Olaf's Frozen Adventure

Olaf's Frozen Adventure is an animated musical/fantasy featurette produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is the third installment of the Frozen series though, unlike the previous entries, mostly follows the film's comic reliefs, Olaf and Sven. It premiered in front of Coco on November 22, 2017.

Cast

 * Josh Gad as Olaf
 * Kristen Bell as Anna
 * Idina Menzel as Elsa the Snow Queen
 * Eva Bella as Young Elsa
 * Jonathan Groff as Kristoff
 * Chris Williams as Oaken
 * John De Lancie as Mr. Olsen
 * Lauri Fraser as Mrs. Olsen
 * Benjamin Deter as Candy Cane Kid

Development
The short was announced to air on ABC in late 2017 as a television special. As development increased, however, the project was deemed "too cinematic" for television, thus became a theatrical featurette. Emmy award-winning directors Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton are set to direct the project, while Roy Conli (Big Hero 6) is set to produce.

Frozen songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez were too busy to helm the music for the project, but were directly involved in the choosing of the songwriting duo Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel. Four original songs were composed for the special.

When speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the featurette, executive producer John Lasseter explained that the short will coexist alongside the original 2013 Frozen and the 2015 short Frozen Fever as one coherent story-arc for Anna and Elsa, which will all coalesce in the 2019 full-length feature sequel, Frozen 2.

Release
Olaf's Frozen Adventure was released in theaters along with Pixar's Coco on November 22, 2017. In the UK, it was again released with a re-release of Frozen on November 25 and 26, 2017. A DVD of the special was later released in the UK on December 7, available exclusively at Tesco. In Brazil, it was released on Disney Channel and Disney Junior on December 8, 2017, due to Coco being premiered on theatres only on January 4, 2018.

Olaf's Frozen Adventure will make it's television debut in December 14, 2017 on ABC

Reception
The week after Coco's release in Mexico, local media noted audiences' strong dislike for the length of the short film. A few days later, all the cinemas in Mexico offered apologies for it and removed the short film from exhibition. Alissa Wilkinson of Vox.com also reported that audiences in North America have been critical of Disney's decision of screening the 21-minute short film before the main attraction. She additionally felt that the short would have been better off released on television instead, as announced originally.

Simon Boyle of The Sun wrote that the short film "doesn't disappoint", adding it "provides a perfect bridge to the hotly anticipated full sequel".

Disney announced the short would no longer appear in front of Coco in the U.S. as of December 8th, bringing its limited release to an end after just 16 days. Because of the 21-minute shorter running time, theaters will have more space to schedule extra showtimes for Coco.

Trivia

 * This is the first animated Frozen project not to be directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck (though they were consulted), produced by Peter Del Vecho, or to feature music written by the Lopez couple. Christophe Beck did return to compose the music score with uncredited composer Jeff Morrow, however.
 * Jennifer Lee came up with the gag of Elsa's chest being filled with gloves.
 * This is the first Disney featurette to be theatrically released since 1990's Mickey Mouse short The Prince and the Pauper.
 * This is the second non-Pixar short to be theatrically released with a Pixar film after 1990's Roger Rabbit short Roller Coaster Rabbit (which was theatrically reissued with Toy Story back in 1995). However, in the United Kingdom, since Coco will not be released in the UK until January 19, 2018, the short was instead shown with special screenings of Frozen on November 25 and 26.
 * This is the second theatrical Frozen short after Frozen Fever.
 * This short sets the film in 1843. (A Jewish family is seen lighting eight candles on the menorah; the first day of Christmas and the last day of Chanukah coincided that year.)
 * The painting of young Anna and Elsa with King Agnarr and Queen Iduna seen in the castle is based on a piece of concept art for the original Frozen (a notable difference is that the hair color in the concept art was changed to match the final designs of Agnarr and Iduna in the film).
 * A plush doll of Nessie from The Ballad of Nessie can be seen amongst the gifts on Olaf and Sven's sleigh.
 * This is the first Frozen production to be shot in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, unlike the original Frozen film and Frozen Fever, both of which were produced in 2.24:1.
 * This is the first Frozen film to not include Marshmallow or Hans.
 * Before settling on the subject matter of Christmas, various other ideas were thrown around for an Olaf-centric short, including:
 * A variety show put together by Olaf.
 * A story based on the 2010 film 127 Hours, in which Olaf gets stuck in a crevasse.
 * A story involving an evil twin of Olaf, named Loaf, who had the personality of Larry David.
 * Olaf befriending a marshmallow.