Olaf's Frozen Adventure | |
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Directed by |
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Screenplay by | Jac Schaeffer |
Produced by | Roy Conli |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Alessandro Jacomini |
Edited by |
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Music by |
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Layouts by | Cory Rocco Florimonte |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 21 minutes [2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Olaf's Frozen Adventure is a 2017 American animated featurette produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers. The screenplay was written by Jac Schaeffer, with Josh Gad, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, and Jonathan Groff reprising their roles from Frozen (2013).
In November 2017, Olaf's Frozen Adventure premiered in theaters for a limited-time engagement in 3D format preceding the screening of Pixar's Coco and made its television debut on ABC in the following December. It received mixed reviews from critics. It was nominated for Best Animated Special Production, Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Production, and Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production at the 45th Annie Awards.
It is the first Christmas season since the gates reopened and Anna and Elsa host a celebration for all of Arendelle. With the townspeople unexpectedly leaving early to prepare for their holiday traditions, the sisters realize that they have no family traditions of their own. Upon hearing Elsa lament that the cause was her childhood isolation, Olaf and Sven decide to look for traditions and see if any of them are suitable to borrow or adapt.
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 it 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!"
On February 9, 2016, the short was announced as a television special set to be released on ABC, [3] which would be 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 latter the sister of Frozen songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez. However, in June 2017, it was announced that the film would instead receive a limited-time theatrical release in front of Disney/Pixar's Coco, as it was deemed too cinematic for television. It reprises the main cast from the Frozen (2013) including the return of Josh Gad, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, and Jonathan Groff. [4]
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 . [5]
Olaf's Frozen Adventure | |
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Soundtrack album by | |
Released | November 3, 2017 |
Recorded | May 2017 |
Length | 25:40 |
Label | Walt Disney |
Producer |
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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". The film's score was composed by Christophe Beck and Jeff Morrow. The full soundtrack was released on November 3, 2017, by Walt Disney Records. [6]
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Ring in the Season" | 1:58 | |
2. | "The Ballad of Flemmingrad" | Jonathan Groff | 0:44 |
3. | "Ring in the Season" (Reprise) | Menzel | 1:16 |
4. | "That Time of Year" |
| 3:03 |
5. | "That Time of Year" (Reprise) | Gad | 0:52 |
6. | "When We're Together" |
| 2:50 |
7. | "Olaf's Frozen Adventure" (Score Suite) |
| 4:27 |
8. | "The Ballad of Flemmingrad" (Traditional Version) | Groff | 3:06 |
9. | "Ring in the Season" (Instrumental Karaoke Mix) |
| 1:58 |
10. | "That Time of Year" (Instrumental Karaoke Mix) |
| 3:02 |
11. | "When We're Together" (Instrumental Karaoke Mix) |
| 2:49 |
Total length: | 25:40 |
Pixar feature films are typically preceded by short films for their theatrical releases. [7] [8] Olaf's Frozen Adventure, in a 3D format, was chosen to precede screenings of Pixar's Coco beginning on November 22, 2017. [4] Coco co-director Adrian Molina said that the short's placement before Coco was an "experiment" given that (at 21 minutes) it was longer than the shorts that typically precede Pixar movies. [9] The week after Coco's release in Mexico, local media noted audiences' strong dislike for the length of the film. [10] [11] [12] A few days later, all Mexican cinemas offered apologies and removed the short from the exhibition. [13] It was reported that some theaters put warning signs up about the length of the short ahead of Coco. [14] Olaf's Frozen Adventure ended its limited-time run in U.S. screenings on December 8. [15]
In the UK, Olaf's Frozen Adventure 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. [16] The short made its network television debut on ABC on December 14, 2017, as part of 25 Days of Christmas. [17] It was viewed by an estimated 5.64 million people in the United States. [18]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 57% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. [19]
Bill Desowitz of IndieWire deemed the short as a "bridge" and a "setup" to Frozen II . [20] Nicola Methven of Daily Mirror felt it would "tide fans over" until the next feature-length installment of the franchise. [21] Writing for KSDK, Patrick Ryan commented it is an "Adventure' worth taking," [22] while Ben Pearson of /Film wrote that "When We're Together" had the potential to be 2017's version of "Let It Go". [23] Marissa Martinelli of Slate criticized the short's over-commercialism and opined that it committed the well-trodden sin of turning a comedic side-character into the star – an "increasingly desperate one-man show." [24] Alissa Wilkinson of Vox reported that audiences in North America have been critical of Disney's promotional strategy of prescreening the short before the main attraction. Additionally, she suggested that the featurette would be better off broadcast to television as originally planned instead. [25] [26]
Olaf's Frozen Adventure received three nominations at the 45th Annie Awards. The development of the featurette was nominated for the 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 contributions to the project. Elyssa Samsel, Kate Anderson, and Christophe Beck were nominated for Music in an Animated Feature Production for their musical performance incorporated into the featurette. [27]
The featurette was released as a Tesco-exclusive DVD in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2017 with a digital format release on December 19. A Blu-ray/DVD was released in the US and Canada on November 13, 2018. 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).
Stevie Wermers-Skelton is a Disney story artist and director. Together with Kevin Deters she co-directed the traditionally animated shorts How To Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007) and The Ballad of Nessie (2011), and the animated television specials Prep & Landing (2009), Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa (2010), and Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice (2011) for ABC. In 2011 it was reported that Wermers-Skelton is preparing a new Prep & Landing holiday special. However, as of 2023, it has not materialized.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez is an American songwriter. She is known for co-writing the songs for the 2013 animated musical film Frozen and its 2019 sequel Frozen II with her husband Robert Lopez. The couple won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Let It Go" from Frozen and "Remember Me" from Coco (2017) at the 86th and 90th awards respectively. She also won two Grammy Awards at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and she is signed to Disney Music Publishing.
Frozen is a 2013 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's 1844 fairy tale "The Snow Queen", it was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and produced by Peter Del Vecho, from a screenplay by Lee, who also conceived the film's story with Buck and Shane Morris. The film stars the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, and Santino Fontana. It follows Anna, the princess of Arendelle, who sets off on a journey with the iceman Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, and the snowman Olaf, to find her estranged sister Elsa after she accidentally traps their kingdom in eternal winter with her icy powers.
Anna of Arendelle is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated fantasy film Frozen (2013) and its sequel Frozen II (2019). She is voiced by Kristen Bell as an adult. At the beginning of the film, Livvy Stubenrauch and Katie Lopez provide her speaking and singing voice as a young child, respectively. Agatha Lee Monn portrayed her as a nine-year-old (singing). In Frozen II, Hadley Gannaway provided her voice as a young child while Stubenrauch is the archive audio.
Elsa is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated fantasy film Frozen (2013), and later media of the Frozen franchise, including its sequel Frozen II (2019). She is voiced mainly by Idina Menzel, with Eva Bella as a young child and Spencer Ganus as a teenager in Frozen. In Frozen II, young Elsa is voiced by Mattea Conforti and Eva Bella.
Frozen is a musical with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and book by Jennifer Lee, based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2013 animated film Frozen. The story centers on the relationship between two sisters who are princesses, Elsa and Anna. Elsa has magical powers to freeze objects and people, which she does not know how to control. After inheriting the throne, Elsa flees, inadvertently causes the kingdom to become frozen in an eternal winter, and nearly kills her sister. She must sacrifice and show true love to save the day.
Olaf is a fictional character in Disney's Frozen franchise. He first appeared in the Walt Disney Animation Studios animated film Frozen (2013). At the beginning of the film, Olaf is an inanimate snowman created by Elsa and Anna in their childhood. He then reappears in the film as an anthropomorphic snowman created by Elsa's ice powers, and helps Anna and Kristoff in their journey to find Elsa. He later appears in other related Frozen media, including the sequel Frozen II (2019), and serves as the central character in the featurette Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017), the short film Once Upon a Snowman (2020), and the series of shorts Olaf Presents (2021). He is voiced by Josh Gad in most of his appearances.
Kristoff is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios' Frozen franchise. He appears in the animated features Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019), and the animated short films Frozen Fever (2015), Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017) and Once Upon a Snowman (2020). He was created by co-directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and is voiced primarily by Jonathan Groff.
Frozen is a Disney media franchise started by the 2013 American animated feature film Frozen, which was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, screenplay by Lee and produced by Peter Del Vecho, music score by Christophe Beck, and songs written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. John Lasseter, then-chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, served as the film's executive producer. The original film was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "The Snow Queen".
Frozen Fever is a 2015 American animated musical fantasy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. A follow-up to the 2013 feature film Frozen, the short follows Elsa as she attempts to throw a surprise party for her sister Anna with the help of Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee again served as the directors with Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad reprising their roles from the film.
Frozen 2, stylized as Frozen II, is a 2019 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures as the sequel to Frozen (2013). Produced by Peter Del Vecho, the film was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee from a screenplay by Lee. The directors co-wrote the story with Marc Smith, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and Robert Lopez. It stars the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, and Jonathan Groff. Set three years after the events of the first film, Frozen 2 follows sisters Anna and Elsa, and their companions Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf as they travel to an enchanted forest to unravel the origin of Elsa's magical power.
Frozen Ever After and Anna and Elsa's Frozen Journey are musical reversing Shoot the Chute dark rides at Epcot, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, and Walt Disney Studios Park. The attractions feature scenes inspired by Disney's 2013 animated film Frozen as well as the 2015 animated short Frozen Fever. Its first installation in Epcot opened on June 21, 2016, using the ride vehicles and track layout of the former Maelstrom attraction. A version of the attraction opened at Hong Kong Disneyland on November 20, 2023, as part of The Walt Disney Company's centennial celebration, and Tokyo DisneySea on June 6, 2024, with one more scheduled to open at Disney Adventure World in the spring of 2025.
Coco is a 2017 American animated fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich, co-directed by Adrian Molina, and produced by Darla K. Anderson, from a screenplay written by Molina and Matthew Aldrich, and a story by Unkrich, Molina, Aldrich, and Jason Katz, based on an original idea conceived by Unkrich. The film stars the voices of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía, and Edward James Olmos. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel (Gonzalez) who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family and reverse their ban on music.
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration is a musical show based on Disney Animation's 2013 computer-animated musical feature film Frozen and the songs from the film, located at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Shanghai Disneyland Park. It was also formerly hosted at Disney California Adventure, Disneyland Park in Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. The show is presented as a recounting of the plot of Frozen as told by the official Arendelle historians and includes appearances from Princess Anna of Arendelle, Kristoff and Queen Elsa of Arendelle.
Lego Disney is a Lego theme based on the various Disney Princesses and Disney characters involved in different Disney films and television series. It is licensed from Walt Disney Pictures. The theme was first introduced in 2016 and was re-branded theme from the Lego Disney Princess line in 2017. The toy line was accompanied by several shorts and television specials based on Lego Disney.
Sven is a fictional character in the Frozen Franchise, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is a reindeer that lives together with his companion, Kristoff. Sven, alongside Kristoff, assists princess Anna in her search for her sister, queen Elsa, who has run away after placing the kingdom of Arendelle under an eternal winter. During their adventure, Sven also meets and befriends a living snowman, Olaf. Years after the events from the first film, Sven and the others go in search of a mysterious voice heard by Elsa. In the course of the journey, Sven meets other reindeer. Besides the two films, Sven is also present in the short film Frozen Fever (2015) and the featurette Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017).
"Into the Unknown" is a song recorded by American actress and singer-songwriter Idina Menzel and Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora from the 2019 Disney film Frozen 2, with music and lyrics composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The song received Academy Award, Critics' Choice Movie Award, Golden Globe Award and Satellite Award nominations for Best Original Song.
Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 is a 2020 documentary series about Disney's 2019 animated film Frozen 2. Its six episodes follow the production crew and voice actors of Frozen 2 in the film's final year of development. This includes the story development and reworking of the song "Show Yourself", the variety of different roles in the animation process, the songwriting and orchestral arrangements, and the post-production process. It was directed by Megan Harding, who was previously involved with a 2014 documentary on the making of the 2013 film Frozen, and released on the streaming service Disney+.
Once Upon a Snowman is a 2020 American animated fantasy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and written and directed by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham. Correy drew inspiration from a scene where Elsa created Olaf while working on Frozen (2013). He and his team sought to maintain continuity and explore afresh perspective on the original scenes. The short film was released exclusively on the streaming service Disney+ on October 23, 2020. Set during the events of Frozen, Once Upon a Snowman follows Olaf's early adventures to discover his identity after he was created by Elsa, before he met Anna, Kristoff, and Sven.