Disney’s Frozen exploded into popular culture after its release in 2013. The likable animated characters and quick humor resonate with all ages, while the movie’s soundtrack solidifies Frozen as a contemporary classic.
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“Let It Go,” written by husband-wife songwriter duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, is the song responsible for a significant portion of the movie’s success. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won both an Academy Award and Grammy Award in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
The song’s success lies in the raw emotion that the Lopez team was able to infuse into the lyrics. Jennifer Lee, the writer and director for Frozen, describes a universal type of emotion found in “Let It Go” during an interview with screenwriter John August. When talking about the character Elsa, Lee says, “And this concept of letting out who she is that she’s kept to herself for so long and she’s alone and free, but then the sadness of the fact that the last moment is she’s alone. It’s not a perfect thing, but it’s powerful.”
The chorus of the song illustrates this sentiment. “Let it go, let it go / Can’t hold it back anymore / Let it go, let it go / Turn away and slam the door / I don’t care what they’re going to say / Let the storm rage on / The cold never bothered me anyway.”
This exciting yet sorrowful concept of letting go resonates with all types of individuals and maintains an infectious energy. This allows each listener to adopt “Let It Go” as an anthem for their own unique struggles.
For example, the Frozen production staff responded strongly to the song. Lee says, “half of us were crying…. I was just like I’m going to go lie down for a couple minutes. But it was the best thing. We knew we had the movie.”
Creatively, the Lopezes found inspiration for “Let It Go” by looking at the world through Elsa’s eyes. Lee says, “And we just said, ‘Let’s talk about who [Elsa] is. What would it feel like?’ And Bobby and Kristen said they were walking in Prospect Park and they just started talking about what would it feel like.”
After identifying Elsa’s tumultuous journey, the inspiration for “Let It Go” flowed freely. Kristen Anderson-Lopez divulged that this technique led to the quick completion of the song and they “wrote the song in a day.” On the production end, Jennifer Lee says, “they came in with the demo of ‘Let it Go’ and it’s exactly word-by-word the exact song.”
“Let It Go” is sung by Idina Menzel and later Demi Lovato in a pop version of the original song. The impact of this song set the stage for Frozen II and continues to influence many creative industries.
