June 22nd, 2020 
Jackson Murphy 
Frozen II animator Malerie Walters worked on some of the key musical sequences in Disney’s blockbuster feature. Walters is featured on the new six-part documentary series Into the Unknown: Making Frozen II, debuting this Friday June 26th on Disney+. She shares stories of bringing dynamic scenes to life and teases her next big animation assignment.
Jackson Murphy: How was it being interviewed and profiled while you’re in the middle of making one of the most highly anticipated movies of all-time?
Malerie Walters: It was tricky. I think there’s definitely a different feeling when you have a camera in your face but also the feeling of wanting to be authentic on camera and show what it was really like to be working on the film. I’ve had the chance to see the documentary, and I’m really, really happy with the way that they portrayed everybody. Obviously, we can’t get all of the information out there, but they did a really good job of highlighting all the departments and showing how much work… how difficult it is to make an animated feature film, especially Frozen II after we had [the first] Frozen be such a huge success. So there was a lot of pressure to make Frozen II really strong for the audience.
JM: I was able to screen the first three episodes in advance, and I was surprised how much stuff was saved to the end. Major decisions were made towards the end. Were you nervous at all about making the November deadline?
MW: Yes and No. The longer you’re in the feature film industry, the more you realize how movies are made – almost always follow that formula. It’s almost always that difficult. It’s almost always right up until the end. I really trust the leadership at Disney. I trust Jen [Lee] and Chris [Buck]. While there was of course a worry, it wasn’t necessarily a worry of whether or not we were gonna get it done. It was whether or not our audiences were gonna truly connect with the film in a way we wanted them to. I think it was pretty successful.
JM: We meet you in Episode 1 of Into the Unknown: Making Frozen II. And you talk about doing the “ITU” sequence in the film where Elsa sings this song. You had never animated Elsa before… So what kinds of pressure were you under?
MW: The funny thing is I requested to be on that sequence. I LOVED that song. It was stuck in my head way before it was stuck in your head. (laughs) It was such a powerful, beautiful song. Then the reality comes in when you do get cast on the sequence: “I need to deliver on this! And I need to do a good job.” I had a lot of fire under my butt to make it really really good. Of course, there’s always things I look back on that I wish I could make better, but I don’t think anybody else will see the things that I see.
I felt a lot of pressure, but I also felt so honored. I was riding to and from work with a smile on my face every day. It was a blast to work on. It was very difficult. I learned so much. And there was so much collaboration that went into making that shot what it became… when she’s running up the cliff and reaches. I’m really proud of everyone who was able to give me their input. And it’s like that for every single moment of the film too. It’s everybody giving their all constantly.
JM: And you say in one of the episodes that kids are gonna be watching and mimicking this sequence over and over again, which I think they already have. How about your friends and family members?
MW: YES! My sister Nicole is always sending me videos of her kids. They sing in the living room to all of the Frozen songs. And it’s so cute to see them mimic the things that I animated or that my fellow animators animated.
JM: And what this docu-series shows is that you will go to great lengths, whether it is running or down the street or doing different facial expressions, to make sure your characters look as good as possible. Because you like acting out moments so freely, were you ever interested in becoming a stage or film actress?
MW: I did Colorguard for 10 years, so I did dance growing up – it’s spinning flags and rifles and sabers. I did drum core for a year. Performing has always been in my blood, and it’s definitely a reason why I got into animation. It’s a huge reason why I wanted to be an animator. Getting me on camera and being able to feel what the characters are feeling… and just dig into the empathy inside them has always been something I love.
I love animating. I love bringing characters to life. The beauty of animation that makes Broadway so different is: I wouldn’t be able to go on Broadway and play Olaf or Kristoff, but at Walt Disney Animation Studios, I’m able to be whoever I wanna be. I can animate Kristoff. I can animate Sven. It allows me to jump into the skin of a different character and think in a different way.
JM: One of the other main sequences you were part of was for the ’80s power ballad “Lost in the Woods”. You worked on one of the moments with all of the reindeer heads. How many times did the melody of the seconds of that song play in your head as far as getting into it when you were working on this?
MW: We listen to those tracks over and over again. The beauty of it was that it was a song. Any song you’re working on is stuck in your head constantly. You’re humming it in the shower or on the way to work or while you’re working. You could easily thousands of times that moment played over. The harder part is doing a quick sequence of dialogue and listening to that play over and over again. That gets really old. Being on a nice chunk of a song is really nice.
JM: People are going to be surprised about the unprecedented access that viewers get to see of Walt Disney Animation Studios. And in one of the rooms, you have to present what you’ve done to [Frozen II directors] Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. And it seems like there was a lot of pressure in those moments as well.
MW: Oh my gosh, yeah. And it’s not because Chris and Jen are intimidating people themselves. They’re very open and easy to talk to. But there’s something about bringing your work into a dark, silent room full of people from all kinds of different departments. Your supervisors are there and your head of animation is there and the head of assets is there. Head of layout is there. And they’re all watching your work. And you’re putting yourself out there for critique.
There’s rarely any jobs where you’re being critiqued on your work every single day. With animation, we receive feedback daily on our work. We’re constantly in our heads (“Did I do this right?”) And we’re also having to show work that’s not completed. It’s in a rough form. We have to show early and often because if we’re going down the wrong path, they want to correct that so we don’t waste a ton of time polishing a turd, basically.
It’s totally nerve-wracking in those rooms. And sometimes… I find that whenever I go in there with any sort of confidence, it gets squashed really quickly. Sometimes you gotta check yourself, too. Every shot is different. Every shot is a new challenge. You’re creating movement to sell life from the ground up. And it’s an illusion of life. It’s really challenging and honestly why the job is so rewarding because you never stop pushing yourself. There’s so much to learn. And everyone around you has that same mentality. The people you look up to the most are still trying to learn and grow constantly. And those are some cool people to be around.
JM: I know the next Disney Animation film is Raya and the Last Dragon. Are you working on that? Anything you can tell me about that film?
MW: Yes, I’m animating her right now. I don’t know what I can say beyond any other public info that’s out there. We haven’t gotten to release the trailer for it yet. I’m currently animating Raya right now. I’m very excited for this movie and I think people will love it!
JM: That’s wonderful. During this “At Home” period.. the world of Frozen has kind of been bigger than ever. Not just with this docu-series and the fact that Frozen II was put on Disney+ early but also all the new Olaf shorts. So impressed that they were able to happen and with Josh Gad’s involvement in them. What’s an idea for a future Frozen adventure or a sequence or something you’d like to animate if this franchise continues in some way, shape or form?
MW: I really loved the vignettes. They were so cute. One of my favorite parts of Frozen II is the charades sequence when they’re just playing charades at home. I think the reason why the vignettes are so awesome to watch is it’s just a glimpse into Olaf’s life outside of the films. When we’re in a film, there’s a story and there’s a mission. And sometimes it’s just really fun to slow down and see these characters in their everyday life. And that’s something that would probably excite me.
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