Olaf’s Frozen Adventure wasn’t screened at the press screening of Pixar’s Coco, so I had to try catch it during advanced screenings. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure is the 2nd short film of the Frozen franchise (the previous being Frozen Fever which was shown in cinemas before Cinderella in 2015) and takes place during Christmas time.
Anna and Elsa voiced by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel find themselves preparing for a feast with their kingdom, only to be left to their own devices as their people have their own family Christmas traditions to uphold. Anna and Elsa realise that because their parents died when they were young, their family didn’t really have any time to derive Christmas traditions. Hence Olaf voiced by Josh Gad and friendly reindeer Sven, try to come to the rescue by visiting the townsfolk for Christmas tradition ideas in hopes they might help inspire the Arendelle royal sisters.
There are some songs in the film that are actually really beautiful such as Ring In The Season and When We’re Together. I really love how Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel‘s voices go well together. It was also great to see that Jonathan Groff’s character Kristoff finally gets another song called The Ballad of Flemmingrad which is still quite humorous and suits his character. I was a little disappointed with his minimal screen time but I’m sure this won’t be the last we see of Kristoff. Despite all these positives, there were some songs and lull moments in the film that seemed unnecessary and were created only to make the short film ironically longer.
I loved the original Frozen film when it first came out but I’m starting to get fed up with the exposure of the franchise. I understand that Disney are trying to keep the Frozen hype alive, but screening Olaf’s Frozen Adventure before Pixar’s Coco is not the way to do it and feels like overkill. Despite Olaf’s Frozen Adventure having the same humour as its predecessors and being visually stunning with the return of the original voice actors, I think it’s time for Disney to let it go. Sometimes less is more. And Disney need to learn from that.