At first blush, the Japanese success of the animated film ¡°Frozen¡± seems easy to explain. In a country where people pack Tokyo Disneyland on weekdays, of course a new princess-centric cartoon from Disney would succeed, but ¡°Frozen¡± has been a phenomenon all its own. It¡¯s on pace to be the second-highest-grossing film in Japanese history, and has become an inescapable presence in pop culture this year.

The soundtrack to ¡°Frozen¡± boasts similar success. It topped the Oricon album charts for three straight weeks, the first animated-film soundtrack to do so since 1979. The musical numbers from the movie ¡ª in particular dramatic centerpiece ¡°Let It Go,¡± originally sung in English by Idina Menzel ¡ª are more likely to be heard on TV or blasting through public speakers than any new AKB48 single. It¡¯s the most ever-present music from the most ever-present movie of the year. So, how did ¡°Frozen¡± (rendered as ¡°Anna to Yuki no Joo [Anna and the Snow Queen]¡± in Japanese) pull it off?

Part of the soundtrack¡¯s commercial success stems from Disney¡¯s AKB-style approach to selling the songs. The Japanese album comes with all the original English versions of the movie¡¯s musical numbers, and includes a second disc of Japanese-language takes on those songs from the film¡¯s Japanese voice actors. The Japanese interpretations are well-done and the language change is rarely jarring (save the clunky Frank Sinatra-aping of ¡°In Summer¡°). However, the real genius lies in the digital sales strategy. The soundtrack¡¯s songs have held the iTunes charts in a vice grip for most of the year thanks to fans buying both the English originals and the Japanese covers, along with an additional, uneventful take of ¡°Let It Go¡± from singer May J.

It¡¯s also important to note that the ¡°Frozen¡± soundtrack taps into a popular musical trend ¡ª the rise of pop music suitable for Broadway productions. In Japan, the American TV series ¡°Glee¡± saw a period of popularity as did the American musical ¡°Wicked¡± (Menzel also played one of the lead roles in that production¡¯s first Broadway run and sang the song ¡°Defying Gravity,¡± which, from sound to theme, is ¡°Let It Go¡± in chrysalis). The technique has extended to popular music in Japan, from the embrace of New York trio fun. to the prominence of domestic acts such as .

Ultimately, though, ¡°Frozen¡± brings to mind classic Disney songs, many of which are now getting the theatrical treatment all over the world. The soundtrack¡¯s success will probably get credit once more when today¡¯s teens start spending their yen to see the on-stage version.