Photo: A scene from Disney's "Olaf's Frozen Adventure," seen before every screening of "Coco."
Parents and moviegoers – and especially moviegoer parents – were pretty steamed last weekend. They just wanted to pack their Thanksgiving weekend with a viewing of "Coco," the well-received new Disney/Pixar film steeped in Mexican Dia de los Muertos traditions. Instead they were subjected to Disney's Christmas-themed short, a 21-minute "Frozen" takeoff titled "Olaf's Frozen Adventure."
Here's what Minnesota moviegoers had to say about the short:
Last weekend, I was among the thousands of American moviegoers who helped "Coco" reign at the box office. I took my 5-year-old daughter to a Sunday afternoon showing and found myself involuntarily sitting through "Olaf's Frozen Adventure." After about five minutes, I started rolling my eyes at the cheesy songwriting (sample lyric: "When we're together/I have everything on my list"). I checked the time. I fidgeted in my seat.
The biggest problem is the "Olaf" short's run time. Fans enthusiastically received previous animated shorts such as Pixar's 2003 "Boundin'" (seen before "The Incredibles") and Disney's "Inner Workings" (screened before 2016's "Moana"). But these shorts lasted just five or six minutes, with the typical Pixar short averaging fewer than ten. At 21 minutes, "Olaf's Frozen Adventure" is a serious inconvenience for families on a tight schedule for meals and bedtime. Not to mention: Moviegoers bought tickets for a colorful movie set in Mexico, only to be force-fed the Nordic scenes of Arendelle.
Finally, I consulted Google to make sure we hadn't stumbled into the wrong movie. (The Star Tribune's Colin Covert failed to warn us, because reviewers like him didn't see "Olaf's Frozen Adventure.") That's when I discovered some of the dissenting voices above. I only wish I spotted their helpful tidbits a little sooner:
