"Frozen 2" co-directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee say creating a sequel of the 2013 blockbuster hit "Frozen" was very hard, as they wanted to explore new places and introduce new characters without losing the essence of the story.

Set in fantastical land of Arendelle, "Frozen" is a story of two sisters Elsa and Anna who are on a path of finding acceptance and love, while trying to save their kingdom infused with heart-touching music and emotions. Elsa is struggling to accept her magical icy powers and effervescent Anna is trying to find a bond with her sister.

"Frozen 2" brings back their story as they continue on the journey of finding their own self, by tracing their past and piecing it together with their present.

"Making the sequel was extremely challenging. We wanted to have our characters go to a different place and go outside of Arendelle. And we knew we wanted to have new characters to expand this world a bit," Buck said.

"The challenge is how to stay true to the characters and let them grow. We have a map going on in our head of all these things," he explained further.

"Frozen" won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It became the highest-grossing animated film before remake of "The Lion King" took that position in 2019. And with great success comes great responsibility.

"When ‘Frozen' came out, it wasn't just our movie but the movie of the world. That was exciting to us and but that comes with a lot of expectations for the sequel. But truthfully, we agreed that we would keep that pressure outside the room and build ‘Frozen 2' the same way we built ‘Frozen', which is really talking about character first and then plot and then having the songwriters get involved and let the songs come from the story," Buck noted.

To this, Lee added: "It was the exact same team who built ‘Frozen' and we made a pact that we're going to build it exactly as we did the first one. The challenges were much greater in terms of where do you go from here. But you have the foundation of these characters. The characters were a little bit of us and we all knew them so well."

The second part of the Disney franchise promises to be more intense as it traces the pasts of Princesses Anna and Elsa, voiced by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel in Hollywood version, respectively, and piece together their present. "Frozen 2" will release in India in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on November 22.

What's the message for children in the second part?

"The thing I love about my characters is that they never give up, no matter how many challenges we throw at them. They're incredibly strong. I think that's a really powerful message for everyone, not just young people," Buck said.

Lee feels "Frozen" doesn't tackle good versus, but looks at fear and love.

"The first one looks at that through being different and I think the second one looks at that with change. Change is one of the hardest things in life to cope with. The fear of change can make you not act on the thing that's most important to you. So, that ‘s the rustle of love and fear," she said.

(Sugandha Rawal was in Los Angeles at the invitation of Disney India. She can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)