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 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, 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 had shut herself away, Anna began annually sliding cards and dolls of Olaf under her 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
Josh Gad as Olaf, a talking snowman who was magically created by Elsa in the first film.
Kristen Bell as Anna, Elsa’s younger sister, the Princess of Arendelle, and Kristoff's girlfriend.
Idina Menzel as Elsa, Anna’s elder sister and Queen of Arendelle.
*Eva Bella as Young Elsa
Jonathan Groff as Kristoff, an ice seller and Anna's boyfriend.
Chris Williams as Oaken, the owner of Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna.
John de Lancie as Mr. Olsen
Lauri Fraser as Mrs. Olsen
Benjamin Deters as Candy Cane Kid
Production
On February 9, 2016, the short film was announced as a television special, to be aired on ABC, 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 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. 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.
Soundtrack
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.
Release
Olaf's Frozen Adventure was released by Walt Disney Pictures in 3D in theaters as a limited time offering on November 22, 2017, preceding screenings of Pixar's Coco. 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. Coco co-director Adrian Molina said that the short's placement before Coco was an "experiment" due to its length. It ended its limited run in US screenings on December 8. Due to its brevity, the film was released as a matinee in Gibraltar, after which the 2013 film Frozen was also shown. The week after Cocos release in Mexico, local media noted audiences' strong dislike for the length of the short film. A few days later, all Mexican cinemas offered apologies, and removed the short from exhibition. American audiences had a similar reaction. It was reported that some theaters put warning signs up about the length of the short ahead of Coco. The short made its television debut on ABC on December 14, 2017, as part of 25 Days of Christmas. It was viewed by 5.64 million viewers.
Critical reception
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, Olaf's Frozen Adventure has an approval rating of 57% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 5.12/10. Indiwire deemed the short a "bridge" and a "setup" to Frozen 2, while The Mirror felt it would "tide fans over" until the next feature length installment of the franchise. Meanwhile, KSDK thought it was "an 'Adventure' worth taking," and Slashfilm wrote that "When We're Together" had the potential to be 2017's version of "Let It Go". 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.
Accolades
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. 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, Winter, The Hockey Champ, The Art of Skiing, Once Upon a Wintertime, and Pluto's Christmas Tree.
