by Eric Blume
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down to speak with Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, nominated for the Best Song Oscar for "Into the Unknown" for Frozen 2. This talented duo has already won the Oscar twice in this category, for the megahit "Let It Go" from the original Frozen, and "Remember Me" from Coco. They could not be more charming and charismatic, as witnessed here...
[This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity]
Eric: At what point in the process were you brought in on FROZEN 2?
KRISTEN: Very early on when it was like, 'I think we're going to do Frozen 2. We're thinking it's about change.' Jennifer Lee [Frozen 2's writer/director] called us, sort of tipped us off.
ROBERT: It needed to happen because, you know, the sounds in a musical are as integral as any dialogue and in fact, they have to bear a lot more weight. So we had to be there. We helped influence the story and they helped influence the songs...
KRISTEN: The metaphor I like to bring up is if a developer is going to develop a big building, they need an architect there to say like, well okay, if you're going to do this kind of building, the pillars have to hold this, this, this and this. And in this case, in the very early stages we are thinking like architects, we are thinking about how do we tell a story that the emotional song moments can actually hold up the story. So that influences everything when you're talking about plot. Some plots are very action driven or dialogue driven. But in this case the songs kind of have to take those key moments.
Your songs have to either move the plot ahead, deepen characterization or both. Are there times where that just feels overwhelming, or is that kind of the beauty of it?
KRISTEN: It only feels overwhelming if you've got collaborators who aren't listening to you and saying, 'here's what we need'. We are very, very lucky with Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck and Peter Del Vecho, that we had already been through an adventure like this. So I know Jen knows how to write us a scene that is a straight runway to give us lift-off into a song, and that is such a hard skill. So few writers, amazing writers, know how to do that because they're just not thinking like that.
It's a very specific craft.
ROBERT: And Jen has it. She knows musicals and loves them and they're in her blood…
I'm sure you're asked this question a million times, but I have to ask it. How do you specifically work together? There's the question of what comes first, the chicken or the egg, the music or the lyrics?
ROBERT: We always end up at that moment where we're both in the room together, but the way they begin is always different. Sometimes Kristen gets the idea and goes in her room, closes the door and writes a whole lyric. And then when we both, put it together to the music…
KRISTEN: …Bobby polishes the lyric sometimes.
ROBERT: She's got great musical instincts that always helps the songs. But sometimes it comes from, you know, a bit of music, a bit of piano, a bit of vamp or a melodic idea.
KRISTEN: And we are always, if not in the same room, we're in the same building like all of our lives. So, it's very, very rare that we're not together. So there are times that we're going to bed, although I've learned not to do this anymore where I'm like drifting off, and we were trying to solve a problem and then I go, 'I got it!'.
I'm sure there have to be times where you're just like: 'Go take care of the girls. I am in a great place on the song leave me alone!'
KRISTEN: I'm such an extrovert. The part of me that writes is a very different part that needs to actually have nobody around and no sound. So I can really go in and like I'm acting out Elsa in my room and I need to be able to feel exactly what they're feeling. And that is a part of me that is very different than, like, relating to other human beings.
So, “Into the Unknown”. Let's talk about it. After the, you know, insane success of “Let It Go” was there pressure to top it? I mean, that’s human.
KRISTEN: We said, 'we're not going to do that. We're not going to think about what came before.' It's just not a place that you can create from.
ROBERT: It's funny, like we had the story, and that led us to a place where we were writing a song called, “I Seek the Truth”, which wasn't exactly like “Let It Go”, but it was similar in that it was Elsa singing about something that she wanted to become, something that she needed to find out. It was just her singing to the sky basically. And, um, it felt like a rehash, you know? And it was that that led us to this idea that in order to do something different, we introduced this voice that was calling to further become part of the song.
I loved that the sound was so different -- “Let It Go” being a very traditional Broadway kind of thing, and this was almost like choral/churchy kind of sounding to me…
ROBERT: There’s no drum kit, the strings are doing all the rhythm. It's very interesting and different. Yeah, it was fun to make, and it has a moment in the middle where the sound almost stops, which is something you don't often do, but it's a beautiful moment in the film where she's by that body water and you can see her reflected…
KRISTEN: And we brought Idina (Menzel) to a new place. We were really excited about bringing her head voice in because we had only really heard her belts in the last one. But for her to sort of vulnerably... (she sings) 'are you someone out there, who’s a little bit like me' --I'm so hoarse right now, Idina does it better! But she was like, 'do you really want this tone?' And we were like, 'yeah, we want to hear the soft underbelly of Elsa…'
ROBERT: It's a romantic yearning -it's almost like Snow White.
You also have Jonathan Groff, who's one of, I think, the best singing actors alive. Can you speak to working with him?
ROBERT: Yeah, we felt very chagrined for not really giving him anything to do in the first movie!
KRISTEN: We had written something for him (in the first film), but it was too late and he was rushing a dying girl down a mountain. I had written a little ballad for him to sort of stop and realize that he feels something for her. But there was no time for him to just stop and sing it cause she was going to die! So, um, it got cut.
ROBERT: When we're starting Frozen 2, that was the one thing everybody agreed on: Kristoff will get a big moment!
KRISTEN: We will write it for Frozen 2! And Jonathan Groff WILL sing in this movie!
ROBERT: You know, we wrote him that song, “Get This Right” which is on the DVD extras because it got cut and when it did get cut, he was like, 'I get it, you guys, I know…just…it's fine.' And we were like, no, Jonathan, we're going to write you another one!
KRISTEN: So we looked at Kristoff’s arc very carefully with the story team and realized we could have a lot of fun with failed proposals all the way through, almost like in A Fish called Wanda kind of way with the dying animals. And then it would culminate in actually a real moment where Kristoff, who was like a Marlboro Man, finally gets to feel what he feels, and his feelings are real. What better way to do that than to have a giant 80s ballad where he's singing big and huge and then with 18 versions of himself as the reindeer. We're making up for it by giving you 19 different versions of Jonathan Groff in one check!
One final question -- The Oscars. Both of your speeches were so ebullient and people love you guys What's that feeling when they call your name and you’re in front of 70 million people?
KRISTEN: Luckily you can't feel anything in that moment. At least that's what happens to me. Which is why I always try to prepare a speech, because I'm not thinking at that moment.
ROBERT: It’s fight or flight! Also, you know, to be married and to get to go up there and accept an Oscar. It's almost like having another wedding, you know? It's a huge celebration of your partnership and I loved that, just because it felt like we just keep getting to have weddings!
KRISTEN: Yeah, it feels a little bit like a wedding. I'm dressed up and I'm wearing just as many foundation garments!
