“I like to think of Olaf as like the beta test of the version of a snowman that Elsa would have built had she realized the full potential of her powers.”
The result of Olaf being the “beta test” of a possible snowman is that he is imbued with a child-like optimism, one perfectly voiced by Josh Gad in Disney’s “Frozen.” When we sat down with Gad to talk about the movie, which features a brilliant song performed by the actor, the enthusiasm he felt for his character, Olaf the Snowman; the work; and its reception was readily apparent.
For our first question, we asked Gad what it was like to be animated. His response, “It is surreal.” He then, as you can see in the video, talked about going to a theater and watching kids play with a giant Olaf figure. “To see the purity of joy that a character like this can ignite is pretty exciting, it’s a pretty amazing thing.” He also told us of watching “Aladdin” when he was younger and seeing the work Robin Williams did there and wanting to do the same.
In terms of the process of developing the voice and character, Gad was, he told us, given room to play and do some improv and that he was actually surprised when he saw the final cut and realized that some of the things he did as inside jokes made it into the movie.
No interview with Gad about “Frozen” could possibly be complete without discussing his song, “In Summer.” Watch the video for the full answer, but we are very happy to report that he, too, cracked up when he heard it.
“Frozen” opens nationwide today.