Line #139 WesternAnimation/OlafsFrozenAdventure


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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olafs_frozen_adventure_crop.jpg]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:And the greatest tradition is...fruitcake!]]
6
7	-> "Happy, merry, holly, jolly season's greetings here!
8	-> I'm wondering what your family does at that time of year.
9	-> Love and joy and peace on Earth and tidings of good cheer
10	-> Do you have tradition
11	-> Things for that time of year?"
12	-->-- '''Olaf''', singing "That Time of Year"
13
14
15	''Olaf's Frozen Adventure'' is a 2017 computer-animated [[ShortFilm short film]] directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton. It is the third theatrical installment in the ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}'' franchise, and follows ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' and ''WesternAnimation/FrozenFever''. It stars Creator/KristenBell, Creator/IdinaMenzel, Creator/JonathanGroff and Creator/JoshGad.
16
17	It's the first holiday season since Queen Elsa of Arendelle reopened the gates, but she and Princess Anna find that they never had a holiday tradition of their own due to being separated for so long. Determined to save the holiday for his friends, Olaf, with help from Sven, sets off to comb Arendelle in search of the perfect family tradition.
18
19	Originally announced as a half-hour TV special for Creator/{{ABC}}, ''Olaf's Frozen Adventure'' was released theatrically in front of Creator/{{Pixar}}'s animated feature ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'' for a 2-week limited engagement. It clocks in at 21 minutes long, three times the length of most of the shorts that play before Disney/Pixar features, and it is Disney's first featurette-length theatrical short since 1990's ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceAndThePauper''. It marked the first time that a Disney short ran in front of a Pixar film rather than Pixar making one of [[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts its own shorts]]. Later on the original plans resurfaced, and it did get an airing on ABC shortly after the end of its theatrical run, making it both a TV special ''and'' a theatrical featurette.
20
21	''Coco'' home media releases don't include ''Olaf's Frozen Adventure''[[note]]turning ''Coco'' into Pixar's first movie since ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' to lack its opening short on Blu-ray[[/note]], which Creator/WaltDisneyHomeVideo relegated to a separate compilation of holiday-themed cartoons.
22	----
23	!!''Olaf's Frozen Adventure'' contains examples of:
24
25	* AmusingInjuries: Olaf melting is now PlayedForLaughs. It helps that [[spoiler:he simply needs to be frozen again to revive]].
26	* AnachronicOrder: WordOfGod states that the previous short, ''WesternAnimation/FrozenFever'', is set one year after the first film's events. Anna mentions in ''Olaf's Frozen Adventure'' that this is their first Christmas since the gates opened, chronologically placing this short's events before that of ''Frozen Fever''.
27	* ArtShift: Towards the end of "That Time Of Year", the animation shifts to knitted patterns that move almost like old school video game bitmaps.
28	* AsideGlance: Right after Kristoff chides Sven to help find Olaf, after he's been miming like crazy, Sven looks directly at the camera with a look of "Oh, brother."
29	* AwardBaitSong: The end finale song "When We're Together".
30	* BaitAndSwitchSilhouette: The short opens with Olaf [[JumpScare jumping out to surprise various servants]], first hiding in a Christmas tree and later in a displayed suit of armour. [[RuleOfThree In the third incident]], a servant is shown carrying a suspiciously Olaf-shaped wrapped present, and puts it down on the pile of other presents... right before the real Olaf surprises him from behind.
31	* BlackComedy:
32	** The way Olaf describes tree decoration borders on this, by stating that one kills a tree and puts stuff all over its corpse.
33	** Olaf, a snow man, going into ''a sauna'' and melting. This after the original movie made a big deal about how him being exposed to summer would melt/kill him... [[spoiler:Luckily, even though he apparently melts into a bucket, he's just fine after refreezing outside]].
34	* BowelBreakingBricks: Olaf eats a fruitcake straight from the oven, and it comes right out his backside, prompting the comment "Well, that went right through me."
35	* BreakTheCutie: Poor Olaf. He goes at the task of saving his friends' Christmas with all his characteristic goofy optimism and cheer, but he loses most of the "traditions" he collected to an accident, gets savaged by wolves struggling to hold on to the last ([[EveryoneHatesFruitcakes and worst]]) one, and then has it stolen by a hawk anyway. At that point, [[HeroicBSOD he just sits down and lets himself get snowed over.]]
36	* BrickJoke: A hawk steals a loaf of fruitcake from Olaf. The bird then drops it on Olaf during the last scene.
37	* CerebusRetcon: "The Ballad of Flemmingrad (Traditional Version)" from the soundtrack release reveals that the ballad that Kristoff sings to try and cheer up the sisters is [[spoiler:a tragedy about a beloved troll who got stuck in a crevice while running away from hostile humans and ended up [[TakenForGranite becoming a rock permanently]].]]
38	* ChekhovsGunman: Many of the people Olaf interviews during his song can be seen in the Yule Bell crowd (and elsewhere). To give just one example, all four members of the “cut down a tree and decorate its corpse” family are visible at the front of the crowd, with the father singing “All the joy!” enthusiastically as part of the chorus.
39	* ChekhovsGift: During the Christmases when the sisters were distant, Anna would [[spoiler: slip a reminder of Olaf (drawings, straw figures, etc.) under Elsa's door. Elsa kept Anna's gifts]], and finding them in the attic towards the end of the special reminds both sisters that [[spoiler:Olaf has always been a Christmas tradition]].
40	* ChristmasCarolers: One family is trying to hide from a group of particularly obnoxious ones.
41	* ChristmasMiracle: The fruitcake finally came back!
42	* ChristmasSpecial: This is the first Christmas celebrated at the castle since Anna's accident.
43	* ClingyMacguffin: Whatever happens to Olaf, he keeps getting the fruitcake back.
44	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Sven attempts to tell Kristoff that Olaf's in trouble by making a portrait of a screaming Olaf out of a carrot and other vegetables. Kristoff just thinks he's suggesting ingredients for the Flemmy stew. Anna and Elsa seem to understand the message perfectly. And even after the sisters spell it out for him, Kristoff asks Sven why he's not trying to help find Olaf.
45	* CompanionCube: Sir Jorgenbjorgen, Elsa's stuffed puffin whom she talks to when she's young.
46	* ContinuityNod:
47	** Anna and Elsa are shown ice skating together again, as they did at the end of the first movie, and Anna seems to have improved since last time.
48	** The moss "cape" and headdress Kristoff wears resembles the one the trolls dressed him up in during "Fixer-Upper".
49	** Olaf hangs out with Oaken and his family in their sauna.
50	** The contents in Elsa's trunk consists of rows of [[HighClassGloves satin gloves]]. Before her powers were exposed, she often wore gloves in an attempt to keep them hidden.
51	** Kristoff's sled [[spoiler:gets destroyed when it goes off the cliff with a fiery explosion occurring after it hits the ground, just like in the first movie]].
52	** Olaf enters the forest where the wolves attacked Anna and Kristoff in the first movie, and he barely manages to escape these wolves now.
53	** We see Elsa hesitate before knocking on Anna's bedroom door, in similar fashion to Anna's hesitation in knocking when she arrived at Elsa's ice palace.
54	** When Olaf uses a candy cane as his nose in place of his usual carrot, his eyes go candy-striped and he describes his reaction as a sugar rush. This calls back to when he first received his carrot nose in the original movie, where he described feeling a "head rush."
55	* CrazyCatLady: The grandmother at one family's home who knits pajamas for the kittens:
56	-->'''Family''': We knit scarves and sweaters, and we wear our matching mittens,\
57	'''Grandmother''': Don't forget the jammies that I knitted for my kittens
58	* DarkReprise: Elsa reprises "Ring In The Season" in a sad, gloomy manner as she reminisces the Christmases she celebrated when younger. Olaf later sings a sad reprise of "That Time of Year" upon thinking his tradition hunt was for nothing and decides to stay lost.
59	* ADayInTheLimelight: Olaf and Sven have bigger roles here than in other installments of the franchise. This short is dedicated to them looking for holiday traditions for the royal family to now celebrate.
60	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Christmas Eve, the most tradition-bound holiday of all, may just be the absolute worst day of the year to throw a surprise party. A universal response of, "thanks, but I already have plans" was pretty much inevitable.
61	* DopeSlap: The wife punches the husband in the back of the head when Olaf records that they cut down a tree and dress its corpse with candles, horrifying their children.
62	* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: The titular adventure hinges on Olaf's belief that he can just find someone else's holiday tradition so Anna and Elsa can mimic it. He doesn't realize that a family tradition is a personal thing by nature.
63	* DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas: This winter isn't caused by Elsa's powers, so it's just a snowy time for Christmas, Hanukkah, and St. Lucia's Day.
64	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The special is set over the course of one entire day.
65	* EveryoneHatesFruitcakes: Olaf eats a fruitcake that literally goes right through him. Initially averted in that Olaf eagerly eats it rather than hates it. Played straight later on when the hawk who stole it returns it untouched. Olaf also asks, “Can I leave this fruitcake here?” to somebody in an outhouse, whose face we see for a split-second. This person understandably gives a no, because Olaf still has it later.
66	* ForcedIntoTheirSundayBest: Kristoff is uncomfortable by the formal attire he has to wear for the Yule Bell ceremony. As he's escorting Sven and the Yule Bell into the courtyard, he can be seen tugging at his shirt collar. He's quick to ditch the jacket in favor of his troll headdress.
67	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Does a ''ton'' of it for the animated feature that followed it in theaters:
68	** Holiday tradition plays a huge part of the story in both animations.
69	** "Breaking and entering is okay if it's for tradition"; [[spoiler:Miguel breaks into Ernesto de la Cruz' tomb, which ultimately ''does'' play into tradition twice: The first time he tries stealing the guitar in there in order to connect with his family's musical roots, and when he returns he uses the guitar to help Coco remember her father.]]
70	** The resolution of the film involves personal, long lost family traditions winning the day.
71	* ForeignQueasine: Nobody seems very keen on Kristoff's traditional trollish fungus stew, and even he admits that it doesn't look very appetizing. The plot intervenes before anybody gets to find out whether he's right about it tasting better than it looks.
72	* FreezeFrameBonus:
73	** A close look at Sir Jorgen Bjorgen will lead one to notice that his "cape" is made from one of Elsa's old cyan gloves.
74	** Elsa can be seen holding Sir Jorgen Bjorgen during the flashbacks showing Anna's gifts
75	** When everyone is skating, Oaken quickly skates by the sisters. He's still [[NakedPeopleAreFunny only wearing a towel]].
76	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: While Elsa and Anna sing "When We're Together", Olaf tries to drink hot chocolate. It melts through the back of his head and spills on the floor.
77	* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Elsa has a childhood penguin doll, Sir Jorgen Bjorgen, who was a great listener. She even made a cape for him from one of her gloves.
78	* GrandStaircaseEntrance: Elsa makes a lesser version of her entry from the movie, being shown coming down a staircase while using her ice magic to add frost to the wreath trimmings on the railings.
79	* GRatedDrug: When Olaf uses a candy cane as his nose in place of his usual carrot, his eyes go candy-striped and weird. He describes it afterwards as a sugar rush.
80	* HappyHolidaysDress:
81	** Elsa's blue velvet dress is based on her ice dress, but even more overtly winter-themed. The [[SymbolMotifClothing snowflake designs]] are larger and stand out more, and the neckline has a trim of fluffy white fur. If anything, it's almost a cross between her ice dress and the dress of the original Snow Queen.
82	** Anna's dress is more subtly fancy, such as the motif of bells and goats embroidered on her skirt.
83	* HollywoodCuisine: After the Yule Bell has been rung, everyone heads back to their homes to celebrate their respective traditions:
84	-->'''Anna''': Whoa-whoa-whoa! Hold on! Going so soon?\
85	'''Mother''': The yule bell rang, I must get home for my family's holiday tradition: rolling the lefse.[[note]]A Norwegian flatbread whose dough is made with potatoes and some type of dairy ingredient such as milk, cream or butter.[[/note]]\
86	'''Man''': Ours is putting out porridge for the tomte.[[note]]A tomte is a mythological Scandinavian creature similar to a gnome.[[/note]]\
87	'''Twin women''': We're making traditional wart stobble bockels!\
88	'''Olaf''': [[INeedToGoIronMyDog And I'm going to filet the crème de la cringly-cronka!]] That's a thing, right?
89	* IcePalace: While it's nowhere near Elsa's ice palace on the North Mountain, Elsa has adorned the castle in Arendelle with some new ice decor, including a new snowflake on the tallest spire, new snowflake sculptures in the fountains and decorative ice on exterior railings.
90	* IndestructibleEdible: A loaf of fruit cake surviving a series of misadventures unscathed.
91	* InnocentlyInsensitive:
92	** Mr. Olsen and his wife pass on the offer of entering the castle because they don't want to intrude on Anna and Elsa's traditions, which makes them realize they have none.
93	** Olaf implies - while talking to the candy cane ''kid'', no less - that he's planning to be awfully judgy about everyone's beloved holiday traditions.
94	** Anna jokes about Elsa having "rows and rows of satin gloves" in her attic trunk, before opening the trunk and being slightly embarrassed to find that it contains rows and rows of satin gloves.
95	* ItsAllMyFault: Elsa blames herself for her family not having a family tradition because they never spent time together after the gates were closed.
96	* ItWasWithYouAllAlong: While Olaf sets out to find a tradition for their family by looking to see what other people did, Anna and Elsa find one in Elsa's old trunk - and the tradition is ''Olaf''. [[spoiler:Anna had made an "Olaf" gift for Elsa every Christmas growing up, creating a family tradition herself, one that was embodied in Olaf the whole time.]]
97	* IWillFindYou: Elsa and Anna go searching for Olaf after he gets lost.
98	* JumpingOutOfACake: Olaf jumps out of a kransekake to surprise Anna, with some of the lower layers getting stuck around his midsection while his head comes off.
99	* JumpScare: Elsa is looking for Anna in the attic, when Anna pops up out of a trunk, but with a blanket over her, so she looks like a dark brown mass appearing out of nowhere. After a downplayed ScareChord, Elsa does a quick {{Gasp}} until Anna reveals herself wearing her old Viking hat, sorceress cloak and dragon hand puppets.
100	* LighterAndSofter: While it has some dark moments, this special is more lighthearted and optimistic than the feature films. In contrast to the first movie, there's no death or betrayal in this story, or kingdom-wide levels of danger.
101	* LimitedWardrobe: All of the gloves in Elsa's trunk are identical.
102	* ListSong: During "That Time of Year", the various citizens of Arendelle list off the different traditions each family has.
103	* MatchCut: Several times.
104	** Used when transitioning out of Elsa's flashback to the Yule Bell ceremonies the family oversaw when she and Anna were kids.
105	%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** A verse of "That Time of Year" contains three in a row.
106	** Anna and Elsa's flashback of sending mementos of Olaf is changed back to the present with the sisters in the exact same spot.
107	** One during "When We're Together" as the scene changes from Anna and Elsa traversing the mountains to skating on the ice.
108	* MickeyMousing: Anna rings a group of small bells on a table at the end of her first solo of "Ring in the Season" that fit with the bridge to Elsa's solo.
109	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Olaf joins Oaken and his family in their sauna. The humans have towels on...at least at first.
110	-->'''Olaf''': Nothing like taking your coals off once in a while, you know what I mean?
111	** Later, when heading back to the castle, Oaken even agrees to give Olaf his towel along with the sauna:
112	-->'''Oaken''': Here's a sauna for your friends!\
113	'''Olaf''': Thank you, Mr. Wandering Oaken. Oh, one last thing: Would it be possible to get one of those awkwardly revealing, yet tastefully traditional towels your family's so fond of wearing?\
114	'''Oaken''': Take mine, yeah? [''Oaken tosses his towel at Olaf'']\
115	'''Olaf''': Oh, it's still warm!
116	** At the very end, Oaken skates by, still only wearing a towel.
117	* NarrativeShapeshifting: [[spoiler:When he tries to tell Kristoff that Olaf is in danger, Sven gets buck teeth and a round belly to represent the snowman, and sharp fangs while doing the wolves.]]
118	* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailers show Anna and Elsa reacting in disgust to the fruitcake going through Olaf, when really, they’re reacting to Kristoff’s sculpture of Flemmy the Fungus Troll and Kristoff licking its forehead. The fruitcake scene doesn't even involve them.
119	* NoFlowInCGI: Averted even more than the original film. Elsa and Anna's dresses flow more naturally with their movements, up to the hairs on Elsa's fur collar.
120	* NorseByNorsewest: The various Scandinavian holiday cultures explored throughout Arendelle as Olaf goes on his quest to discover some family traditions for Anna and Elsa to celebrate.
121	* PimpedOutDress: Elsa's new gown is a gorgeous dark blue, covered in diamond-shaped ice crystals with a white fur lining around the collar. Yet since ClothesMakeTheLegend, it's still cut like her IconicOutfit. Anna's holiday dress is a little less elegant, but still equally fashionable.
122	* PrettyInMink: Both of the royal sisters' holiday outfits have white fur trim.
123	%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* RuleOfFunny: The way Olaf twists around some of the traditions.
124	* SantaClaus: Olaf describes him as a guy committing breaking-and-entering, but it's okay when done for Christmas.
125	* SarcasmMode: Olaf says "That sounds safe" when talking about hanging stockings over the fireplace [[note]]Although, given that this is [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Olaf,]] he might have been sincere[[/note]].
126	* SeriesContinuityError: Olaf is missing the personal snow cloud that Elsa made for him at the end of ''Frozen''. While this may not be a problem for him outdoors since it's wintertime, that doesn't explain why he doesn't have it when he's inside the castle.[[note]]''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', released two years afterward, has Anna explain that Olaf got a "new permafrost" to replace his flurry.[[/note]]
127	* ShoutOut: To a few other Disney properties:
128	** Wayne and Lanny from ''WesternAnimation/PrepAndLanding'' appear as figurines on top of two fireplaces.
129	** Olaf's sled contains [[WesternAnimation/BigHero6 Baymax]]'s super suit glove and a doll of Nessie from the 2011 short ''The Ballad of Nessie''.
130	** WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'s boat appears as a toy on the wall of the houseboat.
131	* SickAndWrong: Kristoff shows his Flemingrad holiday tradition (making a statue of a troll who died fleeing from humans, then licking its forehead and making a wish). Elsa gags at the sight. Olaf whispers to Anna, "You're a princess. You don't have to settle." When Kristoff tries to get them to try his Flemmy stew (which smells of wet fur but is a real crowdpleaser), the sisters wisely pass:
132	-->'''Anna:''' No thanks, we're good!
133	-->'''Elsa:''' Big breakfast. ''[laughs nervously]''
134	* TemptingFate: Olaf is singing about how perfect his plan is when everything when the burning coal gets bumped out of the sauna, starting the chain of events that destroys all the traditions he'd collected.
135	* TimmyInAWell: [[spoiler:After Olaf gets lost in the wolf-infested forest, Sven rushes back to the castle to get help. Kristoff cannot decipher what the reindeer is trying to say, even when he uses a carrot and some twigs to make himself look like Olaf and does an elaborate pantomime. Anna and Elsa are able to decipher Sven's message rather easily.]]
136	* ToyBasedCharacterization: While exploring the attic, Elsa finds [[GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals Sir Jorgen Bjorgen, a stuffed penguin]]. She tells Anna that he was "a good listener", implying that she use to confide in her favorite stuffed toy, believing that she had to stay away from her family and couldn't confide in them.
137	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: All promos of the special spoil the final moments of it, from when Olaf goes missing and everyone celebrates in the forest.
138	* TrueBlueFemininity: Both Elsa's and Anna's Christmas dresses are blue-based, with Anna's being a light blue and Elsa's being a much darker shade.
139	* TwoScenesOneDialogue: "That Time of Year" is ''full'' of these; the scenes change every two to three syllables as Olaf asks people how they celebrate Christmas.
140	* {{Understatement}}: Olaf says that [[spoiler: the destruction to Kristoff's sled and all the traditions within it]] is a bit of a setback. And he says this after admitting he's not going to sugarcoat it!
141	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Oaken puts a sauna on Sven & Olaf's sled, as a Christmas present to Elsa and Anna. He does it with the best intentions, but that sauna is [[spoiler:what causes Olaf to end up in a life-threatening situation with the wolves in the forest.]]
142	* WalkIntoCameraObstruction: During "Ring in the Season", Elsa and Anna spin around before Anna's body changes the scene.
143	* WelcomeToMyWorld: Elsa says it when Anna opens Elsa's old trunk to see, [[InnocentlyInsensitive as Anna just joked,]] rows and rows of satin gloves.
144	* WingdingEyes: When Olaf replaces his carrot nose with a candy cane, his eyes turn into purple spirals as he experiences a “sugar rush”.
145	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: [[spoiler: Olaf gets so upset about supposedly failing Anna and Elsa that he doesn't even want to go home to them so they need to find him and tell him that ''he'' is their Christmas tradition.]]
146	----
147	->''I don't need the bells to ring, I'll know when it's here\
148	'Cause when we're together, I could stay forever\

Context WesternAnimation / OlafsFrozenAdventure