Recently I read a post on the website “The 12” written by author Debra Rienstra about the movie Frozen. I say, “Right on!” to everything she writes save for two sentences on Olaf the Snowman.
First, I want to say that I think everyone should read themselves some Debra Rienstra. My copy of her books So Much More and Great with Child are dog-eared, underlined, and coming apart at the spines because I have referred to them often. I recommend everyone who has kids or wants kids to read Great with Child. It is my security blanket. So Much More is an excellent apologetic on Christianity.
In the annotation, Rienstra is discussing Frozen’s exploration of female power and the idea that Anna and Elsa might be “two aspects of the same person, two aspects of what it means to be a woman,” and she does it beautifully. I love Rienstra’s voice and style, and I agree that “power without love is cold, lonely and destructible; love without power is desperate and vulnerable.” Rienstra’s post is an important one to read.
But it’s these sentences on Olaf that got me thinking about his character and his function in the story: “Frankly, I didn’t know what to do with the doofy, pull-apart snowman, Olaf. I’m sure he’ll make a nice plush toy.”
I disagree with these sentences, but it is with trepidation that I write the rest of this post. After all, I am disagreeing with a great thinker, and someone from my alma mater, a place I love dearly. But I read once at Calvin the words of Nicholas Woltersdorff that “all truth is God’s truth,” so I hope that I am illustrating another piece of God’s truth in the following:
Olaf enters the story after the girls’ parents have died in a shipwreck, Elsa is named queen and shortly after that runs off after having frozen everything she touches, and Anna runs after her through the treacherous snow leaving a fiancé (who really should’ve been frozen in the first place but that’s another story). Despite it being a cartoon, the story is intense. I had tears in my eyes from the beginning, but I also cried in Ghost Dad. With Bill Cosby. I might not be the best judge.
At any rate, Olaf comes in at a time when there’s conflict and confusion, sadness and fear. Olaf is funny, and it is his humor that grounded me in the story and allowed me to not just continue to watch, but feel as though it was OK to stick with the story. Olaf offered a chuckle, yes, but he also offered relief and reprieve and I think that’s appropriate and needed not just in a kids’ story but in our lives.
In Erasmus’ The Praise of Folly, one of the first things Folly points out about comedy is that it brings about change. “…[W]hen you laid eyes on me, you were quite transfigured”(7). Folly takes note of the adjustment in the audience when they realized that she was the one who would speak to them. She compares their reaction to feeling the signs of spring for the first time after a cold winter, and, as though the audience was feeling the sun for the first time. The use of the word transfigured here also suggests that comedy not only lightens a mood, but it can transform us. I think Olaf does this in his role in Frozen.
In another example taken from literature on the importance of comedy, Jeanne Murray Walker’s discusses its role in the development of our faith. In Geography of Memory she writes: “Faith is the conviction this world is not tragic, but comic. Maybe faith gives a person the ability to see whatever joy and beauty flickers in the disorienting darkness. Or maybe it is the result of paying attention more to those flickers than to the darkness itself.” Olaf helps us pay attention to whatever beauty flickers in Frozen’s narrative, and I think there’s a lot of beauty. Fear, yes, but beauty too.
Olaf doesn’t just give us smiles along the way. His role is a sacrificial one as well. Towards the end of the movie Anna is freezing to death, locked in a room in her palace that her jerk fiancé has her held captive. Olaf finds a way inside the room, and makes sure Anna stays by the fire to keep warm despite the fact that he begins to melt. Here he is laying his life down for his friend. That’s no joking matter, and it’s another scene that brought tears to my eyes. Not only that, it adds depth to Olaf’s character. He is a funny, perhaps doofy snowman but he loves the world and he loves his friends enough to die for them.
Finally, I think Olaf is a symbol for redemption. He was created by Elsa in the midst of “letting go” of her fear of hurting people with her talent. I think a lot of people agree that this scene where Elsa is belting out “Let it Go” and exploring with awe what it is she can do is a marvelous scene. I loved it, but I also appreciated the subtle point that we are responsible for what we create, and I think that came full circle at the end of the movie. Yes, Elsa needed to learn not to be afraid to use her gift, but if she were to return her village back to what it was before she froze everything, Olaf would die. So she made sure that he could stay in the sunshine with an eternal cloud of snow over his head. Here is a lesson in revision: taking another look at what we create and seeing what it is we can keep, what we want to make better, what it is we can save.
Isn’t there a verse in the Bible about God choosing the unwise, the weak, the ugly things of the world to reveal himself to us? Could it be that God is revealing himself through Olaf?
I think Olaf is a great reminder to me of my faith in this world. I believe, like Jeanne Murray Walker, that this world and its narrative is comic and not tragic. And I believe we have to look carefully for and pay attention to what flickers in the dark.
I could use an Olaf by side every morning in the rush and stress of getting the girls ready for school and I could use him when I come home from dropping them off and the loud silence is almost too much for me to take. I could use him telling me a joke and then telling me in his doofy manner, “C’mon girl, sit down and get at it. Those words aren’t going to write themselves.”
Hooray for powerful woman. I’m all for it. Hooray for Disney for exploring that through a gorgeous film. And hooray for doofy snowmen. They help us keep walking through the dark.
What a great reflection on Olaf’s role in this movie, which I absolutely loved. I laughed. I cried. I laughed and cried simultaneously.
Thanks, Sarah! So did I! Sometimes I wasn’t sure if I was laughing or crying, which made the story (and his role) that much sweeter.
Five gold stars for this one. Heck, take ten!! I’ve heard lots of good things about this film but this is the first article I’ve seen about Olaf. Good job. And way to bring creation, fall, redemption into an article about a Disney film. Hooray for a Calvin liberal arts education!
Thank you very much, Katie. I’m so glad you appreciated the post. I think the movie is excellent, and Mr. Olaf is my favorite character in it. Merry Christmas to you!
Thanks, Callie. Wishing you joy and peace at Christmas.
Thank you! I loved your book. Merry Christmas to you, too!
This is a lovely and smart piece of writing. I hear a new voice in your words — well, maybe not “new” — it’s still you, but it’s the grad-school-you, weaving in insightful criticism and thoughtful analysis and apt quotes. I’d love to read more of your take on other books and characters in them. We all need a jolly snowman, I think.
Thank you, Lindsey. It thrills me to know that there is a new voice (still me, but new) here. I was trying to sound like “grad school Callie” and not “blogging Callie.” I like them both but I thought that for this post, I needed to pull out the big guns. 🙂
Of course, I wouldn’t have found the voice if I hadn’t studied with you. Merry Christmas to you!
Thanks so much for the shout-out, Callie! I’m glad you liked the post. And good for you figuring out Olaf’s role in the movie. I just didn’t give it much thought (and I was already way over my word count) so I didn’t have much to say about him. I was a little embarrassed by him because he seemed to conform to the “sassy gay friend” trope, which I feel is disrespectful to gay men. But I really like your idea that he’s a kind of innocent who sees beauty–that’s a great idea. I could be convinced by that. Great to hear from you!
Thanks for reading the post and for responding, Debra. I’m glad my post sounded OK. I didn’t think about that aspect of Olaf’s character being disrespectful, and I think that’s an important point that ought to be contemplated. Thanks again for stopping by and for leaving a comment! Merry Christmas to you!
Bella and I watched the movie yesterday, so I came back to read your review and I read Debra’s as well. I am not a big Disney fan and I try to steer away from the over-the-top princess stories because they drive me nuts. But I liked this movie a lot. Probably my favorite part is that in the end it is a sisterly act of love, not the wooing of male love, that saves Anna from being permanently frozen. It was an unexpected twist, as I expected the typical Disney love story to play out. And, I loved Olaf, especially him lifting up his cheeks as he’s melting and the line toward the end, right before he gets his own snowy cloud, that it is likely his last day. For me, Olaf represented the part of me that always longs for the greener grass on the other side of the fence, like the warm sun and sandy beach for Olaf, despite the destruction it may have on my life. I am thankful for a God who doesn’t always open the gate in the fence to what I think is the greener grass because he knows it is destructive. So much to ponder in that movie. I didn’t expect it. Thanks for your creative insight. It helped me think about the movie’s real-life application in a different way than I thought I would when I first sat down in the theater.
Hi Rachel,
I too, loved the surprising (though it shouldn’t be surprising, should it?) end of the sisters saving one another. I particularly loved it because I have two girls and while I have a brother and not a sister, I understand that fierce love and the bond siblings have. It was great to see it acted out here.
I never thought of Olaf representing our longings but that is very interesting and I think, goes to show how much depth these characters have. I hope all the Disney movies from here on out have that sort of thought put into them.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment!
Just happened to come across your thoughts on Olaf. I haven’t seen the movie, in fact was turned off by the previews with the goofy little guy. Recently I saw the World of Color show at Disneyland and Olaf is a big part of it, the children around me were delighted to see him. After seeing their reactions and now reading your post I now want to see the movie and am looking forward to it. Thank you!
Hi Stacey,
Yes, I was skeptical about the movie as well. I was afraid it was going to be “another princess movie” but I was pleasantly surprised. I’d love to know what you think of the movie. Thanks for stopping by!
Callie, I have been meaning to read this post and finally got to it. I loved your insights and also felt such relief in Olaf’s innocent humor to help my girls and me stay in the tension of the film. Great point about Olaf representing that we are responsible for our creations! I love that, and agree that Disney did a beautiful job illustrating that theme. I also just love the way you bring a discussion of faith into this piece. It’s not a theme I considered, and I love the definition of faith from Jeanne Murray Walker that it’s about how we choose to see the world and what we intentionally look for. I am so grateful for those “characters” in the world who help me to see what sparkles. And you are definitely one of them!
Thank you, Shannon! You are a sparkler, too!
You would love Jeanne Murray Walker’s book, and I would be happy to lend it to you if you don’t mind my margin notes. 🙂 I wonder, should we think about a “Let it Go” theme for our first creativity happy hour? 🙂
Erasmus + Olaf = friends forever.
A really thoughtful analysis, Callie. Thanks!