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Before animation, the production team collaborated with an acting coach to study the characters' personalities, stories, and nuances, and they collaborated with the cast to study the cast's movements, breathing, and facial expressions. They traveled to Norway and Jackson Hole, Wyoming to study for the film's fjord-based setting and experience snow, respectively. The preproduction phase took over two years, during which the team studied numerous details in preparation for the animation process. Afterward, animation tests were conducted to visualize the main characters' designs and establish a coherent "shape language" for their final computer-generated imagery (CGI) models. Artists were assigned specific scenes to act out to grasp their characters' poses, expressions, and timings. Others proceeded to create key poses and assemble them in "blocking passes" to secure approval from the directors before the team could delve into the more intricate aspects of animation. The animation process focused on conducting simulations and accounting the correct compositions, timings, and designs. Throughout the process where digital tools were prevalent to simulate elements such as snow effects, the team also sought to integrate traditional draw-over methods for a more art-directed appearance in specific instances. These hand-drawn effects were projected and extruded to add thickness in 3D.

Frozen's rigging process involved taking a digital sculpture, constructing the skeleton and muscles, attaching the skin to the character, and creating a set of animation controls. It used 312 character rigs and 245 cloth rigs, both surpassing those used in contemporary Disney films. The production team faced difficulties in achieving subtle facial animations due to limitations in control mechanisms, as the lack of controls made it difficult to capture the intricacies of human facial expressions. They wanted the characters to exhibit subtle nuances, such as proper brow movements.

The Norwegian-based costumes required technical preparation due to their intricate designs. This was amplified by the increased number of cloth rigs compared to previous Disney CGI films. The costumes used digital pattern-making techniques and real-life fabric properties, ensuring that their on-screen behavior closely resembled that of real life. The team also found creating the braids and the diverse styles of the characters' Norwegian-based hairstyles very complex. A celebrity hairstylist helped create Elsa's hairstyle, which surpassed the complexity of previous Disney characters at 420,000 strands. Tonic was developed to enable artists to more effectively group and style the characters' hair. It also helped create traditional Norwegian styles, including intricate braids, and extended to animals like wolves and horses.

The production team sought to depict realistic and diverse snow textures, including wet and fluffy ones, and how they interacted with the characters. Snow Batcher was used to create imprints in the snow and the debris created when trudging through them, and specialized shaders were used to apply textures such as frost onto ice. The production team collaborated with UCLA mathematicians to develop the material point method-based algorithm "Matterhorn", used to simulate the film's intricate snow behavior, including sintering them into snowballs. It also helped to create the film's various snow effects, from snowfall to the accumulation on landscapes and characters. The team consulted with physicist Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht on the formation of snow and ice, as well as the characteristics of snowflakes. Libbrecht explained snowflakes begin as small ice crystals in the atmosphere, undergoing branching and plating due to changes in humidity and temperature. Drawing from this knowledge, they developed a snowflake generator to randomly generate 2,000 unique snowflake shapes.

To create Olaf, the production team developed Spaces to disassemble and reassemble him and Flourish to more efficiently manipulate the characters' movements. They approached Olaf's physicality by exploring how his stick arms should move, how he scratches his head without elbows, and how his body parts come apart and move. Olaf is composed of three snowballs that can be disassembled and reassembled in various ways. His anatomy was very flexible and allowed the team to explore a wide range of expressions and actions.

Elsa's power, which was initially hand-drawn on paper and later converted into CGI, required sculpted curves to achieve the desired elegance and aesthetic. To achieve the desired visual impact where she constructs her ice palace, the production team visited an ice hotel in Quebec City to observe how light interacts with snow and ice. 50 effects artists and lighting artists collaborated to create this scene, and the rendering process for each frame took approximately 30 hours with 4,000 computers working simultaneously.

Design
Designer Jean Gillmore emphasized the need of careful consideration in the film's CGI costume designs to prevent it from exhibiting an undesired plastic quality. Frozen's CGI clothing aspects include trims and embroideries, various quality fabrics ranging from velvet to suede, and sequined/beaded fabrics. Art director Michael Giaimo sought a clear color palette and Scandinavian theme with intricate details, prompting a trip to Solvang and Norway to study its garments and trims. The production team wanted to use the reference materials creatively instead of literally, connecting with the film's visual theme. The graphic shapes from Dior fashions helped establish the film's shape language, and the cursive and geometric designs found in Norwegian culture inspired its creative direction.

The trip to Norway revealed numerous inspirations for the film. Norway's vertical rock formations and fjords inspired the setting for Arendelle. The medieval stave churches inspired the castle compound, and its interior drew inspiration from a Oslo castle. Rosemaling folk art, characterized by distinctive paneling and grid patterns, influenced the architecture, decor, and costumes. Arendelle was inspired by the UNESCO site Naeroyfjord, an arm of the Sognefjord, Norway’s longest fjord. The film's worldbuilding draw on the long nights and light shows known to Norwegians. Lasseter suggested the idea of starting Elsa's construction of her ice palace with a snowflake to convey Elsa's talent. The ninth-month design process involved control with color palette, primarily cool with bold yellow accents during action sequences. Frozen depiction of nature, layered on a predominantly white landscape, drew inspiration from Norway's varied natural lighting conditions. Giaimo wanted an elegant jewel-like palette that incorporated both natural light and Elsa's powers.

Anna's design featured a wardrobe of floral patterns and saturated colors. Her travel outfit is composed of heavy wools and velvets to suit the northern climate. Elsa’s original costumes emphasized that she’s hiding her power, but when she accepts her identify, her costume changes to reflect her freedom. For Hans, who was not from Arendelle, the team gave him a rosemaling-based costume, with his jacket featuring a more graphic-based design. Kristoff, who is an outdoorsman from the mountains, wore a costume complete with fur and a red sash that was inspired by Sami clothing. Inspiration for Sven was found in the team's sense of winter weather and landscapes at Roros, a former mining town and UNESCO site in Norway.