Inside the Ice Hotel might have been chilly but 'Frozen' art director Michael Giaimo and producer Peter Del Vecho weren't going to let a little thing like arctic temperatures keep them from giving interviews.
The Oscar winning blockbuster film recently joined the elite ranks of the billion dollar box office and the two couldn't be more thrilled, despite the challenges present in rending each and every snowflake in 3D.
According to Michael Giaimo, “I thought years ago, twenty years ago, when I was working on Pocahontas that that was challenging, but I will tell you that to work on a computer graphic film is much more dense in terms of its layering. There's just so much more detail. 2D is more illustrative, let's say. [2D] is hand drawn, even the backgrounds are hand painted but everything in a CG film has to be realized. That means snow has to look really like snow, not just an interpretation. It has to be so believable. Not realistic but believable.”
And the snow wasn't the only challenge the art director faced. Giaimo had to get his hands into everything, even the costume design. “Even the costumes have to be made. You have to consider stitches, you have to consider quality of fabric. Just so many things you didn't have to think about in a 2D film.”
Of course, this attention to detail will make everything easier for the jump to Broadway but producer Peter Del Vecho says that wasn't their intent when making the film. “When you're creating the film, your sole focus is wanting the audience to connect on an emotional level with the characters you're creating. As we began to finish the film we realized this story would translate very well to theater.” Del Vecho added that there is currently no set date for the stage adaptation of 'Frozen' partially because more songs need to be written.
Giaimo and Del Vecho went on to talk about the design of Arendelle's city walls and how Disney princess tales needed to evolve to be relevant to today's audience. See the entire interview in the video above!
'Frozen' is on Blu-Ray and DVD March 18th, 2014