Once Upon a Snowman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Once Upon a Snowman
Once Upon a Snowman Poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by
  • Dan Abraham
  • Trent Correy[1]
Written by
  • Dan Abraham
  • Trent Correy
Produced byNicole P. Hearon
Peter Del Vecho
Starring
CinematographyTracy Scott Beattie (layout)
Mohit Kallianpur (lighting)
Edited byJeff Draheim
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byDisney+
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
(Disney Media Distribution)
Release date
  • October 23, 2020 (2020-10-23)
Running time
8 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Once Upon a Snowman is a 2020 American computer-animated fantasy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy. It premiered on the streaming service Disney+ on October 23, 2020.

Taking place during the events of Frozen (2013), it follows Olaf right after he was created by Elsa, before he met Anna, Kristoff, and Sven.

Plot[]

During Elsa's song "Let It Go", Olaf the snowman is brought to life. Before he can do anything however, Elsa releases her cloak which flies and knocks him down the mountain side until he crashes into a tree. Not knowing who he is, or why he is alive, Olaf decides to find an identity for himself. He comes upon Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna (where Kristoff can be heard singing "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People" from the barn) and gets flattened by the front door by Anna who exits not noticing him and carrying a bag of carrots (which she will eventually give to Kristoff and Sven as payment).

Olaf enters the Post and meets Oaken. Olaf asks for a nose, possibly a carrot, for his face, but Oaken explains that he sold the last batch and decides to help him out by trying a variety of other objects. One of the objects is an old fashioned view master that features images of "Summer". Olaf is immediately taken by it and wants to experience it before settling on a sausage for his nose.

As Olaf happily leaves with his new nose, a pack of wolves suddenly appear and begin to chase him through the snowy tundra, during which Anna and Kristoff can be heard arguing with each other over the concept of love. Olaf passes by them, again unnoticed, which gets the wolves to suddenly shift their attention to them. Olaf continues to slide and witnesses Anna, Kristoff and Sven making a leap across the gorge while ditching their sleigh. Olaf makes it to the bottom where he spots one of the carrots that gets dropped, but it gets crushed by the sleigh.

Olaf's sausage nose breaks, which saddens him. Upon seeing one of the wolves whimpering pitifully at his nose, Olaf gives it to him, believing that he needs it more than him. The wolf happily licks him before leaving. Olaf comments that it felt like a warm hug to which suddenly causes him to remember Anna and Elsa's time playing together as children. Finally realizing who he is, he comments "I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs."

During the credits, Olaf is seen coming across Anna, Kristoff and Sven who will eventually give him his carrot nose.

Cast[]

  • Josh Gad as Olaf
  • Kristen Bell as Anna (archive audio from the first film)
    • Livvy Stubenrauch as Young Anna (archive audio from the first film)
  • Idina Menzel as Elsa (archive audio from the first film)
    • Eva Bella as Young Elsa (archive audio from the first film)
  • Jonathan Groff as Kristoff (archive audio from the first film)
  • Chris Williams as Oaken
  • Frank Welker as Sven

Track listing[]

  1. "Let It Go" by Idina Menzel
  2. "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People" by Jonathan Groff
  3. "In Summer" by Josh Gad
  4. "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" Kristen Bell & Idina Menzel

Reception[]

Common Sense Media rated the film 5 out of 5 stars. Parents need to know: "The story is geared toward viewers who've seen the original movie; without that context, little of how it reframes familiar scenes from Olaf's point of view will make sense. Olaf's journey is one of much peril, [...] but his eventual success affirms the value of perseverance and of self-discovery and awareness".[2]

The short is nominated for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ Saad, Nardine (October 23, 2020). "Olaf is back. And the 'Frozen' short 'Once Upon a Snowman' explains why he loves summer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Once Upon a Snowman - TV Review". Common Sense Media. October 27, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  3. ^ Zahed, Ramin (July 13, 2021). "The 2021 Animation and VFX Emmy Nominees Are Announced". Animation Magazine. Retrieved July 13, 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""