Olaf

Big Hero 6 (cameo)
 Short Films
 Television Programs
 Video Games
Frozen Free Fall
Disney INFINITY series
Hidden Worlds
Olaf's Adventures
Frozen: Early Science
 Voice
 Portrayed by
 Personality
 Goal
 Enemies
 Likes
 Dislikes
 Quotes
"Some people are worth melting for."
"Love is putting someone else's needs before yours."
"Let's go bring back summer!"

“*Oh, I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of summer. And sun, and all things hot.*”

―Olaf

**Olaf** is an enchanted snowman and a major character in Disney's 2013 animated feature film, *Frozen*.

## Background

### Official Description

*He's Olaf and he likes warm hugs. Sprung from Elsa's magical powers, Olaf is by far the friendliest snowman to walk the mountains above Arendelle. His innocence, outgoing personality and uncanny ability to disassemble himself at good and not-so-good times lead to some awkward, albeit laughable moments. He may also have the world's most impossible dream, but what he doesn't know won't melt him—or will it?*

### Personality

Olaf is goofy and naive, but extremely lovable and caring towards his friends, especially Anna and Elsa. Because he was built during their childhood, Olaf retains the childlike personality that filled Anna and Elsa during those years, appearing to be very whimsical and playful when he returns as an enchanted snowman years later. He takes on aspects of both of the girls as well; he is artistic like Elsa, because when he first speaks, he thinks about what colors would go well with snow and said to Sven that "the sky's awake" when they arrived at Kristoff's home, just as Anna said to Elsa years ago. He has an odd fascination for summer, possibly because young Elsa made him a snowman who loves *warm* hugs, and according to Olaf, he sometimes fantasizes about what summer would be like for a snowman, completely unaware of the tad consequences of his ambitious dream, making the poor snowman hapless. Olaf is also very giggly and tends to laugh a lot.

Aside from his dominantly goofy side, Olaf is shown to have some intelligence to him, seen during his time with Anna in the library. Here, he teaches Anna what true love is, and that it's putting someone else before yourself, using Kristoff as the perfect example, finally giving Anna the true meaning of love. And after the climax, when Anna sacrifices herself for Elsa, thus breaking the icy curse, Olaf was the first to realize Anna's sacrifice was an act of true love (it didn't have to be romantic), and that act is what saved the kingdom. He is also not as oblivious as he seems, as he was quite skeptical about the trolls at first when he thought they were just rocks, and even warns Anna to run because he cares for her and thought Kristoff was delusional.

Olaf is also prone to making considerably sassy remarks in several scenes; the most notable example arguably being his jab at Kristoff, calling the mountain man a "funky-looking donkey" upon their first meeting. It should be noted that, due to his innocence, Olaf likely makes such remarks without any realization of the slight impudence, meaning he's merely speaking his mind and giving a genuine thought.

## Development

In early versions of the movie, Olaf was supposed to be one of the first guards of Elsa's palace when the concept of Elsa controlling a legion of menacing snowmen was still in the story (notably, the only snowman minion to remain in the film would be Marshmallow). Chris Buck compared that version of the character to a trial run of someone's first pancake where the cook throws out the pancake after the cook finds out that it is burnt on the bottom.

In this version of the film, according to Jennifer Lee, Olaf was acerbic and often came off as mean-spirited as his attitude and persona greatly differed from what he would become in the final project. This actually led Jennifer Lee to advise the filmmakers to revamp the character entirely once she came onto the project.

In order to keep him from getting too complex, Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee wanted Olaf to have a childlike innocence. Akin when a child makes a snowman for the first time where the heads are never perfect, and the body is disproportionate. That was the idea for the directors when they were thinking what kids would think of a snowman.

Olaf had to earn his place in the film. Jennifer Lee says that he could not just be thrown in, that he had to have a purpose, and one of his purposes is that he is the embodiment of the love between Elsa and Anna.

## Appearances

### *Sofia the First*

   Olaf makes a guest appearance in the *Sofia the First* episode "The Secret Library: Olaf and the Tale of Miss Nettle", where he is called forth by the Amulet of Avalor to assist Princess Sofia in her latest crisis; an evil fairy named Miss Nettle has been stealing the flowers of Freezenburg for unknown purposes. Unfortunately, the summoning of Olaf was a result of a glitch within the amulet, which was damaged by Nettle to prevent Sofia from using its power to foil her plans. As a result of this, instead of a princess, Olaf was brought forth, and though the snowman tries to return home, he finds himself unable to, again due to the amulet's damage. Trapped with Sofia, Olaf accompanies the young princess on her mission, during which he unknowingly provides useful advice by encouraging Sofia to push on with her quest to defeat Nettle, despite a lack of magic—using Anna as an example of a powerless human accomplishing the impossible by relying on perseverance.

After it is revealed that Nettle stole the flowers because they originally belonged to and were stolen from her, Olaf advises Sofia to use kindness and love to hopefully reform Nettle, as opposed to defeating her, as the entire situation was a massive misunderstanding. Sofia does so by informing the King of Freezenburg about the misunderstanding, who in turns commissions a festival honoring Nettle as the fairy responsible for providing the only flowers capable of growing in their eternally snowy kingdom. A touched Nettle reforms as a result, and fixes Sofia's amulet as a token of gratitude. With the power of the amulet restored, Olaf begins to magically return to Arendelle, bidding goodbye to Sofia and openly hoping for the amulet to break again, so that he may someday return to visit.