Olaf

"Oh, I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of summer, and sun, and all things hot..."

- Olaf

Olaf the Snowman (simply known as Olaf) is one of the primary characters in the 2013 film Frozen. He is voiced by Josh Gad.

Official Disney Bio

 * He's Olaf and he likes warm hugs. Sprung from Elsa's magical powers, Olaf is by far the friendliest snowman to walk the mountains above Arendelle. His innocence, outgoing personality and uncanny ability to disassemble himself at good and not-so-good times lead to some awkward, albeit laughable moments. He may also have the world's most impossible dream, but what he doesn't know won't melt him—or will it?

Development
In very early versions of the movie, Olaf was supposed to be one of the first guards of Elsa's castle. Chris Buck compared that version of the character to a trial run or someone's first pancake where the cook throws out the pancake when the cook finds out that it is burnt on the bottom.

In order to keep him from getting too complex, Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee wanted Olaf to have a childlike innocence. Like when a child makes a snowman for the first time where the heads are never perfect, and the body is disproportionate. That was the idea for the directors when they were thinking what kids would think of a snowman.

Josh Gad, the voice of Olaf, did plenty of improv during the course of the recording sessions. But the directors were very careful not to have him in too many of them or risk him taking over the story. He is there to interject levity to the scenes. But they also gave him proper screen time. One of his major scenes will be when he sings his musical number "In Summer".

Olaf had to earn his place in the film. Jennifer Lee says that he couldn't just be thrown in, that he had to have a purpose, and one of his purposes is that he is the embodiment of the love between Elsa and Anna.

Physical Appearance
Olaf is a small snowman divided into three balls of snow. Three black rocks modeled as buttons are on his body, one on his midsection and two on his bottom. Underneath his bottom are two stubs of snow that serve as his legs to move around. He has two sticks as arms and three twigs on his head that resemble small strands of hair. Each arm has four points acting as fingers. His head takes up a third of his body, and is oval-shaped with a stretched face. The snow around the top of his mouth is shaped to resemble buck teeth. In between his eyes and mouth is a carrot nose. When he was inanimate, his eyes were also made of rock. However, when living, his eyes are cartoony with black pupils. He also has eyebrows above them. Olaf's body parts are also capable of autonomy, and can be rearranged or separated from Olaf without any harm happening to him.

Personality
Olaf is goofy and naive, but extremely lovable and caring towards his friends, especially Anna and Elsa. Because he was built during their childhood, Olaf retains the childlike personas that filled Anna and Elsa during those years, appearing to be very whimsical and playful when he returns as an enchanted snowman years later. He has an odd fascination for summer, possibly because young Elsa made him a snowman who loves warm hugs, and according to Olaf, he sometimes fantasizes about what summer would be like for a snowman, completely unaware of the tad consequences of his ambitious dream, making the poor snowman hapless. Olaf is also very giggly and tends to laugh a lot

Aside from his dominantly goofy side, Olaf is shown to have some intelligence to him, seen during his time with Anna in the parlor. Here, he teaches Anna what true love is, and that it's putting someone else before yourself, using Kristoff as the perfect example, finally giving Anna the true meaning of love. And after the climax, when Anna sacrifices herself for Elsa, thus breaking the icy curse, Olaf was the first to realize Anna's sacrifice was an act of true love, and that act is what saved the kingdom. He is also not as oblivious as he seems, as he was quite skeptical about the Trolls at first when he thought they were just rocks, and even warns Anna to run because he cares for her and thought Kristoff was delusional.

Frozen teaser
Olaf and Sven star in the animated short used as the teaser trailer for the film. It begins with Olaf wandering around the snowy landscapes of the forest when he comes across a flower. Intrigued by its beauty, Olaf takes a whiff which causes him to sneeze, his carrot nose flying off into the center of an icy lake, where's it's spotted by Sven, who's on the other side of the lake. The sight of the carrot was enough to get Sven extremely excited and head onto the slippery platform to fetch it, having Olaf believes he's trying to eat it. A race for the carrot then ensues, and the duo finally reach it, but Olaf accidentally flings it back onto the snowy land. Sven's able to escape the lake and retrieve the carrot before Olaf, much to the snowman's sadness. However, Sven returns and places the carrot onto Olaf's face, revealing he was merely trying to help get it back. Overjoyed, Olaf thanks the reindeer, the two forming a new friendship just before Sven's shedding causes Olaf to sneeze once again, though it's his head that goes flying off as opposed to the carrot.

Frozen


When Anna and Elsa were children, Elsa would use her snow magic to play with Anna. A favorite pastime activity for the two sisters was building snowmen. On one such occasion, Elsa helped Anna build their own snowman they named Olaf to play with. Many years later, Elsa would exile herself from Arendelle after her magic was discovered and deemed dangerous. In the midst of embracing her abilities at her new ice castle home, Elsa recreates Olaf, but because of her magic, he is enchanted and given life. Olaf then wanders around the mountains alone and blissfully lost, until he bumps into Anna, Kristoff and Sven the reindeer, who seek to bring Elsa back to Arendelle so that she can bring back summer after she accidentally caused an eternal winter. Anna soon recognizes Olaf and quickly assumes it was Elsa who built him, to which he confirms. Kristoff then tells Olaf of their mission to bring back summer after Olaf constantly asked what their intentions on finding Elsa were. Extremely giddy with the idea of summer and its warmth, Olaf decides to happily guide the group to Elsa's castle, though Anna refrains from telling him about the dangers of summer for a snowman, leaving Olaf comically in the dark.

After a short journey, Olaf and the others find Elsa's ice castle, but the Snow Queen isn't too thrilled about the idea of returning to Arendelle, telling Anna to leave and enjoy her life where she belongs. Just then, Olaf arrives, overjoyed to see Elsa again. His presence proves there's love and beauty in her powers, as well as remind her of the joyful moments she spent with Anna. However, their childhood memories also remind Elsa of the haunting night she nearly killed her sister, prompting her to leave the scene, asking Anna to leave once again. Anna refuses to leave without her sister, but the stubbornness only makes Elsa uncomfortable, causing her to lose control over her powes once again and accidentally freeze Anna's heart. She then orders them to leave once more, and once again, Anna refuses. In order to keep them away, Elsa creates a personal bodyguard named Marshmallow, a giant snowman. Olaf is thrilled to see another enchanted snowman, but is immediately kicked out along with Anna and Kristoff. After Anna tries his patience, Marshmallow chases after the group. Olaf tries to stop him, but is easily no match for the beast and is thrown over a cliff, which Anna and Kristoff fall over, as well, though they all survive. Once they recover their energy, Kristoff notices Anna'a hair turning white, rather alarmingly. To help, he takes the gang to a valley filled with mystical trolls. The king of the trolls, Pabbie, informs Anna that if she doesn't perform an act of true love, she'll freeze to death. The friends immediately rush back to Arendelle, believing a kiss from Hans, a prince Anna's engaged to, will break the curse.

Along the way, Olaf is accidentally separated from the group, and informs them that he'll meet with them at the castle. When he arrives, he finds Anna in the parlor, on the ground and quickly dying. She tells him Hans betrayed her, and Olaf doesn't hesitate to start a fire to keep the princess warm. Fearing he'll melt, Anna tells Olaf to leave, but not wanting to abandon his friend, the snowman stays by her side, nearly melting during this time. Olaf then asks what happened with the true love's kiss from Hans, to which Anna reveals his treachery, telling Olaf she doesn't even know what love is anymore. Olaf replies by telling Anna love is putting someone else before yourself, using Kristoff as an example, thus revealing his true feelings to Anna, much to the princess' surprise. Suddenly, the parlor's window bursts open due to the strong winter winds, and Olaf rushes to close it. Before he does, he notices Kristoff and Sven rushing back to the castle. Knowing Kristoff is truly the one that loves Anna, the two try to head out to meet him. Olaf then aids the dying princess out of the castle and into the fjords.

However, the powerful storm blows Olaf away, and once he reunites with everyone, he finds Elsa mourning for Anna, who unfortunately froze to death sacrificing her life to save Elsa from Hans. Fortunately, that was an act of true love, and the ice is thawed, restoring Anna's life, as well as saving the entire kingdom, bringing back summer. Overjoyed, Olaf smiles with glee, but quickly melts due to the summer heat. Elsa restores him and gives him a small little cloud to hover over his body and keep him completely cool, finally allowing the snowman to live his dream of experiencing summer and all its wonders. During the kingdom celebration, Olaf is seen throughout the village enjoying the sights and sounds of the warm season, taking a whiff of some flowers. The pollen causes him to sneeze, however, and his carrot nose lands directly into Sven's mouth. The reindeer doesn't hesitate to suck it up, saddening the snowman. However, this was only a playful trick, and Sven immediately places the carrot back onto Olaf's face, where it belongs, prompting the overjoyed snowman to hug his friend affectionately.

Olaf is last seen in the castle courtyard, enjoying the newly made ice skating rink created by Elsa for the kingdom's enjoyment.

Disney Parks
Currently, Olaf is the host of the winter renditions of both World of Color in Disney California Adventure, as well as Disney Dreams! in Disneyland Paris, alongside Anna. Beginning in November, an animatronic Olaf began hosting Anna and Elsa's meet and greet in Disneyland, speaking to guests as they wait in line to meet the two princesses. Olaf also appears on Anna and Elsa's float in Disneyland Paris' Disney Magic on Parade. Olaf is also the host character of Olaf's Frozen Ice Rink in Disneyland's Downtown Disney.

Olaf also makes an appearance being built by young Anna and Elsa in the Frozen segment of Celebrate the Magic at the Magic Kingdom.

Memorable quotes

 * "It's so cute! It's like a little baby unicorn."
 * "Am I right?"
 * "Hi!"
 * "Hi, everyone, I'm Olaf! And I like warm hugs!"
 * "And who's the funky looking donkey over there?"
 * "And who's the reindeer?"
 * "Look at him, trying to kiss my nose. I like you, too!"
 * "Let's go bring back SUMMER!!!"
 * "Oh, look at that. I've been impaled..."
 * "Man, I'm out of shape..."
 * "Hey, we were just talking about you. All good things, all good things."
 * "Hang in there, guys!"
 * "I can't feel my legs. I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!!!"
 * "Who's my cute little reindeer?!"
 * "I don't have a skull... or bones..."
 * "I like to consider myself a love expert."
 * "Look, Sven! The sky's awake!"
 * "He's craaaazy!"
 * "Because I love you, Anna, I insist you run."
 * "Let's go kiss Hans! Who is this Hans?"
 * "Some people are worth melting for... But maybe not right this second!"
 * "An act of true love can thaw a frozen heart!"
 * "Hands down, this is the best day of my life... And quite possibly the last."
 * "My own personal flurry!"
 * "Please don't drop me."
 * "And I’ll be doing whatever snow does in summer."

Trivia

 * In the film, Olaf represents the happiness Elsa and Anna shared as young children. And his desire to experience summer is symbolic of how Elsa wants to return to the old days of her childhood with her sister as her best friend.
 * Olaf may have been inspired by "The Snowman", another Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, where the eponymous snowman falls in love with a warm stove but cannot be with it because he would melt from it. As a result, he does not enjoy the cold weather. The snowman eventually melts away due to the change in weather.
 * In the film, Olaf's elbows were specifically animated to never move with the exception of his fantasy sequence during "In Summer".
 * Olaf was specially designed to appear as if a child had created him, with an uneven shape and such, which is a reference to how Elsa models him at the beginning of Frozen when she and Anna are young.
 * Olaf unintentionally showed Elsa how strong her powers are when he sees her at her ice castle. While she created him earlier, she had no idea he had come to life. This evidently was the inspiration for Marshmallow.
 * Olaf is very similar to Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast. They are both an object which is impossible to be alive (Lumiere is a candelabra while Olaf is a snowman) and are very close to the protagonist(s). They are both sidekicks to the main protagonist and almost get melted. However, they are also opposites since Lumiere is a candelabra and has control over fire and heat, while Olaf is a snowman and needs to stay in the cold.
 * Olaf has received positive praise from the critics and some have called him the best Disney Sidekick alongside Sebastian, Lumiere, Genie and Timon.