Disney Releases the Bleak First Frozen 2 Trailer

Six years after releasing Frozen into a Disney princess-hungry market and subsequently earning more than $1 billion at the global box office, Disney has released the trailer for its long-awaited sequel.

Though narrated by a prophetic spiel from a new character (“Elsa, the past is not what it seems. You must find the truth!”), and featuring clips of characters riding reindeer in forests, standing on icebergs and traveling through grim forests, nothing is revealed about the plot of the film.

Though the studio released a teaser trailer for the film in February, the new official trailer doesn’t add anything to the existing narrative, as it features the same type of footage of characters in various states of motion (running! Jumping! Riding reindeer!) and recycles the same triumphant score.

What’s striking about the Frozen II trailer in particular is how bleak it makes the film appear, a stark contrast to the first film’s blindingly bright and comical tone. Even the official poster itself is ominous, finding leads Anna and Elsa surrounded by fog in a barren forest.

The official synopsis released by Disney hints the film will investigate why Elsa was born with magical powers, and both the teaser trailer and official trailer allude to Elsa embarking on a journey to find the answer.

Listen, when your franchise makes that much money, you’re allowed to do what you want with your promotional strategy. Ominous or not, it’s still going to be a hit.

Frozen II will be released worldwide on Nov. 22, and will welcome back Idina Menzel as Elsa, Kristen Bell as Anna and Josh Gad as Olaf.

Check out the official trailer and the film’s new poster below.