Kicking off Animation Scoop’s coverage of New York Comic Con 2026 is the first panel I attended on opening day, Thursday October 8th. Vulture’s Jason P. Frank moderated a career retrospective with Tony and Emmy winner Idina Menzel, to a packed room of fans.

Menzel recalled the early days of starring in iconic Broadway shows “Rent” and “Wicked” and how they became successes. When a video clip of her “Defying Gravity” performance at a symphony played, she smiled and acknowledged, “I love seeing it every time.” In 2007, Menzel co-starred alongside Amy Adams in Disney’s live-action/animated NYC musical “Enchanted”. It was “such a great experience because I got to ballroom dance with Jimmy Marsden and Patrick Dempsey.”

Not long after that film’s release, Menzel auditioned for a Walt Disney Animation Studios feature… “Tangled”. While Menzel has shared in the past that she auditioned for The Mouse House’s spin on the Rapunzel story, she revealed to the NYCC crowd that she was possibly being considered for not one but two roles — Rapunzel… and her mother. “I ended up falling in the middle between… My age and my voice didn’t sound like one or the other. What’s the name of the mom? Mother Gothel.”

Previous reports of Menzel auditioning for “Tangled” only stated she was vying for Rapunzel. The role of Mother Gothel would go to a fellow veteran Broadway actress, two-time Tony winner Donna Murphy. And in the upcoming live-action version (in theaters March 2028), she will be played by Kathryn Hahn. Even though “Tangled” didn’t work out, Disney kept Menzel in mind for their “Ice Queen” movie that was in development.

It eventually became “Frozen”. To secure the role of Elsa, Menzel and Kristen Bell (who would voice Anna) sang a duet of “Wind Beneath My Wings” on opposite sides of former Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter. And as Menzel further explained, the evolution of the movie, and Elsa, shifted once a certain song was written. “Elsa was gonna be a nemesis. She didn’t have a big heart. ‘Let It Go’ changed everything. She’s got pain… and can be much more complicated.”

Menzel calls voicing Elsa “the best job in the world” — not having to wear any makeup and getting to show-up to the recording studio in pajamas. However, there’s definitely difficulty in the performance: “The camera is always filming you.” Menzel reflected on how much the Oscar-winning 2013 movie and “Let It Go” song “saved me” during her divorce from fellow actor Taye Diggs. She was proud “to show my son this wonderful film.” Menzel didn’t share any details on “Frozen III” (in theaters November 2027), though Disney recently unveiled some concept art.

There were kids in attendance at Menzel’s NYCC panel — and even someone dressed-up in a giant Olaf costume. During the brief audience Q&A at the end, a teacher told Menzel how much Elsa means to her, to which she replied that voicing her is, “The greatest gift of my life.” She even sang a little of “Let It Go” to close the show.

Stay tuned to Animation Scoop for more NYCC 2026 coverage.