It's been in development for aaages at Disney Animation Studios*, but now Frozen has moved forward towards an honest-to-goodness release date. Yes, Disney's Snow Queen story has Kristen Bell locked in as its heroine, Idina Menzel lined up as the icy monarch herself and Chris Buck directing.
A wild spin from the fairytale, this sees Bell as Anna, "a young dreamer about to take the adventure of a lifetime". She lives in a kingdom trapped in eternal winter "by a prophecy", and Anna sets off with Kristoff, a daring mountain man (not yet announced), to find the Snow Queen (Menzel) and bring the spring. But along the way our intrepid heroes will face "Everest-like extremes, mystical creatures and magic at every turn" - so expect a challenge.
The film will be a musical, with songs by Robert Lopez (Avenue Q, The Book Of Mormon) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, herself a Broadway dramatist. The pair have form with the studio, having previously worked on the songs for last year's lovely Winnie The Pooh film.
Buck, of course, directed Tarzan for Disney as well as excellent and underrated penguin mock-doc Surf's Up. Look out for the finished film sometime in 2013.
*We saw concept art when we visited for **The Princess And The Frog **a few years back. It was knock-your-socks-off gorgeous.