She shares a name with the main character from “Sleeping Beauty,” and she’s one-half of the northern lights. All things considered, the singer Aurora would seem the perfect fit for Disney’s “Frozen 2” — the woman’s Norwegian, for Thor’s sake! — in which she duets with Idina Menzel on the movie’s showstopper, “Into the Unknown.”
But the 23-year-old isn’t a Broadway-star-turned-cartoon-princess, a la Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas), Lea Salonga (Jasmine and Mulan) and Jodi Benson (Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”). Her music, including “Running With the Wolves” and “Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1),” is earthy and dark. She’s covered David Bowie and names Leonard Cohen and Enya among her musical influences. “Hallelujah” is not exactly “Be Our Guest.”
Au contraire, insists Aurora. She and the House of Mouse are actually on the very same storybook page.
“I always liked, as a child, that Disney movies were not afraid to be sad or horrible,” she tells The Post by phone from Oslo, Norway. “I hate movies that clearly underestimate children, and I love the fact that, throughout the years, Disney has not.”
She’s right. From Bambi’s mom to Elsa fleeing her lifelong home, Disney has rarely let its protagonists take the happy-go-lucky road. Aurora’s favorite movie as a child was “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” about a man ostracized from society for his looks.
“I feel like I would really get along with Quasimodo up there,” she says. “He would be a really true friend to me.”
In “Frozen 2,” out Friday, the mature conflict comes in the form of a siren call in the distance, beckoning Elsa to leave her Arendelle kingdom and discover the secrets of her past. That’s when she sings “Into the Unknown,” with Aurora providing the haunting “Ah-ah-ah-ah!” we hear during the song and throughout the film.
“It was like a puzzle . . . falling together,” she says. “It felt right for me to be a part of that, because I’m a big supporter of following your instincts.”
That confidence has served her well. Aurora Aksnes, who started singing at age 6, dropped her debut album, “All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend,” in 2016 at just 19 years old. She also found a famous fan in Katy Perry. In 2015, the “Firework” singer tweeted, “Finally. New music that makes my heart a flutter.”
Around the same time, Tom MacDougall, executive vice president of music at Disney, was smitten too. And on the lookout for exciting new talent.
“She’s incredible, isn’t she?” says MacDougall, who’s helped shape the sound of the studio’s films going all the way back to “The Lion King.” “She’s sort of Björk-ish in that, ‘Wow. I haven’t seen anything like this before’ way.”
MacDougall first saw Aurora perform during an artist showcase five years ago, and thought there was something about this intriguing performer with an impressive range that could be a good fit for Disney. He eventually had her record a cover of “Baby Mine,” used in the 2019 “Dumbo” trailer. And then the perfect project came along — the Scandinavia-inspired “Frozen 2.”
“Knowing that was she Norwegian, I thought, ‘Well, who knows?’ At that point the character didn’t exist, but she was an interesting artist,” he says. “When this character came up — this voice — I pitched Aurora.
“It was a no-brainer. She had to be our voice.”
Aurora thought so too. Besides the movie’s strong message, the singer loved the ties to her culture, and the spectacular depictions of nature, which she says look just like Norway. Aurora grew up in the faraway town of Os, surrounded by forests where she spent much of her days. The outdoors are still important to her.
Menzel and Aurora harmonize to make a sumptuous sound, but the two performers never set foot in the same recording studio. Aurora recorded her part over two days in London, while Menzel set her track stateside. Not sure of what to expect, experiencing the finished product was an emotional experience for Aurora.
“I got goosebumps, which I don’t often get,” she says of watching the film. “Seeing something you know will be so important for so many children all over the world . . . It’s a really special thing.”
Aurora, who also produces her own music, has a full dance card. She released her second studio album, “A Different Kind of Human (Step 2),” in June, and has already begun working on her next one, with two more in mind. She also wants to try her hand at acting and filmmaking. Her restlessness to try scary new things is a lot like Elsa’s.
“I barely can sleep!” she says.