Movies

'At Home With Olaf': Disney Launches New 'Frozen' Digital Series, Made Completely From Home

at home with olaf
By Hoai-Tran Bui/

The frequently circulated fun fact during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been that Shakespeare wrote King Lear during a plague. It's a piece of trivia that has become both a source of inspiration and a source of mockery, because who really wants to be productive during a pandemic?

But Disney Animation has shown us all up — and become the godsend for parents everywhere — by releasing a series of animated Frozen shorts, recorded and animated completely from home. At Home With Olaf, with dialogue recorded by Josh Gad, is a new digital animated series that will debut on Disney+ this week and make us all feel bad for not writing our novel while in quarantine.

The staff at Disney Animation just raised the bar on working from home. The animators, sound engineers, and Olaf voice actor Josh Gad have banded together to create the At Home With Olaf animated digital series, set to debut on Disney+ this week. Disney animation director Hyrum Osmond, who worked as head of animation on Disney's Moana, spearheaded the project, which will follow the fan-favorite Frozen snowman on several adventures in a series of digital shorts.

The teaser for the digital series shows Olaf happily throwing snowballs when he accidentally throws the head of a little snowman friend. While there's no dialogue in the short clip, that is clearly Gad making the little grunts and noises. Gad, who has also been contributing to coronavirus relief efforts (and quarantined children's boredom) by reading books to Frozen fans online in his Olaf voice, revealed that he was approached by Frozen director Jennifer Lee and Osmond to record some dialogue for the shorts from home. The Disney Animation staff even helped him set up the appropriate sound equipment to get the best-quality sound, Gad revealed in a behind-the-scenes photo.

"My friends Jennifer Lee & Hyrum Osmond called me up one day & asked me if I would be able 2 record some dialogue & sounds as Olaf from home," Gad said in a tweet. "These little shorts done from home by Hyrum & the Disney Animation team are so charming & hopefully provide a smile during these scary times."

At Home With Olaf will debut on Disney+ this week.

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