Frozen underwent several story treatments before being commissioned in 2011, with a screenplay written by Jennifer Lee, who also co-directed with Chris Buck. The film features the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, and Santino Fontana. Christophe Beck was hired to compose the film's orchestral score, while Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez wrote the songs.
Frozen premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California, on November 19, 2013, had a limited release on November 22 and went into general theatrical release on November 27. It was met with praise for its visuals, screenplay, themes, music, and voice acting; some film critics consider Frozen to be the best Disney animated feature film since the studio's renaissance era. The film also achieved significant commercial success, earning $1.280 billion in worldwide box office revenue, including $400 million in the United States and Canada and $247 million in Japan. It went on to surpass Toy Story 3 (which was also distributed by Disney) as the highest-grossing animated film at the time as well as the highest grossing musical film before being surpassed by the remake of The Lion King in 2019; it also ranks as the 16th highest-grossing film of all time, the highest-grossing film of 2013, and the third highest-grossing film in Japan.