Kristen Bell on "Frozen" sequel: I'd play Anna forever
Kristen Bell says she loves her Princess Anna character from Disney's animated film "Frozen" so much that she'd play her forever.
Well, the actress is in luck: On Thursday, Disney confirmed there will indeed be a sequel to the smash box office and Oscar-winning hit.
"I would play Anna forever if they would let me," Bell told CBS News. "Not only do I enjoy the character and how much people love her, but I enjoy the team -- the physical production team that I get to work with. They are all wonderful people...They're super talented and super kind."
That same team is behind Disney's new short film "Frozen Fever." It will screen ahead of the new "Cinderella" movie starring Lily James and Cate Blanchett. The animated short finds Elsa (Idina Menzel) planning a birthday party for her sister, Anna. "Frozen Fever" will also feature a new song written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, the duo who scored an Oscar for "Let It Go."
"They wrote music and we got to learn a new song...I have nothing even neutral to say about it. It was all wonderful," Bell, 35, said.
She's clearly not ready to let it go any time soon.
"Disney's never made a sequel. That' the truth. Disney Pixar -- that entity -- has made a sequel. But Disney-Disney has never made a sequel. They wouldn't just make it haphazardly. They would wait until the right plotline showed itself," said Bell.
Needless to say, Bell is happy Disney's venturing into the sequel-world and "taking a chance" with "Frozen." She revealed that the film went through several different iterations before what moviegoers saw on the big screen.
"In truth, it had a lot of different incarnations during the production process...Anna was a completely different person," she said. "She wasn't nearly as awkward or goofy. And then we did a massive re-write. I mean then we did pretty much a page 1 rewrite. And Jen Lee came on and between her and Chris Buck's co-directing they just found a little bit of magic. The original Hans Christian Andersen story that it's based on was very different. Elsa was more of a villain and at one point it was -- 'Will Elsa and Anna to be mother and daughter? Should they be sisters? Should they be enemies? How do we play it?' And the story just began to reveal itself -- what it wanted to be throughout the last couple of months."
Whatever they did -- it worked. "Frozen" is by far the biggest grossing animated film of all time.
"There was no way to ever predict that the audiences will react the way that they did and connect to it so much. That's the thing you can only ask Malcolm Gladwell [author of "The Tipping Point"] about I think. He would be the only one to explain it," she said.
Meanwhile, Bell and her husband, Dax Shepard, have yet to show the film to their two daughters -- as they're still too young yet, Bell says. Lincoln is only 2 years old, and Delta was just born in December.
"We're probably six months to a year away from watching television with the older one," she said.
But she's probably not too young for some "Frozen" gear, including "Frozen"-themed toothbrushes and toothpaste created by Crest and Oral B, along with an app to help make sure little ones (and maybe some of us adults!) brush for the recommended two minutes.
"Any time you can make things fun everybody's life is a lot easier -- making cleanups fun, making bath time fun, making brushing your teeth fun. It's a necessary thing to keep everyone's relationship running smoothly," she said.
Still, Bell is still not sure when -- and if -- she will tell her older daughter that she voices Anna in "Frozen."
"I almost don't want to burst her bubble while she's young," she said. "It's a little bit difficult for kids who meet me to understand why I am not a cartoon and why I don't look like Anna. And I always hate bursting their bubbles because sometimes parents will shove the kid in front of me and go, 'This is Anna. This is Princess Anna!' And the kid just looks at me and is like 'What?'"
"Frozen" aside, Bell has been quite busy lately. She's starring in season 4 of Showtime's "House of Lies." Although season 5 hasn't been officially announced, Bell says "it's looking likely."
Meanwhile, Bell has been in Atlanta shooting the upcoming big-screen comedy "Michelle Darnell," which co-stars Melissa McCarthy and "Game of Thrones" star Peter Dinklage. McCarthy portrays the film's title character, described as "a titan of industry" who's sent to prison after she's caught for insider trading. She later attempts to rebrand herself as America's latest sweetheart.
"We just began and I'm already in giggles on set," Bell said. "It is an honor to even share a water bottle with Melissa McCarthy -- let alone some screen time. And she couldn't be sweeter. I'm having a little bit of a problem as a fan-girl holding it together."
Bell admits she's having a hard time keeping it together with Dinklage on set because she's such a huge fan.
"There was a time last year during the last episode of 'Game of Thrones' when I changed the avatar on my Twitter page to 'If Tyrion Lannister dies, we riot.' I'm sure he doesn't know that but wouldn't it weird if an actor you were working with used your face as their avatar," said Bell."It's just a whole bunch of fangirl stuff that I try to leave at the door. But it's very exciting because I love 'Game of Thrones.'"
And kids love "Frozen."
"Frozen Fever" premieres in theaters on Friday. There's no word on when the official sequel will be released.
