Frozen star Kristen Bell performed a song cut from the original film that “holds a very special place in my heart” in honour of its composer Christophe Beck.
The Hollywood actress, 43, appeared among stars including Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston and Harry Potter director Chris Columbus at the Education Through Music (ETM-LA) annual gala at the Skirball Cultural Centre in Los Angeles.
The gala was honouring composer Beck with a Shining Star award on the 10th anniversary of hit Disney film Frozen, which he told the PA news agency gave him a “sense of belonging and a real sense of accomplishment”.
Appearing on stage after he was honoured, Bell joked “I’m the Queen of Arendelle” in reference to her film character Anna.
“I’m going to sing a couple of songs for you tonight and they are exactly what you expect, Frozen. But I’m going to keep it unexpected, a song that was cut from the film,” she told the audience.
“Early on in the development of Frozen, our creators played around with this idea of heir and a spare and how that dynamic affected the sisters, and although the song didn’t make it into the film, it makes so crystal clear to me who Anna was and it just holds a very special place in my heart.
“This song is titled Spare and it takes place right after a moment where Anna is walking through the city of Arendelle and she overhears out-of-town people refer to her as just the spare sister.”
Bell congratulated Beck on being honoured and described her Frozen family as “very close”, before singing a second song from comedy series Central Park – which she starred in after Frozen co-star “delicious Josh Gad” asked her – entitled Little Good.
“This song, it resonated with me from the second I heard it, I think about it almost on a weekly basis because I just think the message is so very important and I hope it resonates with you as well,” Bell said.
Speaking about the ETM-LA charity, whose mission it is to provide music to under-resourced US schools, she said: “Music is imperative, it is vital, music is a language we all deserve to speak.”
Earlier in the night, Bell appeared on stage to sing Frozen’s Do You Want To Build A Snowman? with children from schools in Los Angeles who have been involved with the charity.
Beck, whose credits include Ant-Man and The Pink Panther, was presented his award by Mrs Doubtfire director Columbus.
On stage he said: “Chris Beck and I first worked on a movie together that none of us should have made, it was not a particularity good film.
“Chris saw the picture and agreed to write the score, possibly because he was given the wrong prescription at the optometrist that day, maybe he had gambling debt, but whatever the reason he crafted an emotionally rich soundtrack to a mediocre film.
“To say he elevated the movie is an understatement, he literally turned water into wine and that made me fall madly in love with the soulful, complex music of Christophe Beck and it was a beginning of a wonderful collaboration.”
Columbus added that he believes Beck “deserves a place on that mountain” alongside the world’s greatest composers, including Star Wars and Jurassic Park’s John Williams.
Cranston appeared on stage to present a Shining Star award to his “hero” sister Amy, who was honoured for her organisation SEL4CA (Social Emotional Learning Alliance for California).
“While I am the charlatan of the family, Amy is the real deal,” the US actor said.
“We were raised here in the San Fernando Valley by two aspirational but unstable actors, imagine that.
“There were happy years until they weren’t and that’s when Amy was born, so Amy being quite a bit younger than my older brother and I, didn’t get to enjoy the benefit of all the good times.
“She grew up among struggling parental dynamic to navigate her way through choppy waters of a broken family.”
Cranston said he was seven or eight years older than she was “so I was on my way, she didn’t have that luxury”.
“As a young teen she was left on her own and as any high school kid would, took advantage of her unbridled freedom, the lack of structure, and at 16 she took off, she left school went to California,” he said.
Cranston said his sister achieved her GED (General Education Diploma), then went to nursing school, before getting her bachelors degree and a teaching certificate, which led her to a masters degree and eventually her doctorate in education.
“Kids, if you want to achieve great things drop out of school as soon as you can.”
