Disney will release a new narrative installment of the Frozen franchise as a limited podcast series, the company has announced, in time to celebrate the original film’s 10th anniversary in October.
The 12-episode series will be titled Disney's Frozen: Forces of Nature, and takes place after the final scenes of Frozen 2, reportedly featuring both existing and new characters. It’s currently unclear how it will tie into Frozen 3, which was announced in February this year.
Forces of Nature is created in partnership between Disney Publishing Worldwide, ABC Audio and Walt Disney Animation Studios. The podcast will feature ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee among the voice cast, and will be available to listen to across all podcast platforms.
“ABC Audio is thrilled to introduce the power of audio storytelling to a new generation through the Disney Frozen Podcast,” said ABC Audio vice president Liz Alesse. “This immersive series created in partnership with Disney Publishing Worldwide and Walt Disney Animation Studios taps into listeners’ imagination and offers parents an engaging, screen-free experience to share with their children.”
The Frozen podcast is aimed at children aged 6-12, an age group that has been increasingly active in the podcasting space. According to the Kids Podcast Listener Report by Edison Research and podcast platform Kids Listen, almost half of kids in the US aged 6-12 have listened to a podcast and nearly 30% of kids are monthly podcast listeners. Other audio mediums however such as AM/FM radio and audiobooks are, however, still considered more popular amongst that demographic.
Disney has released a number of official podcasts, including Disney insider news podcast D23 and Journey To The Magic from the Walt Disney Travel company, as well as various podcasts for Marvel IP such as Black Panther.
This latest podcast, which represents one of its first forays into narrative podcasts, comes amid an ongoing Hollywood strike that has seen both actors and writers down tools across a number of activities.
