Walt Disney Animation Studios to release Saami-language version of “Frozen 2”

Text by Eilís Quinn 

The filmmakers behind Frozen 2 said parts of the new film were inspired by visits to Saami areas and story research done in consultation with a Saami working group.

“For all of our films at Disney Animation, research is crucial to building fantastical yet relatable and believable worlds,” said producer Peter Del Vecho in the news release on Friday.

“At the genesis of creating Frozen 2, our filmmaking team embarked on a research trip to Iceland, Norway and Finland. We were deeply moved by so many of the places we visited and the people we met, including a visit with the Sámi.”

The Saami are an Arctic Indigenous group. There is no census just for Saami but most sources estimate their population at around 100,000.

Their traditional homeland spans the Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia’s western Arctic.  There are numerous Saami languages and dialects spoken across the four countries. Frozen 2 will be produced in North Saami, the language – that most sources estimate has around 17,000 native speakers – that’s the most spoken.

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In a joint release, Aili Keskitalo from the Saami parliament in Norway; Tuomas Aslak Juuso from the Saami parliament in Finland; Per-Olof Nutti from the Saami Parliament in Sweden and Asa Larsson-Blind from the Saami Council, a non-governmental organization that represents Saami in all four counties, said the project was even more meaningful for happening during the current United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages.

“We are deeply proud and grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Disney Animation,” they said.

“We are beyond excited that the film, Frozen 2, will be accessible to Sámi children in their own native tongue.”

Casting for the Saami version of the film will begin soon according to producers.

The movie is scheduled to be released in December 2019 along with the other Nordic-language versions of the film.

This story is posted on the Barents Observer as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.