It is the big-screen fairy tale that has captured the imagination of little girls, parents – and their bank managers – around the world: the spectacularly successful movie Frozen has now broken almost every Hollywood record… and there’s still a sequel to come.

Frozen is Disney’s hit movie inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fable The Snow Queen – the story of two sisters who save their kingdom through their love for each other. And now it is officially the most lucrative cartoon Disney has ever produced, and the most popular and successful animated film of all time.

It has made Disney more than £1billion since its release in November 2013, thanks to box-office sales and Let It Go, one of the catchiest songs ever to emerge from Hollywood – and then there’s the avalanche of merchandise, which includes dolls, clothes and even mouthwash.

Frozen has made Disney more than £1billion since its release in November 2013, thanks to box-office sales and Let It Go, one of the catchiest songs ever to emerge from Hollywood

So fans will be delighted to learn that next week, every copy of The Mail on Sunday will contain a superb limited-edition double-sided glossy poster featuring two exclusive Disney images from the film.

The following Sunday, fans who buy the newspaper will be able to pick up an interactive DVD featuring stills from Frozen: The Official Poster Collection, interactive games and previews of forthcoming films from branches of W H Smith.

Such is the runaway popularity of the film, that a new theme attraction called Frozen Summer Fun opened at Disneyland Paris this month. The Frozen ‘experience’ has characters from the film performing in a live sing-a-long show in front of an icy mountain backdrop.

And there is no end in sight to the Frozen phenomenon according to British toy stores, with The Entertainer, the UK’s largest independent retailer, now predicting that profits from Frozen merchandise will grow and grow. It’s no surprise that a sequel, Frozen 2, is already under way.

Here, to celebrate The Mail on Sunday’s big giveaway next week, we present a snowstorm of amazing facts that have made Frozen the movie juggernaut of the decade…

About 650 people worked on the film from Disney’s US studios, including 70 animators and 20 storyboard writers

£800,000,000

The cash the movie has taken worldwide at the box office, knocking Toy Story 3 from the top spot.

It was recorded in 41 languages and was particularly massive in Japan, where box-office receipts contributed 19 per cent of worldwide earnings, second only to the US’s 32 per cent.

1,000

The total number of merchandise spin-offs, more than any other single movie – making yet more millions.

This year Disney Consumer Products reported a 22 per cent rise in revenue and 46 per cent rise in operating income for the December quarter of 2014 – largely thanks to Frozen.

Shoes, outfits, hairbrushes and bags have all sold in their millions. More than three million Frozen dresses have been sold, and scores of brands have cashed in on the huge popularity of the film with Frozen characters appearing on everything from mouthwash to tins of soup.

Bestsellers: Frozen merchandise includes tins of condensed soup and Elsa dolls, which caused stampedes when they were released

More bizarre memorabilia includes a Frozen toilet seat, a set of bowling balls and a seatbelt.

Monopoly Junior marketed a special edition with the tagline ‘who ever collects the most cash will thaw their freezing heart and win’.

Some 5,000 limited-edition Elsa and Anna dolls sold out in 45 minutes. Parents were so desperate to get their hands on merchandise that there was a stampede at Nottingham’s Poundworld.

420,000

The number of computer-generated strands of hair on Elsa, the most complicated cartoon ever created by Disney.

It took 4,000 computers up to 30 hours to create some scenes and special ‘snowflake generating’ software produced up to 2,000 different shapes.

13

The number of consecutive weeks Let It Go stayed at the top of the American Billboard charts. Since then it has become the world’s fifth biggest-selling single at 10.9 million copies.

More than 30,000 fans have posted their own versions on YouTube.

4,000,000

The number of DVDs and Blu-rays sold last year – making it the biggest seller in the past five years, beating Avatar, Skyfall, Harry Potter and Despicable Me.

37

The percentage boost in tourism to Norway since the release of the film.

Disney executives went on a fact-finding trip to Norway to find inspiration for Frozen. The snowy kingdom in the film was inspired by the country’s Naeroyfjord municipality and Oslo’s Akershus Fortress was the blueprint for the ice palace.

Northern exposure: Disney executives went on a fact-finding trip to Norway to find inspiration for Frozen

2018

The year when fans are expecting the release of Frozen 2.

In anticipation earlier this year, Disney released Frozen Fever, a six-minute short film.

The reason for the three-year wait is that Disney has three other films in the pipeline. All the main players in Frozen are expected to return for the sequel.

Spin-off: Frozen Fever, the short sequel to Frozen

After the announcement, director Jennifer Lee said: ‘At last, I can say – FROZEN 2!!!! I’m beyond excited to create alongside my Frozen family!’

And Kristen Bell, who voiced the character Anna, wrote: ‘Dreams really do come 2!!! FROZEN2 it’s official.’

50

The number of animators it took to create the scene in which the Ice Palace is built. The palace itself took nine months to create.

About 650 people worked on the film from Disney’s US studios, including 70 animators and 20 storyboard writers.

70

Awards Frozen has won, including Oscars for best animated feature and best song. Its soundtrack was also the biggest-selling album in 2014.

£95,000,000

The size of the budget for the movie... meaning that it made an astonishing 742 per cent profit.

1 day

How long it took songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez to write hit song Let It Go, sung by Idina Menzel, who voices Elsa, a character with magic powers to create ice and snow.

They wrote the first four lines while walking in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and composed the rest of the song back at their home studio.

The Oscars ceremony moment of glory was overshadowed for Menzel when John Travolta inexplicably introduced her as ‘Adele Dazeem’.

Playing it cool: Songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez celebrate winning at the Oscars

Idina Menzel (left), who voiced Elsa in Frozen, with Kristin Bell (right), who voiced Anna in the huge movie

He later sent her flowers and an apologetic email. ‘It rocked me for a couple of seconds and then I got back on track,’ she said diplomatically.

Best known for her role in the TV series Glee, Menzel was nominated for a Tony for her performance on Broadway in Rent and won a Tony for her role as Elphaba in the musical Wicked.

Menzel told The Mail on Sunday she could relate to the character because she often felt like an outsider at school.

THE FROZEN FAMILY The daughters of Let It Go's songwriting husband-and-wife team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez - Katie, eight, and Annie, four - had voice parts in the film as the child role of Anna and a baby troll. Advertisement

‘No child wants to be different,’ she says. ‘But I’ve been singing since I was five years old and I always knew that people would perk up when I did.