Frozen overtakes Toy Story 3 to become top grossing animated film

Let it go, Let it go…. That’s probably what the team behind Toy Story 3 is singing right now, following their ouster as the best selling animated film of all time.

According to a report in the LA Times, Disney’s blockbuster academy award winning animated Frozen, has taken the spot, with the opening of the film in Japan.

“With its opening in Japan this weekend, Disney’s “Frozen” has taken the top spot and pushed its worldwide box office to an estimated $1.072 billion”, the report says.

According to a report in Time magazine , “F_rozen also nabbed the number 10 spot on the list of the biggest global blockbusters of all time as it edges up toward The Dark Knight Rises, the Hollywood Reporter reports. The film has earned $398.4 million domestically and $674 million abroad”_.

The much loved film is a take on the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen, and features the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, and Santino Fontana.

The film tells the story of a fearless princess (Anna) who sets off on an epic journey alongside a rugged, thrill-seeking mountain man, his loyal pet reindeer, and a hapless snowman to find her estranged sister (Elsa), whose icy powers have inadvertently trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

The song ‘Let it go’ sung by Menzel at the point at which princess Elsa finally embraces her powers and her individuality has become an Internet anthem, with lots of spin offs and YouTube versions that have all done really well.  The song has been called in turn, a gay anthem, a coming out song and feminist in turn.

The original version by Idina Menzel has over 164 million views on YouTube, while another version by Demi Lovato is close behind with 116 million views.

The latest version to take the Internet by storm however is by 11-year-old  Lexi Walker who sings an African tribalized version of the song by Alex Boye and the one voice children’s choir. You can watch that below:

The movie was met with widespread critical acclaim, and several film critics considered it to be the best Disney animated musical since the studio’s renaissance era.

Apart from its two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, Frozen has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film, five Annie Awards (including Best Animated Feature), and two Critics’ Choice Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Let It Go”).