In "Olaf Presents," Olaf steps into the spotlight and goes from snowman to showman as he takes on the roles of producer, actor, costumer, and set builder for his unique "retelling" of five favorite Disney animated tales in "Olaf Presents", a series of new animated shorts from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The charismatic and versatile Olaf demonstrates his theatrical flair, taking on such iconic roles as a mermaid, a genie, a lion king (and most of the parts in between), as he entertains Arendelle with his delightful abbreviated versions of these beloved tales and even exaggerates certain elements from those stories in a parodic fashion. He plays most of the roles by himself, using various things to imitate the characters. At times, Sven, Marshmallow, the Snowgies, Bruni, and Gale help him with his performances.
Josh Gad returns to voice Olaf with veteran Disney animator Hyrum Osmond directing and Jennifer Newfield producing.[1]
The short series is based on the scene from Frozen II, in which Olaf recounts the events of the first film to the Northuldra.
The Tangled episode has Olaf referring to it as a "story about a close friend", referencing the Easter egg cameo of Rapunzel and Eugene in the original Frozen film.
During the Aladdin episode, Olaf mentions how Jafar will have to "learn a few modern impressions" after becoming a genie. This is a possible reference to his song "You're Only Second Rate" from The Return of Jafar, where he does make use of modern impressions against Genie and Abu. Additionally, a brief snippet of "Friend Like Me" is heard when Olaf reenacts Genie's first appearance.
Bruni and Gale appear as minor characters in the Tangled episode. Bruni portrays Pascal while Gale levitates some lanterns above Olaf and Sven (who portray Rapunzel and Eugene, respectively).
Olaf briefly "transforming" into Sven during the Moana episode is a reference to Maui's brief transformation into Sven in the actual movie.