After one of the most successful box office runs Disney has seen in the history of the company: Frozen has gone on to become the top grossing animated film of all time. Frozen became Fandango’s biggest advanced ticket seller in the company’s history. Frozen was released to massive critical acclaim. Most critics singling out “Let It Go” as the best Disney song since the Renaissance days. Frozen went on to win two Academy Awards: “Let It Go” won Best Original Song and Frozen won the Oscar for Best Animated Film. However, there have been many other animated movies that have won Academy Awards. What set Frozen apart from the rest?
Word of Mouth
Once an anticipated movie comes out, people flock to see it, and everything ends there. A lot of hugely hyped movies drop insane box office numbers for the first week or two. After that, they slowly drop off and the movie fades into obscurity until the DVD and Blu Ray release. What is it that insured that this never happened to Frozen? Since it’s release, Frozen stayed in the top 10 of the box office for over three full months! To put that into perspective, Frozen was still making huge numbers in the box office in the weeks leading up to its DVD and Blu Rat release. This can be attributed to word of mouth.
Disney did something brilliant while marketing Frozen: They did very little. There were a few ad campaigns, but you never got the feel for how the movie was going to be. It seemed like just another Disney movie. However, Frozen blindsided the audience and critics alike with a very uplifting story, Broadway musical quality songs, some adult humor, and some of the most interesting themes that Disney has ever explored. This led to many people going to their friends and family and saying, “You’ve got to see this movie!” And it worked! Whether you’re an adult or a kid, Frozen offers something for everyone.
Lack of Competition
Frozen continued to see success, because there weren’t many other movies out to see. Frozen came out while Oscar season was still in full swing. For those that follow the awards season, the movies that come out tend to be very adult-oriented and not the best movies when it comes to garnering a lot of mainstream success. Frozen was in a league of its own during that time. It was a family movie that came out around the time families were seeing each other for the Holidays. It makes sense that families weren’t exactly in a huge rush to go out to see Dallas Buyers Club or 12 Years a Slave. For those that wanted to see a movie that would be fun for the whole family, Frozen was the only choice for a few whole months.
The Phenomenon
With a sing-a-long version that was released into theaters, the mainstream success of Let It Go, and some of the theme that the film explored, Frozen has because a cultural phenomenon. It pleased the critics and audiences alike and we congratulate Disney on a job well done. Frozen deserved this.