Once Upon a Snowman: Disney+ Sets New Short With Olaf’s Origin Story

September 9, 2020

After releasing the final episode of their short digital series At Home With Oaf last May, it looks like Disney+ isn’t ready to let go of Frozen‘s lovable and fan-favorite snowman as they officially announced their brand new animated short titled Once Upon a Snowman. Set to debut on Friday, October 23, the new Disney+ short will center around Olaf’s untold origin story with Josh Gad set once again reprise his iconic role. The announcement also came with the released of the short’s first poster which you can check out below!

Once Upon a Snowman follows the cheerful scene stealer’s first steps as he comes to life and searches for his identity in the snowy mountains outside Arendelle. The short is expected to fill in gap between the moments after Elsa created to when Anna and Kristoff first meet him in the forest.

“This is an idea that started to form when I was an animator on the first Frozen,” OUAS co-director Trent Correy said in a statement. ”[Co-director] Dan Abraham and I are so grateful and excited to have had the opportunity to direct this short, working with our incredible colleagues at Walt Disney Animation Studios.”

co-director Dan Abraham added, “Josh Gad gives one of the great animated voice performances as Olaf through the Frozen films. To have the opportunity to work with him in the recording booth was such a privilege and career highlight.”

The animated short is directed by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham, who both worked on Olaf’s animation in Frozen 2. It is produced by Nicole Hearon and Peter Del Vecho.

Frozen 2 saw the return of stars Kristen Bell (The Good Place), Idina Menzel and Josh Gad (Murder on the Orient Express), as well as the additions of Sterling K. Brown (This is Us) and Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld).

Pick up your physical copy of Frozen II here!

The film was helmed by Academy Award-winning team—directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck with Peter Del Vecho serving as a producer. It also featured music from Oscar-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

The first film was the smash hit of 2013, landing as the highest-grossing animated film of all-time and the highest-grossing film of the year with over $1.2 billion grossed worldwide. Frozen received rave reviews from critics and audiences, winning Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Let It Go,” which also reached the top five on the Billboard 100.