Jennifer Lee Stepping Down as Disney Animation CCO, Will Direct Frozen 3 & 4

Jennifer Lee has officially announced that she is stepping down from her role as chief creative officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios to return to filmmaking and will be directing both Frozen 3 and its follow-up, Frozen 4.

In a statement on the move, Lee announced that she would be returning to the Frozen series alongside Marc Smith to direct the next two installments in the series.

“I will be returning to filmmaking full time writing and directing with Marc Smith on Frozen 3 and Frozen 4,” Lee wrote. “I admit, I was hooked from the moment Marc first pitched this new adventure for our gang, and I am in awe of the incredible work he has done since then developing this powerful story. As a studio, we are fairly new to musical sequels, and this will be our first story told over two films at once. I’m excited for the challenge and so grateful for this opportunity to return to filmmaking, and can think of no better way to do so than with our Frozen family.”

Lee was one of the co-directors of both Frozen and Frozen 2. In 2018, she was named the CCO of Walt Disney Animation Studios after John Lasseter left the company. Lee also wrote the screenplay for Disney’s 2023 animated movie Wish. In her place as CCO, Disney announced that Jared Bush would be taking over.

What do we know about Frozen 3?

Currently, almost nothing is known about the plot or any story details on the third entry in the hit Disney series. Disney recently revealed that the film is no longer coming out in 2026. It will now be arriving a year later in 2027. Nothing official has been said about Frozen IV as of yet.

Frozen II saw the return of stars Kristen Bell (The Good Place), Idina Menzel, and Josh Gad (Murder on the Orient Express), as well as the additions of Sterling K. Brown (This is Us) and Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld). Directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, it was released in theaters in 2019 and grossed $1.453 billion.