Disney taps 'Wreck-It Ralph' writer to direct 'Frozen'

By Rebecca Keegan

Nov. 29, 2012 12 AM PT

Walt Disney Animation Studios has tapped Jennifer Lee, one of the screenwriters of its video game-based hit “Wreck-It Ralph,” to direct its 2013 comedy-adventure film “Frozen.”

A musical adaptation of the 1845 Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Snow Queen,” the story follows a young girl named Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) as she attempts to break a spell cast by the Snow Queen (Idina Menzel), who has trapped the kingdom in an endless winter.

“‘Frozen’ is not a modern setting but it’s told in a modern style,” Lee said in a recent interview with The Times. “It’s got all the same things that ‘Ralph’ has in that it’s really rooted in the characters.”

Lee will join director Chris Buck (“Surf’s Up,” “Tarzan”) on the project, which features songs by Robert Lopez (“The Book of Mormon,” “Avenue Q”) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. According to Disney’s summary of the film, there is also a mountain man, reindeer, mystical trolls and “a funny snowman named Olaf.”

“Wreck-It Ralph,” which Lee co-wrote with Phil Johnston, was Lee’s first produced feature film. She has an original screenplay in development with Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way, and her original script “Lucid Dreams” was optioned by Wolfgang Peterson’s Radiant Productions.

“Frozen” will be released Nov. 27, 2013.

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