We saw Frozen II with our kids over the weekend so our house has been a little more “Into the Unknown” than usual. Don’t get me wrong, like most little girls, I imagine, my daughter loves Elsa. Adores her. You can joke about just about anything with my daughter but Elsa is off limits. So anyway, seeing the movie has sparked a conversation between my wife and myself about musicals, their purpose, and how awesome they are.

You can totally see which side of the fence I’m on here by the way. Don’t worry. My wife is over here with us too…

You can find plenty of articles praising Frozen II as a more “mature” movie and pointing Disney in a new direction. You can read that on your own time. All I wanted to bring up was that for this movie, to me, the music was not just more mature but it was also, well more musical. As in theatre musical. More than a few times throughout the film, as stuff was obviously happening on screen, I was watching a second stage show in my head and could clearly imagine what the cast and characters would be doing with each song in real life. So I agree to a maturity to the music as it’s about more mature themes, but I’d go even farther and say it’s just more complex than not just the last movie, but most Disney movies in general, putting it more in line with, well, a musical.

I bring all of this up because over the holidays, my wife and I got in a discussion with my brother about music in kids’ movies. He’s a big fan of Trolls. And I mean a BIG fan. My wife was trying to explain to him that regardless of the concept, when a studio takes recycled pop music as a soundtrack — even if the tracks are rearranged and the characters are singing them — it’s not the same as original numbers. I agree.

It took me some time to think about it and here’s what I’ve come up with. Musicals are about more than just the plot or the characters. When done right, a musical gives you both the broader, thematic picture, but also a more intimate one as well because it invites you into the headspace of the person(s) singing. It’s really hard not to empathize with someone really belting it out, wearing their heart on their sleeve. And if the song is good on its own, well then, it stays with you, and helps keep you in that same headspace making the movie even more personal.

And by original song, I mean a song written solely for the experience being portrayed on stage/film. Not something for the radio that just debuts in the movie. I like Can’t Stop the Feeling as much as the next person, but it doesn’t really have anything to do with Branch. Know what I mean?

So while my daughter is skipping and bouncing with new memories about her favorite character’s emotional adventure, my wife and I are pontificating about the nature of musicals in general. Complex, I guess.

The other thought I had when leaving the movie theater is that I know exactly what Frozen III is going to be. I don’t mean, oh wouldn’t it be cool if … No. The cynical movie goer in me knows exactly what Hollywood is going to do. Here’s my pitch …

Nothing will happen for like 20 years. I’m talking IRL here. Then, in the world of reboots, nostalgia, and franchises, we’ll get Froz3n or whatever. The same amount of time will have passed for them too, so Elsa and Anna are much older. Something has happened to Elsa — spirit corruption or she’s just mad — but she’s invaded the land as the true Snow Queen. A creature to be feared. Anna tries to reason with her and fails. Elsa can’t/won’t kill Anna so she imprisons her in ice or whatever like Carbonite.

The story then shifts to Anna and Kristof’s teenage children — I’m thinking a boy and a girl — who have to go on an adventure to rescue their mother, save the land, and talk some sense back into their aunt. It’s a soft reboot of everything Frozen stood for and completely undermines the growth and sacrifices of the original characters like any franchise milking reboot should. Looking at you Star Wars. Sure the original voice cast will be mad about it, but maybe we’ll get little cameos anyway.

That’s my prognostication for the future. You can tell me I’m right in 20 years. So what do you think?