tek's rating:

Olaf's Frozen Adventure (about 21 minutes)
ABC; Christmas Specials Wiki; Disney Animation; Disney Wiki; IMDb; TV Tropes; Wikia; Wikipedia
streaming sites: Amazon; Disney+; Google Play; iTunes; Movies Anywhere; Vudu; YouTube

This is the second short film follow-up to the 2013 Disney movie Frozen, after Frozen Fever. It was originally intended to be released as a TV special on ABC, but ended up being released theatrically for a limited time, along with the Pixar movie Coco, from late November to early December, 2017. However, it later aired on ABC after all, on December 14, under the Wonderful World of Disney banner, as well as being part of "The 25 Days of Christmas" annual event (which in 2017 was extended from its origins on what is currently Freeform- formerly ABC Family, formerly Fox Family- to include all the ABC networks). So, that's where I first saw it, was on ABC. Apparently a lot of people who saw it in theaters were upset about it being so long, and while I do think it probably should have just been aired as a TV special, I can't imagine I wouldn't have loved it just as much if I'd seen it in a theater. Anyway, I wasn't quite sure whether I should put my review in my TV specials section or my short films section, but I chose the latter.

The story begins with Olaf the snowman eagerly awaiting the surprise Christmas party that Anna and Elsa have planned for all the citizens of Arendelle. It will be the first time the sisters have celebrated Christmas since the gates were closed many years ago. However, none of the citizens attend the party, because they all have their own Christmas traditions to engage in, in their own homes. Olaf is therefore eager to learn what Anna and Elsa's own tradition is, but is disappointed to learn they don't really have one. So he sets out to ask all the people of Arendelle what their traditions are (with some help from Sven the reindeer), in order to bring those traditions back to Anna and Elsa, as a surprise. Things seem to go well at first, but before they can return to the castle... the plan takes a major turn for the worse. Of course, there is ultimately a happy ending, and Anna and Elsa discover their Christmas tradition... which I don't want to spoil, though it does kind of make it seem like Olaf and Sven's efforts were entirely wasted. But I didn't mind that, because it was still a fun story to watch. And I suppose happy endings tend to be all the happier when they come after unhappy plot developments.

Anyway... there are some good new songs, and a lot of humor, as well as a heartwarming conclusion. Also, a little bit of the animation, at one point, was done in the style of a Christmas sweater pattern... and I would so love to get me a sweater with Anna, Elsa, and Olaf on it. (Any of these patterns would be cool, but I think the first one is my favorite.)