Frozen II appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. As expected, the movie delivered strong visuals.
At all times, the film showed fine delineation. No instances of softness arose, so the image remained tight and well-defined.
I witnessed no jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes were absent. Of course, no print flaws popped up, so this remained a clean presentation.
Colors worked well. As expected, a chilly blue tint dominated, but we also got a mix of other hues, and these seemed nicely rendered. The disc’s HDR added warmth and intensity to the tones.
Blacks appeared dark and deep, and shadows seemed smooth and concise. HDR contributed more vibrant whites and stronger contrast. Everything about the image satisfied.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 I also felt pleased with the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Parts of the audio stayed with general sense of the various situations, but more than a few action scenes resulted.
The livelier sequences displayed nice range and involvement, and the rest of the material also managed to place us in the locations well. The track used the different channels to convey a lot of subtle but engaging information.
Audio quality satisfied. Speech remained natural and distinctive, while music appeared peppy and clear.
Effects showed nice dynamics, with crisp highs and warm lows. I thought the soundtrack added zest to the proceedings.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? This disc’s Atmos mix added a bit of breadth to the BD”s 7.1 affair.
Visuals showed a little extra bite as well. The 4K UHD brought stronger sharpness, with more vibrant colors and more intense whites/contrast. Though not a big upgrade, the 4K UHD became the more appealing rendition of the film.
Given the movie’s success, the roster of extras feels skimpy. Only one component appears on the 4K UHD disc: Sing Along with the Movie mode. This simply displays song lyrics at the appropriate times. Yawn.
An included Blu-ray copy provides the other extras. A collection of Outtakes spans two minutes, 26 seconds and shows silliness with the actors during the recording sessions. It’s typical blooper stuff, though the studio setting offers a twist.
A few featurettes follow, and Did You Know??? brings a four-minute, 27-second reel. Here we find trivia tidbits about Frozen II. Expect a brisk and fairly informative little piece.
The Spirits of Frozen II lasts 12 minutes, two seconds and provides comments from director/screenwriter Jennifer Lee, director Chris Buck, animation supervisor Trent Corey, character art director Bill Schwab, heads of effects animation Marlon West and Dale Mayeda, and actors Kristen Bell, Evan Rachel Wood, Sterling K. Brown, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, and Idina Menzel.
“Spirits” looks at new characters, animation and related elements. This doesn’t become a deep program, but it adds some good information.
Next comes Scoring a Sequel, a three-minute, 49-second clip with executive music producer Tom MacDougall and composer Christophe Beck. They give us a quick look at the movie’s music. Expect some decent insights, but “Scoring” is way too short to tell us much.
Five Deleted Scenes fill a total of 17 minutes, 58 seconds, including intros from Lee and Buck. They provide notes about the sequences, though they don’t always let us know why the material didn’t make the final cut.
As for the scenes themselves, they add a little to character elements. Outside of one in which Kristoff reveals his feelings, none of them seem especially memorable or significant, though.
We also locate two Deleted Songs: “Home” (4:22) and “I Wanna Get This Right” (6:24). Those running times also contain intros from Lee and Buck. They give us useful details.
“Home” offers Elsa’s ode to Arendelle, while “Right” shows another attempt by Kristoff to deal with his proposal. “Home” feels superfluous, and “Lost in the Woods” provides a better Kristoff tune.
Under Gale Tests, we see two clips: “Gale Test” (3:01) and “Hand Drawn Gale Test” (0:55). Along with more intros from Lee and Buck, we see early attempts to depict wind on screen. This turns into a fun examination.
A multilanguage reel presents ”Into the Unknown” in 29 Languages. This runs three minutes, seven seconds, and indeed lets us hear a line or two of 29 different renditions of the song. While interesting, why not use additional tracks to allow us to screen the entire song in each language?
We also get two Music Videos. We discover “Into the Unknown” from Panic! At the Disco and “Lost in the Woods” from Weezer.
I always expect Disney music videos to feature pretty teen Disney Channel stars, so these choices seem quirky, to say the least – and welcome. Both bands manage their own spins on the songs.
As for the videos, “Unknown” sticks with a pretty standard movie clip/lip-synch format, but “Woods” becomes more creative. It also features Kristen Bell, so it works much better than most.
The Blu-ray opens with ads for Onward and Mulan (2020). No trailer for Frozen II appears here.
Though the first film left me unenthusiastic, I hoped Frozen II would improve on the formula. Alas, it didn’t, as the sequel seemed generic and uninspired. The 4K UHD brings strong picture and audio but it lacks substantial bonus materials. Maybe Frozen III will enchant me but this one leaves me cold.
To rate this film visit the original review of FROZEN II