Frozen 3 D23 Footage Description, Plot Details

The “Frozen III” presentation at D23 got off to a shaky start, when stars Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell were beset with technical issues as they sang a new song from the hugely anticipated sequel due in theaters next Thanksgiving.

It led to Bell actually talking about what should have happened when the stars emerged from behind a giant screen. It was actually very charming and very “Frozen” of them. And after they wrapped up their banter, teasing that there is more danger in “Frozen III” and indeed more romance, Josh Gad took the stage. That’s right – Olaf is getting a girlfriend in “Frozen III.” And her name is Samantha.

Gad’s song, which had calypso and disco overtones, was all about his romance with “Samantha” and it was a hoot. (Aren’t Olaf’s songs always a highlight?).

The movie is set right after Anna and Kristoff’s wedding, with a mysterious omen opening a portal to a frozen wonderland (or is it wasteland?) And Anna and Elsa being Anna and Elsa, they follow the portal into the new universe – the landscape is full of crushed, snowy whites. And the art direction calls to mind the work of classic Disney artists like Eyvind Earle. (He was the one responsible for the square trees in “Sleeping Beauty.”) And, of course, it recalls Mary Blair, particularly her work on beloved Disney attraction It’s a Small World.

Once they get into the world, they are greeted by a new character and a potential first for the “Frozen” franchise – a villainess! She seems to be made out of these shards of sharp ice that form a cape around her like a living, billowing bat wing. It was an incredibly striking character. Gad, Menzel and Bell didn’t say who this new character is or who voices her.

That’s when the “Frozen III” presentation – and indeed all of the big D23 presentation – wrapped up. The footage was not released online, so the rest of the world will have to wait to see it for themselves.

“Frozen III” arrives in theaters on Nov. 24, 2027.