It's been four years since Frozen was released, and while Frozen 2 is still two years away from hitting theaters, Disney has been keeping fans of the ice-covered franchise sated in other ways. In 2015, the studio released the short Frozen Fever with the live action Cinderella movie, and this November, the next short, Olaf's Frozen Adventure, will be attached to the release of Pixar's Coco. Earlier today we got our first look at the next Frozen short, but John Lasseter, Disney Animation and Pixar's chief creative officer, has revealed more about the plot, namely how Olaf aims to help Elsa and Anna this winter. According to Lasseter:
People forget that the first movie took place in the middle of summer, so this is really the first holiday season after the girls have come together, but what they're realizing is that because they were separated for so long, they don't have any family traditions. So, Olaf is so sad about this that he decides to step out with Sven the reindeer to go around Arendelle to find the greatest family tradition for Anna and Elsa.
Elsa and Anna reconciled at the end of Frozen, and a few months later, now they find themselves celebrating the holidays in a naturally cold environment, not one brought about by Elsa's powers. Unfortunately, because the sisters were estranged in their younger years, they don't have those traditions most families enjoy. Enter Olaf to save the day...sort of. The snowman means well, and as shown in the Olaf's Frozen Adventure trailer, he'll be going around Arendelle learning about Christmas, Hanukkah and more. However, he's also the comic relief, so he'll leave chaos and pandemonium around him during his quest of education. Still, since Olaf is arguably the third most important character in the Frozen series behind Elsa and Anna, it's appropriate that he's able to snag the spotlight for a little bit.
Olaf's Frozen Adventure was originally intended to be an ABC TV special, but it was later upgraded to screening in theaters, and will also run in 3D. John Lasseter also informed EW that like Frozen Fever, Olaf's Frozen Adventure (which will be over 20 minutes long) builds off where Frozen left off and leads wonderfully into Frozen 2. But most importantly, Lasseter says this will be Olaf's big opportunity to learn an important lesson. The executive continued:
It's fun for him to go around and listen to everybody's traditions and analyze them very blankly, like a Christmas tree---'You cut down a tree and dress its corpse with ornaments!?' Olaf is one thousand percent enthusiastic and positive, but also one thousand percent naïve about everything. And he's so much fun because of it. Every now and then, you create a character and you're just like, 'Oh, this is comic gold.'
Leave it to Olaf to give a beloved Christmas tradition a horrific spin without even realizing it.
You can watch Olaf's Frozen Adventure when Coco arrives in theaters on November 22, and Frozen 2 is scheduled for release on November 27, 2019. Head over to the next page to check out the trailer for the next Frozen short.
