We've known since July that Black Panther and Hotel Artemis actor Sterling K. Brown and Westworld regular Evan Rachel Wood are lending their voices to much-anticipated animated sequel Frozen II. Thanks to Disney's presentation at its D23 Expo event on Saturday, we also now know that they're playing characters named Lieutenant Destin Mattias and Queen Iduna, mother to sisters Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell).
Co-directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (who was also there in her capacity as Chief Creative Officer of Disney's main animated output) explained a little more about the sequel's story. It'll follow Elsa's quest to learn more about her past and her powers, a quest featuring the sisters plus snowman Olaf (Josh Gad), ice carver Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and reindeer Sven that takes in an enchanted forest and a promise of more music (again composed by Oscar winners Robert Lopez and Kristin ), more adventure and a narrative that effectively makes the two films one big story.
The pair also had footage to show, including a sequence featuring Wood's Iduna in flashback singing a song called All Is Found to her young daughters (their parents' disappearance in the original will be a plot point), a fun scene of the gang playing charades before Kristoff attempts to propose to Anna, and Elsa distracted by a strange, lyrical siren song that ends with her belting out a show-stopper to rival Let It Go named Into The Unknown. Think an "I Don't Want" song that morphs into an "I Want" song. We also saw a moment between Brown's Mattias and Bell's Anna in which they discuss parental loss and taking the right path.
The panel wrapped up with the main cast arriving on stage to sing another new song, Some Things Never Change, which, it's fair to be said, brought the house down. Or at very least saw paper autumnal leaves drop from the ceiling.
Frozen II breezes into UK cinemas on 22 November.