Character Analysis: Olaf
By: Brian Cotnoir
I like “Frozen”. There I said it, and I’m not even
embarrassed. Even the toughest and most
rugged of men can have a Disney side.
Not only is this one of my favorite Animated Films, but it’s one of my
favorite films of All-Time. Nothing
makes me happier then when my three-year-old niece asks me if we can watch “Frozen” together. I enjoy this film. I like the animation, I like the songs (yes,
even “Let it go”), I like the story, but most of all this film has probably my
favorite Disney Character ever, Olaf.
From the first time I saw this titular snowman in the film, I became
instantly intrigued and fascinated by him; I found him to be charming, funny,
and especially entertaining. So today we
are paying tribute to Olaf and analyze what makes him so darn awesome.
CHARACTER: Olaf from
“Frozen” (2013)
 |
| Olaf from "Frozen" |
Olaf is a anthropomorphic snowman created by Elsa, the Snow
Queen of Arendelle. We first see him very early on in the film. He is just a typical snowman created by a
very young Elsa for her younger sister Anna.
Olaf cannot speak, or move, and has no conscious thoughts. Many years later after Elsa runs away to the
high icy mountain tops she uses her snow powers to create a snowman before
creating a giant ice palace for herself to reside in. For reasons never explained, Olaf is now
alive and wanders through the mountains of woods on his own until he comes
across Anna, Kristoff, and Sven the reindeer.
Olaf greets them with this typical greeting “Hi, I’m Olaf, and I like
warm hugs”. Olaf is a very kind-natured,
innocent, and naive snowman whose only dream is to experience Summer
(completely unaware of the fact that he will melt in the heat). Olaf agrees to take the others to Elsa’s ice
palace. Even though, he was told not to
enter the palace by Anna, Olaf can’t help himself and rushes in to meet his creator. Even though, Elsa comes off as cold-hearted
(no pun intended) and a little hostile, Olaf is beyond excited to meet his
creator, and she is even more surprised to learn that he is alive. Despite being tossed out, by Elsa’s evil snow
henchman, Olaf is still delighted to have met her and hopes to see her
again. Unfortunately, Elsa’s ice powers
hit her sister Anna in the heart, and now it’s up to Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven
to rescue Anna.
THE VOICE
ACTOR:
Olaf is voiced by Broadway singer Josh Gad. Before, taking the voice role of Olaf, Gad
was best known for playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the hit Broadway show, “The Book of Mormon”. Gad, not only does a fantastic job as a voice
actor, but being a Broadway actor too also means he was more than capable of
providing the singing voice for Olaf as well.
This is a nice change of pace, because in the past Disney Animated films
have one voice actor for the speaking parts, and one for the singing
parts. Josh Gad does an amazing job at
both.
CHARACTER
IS SIMILAR TO OR INSPIRED BY:
“Frozen” is a lose
adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen. Walt Disney
himself started developing the plot to the film back in 1959. Disney, unfortunately never got adapt the
story into an animated film, and the project remained in limbo for decades (not
to mention went through many re-writes).
Olaf was not a part of the original story of The Snow Queen, and
is definitely a creation of a Disney in an attempt to create a character for
comic relief purposes. Olaf, definitely falls
in the same category of Wisecracking, funny Disney Sidekick like the late Robin
William’s, Genie from “Aladdin” and
Eddie Murphy’s, Mushu from “Mulan”. Film Critic, Chad Rocco (aka CR! From Channel
Awesome) did an episode on Olaf for his show “Familiar Faces”, and I highly recommend you check out his video on
Youtube for more details.
CR!'s Analysis on Olaf (A Must Watch)
FATE OF THE
CHARACTER:
Olaf and Kristoff manage to get Anna to safety, and after an
intense battle between Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, and Prince Hans. The spell is broken when Anna sacrifices
herself to save her sister, and everyone lives happily ever after. Arendelle is thawed and Olaf finally gets to
experience summer, despite melting, he is brought back to his solid state by
Elsa and she uses her ice powers to give him his own personal flurry so he can
survive in Summer.
That’s all we know of Olaf up to this point, but I’ll be sure to
add on any more details we learn about him when/if “Frozen 2” is released in theaters.
No comments:
Post a Comment