Frozen animation director Chris Buck, admits working on sequel to the blockbuster is daunting 

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Creator of Frozen, animation director Chris Buck, admits working on sequel to the blockbuster is daunting

Video: Frozen creator Chris Buck on making the film's sequel (ABC News)

Inspired by the legendary Walt Disney from a young age, Chris Buck went on to create the top-grossing animated film Frozen and now he has begun the daunting task of working on a sequel.

The Academy-Award winning animator, screenwriter and director admitted matching the success of the 2013 film was like climbing a mountain in a blizzard.

Buck is responsible for the most commercially successful animated film in history, which raked in more than $1.6 billion in global cinema takings.

But the film\'s impact was not only felt in Disney\'s coffers.

On top of winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, it also won top honours for Best Original Song.

The catchy tune Let It Go is a favourite with children, who gleefully belt out renditions of varying quality across the globe.

Buck co-directed the film with Jennifer Lee and Disney recently announced they were working on a sequel, after releasing the short film Frozen Fever earlier this year.

"We have lots of things to figure out but at least we know where we are going," he told Jane Hutcheon on One Plus One, revealing the ending had already been decided.

Loosely based on the Hans Christian Anderson story of the Snow Queen, Frozen is about love and fear, embodied in two sisters who are princesses named Anna and Elsa.

Buck wanted to redefine the concept of real love, shifting away from the classic fairytale interpretation of being saved by a prince\'s kiss to the love between siblings.

Photo: Princess Anna and another character Kristoff in the film Frozen. (Supplied: Disney)

But for Buck, the dazzling success of Frozen was briefly marred by personal tragedy.

A few weeks before the release of the film, Buck and his wife Shelley received devastating news: their son Ryder was killed trying to cross a Los Angeles freeway.

Ryder was nearly 24-years-old and had just finished a year of chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer.

"He was this great character, he was such an inspiration. Frozen is starting to take off and yet on the other end I\'m dealing with the death of my son," he said.

"I was just very schizophrenic and every day was like that. And so I started to think, \'what am I doing with my life?\'

"I\'m just making these silly cartoons and that\'s what I do 24/7. [I was] really questioning what my life was all about. Then Frozen came out.

"I realised what we do at Disney is very important. Letting them laugh, cry, making them feel, but basically giving them hope. And that\'s why I am here and why I\'m doing the movies that I do."

Buck said he understood the power of animation\'s messages to children, something he felt adults forgot over time.

"I take the films that I make very seriously, the messages and the morals that I\'m trying to convey," he said.

Buck\'s inspiration drawn from Peanuts to Pinocchio

Born in Kansas, Buck loved drawing cartoons as a child, taking inspiration from the Peanuts cartoon strip and later the Disney film Pinocchio – which was the first film he ever saw in a cinema.

"I\'d been taken on this fantastic roller-coaster of emotions but it was fine at the end.

"I think that made a big impression on me and I look back on that day as the day I fell in love with animation."

In the 1970s, he studied animation at the prestigious California Institute of the Arts where he was taught alongside people who are today some of the biggest names in animation.

But his biggest thrill was having his work singled out by Lillian Disney, the widow of Walt.

"This was my connection to Walt Disney and she was saying she liked my movie. I was overwhelmed. I think it meant more to me than asking me to work at the studio."

Once at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Buck was taught by Walt\'s favourite animators who were affectionately known as his "nine old men".

Photo: Buck wanted to redefine the concept of real love in the film Frozen. (Supplied: Disney)

One of the men, Eric Larson, had worked on Pinocchio and became Buck\'s mentor.

"It was terrifying, and on the other part it was exhilarating because I was so excited to be in the same room as this man," he said of meeting the revered animator.

"I guess I not only got Walt Disney\'s philosophy of entertainment from Eric, but also just what a wonderful spirit he was and as a mentor I think that\'s influenced me now as a mentor myself."

Buck has worked as director on the animated films Tarzan and Surf\'s Up and as an animator and designer on The Fox and the Hound, Pocahontas and The Little Mermaid.

In Australia to share wisdom from his 40-year career, Buck spoke to students at Newcastle University about the ups and downs of the creative process.

"Certainly [in] my first directing gig, there were a lot of things I did wrong. And one of the main things was that I didn\'t say no to anyone. I took everyone\'s ideas in and it just became this big, mushy thing," he said.

Challenge has never been an obstacle to Buck, who through a combination of hard work, collaboration and following his gut instinct has achieved incredible success.

It is a winning combination that animation fans hope will be repeated in 2018, when Frozen 2 is set to hit cinemas.

For the full interview with Jane Hutcheon watch One Plus One 10am today on ABC, 5.30pm Saturday, 9.30pm Sunday on ABC News24, iview, and on the One Plus One website.

Topics: arts-and-entertainment, animation, film-movies, director, australia, united-states

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