This post was written before I watched Once Upon a Snowman (2020), an 8 minute short film about how Olaf became sentient and how he learned about summer during the events of Frozen I. My previous thoughts have been mostly unaltered but the short film gave me some answers. Enjoy!
Introduction
Olaf is a little snowman built by Anna and Elsa when they were kids. Unfortunately, after Anna is accidentally struck by Elsa's ice and they get separated by their parents, the magical moments together all seem lost. After Elsa's coronation and disaster, Anna rushes after her to find her and bring her back to Arendelle. Elsa seeks refuge on the North Mountain, where she builds a new Olaf, who becomes sentient. Along the way, Anna and her companions Kristoff and Sven stumble across Olaf in the middle of the woods. They discover that Olaf has come to life and he can talk. Olaf is a sweet and adorable character in the franchise, but his childish behavior masks very important details that show us how complex he really is. We will cover his personality, goals, and conflicts to see that he is much more than who he is on the outside. This post will focus on Frozen I, II, and Once Upon a Snowman.
Personality
Olaf is carefree and lovable. His positivity spills onto others and he likes warm hugs. At first, he seems very innocent and child-like. He sings a song about looking forward to summer and calls Kristoff a donkey, confusing Anna into telling him that both Kristoff and his reindeer are called Sven. Kristoff wants to tell Olaf the truth about what happens to snowmen in summer, but Anna forces him not to. Olaf is loyal and deeply cares about the people he loves, but he can be clumsy. He often tries to sacrifice himself to save Anna, Kristoff, and Sven. He tries distracting Marshmallow the snow giant while he shouts at the group to run. When Kristoff brings Anna to meet the trolls, Olaf is willing to stay behind and distract him while Anna runs off, thinking Kristoff is crazy for talking to rocks. Olaf's selflessness is also demonstrated in Once Upon a Snowman, when he fell off the cliff just before Kristoff's sled. Olaf had been searching for a carrot for his nose. Even when the only carrot is destroyed by Kristoff's fallen sled, Olaf gives his current nose away, a summer sausage, to a hungry wolf that fell down in the chaos. Also, many times, Olaf serves as comedic relief, which is a welcoming feat to uplift our spirits.
Conflict & Goal
Olaf wants to stick with Anna to find Elsa, his creator. He represents a bridge between the two sisters. He is a part of their last memories together before they were separated as children by their parents. Olaf wants Anna and Elsa back together in Arendelle, but at the same time, he doesn't want to lose Anna on her treacherous journey to find Elsa. As mentioned before, he is very selfless and puts his friend's needs above his own.
While Olaf exhibits childlike behavior mostly for the sake of comedic relief, his character is much more than that. Towards the end of Frozen I, Anna is dying from being struck by Elsa accidentally. Prince Hans has locked her in the Arendelle castle and left her to die. Olaf rushes in and desperately gets a new fire made in the fireplace, then drags Anna over to it. Anna keeps begging him to get away from the fire, but Olaf doesn’t budge, interrupting her concern and trying to comfort her about her doubts about love. Anna confesses the hard truth to him that he will melt if he stands there too long. Olaf, without hesitation, says, “Some people are worth melting for.” He is always there for his friends and will not accept leaving anyone behind. Olaf's selflessness and love for Anna was never expressed by anyone else in her life before.
Stupid Is As Stupid Does
It didn’t matter if Olaf had never seen fire or the summer sun before the movie, he knew the entire time that he would melt under those conditions. This was actually answered in Once Upon a Snowman. Olaf did find out about summer before meeting Anna, and never experienced it. Although, he did seem oblivious to the fact that he would melt. Oh, well. I like to think that... he knew the truth about melting ever since he sang his song about summer in Frozen I, but he led Anna and the audience to believe he was none the wiser. And, well, summer really is fun, so Olaf was really wishing that he could enjoy the fun of summer and not melt in the process. This shows how sweet Olaf really is outside of how cute he looks. Olaf would stay with Anna at the fireplace, no matter the cost, and die with her. His awakening to the reality of melting, yet still having the courage to stand up for his friends who couldn't stand up for themselves, is the true meaning behind his quote to Anna, that "Some people are worth melting for."
This brings us back to the title of this section. Olaf's character reminds me of the Forrest Gump quote, "stupid is as stupid does," which Forrest holds very dear since his mother had always told him that. This describes Olaf's personality perfectly, where you shouldn't judge him by his looks, judge him by his actions. An intelligent person may do stupid things all the time, while a stupid person may do smart or good things all the time. Olaf looks like an innocent little thing to us, which is true to some degree, but he understands his friend's needs and chooses to put them first. No other character in the movie, except Kristoff, would have been willing to be there for Anna at her weakest, and much less would have died for her.
Frozen II
Olaf continues with his comedic attitude in Frozen II, albeit almost overdone at some points. His character goes through much less growth than in Frozen I because there is not much of a goal other than to tag along with Elsa's goal to get to the enchanted forest. Olaf's impact comes when Elsa has reached Ahtohallan and freezes, which prompts him to flurry away. I think they should have had Olaf say to Anna, as he was dying in her arms, "It's okay, Anna. Some people are worth flurrying away for." Maybe that would hit too hard in the feels. Then, Elsa discovers she's The Fifth Element.
Conclusion
Olaf has always stuck out to me as an interesting character more than just for comedic relief, but I never fully understood why, until now. I like to think that he always knew he would melt, at least by the time he met Anna, he just covered it up with his hopes and dreams. But most importantly, his love for Anna and his friends is much bigger than himself, so even when he is confronted with real fire, he is still willing to die for his friends. There is a noble gentleman in him that no one else in Anna's life except Kristoff can compare to, but it is cleverly hidden by his innocence and enthusiasm. When a soldier is the sole survivor in his unit and finally comes home, he asks, “why me?”
After watching Once Upon a Snowman and having everything in this post partially answered for me, I think I discovered a new message that the Frozen franchise can teach us: selflessness during times when your friends have fought and failed and are in desperate need of it. The starving wolf who just plummeted off the cliff needs food, the princess needs to thaw a frozen heart, and the queen needs to cry.
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