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The previously untold origins of Olaf, the innocent and insightful, summer-loving snowman who melted hearts in the Academy Award®-winning 2013 Disney animated feature, Frozen, and its acclaimed 2019 sequel, are revealed in the all-new Walt Disney Animation Studios animated short, Once Upon a Snowman. The film follows Olaf’s first steps as he comes to life and searches for his identity in the snowy mountains outside Arendelle. Once Upon a Snowman is directed by Trent Correy (animation supervisor, “Olaf” in Frozen 2) and Dan Abraham (veteran story artist who boarded Olaf’s “When I Am Older” musical sequence in Frozen 2) and will debut exclusively on Disney+ October 23, 2020

TRAILER

The short begins mid-song of the phenomenal hit “Let it Go,” during which Elsa used her magic to build a new Olaf, the snowman she and Anna created together as children. As Elsa walks away and keeps singing her song, Olaf comes to life and has a very confusing journey on his meandering path that unites him with Anna, Sven, and Sven (aka Kristoff). During his journey of self discovery, Olaf asks important questions about life and answers them as only Olaf can.

Q&A

I recently attended a virtual press conference with four key filmmakers for Once Upon A Snowman: Writer/Directors Trent Correy and Dan Abraham, Creative Consultant Peter Del Vecho, and Head of Animation Becky Bresee.

How the idea of Olaf’s story being made into a prequel came into fruition

Abraham: I was always curious about how Olaf knows what summer is and the story lent itself to discovering that moment in a funny way, in my opinion. I was excited about that. It’s like, “OK, well, I think this idea is going to work.

The details on Olaf’s sincere spirt

Bresee: I would say that Olaf has this overwhelming optimism and sincerity about him, and that just never gets old.  It’s something that we all sort of aspire to and sometimes fall short.  But Olaf is always there charging ahead with just this eternal optimism and sweetness that I think is a part of all of us, but maybe we wish we had more of.

Correy: From an animator’s point of view, Olaf’s just everyone’s favorite character to animate because he can be very emotional. Like Becky mentioned, he’s connected to the sisters, but he’s also fun to just break apart.

Del Vecho:  I think we can all relate to his sort of innocence as a child. That’s a slightly naïve look at the world, but in doing so, I agree, Trent, he can really hit on some profound, emotional things.  You can zero in on things that maybe, as adults, we miss.

Easter Eggs to Look for in the Short

Correy: There’s a lot of little fun tidbits throughout the short, because we’re showing it from a different perspective, obviously.  One of the ones I love is Oaken selling Anna’s coronation dress.

Del Vecho: There’s other little Easter eggs within the cards that Olaf looks at in the stereoscope. We might see a Moana film, and a shot in there. You might see a little Moana. There’s a few different shots in there that people might be keen on from other films in that. 

 Is there a such thing as too much Frozen?

ONCE UPON A SNOWMAN will debut exclusively on Disney+ October 23, 2020

Do you love Olaf’s character?