Do you wanna-..err, not build a snowman? One of Disney’s most beloved animated movie series almost had a very different outcome in terms of character development. According to a report from Independent, Jennifer Lee, the co-director and writer of Frozen (2013) and its proceeding sequel Frozen II (2019), had originally wanted Olaf, the adorable and eccentric little snowman who follows sisters Elsa and Anna on their adventures through the tundra, to be erased entirely.
At the outset of production on Frozen, Lee reportedly was not impressed with Olaf’s supporting character whatsoever when she joined the team. In fact, it was one of her very first major creative judgments on the script.
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However, in order to save Olaf from the chopping block, one of the production’s staff animators quickly put together a three-page script for Josh Gad, the voice actor who had recently been selected to play him. After just one reading session, Lee was thoroughly impressed and agreed to preserve Olaf for the film and all subsequent Frozen projects.
“My first note was, ‘kill the snowman’ ”
At the time, Lee may not have realized just how astronomically successful the Frozen series would become for Disney. The first movie alone made well over $1 billion dollars worldwide at the box office, and would become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, at least before The Lion King live-action remake overtook it. It also won two Academy Awards, including Best Animated Film and Best Original Song for “Let It Go”, performed by Idina Menzel. The song itself became a beyond-viral sensation around the world, being re-watched online, sung, and shared countless times by millions of fans and celebrities on social media everywhere.
Such immense success led to an official sequel titled Frozen II, released a few years later in 2019 to surprisingly even more acclaim, grossing nearly $1.5 billion worldwide at the box office, even more than the first film, a rare accomplishment for sequel projects in general. Olaf would not only reprise his supporting role in this film, but he also starred in two more short films, Frozen Fever and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, and helms a short Disney animated series named Olaf Presents. Such a list of credits has definitely cemented his place as a beloved original character alongside his friends Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff.
Frozen 3 is all but officially confirmed to be in the works, thanks to leaks from lead stars Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel. Disney however has not yet released a company statement.
