Olaf's Frozen Adventure - 'Toon Reviews Shorty

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When it comes to Disney animated classics that define generations, I’m sure many can agree that the one to define the current generation is Frozen.  This is the Disney film that in recent years, the world is definitely sure to see just about everywhere. There’s countless merchandise of the film, constant plays of the film’s soundtrack, and yes, even spinoff films.  For all of this, people either can’t stand the oversaturation, or simply love it because it focuses on what they feel is such a great personal story.  I, personally, am in the group that loves the film, feeling it brings out a lot of heart in meaningful relationships and themes, all unfolding in the timeless style of classic Disney.  As for the oversaturation, while it can be understandably suffocating for many, I can’t bring myself to be too bothered.  Knowing Disney’s history, it makes total sense for them to constantly push something so highly successful so they can stay active and continue to fund great new ideas.  Plus, I always make sure to keep my Disney viewing experienced varied, so while most overplay one movie, I just play Frozen and then move onto another Disney film.

Regarding spinoff films, it’s best to go into them cautiously, not necessarily expecting it to measure up to the original film that put the entire franchise on the map.  Basically, yes, their existence really is to cash in on the popularity of the first film by placing its characters into any story that could attract a large audiences.  In addition to a simple short loaded with references to the first film, a Lego series, and a full-fledged sequel, the franchise has also gotten to a Christmas special.  Actually, it was planned as just a special, but then the decision was made to release it as a featurette, playing in front of theatrical screenings of Pixar’s Coco.  Now, despite existing for the money, a lot of these spinoff films have the benefit of having the same talent as the minds behind the original.  With the artists and storytellers of the genuine original Walt Disney Animation Studios, the real heroes of the company, behind it, there’s reasonable hope for care going in.  This factor alone is especially apparent in the aforementioned Frozen Christmas project which is also the subject of today’s MC Toon Reviews Shorty:

 Olaf’s Frozen Adventure

(October 27, 2017)

One thing that should be noted is that going into this film is the fact that it was meant to go straight to TV before becoming a theatrical short.  You may not think this is unusual since both Pixar, as well as Walt Disney Animation Studios for a while, have a history of showing shorts before their films.  The main difference is that the usual short film was only just a few minutes long, leaving the spotlight free to be taken up by the main feature film.  This short film, on the other hand, runs for a whopping 22 minutes, much longer than what most moviegoers would be accustomed to.  Because of the length, most audiences who came into the theater for Coco were left frustrated by having to sit through a long Frozen short to get to the main feature.  There are two reasons why I was really not bothered by how this short was released.  For one thing, being a big Disney fan, I know that they have somewhat of a history of releasing short featurettes of this kind of runtime in front of features.  An example of this is Mickey’s Christmas Carol which was released in front of a re-release of The Rescuers.  This happening before really diminishes any potential frustration from me, but as this practice has not been done since 1990, I kind of get why this isn’t so for others.  Another thing is that with the original intentions of this film being created for TV, expectations are much easier to manage.  It goes without saying that films created for theaters have much higher expectations than those created for TV, so it’s easy to plan on something simplistic here.  Also, even if it’s longer than most theatrical shorts, it’s still a short, a further guarantee that what you’ll get will be on much less of a scale than the expected theatrical experience.  Keeping all of these things in mind is very necessary, because simple and basic is the best way to describe the story of this film.

Being a Christmas short, one can expect a story about celebrating the holiday, and that’s what audiences ultimately get.  There’s a major emphasis on festive colors and decorations around the kingdom of Arendelle, Christmas outfits to make good merchandise out of, and more.  The conflict is nothing really major or threatening to any ways of life.  It’s just the fact that Anna and Elsa don’t seem to have any noteworthy traditions to celebrate the holiday, discovered just after ringing in the season for the kingdom.  To make up for that, Olaf, the comic relief talking snowman, goes around learning a little bit about other people’s traditions.  Through it all, he hopes that his findings will help him come up with traditions that Anna and Elsa can call their own.  Then through all his extravagant efforts, he loses all the tradition materials he picked up along the way, and it seems like there’ll be no holiday for his friends after all.  This doesn’t matter though, because in the end, it’s decided that Christmas is meaningful and special as long as everyone is together.  As you can tell, it’s a very basic story with a simple conflict, and a message that’s very easy to see coming.  Along with the fact that a lot of time is devoted to exploring exactly what kind of traditions people have during the holiday season, there’s a feeling of a more kid-friendly aim.  This in turn would not be the best for Disney Animation’s reputation since it typically knows how to hit the mark with audiences of all ages, and makes the cash-grab existence prominent.  Yet, it’s still very wholesome and entertaining as it is, and there are still good elements to make the experience the least bit worthwhile for anyone into the Frozen franchise.

With the storytelling capabilities of the crew of the original Disney Animation Studios behind it, the simple holiday conflict has significant weight to it.  The most noticeable example is how there is a legit tie to the driving plot point of the original film, which is Anna and Elsa being separated for most of their lives.  Of course, this would come with so many great areas of life they’d miss out on, and having good Christmases together is arguably one of the saddest things to miss.  If they did have any meaningful traditions, they were most likely out of recent memory, like long before the accident of Elsa’s ice magic hurting Anna that sparked everything.  As for the whole process of finding a tradition for the royal sisters, a lot of one’s enjoyment of it will depend on how much one likes Olaf.  This is a character who people either love for his charm, or detest and find annoying.  I am personally am very much in the former group.  That’s not to say he’s one of the best Disney characters ever, but in just about everything of this franchise I’ve seen, Olaf has plenty of charm and likability. He’s got a calm, innocent, laid-back approach to life that makes his personality something all his own.  He can even be quite wise and thought-provoking without even trying.  In fact, I’d say he’s among the most sincere comic reliefs in Disney, right down to how he’s a lot softer than you’d expect from someone designed to make audiences laugh.  In the case of this short, I would say that his ways aren’t as effective as they were in the original film or sequel with his childlike ways emphasized to a bit of a fault.  There’s also encouragement for them with little balance, as evidenced at the start with everyone playfully commenting on his excitement of the holiday season beginning.  Still, when the conflict is established, everything good about Olaf’s character makes itself known with an apparent sweetness to his motives.  Plus, going door-to-door to look for traditions is an interesting approach and in line with how someone like Olaf would go about the situation.  Even learning about what different people do at this time of year has a lot of fun to it through Olaf’s witty remarks about the traditions.  They don’t always land well with a few raunchy gags involving fruit cake and getting a used sauna towel from Wandering Oaken.  That’s not mentioning how everything backfires is somewhat contrived, like it’s trying to give this simple short a reason to be on the big screen with out-of-place carnage.  Despite that, I’d say that Olaf’s quest for traditions is enough to make this special, again depending on how much you like the character.

The most substantial part of this short, though, is just how important Olaf is to Anna and Elsa’s holiday after all.  It goes hand-in-hand with their separation arc that defined the original film.  A lot of detractors of the film often say that there wasn’t enough time of them together to sympathize with their separation, or that there was no heart to it.  Personally, while seeing how close they were more would have been nice, I think what we got is enough.  As for no heart to their separation, I’d say that the decision, while wrong, is very understandable, but that’s another topic.  Still, it means a lot for this simple Christmas special that it actually develops Anna and Elsa’s relationship.  While Olaf is off doing his thing, the girls look through the attic to see if they can find traditions of their own.  Among the childhood memorabilia is a box of crafts connecting to Olaf, who if you recall from the start of the original film, is basically the symbol of their childhood innocence.  This in turn makes for a good fit that he played a role not just in making their Christmases special, but also in keeping their relationship strong while separated.  It may be a little touch, but this little thing truly goes a long way in showcasing the genuine heart in this sisterly relationship.  In the context of this single special, it also makes for a genuinely heartwarming end when they find Olaf and comfort him over his ‘failed’ attempts of finding traditions.  A single embrace with Anna and Elsa who tell him how he himself is their tradition, grows into something special as everyone Olaf met in his quest gather to join him.  Consider this the short’s way of saying that sometimes a special bond with such a nice character can go a long way, and worth making part of all traditions.

This brings on what may very well be the key force behind the success of this franchise, the music.  Now it should be noted that the songs throughout this special are nowhere near the quality of the iconic soundtrack of the original Frozen, but they suit this single short well.  Almost all of them have the perfect amount of Christmas spirit needed to lighten up a holiday environment.  In fact, they make the whole special immersive despite the simplicity of the story.  The opening song, “Ring in the Season” sets the feel of this time of year right away, perfectly in line with scenes of everyone gathering at the Arendelle castle for the holiday.  However, it’s hard for any good feeling of the song to truly sink in as it immediately follows two other songs.  Those songs also happen to be the weakest.  One of them highlights the frankly disgusting customs of Kristoff and Sven’s traditions, and the other is a short regretful tune from Elsa that’s merely forgettable.  They’re not bad, but they’re nothing too great either, and being so close together doesn’t help.  Thankfully, there’s much more space between songs when Olaf starts his tradition quest, and they help make what he does legitimately fun.  

In addition to Olaf’s charm, “That Time of Year” brings a lot of fun and personality through bringing traditions together as well as anything educational to the procedure.  Being festive, show stopping, and mostly funny as a song by itself helps too.  However, the best song is saved for last, and it’s the one to drive the theme of the short home, “When We’re Together.”  It’s got the perfect heart, and emphasis on Christmas’ message of family and the chemistry between the main cast and all the families Olaf met.  Seeing everyone together for a single wonderful celebration brought together by one innocent, good-hearted snowman throughout the song is the ultimate culmination.  Along with great singing talents and orchestrations and scenes of Elsa’s magic adding to the festive scenes, you can’t ask for anything better from a Frozen Christmas.  Ultimately, for all its simplicity in storytelling and message, the charm of this cast along with great music make for a pleasing holiday experience.

There’s no denying the major simplicity of this story as well as the corporate reasons to the special’s existence.  Even the premise alone is an acquired taste, and I can understand who audiences who saw this film in theaters felt gypped when they paid to see Coco.  However, if you know what you’re in for, especially being aware that it was meant for TV, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure us perfectly likable for what it is.  It takes something with little to it, and puts in all its efforts to make it not just solid Christmas viewing, but also a legitimately worthy part of the Frozen franchise.  With the charm of the cast, great music, and warm feeling of Christmas all around, it may not be the best thing for that time of year, but if you’re looking for wholesome holiday entertainment, this is a good place to find some as only Frozen can present it.

Recommended

 Stay Animated Folks,

And Merry CHRISTMAS