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Fans of the movie 鈥淔rozen鈥� don鈥檛 need to let the film go just yet.聽

Disney recently announced that the smash hit animated movie will be the basis for an animated special that will air during the holidays in 2017 and that a musical based on the film will open on Broadway in 2018.聽

According to Disney, 鈥淔rozen鈥� actors Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, and Josh Gad will all return for the animated special.聽

Meanwhile, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who worked on the songs for the 2013 animated movie, will be adding new tracks for the Broadway musical adaptation and 鈥淔rozen鈥� screenwriter and co-director Jennifer Lee will be adapting the story for the stage.聽

鈥淔rozen鈥� tells the story of two sisters, Anna (Bell) and Elsa (Menzel), who are in line to rule the kingdom of Arendelle and whose lives are thrown into turmoil when Elsa reveals her powers over snow and ice to the public and then flees.

The movie is now Disney鈥檚 highest-grossing animated film of all time, outdistancing such past hits as 1994鈥檚 鈥淭he Lion King鈥� and the 1992 movie 鈥淎laddin.鈥� Its success isn鈥檛 just in comparison to other Disney animated films, either 鈥� it鈥檚 passed box office titans such as 鈥淭he Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King鈥� and 鈥淪pider-Man 2.鈥澛�

What made 鈥淔rozen鈥� stand out from the pack and become so popular?聽

found that the mood of 鈥淔rozen鈥� makes it different from animated movies trying to be relevant with pop culture references.

鈥溾�橣rozen鈥櫬爏tands out for its old-fashioned story 鈥� with its regal setting, its lonely princess in a castle, its kingdom under a spell 鈥� and for its visual splendor,鈥� Ebiri wrote.聽

But another aspect that鈥檚 apparently behind the appeal is that in many ways, the movie is not a traditional Disney tale.

Erika Wells, a psychologist at Union College, , 鈥淚t鈥檚 the furthest thing from a typical princess movie. The handsome prince is evil. The person with the magical powers is good. It spins Disney on its head.鈥�

The character of Elsa is also key, say critics. Besides having a showstopping song, she鈥檚 far from a villain. After Wells and a colleague talked with Union students about the movie, they found that 鈥渆veryone could identify with Elsa,鈥� New Yorker writer Maria Konnikova wrote.

鈥溾��Born with magical powers that she couldn鈥檛 quite control, she meant well but caused harm, both on a personal scale (hurting her sister, repeatedly) and a global one (cursing her kingdom, by mistake). She was flawed 鈥� actually flawed, in a way that resulted in real mistakes and real consequences. Everyone could interpret her in a unique way and find that the arc of her story applied directly to them."聽

Ebiri agreed, writing 鈥淗owever you cut it, this is a tale about growing up, becoming your own person, and learning not to be ashamed of yourself."

Marketing may also have played a part. Disney seems to have made an effort to aim the movie at all moviegoers, not just young girls, and writes that other marketers can learn from Disney鈥檚 success.

鈥淚f you totally leave out boys, you will cut your audience potential, fracture families and potentially miss out on a much bigger piece of the pie,鈥� Davis wrote. 鈥溾��In [movie promotion during] October, we saw the full plot line, multiple male and female characters, action, song and humor. It wasn鈥檛 until the film was released to such widespread love and overwhelming word-of-mouth promotion that audiences learned it was a story dominated by the relationship of two sisters. The slow reveal plan worked; stats show that 43 percent of audience members are male.鈥�