“Once Upon a Snowman” — an origin story of Olaf from “Frozen” — will debut on Disney Plus on Oct. 23.
- The animated short will tell what happened to Olaf after Elsa created him and when Anna and Kristoff first met him in the original “Frozen” film.
- The story will show the first days of Olaf’s life, where he learns to walk and searches for his own identity outside of Arendelle.
- Josh Gad will return to voice the character.
What they’re saying:
- “This is an idea that started to form when I was an animator on the first ‘Frozen.’ Dan Abraham and I are so grateful and excited to have had the opportunity to direct this short, working with our incredible colleagues at Walt Disney Animation Studios.” — Trent Correy, director
- “Josh Gad gives one of the great animated voice performances as Olaf through the ‘Frozen’ films. To have the opportunity to work with him in the recording booth was such a privilege and career highlight.” — Dan Abraham, director
Other prequels about Olaf
Olaf has been the subject of prequels and short films already, and they’ve had mixed results. Back in 2017, “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” aired before the film “Coco” and it did not go over well, which I wrote about for Deseret.com. The short film had a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes after it debuted.
- “We are creatures of habit, and ‘Olaf’s Frozen Adventure’ eventually feels like the grinning house guest who won’t leave, even though the party was supposed to clear out long ago,” according to The Washington Post. “As each successive song in the four-tune reel cues up, moviegoers’ reactions can be heard to switch from laughing irritation to growing mockery to outright anger.”
Then, in April 2020, Disney announced a new animated miniseries that was created by Donny Osmond’s nephew called “At Home With Olaf.”