Charles Solomon - The Art of Frozen

David Womersley, Brittney Lee | Digital

Brittney Lee | Digital

Jim Finn | Digital

The directors wish to thank the talented artists who, as a team, worked countless hours to craft the CG character poses used in this book.

Copyright 2013 by Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Solomon, Charles, 1950
The art of Frozen / by Charles Solomon ; preface by John Lasseter ; foreword by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4521-1716-4 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4521-4524-2 (epub, mobi)
1. Frozen (Motion picture : 2013) 2. Animated films--United States--Technique. 3. Walt Disney Company. I. Title.

NC1766.U53F58 2013
791.43'34--dc23

2013016813

Designed by Glen Nakasako, Smog Design, Inc.

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com

Front Cover : Bill Schwab, Lisa Keene, Brittney Lee | Digital

Back when Pixar was making Toy Story, we traveled down to the Disney Animation Studios regularly for meetings, and I remember being blown away by preproduction artwork for a potential film called The Snow Queen. There was one painting in particular by Paul Felix of the Snow Queen, riding in a sleigh through this landscape of gigantic snowflakes. At the time, the studio was concerned that contemporary audiences were not interested in sincere fairytales. But I always felt there was a way to tell these heartfelt stories for a modern audience. Im so pleased that Princess and the Frog and Tangled have proven that people everywhere still love them.

When I was asked to come back to creatively lead the Disney Animation Studios, those beautiful images were always in the back of my head as a possible movie. But since we are a filmmaker-driven studio, it would take a filmmaking team to want to make it. Then Ed Catmull and I brought director Chris Buck back into the studio. Chris, like me, is steeped in all things Disney. He got very excited about the possibility of directing a fairytale musical based on The Snow Queen.

The story proved difficult to develop. The original fairytale is a very episodic adventure about two young kids. But Chris and his story team had a breakthrough when they decided to make their heroine, Anna, the Snow Queens sister. Chris then brought together the songwriters Bobby and Kristen Lopez with Jennifer Lee, who co-wrote Wreck-It-Ralph. Bobby and Kristens brilliant songs really helped define the films modern yet sincere tone. And Jenn, who agreed to join Chris as co-director, had a great take on the characters and this world full of magic and mysterious trolls. Together, they evolved the tale into Frozen, a unique story about two sisters that is so different from any other fairytale that Disney has ever done.

To direct the art of the film, Chris was clear from the beginning that he wanted Mike Giaimo. Mike went to Cal Arts along with Chris and me. His graphic sense of design is just phenomenal, and his use of color has always been innovative. But he had never worked in computer animation, so I was very excited to see how he would take on the medium.

First, Mike and his visual development team went on an unbelievable research trip to Norway, where they got inspiration for the architecture and costumes of the films world. Mike was very taken by the dramatic spires of Norways stave churches as well as heavier, medieval fortresses. He combined the architecture of both to come up with a very original castle. There, the artists also discovered rosemaling, a folk art technique of painting and embroidery. Mike incorporated this decorative art into the castle interior and costumes, but with new patterns and color choices. So while the films detailing is grounded in tradition, it is clearly Mikes new interpretation.

But I knew Mikes talent would really shine when challenged with how to design believable frozen environments that, created by Elsa, the Snow Queen, were also magical. Early on, Mike put Elsa, once she becomes the Snow Queen, in this stunning lace cape made out of ice. That cape set the bar very high for a design sensibility for Elsas world that was beautiful and at the same time modern. Mike was also inspired by the prism effect of ice, and used it to bring an incredibly rich color palette into this snowy worldnot just blues and whites, but also pinks, oranges, and even greensmaking the landscape of Frozen truly something we have never seen before.

Simply put, at the center of every Magic Kingdom is a castle. Fairytales are such a part of what Disney Animation is. Chris, Jenn, and Mike have found a unique way to add to this tradition. And as this book shows, the work of the artists throughout Frozens design process has been nothing short of breathtaking.

John Lasseter

Paul Felix | Digital

When our art director Michael Giaimo first read the script for Frozen, his immediate reaction was, This is a big movie. From a story perspective, thats what we were going for, but at the time we were so focused on the details that we hadnt yet grasped the visual challenges that such a big movie brought. Luckily, from the very beginning, Mike had a strong sense of what it would take to bring this epic landscape to life, and thankfully, he was inspired by the undertaking.

For example, weve got more than our fair share of snow in this film. But thanks to Mike and our visual development team, there is so much more color than anyone could have imagined. White, as Mike says, is a blank canvas upon which to build. From the warm peach and yellow tones at sunrise, the deep pinks and blues cast at sunset, to the rich indigos and purples caught in the moonlight, no scene suffers from a lack of color. And then there are the costumes, inspired by the rich, colorful Scandinavian bunads with their thick fabrics and rosemaling designs. The sisters both wear several gorgeous gowns. Elsa even wears one made of ice. But one of the most fun design challenges was working with the team to come up with the outfit for our ice-harvesting, mountain man, Kristoff. The design of his heavy tunic, pants, and shoes grew out of researching the Sami people, an ancient, indigenous group that still lives in the arctic area.

All of the research on this film helped us not only find the details of this world but also the spirit of this story. The visual development team went to Norway, and a group of us also went to Quebec City to see the ice hotel, a giant palace built entirely out of ice every year. (John Lasseter insisted we stay there, but we didnt. Those icy beds, while beautiful, didnt look so comfortable!) We timed our visit to coincide with Quebecs winter carnival, a two-week festival with dogsled races, parades, and amazing snow sculptures. The whole community was out on the streets in the middle of February. What really struck us was how the cold weather didnt stop the people from living their lives outside. In fact, the weather brought the whole city together to celebrate the cold. That experience inspired us to make sure that