Olaf's Frozen Adventure

Olaf's Frozen Adventure is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated featurette, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers, who previously directed the holiday-themed Prep & Landing shorts. The film features the voices of Josh Gad, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, and Jonathan Groff reprising their roles from the original 2013 film Frozen. It premiered in 3D in theaters for a limited time engagement[5] in front of Pixar's Coco on November 22, 2017, and made its television debut on ABC on December 14, 2017.[6]

Olaf's Frozen Adventure
Film poster
Directed by
Produced byRoy Conli
Screenplay byJac Schaeffer
Starring
Music by
CinematographyAlessandro Jacomini (lighting)
Cory Rocco Florimonte (layout)
Edited byJeremy Milton
Jesse Averna
Production
company
Distributed byWalt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release date
  • November 22, 2017 (2017-11-22) (with Coco)
Running time
21 minutes[3][4]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

It is the first Christmas season since the gates reopened and Anna and Elsa host a celebration for all of Arendelle. When the townspeople unexpectedly leave early to enjoy their individual holiday traditions, the sisters realize they have no family traditions of their own. Elsa laments the fact that because she had isolated herself most of her life, she and Anna were unable to spend time with each other. Olaf decides to look for traditions with Sven's help.

Going through the town, Olaf encounters various family traditions relating to Christmas, Hanukkah and Winter solstice. After a visit to Oaken, Olaf, Sven and their sleigh full of traditions travel through the snowy tundra only for a piece of coal (from a portable sauna that Oaken had given them) to set the sleigh on fire. They slide down a hill and Olaf and Sven end up separated by a chasm. With only a fruit cake, Olaf attempts to travel through the woods and is attacked by wolves.

Meanwhile, Anna and Elsa discover some forgotten items in their attic. Sven returns to Kristoff and informs him (in vain), Anna, and Elsa of Olaf's plight. They gather the residents of Arendelle to go look for Olaf. Elsewhere, Olaf manages to escape the wolves, but loses the fruit cake to a hawk and gives up by a tree not too far from the kingdom. Anna and Elsa find Olaf and cheer him up by revealing that they do have a tradition: Himself. After Elsa and Anna had been isolated from each other, the latter began annually sliding cards and dolls of Olaf under the former’s door. As they all celebrate the holidays, the hawk drops the fruit cake on Olaf. Upon getting the fruit cake back, Olaf declares it "A Christmas miracle!"

Cast

Production

On February 9, 2016, the short film was announced as a television special, to be aired on ABC,[7] produced by Roy Conli, and directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers. The title was revealed during the airing of The Making of Frozen: Return to Arendelle on ABC in 2016, and it was announced that it would feature original songs by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, the sister of Frozen songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez. However, in June 2017, it was announced that the film would instead receive a limited time[5] theatrical release in front of Disney·Pixar's Coco, as it was deemed too cinematic for television. The main original cast, Josh Gad, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, and Jonathan Groff, returned, and the story follows Olaf as he tries to find the best holiday traditions for Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff.[3][8]

The music was recorded by an 80-piece orchestra in May 2017. The short was the filmmakers' first musical. They noted the requirement to keep the plot "pretty simple", and commented that they removed anything that diverted too much from that story. The fruitcake jokes in the short are a continuing motif from the filmmakers' previous project Prep & Landing. As they crafted the story, the Frozen team had barely started sketching out the plot of Frozen II.[9]

Soundtrack
Olaf's Frozen Adventure
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedNovember 3, 2017
RecordedMay 2017
Length25:40
LabelWalt Disney Records
Producer

There are four original songs in the film, written by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, titled "Ring in the Season", "The Ballad of Flemmingrad", "That Time of Year" and "When We're Together". Film's score has been composed by Christophe Beck and Jeff Morrow. The full soundtrack was released on November 3, 2017 by Walt Disney Records.[10][11]

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Ring in the Season"
1:58
2."The Ballad of Flemmingrad"Jonathan Groff0:44
3."Ring in the Season" (Reprise)Menzel1:16
4."That Time of Year"
  • Gad
  • Menzel
  • Bell
  • Cast
3:03
5."That Time of Year" (Reprise)Gad0:52
6."When We're Together"
  • Menzel
  • Bell
  • Gad
  • Groff
2:50
7."Olaf's Frozen Adventure" (Score Suite)
  • Christophe Beck
  • Jeff Morrow
4:27
8."The Ballad of Flemmingrad" (Traditional Version)Groff3:06
9."Ring in the Season" (Instrumental Karaoke Mix)
  • Elyssa Samsel
  • Kate Anderson
1:58
10."That Time of Year" (Instrumental Karaoke Mix)
  • Samsel
  • Anderson
3:02
11."When We're Together" (Instrumental Karaoke Mix)
  • Samsel
  • Anderson
2:49
Total length:25:40

Release

Olaf's Frozen Adventure was released by Walt Disney Pictures in 3D in theaters as a limited time offering[5] on November 22, 2017, preceding screenings of Pixar's Coco.[3][8] In the UK, it was shown before re-releases of Frozen on November 25 and 26, and December 2 and 3, 2017. On November 23, Disney announced the release of Olaf's Frozen Adventure on Disney's cable television channels in Latin America, along with Netflix, on December 8, and later on Mexican channels Azteca 7 and 13.[12] Coco co-director Adrian Molina said that the short's placement before Coco was an "experiment" due to its length.[13] It ended its limited run in US screenings on December 8.[14] Due to its brevity, the film was released as a matinee in Gibraltar, after which the 2013 film Frozen was also shown.[15]

The week after Coco's release in Mexico, local media noted audiences' strong dislike for the length of the short film.[16][17][18][19] A few days later, all Mexican cinemas offered apologies, and removed the short from exhibition.[20][21] American audiences had a similar reaction.[22] It was reported that some theaters put warning signs up about the length of the short ahead of Coco.[23]

The short made its television debut on ABC on December 14, 2017, as part of 25 Days of Christmas.[24] It was viewed by 5.64 million viewers.[25]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Olaf's Frozen Adventure has an approval rating of 57% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 5.12/10.[26]

Indiwire deemed the short a "bridge" and a "setup" to Frozen 2,[27] while The Mirror felt it would "tide fans over" until the next feature length installment of the franchise.[28] Meanwhile, KSDK thought it was "an 'Adventure' worth taking,"[29] and Slashfilm wrote that "When We're Together" had the potential to be 2017's version of "Let It Go".[30] Slate noted the short film's overt commercialism, and also thought it committed the well-trodden sin of turning a comedic side-character into the star, describing it as an "increasingly desperate one-man show". However, the reviewer felt ultimately won over by the music, animation, and heartwarming conclusion.[31]

Accolades

This film resulted in three nominations at the 2018 Annie Award. The film was nominated as Best Animated Special Production. Christopher Hendryx, Dan Lund, Mike Navarro, Hiroaki Narita, and Steven Chitwood were nominated for Animated Effects in an Animated Production for their work on this film. Elyssa Samsel, Kate Anderson, and Christophe Beck were nominated for Music in an Animated Feature Production.[32]

Home media

The short was first released as Tesco-exclusive DVD in the UK on December 7, 2017. Soon after, the short was made available in digital format on December 19, 2017.[33][34] A Blu-ray/DVD was released in the US and Canada on November 13, 2018.[35] The 2017 digital format release and the 2018 Blu-ray/DVD release included six additional Disney short films: Polar Trappers (1938), Winter (1930), The Hockey Champ (1939), The Art of Skiing (1941), Once Upon a Wintertime (1954), and Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952).[34]

References
  1. "Christophe Beck Scoring Disney's Olaf's Frozen Adventure". Film Music Reporter. June 15, 2017.
  2. "Olaf's Frozen Adventure Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. September 29, 2017.
  3. Perry, Spencer (June 13, 2017). "Olaf's Frozen Adventure Trailer Returns to the World of Frozen". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  4. "OLAF'S FROZEN ADVENTURE (U)". British Board of Film Classification. November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  5. Booth, Kaitlyn (June 13, 2017). "Olaf's Frozen Adventure Trailer For The 21-Minute Featurette In Front Of Coco". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  6. "OLAF'S FROZEN ADVENTURE Makes Broadcast Television Debut on ABC, 12/14". broadwayworld.com. December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  7. "ABC to Air FROZEN Holiday Special in 2017; Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell & Josh Gad to Return!". Broadway world. February 9, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  8. Snetiker, Marc (June 13, 2017). "Q&A: John Lasseter Debuts New 'Frozen' First Look". EW.com. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  9. "'Olaf's Frozen Adventure' Directors Kevin Deters & Stevie Wermers-Skelton on Crafting the Featurette". Collider. 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  10. "Olaf's Frozen Adventure (Various Artists)". amazon.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  11. Marnell, Blair (November 3, 2017). "OLAF'S FROZEN ADVENTURE Soundtrack Out Today". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  12. http://www.milenio.com/hey/television/cortometraje-olaf-frozen-disney_channel-netflix-milenio-noticias_0_1072092922.html
  13. "Disney's Olaf's adventures gets Frozen out of Coco screenings this Christmas". Metro. 2017-12-03. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  14. Pddig, Carolyn (December 2, 2017). "Disney Pulling Frozen Short Before Coco". Screen Rant. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  15. King's Bastion Cinemas, Gibraltar, Europe
  16. "Espectadores molestos por el corto de Frozen previo a Coco". Excélsior (in Spanish). November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  17. Digital, Milenio (November 1, 2017). "Esto es lo peor de 'Coco' según usuarios de redes sociales". Milenio.com (in Spanish). Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  18. Barco, Uriel (November 1, 2017). "'Coco': El detalle que está enfureciendo a las personas que ven la película". DailyTrend.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  19. Enelshow, Redacción (October 31, 2017). "Usuarios en redes molestos por el corto de 'Frozen' que sale antes de 'Coco'". SDPnoticias.com (in Spanish). Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  20. Redacción (November 4, 2017). "Tras quejas, se verá "Coco" sin corto de "Frozen"". El Universal (Mexico City) (in Spanish). Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  21. Redacción (November 4, 2017). "Cadenas de cines te escuchan: verás 'Coco' sin el corto de Frozen". Excélsior (in Spanish). Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  22. "'Frozen' Short Showing Before 'Coco' Gets Cold Reception". newsmax.com. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  23. Reporters, Telegraph (2017-11-27). "New 21-minute Olaf short angers Frozen fans at US Coco screenings". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  24. CS (December 8, 2017). "Olaf's Frozen Adventure to Debut on ABC December 14". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  25. Rick Porter (December 15, 2017). "'Thursday Night Football' adjusts up, still at season low: Thursday final ratings". TV By the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  26. "Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  27. Desowitz, Bill. "Disney Short 'Olaf's Frozen Adventure' Is a Bridge to 'Frozen 2' | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  28. Methven, Nicola (2017-11-19). "Frozen mini film spin-off to tide Olaf fans over until sequel arrives". mirror. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  29. "Rest easy, 'Frozen' fans: Disney's Olaf-centric short is an 'Adventure' worth taking". KSDK. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  30. "Olaf's Frozen Adventure Video: Is This The New "Let It Go"?". Slashfilm. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  31. Martinelli, Marissa (2017-11-27). "Disney's New Frozen Short, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Olaf the Snowman". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  32. Hipes, Patrick (December 4, 2017). "Annie Awards: Disney/Pixar's 'Coco' Tops Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  33. "Olaf's Frozen Adventure Plus 6 Disney Tales". Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  34. Reif, Alex (December 19, 2017). "Digital Review: Olaf's Frozen Adventure – Includes 6 Disney Tales". Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  35. "Olaf's Frozen Adventure (English) (Blu-ray Combo)". Best Buy.
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