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Don’t worry, parents, the following story was only told at the press conference, and the language did NOT happen in the movie, I promise! The Frozen 2 parent movie review is here for you, and no, there is no language to worry about in the show. But an Olaf F-bomb did happen at the Frozen 2 press conference. Say whaaa?! While praising the Frozen 2 animators, Josh Gad dished about the time they took his in-the-booth-not-so-Disney joke and turned it into expletive laced first look at his character, Olaf, in Frozen 2. The rest of the cast shared their animator stories as well. And, guys, the Frozen 2 animators got jokes!
Frozen 2 Animators: Troll Level Expert According to Josh Gad
Parents: don’t flip out. Olaf is still 100% kid-friendly and child safe in Frozen 2.
But as we know, the characters on the screen are, indeed, characters… and their actors who voice them aren’t always PG-rated. Josh Gad, aka Olaf in Frozen and Frozen 2, has also been in some R rated movies as well. Gasp!
All good things, as Olaf says, for the right crowd, of course.
Josh Gad Praises (and Dishes) On The Frozen 2 Animators at the Press Junket
On November 8 at the Frozen 2 press conference, Josh Gad took a moment to specifically call out the animators for their incredible work.
“We could not do any of this without the animation,” Gad said. “That is truly one of the most incredible groups working on any movie I have ever been a part of.”
Director Jennifer Lee added, “There were 75 animators from the original Frozen team working on over 130,000 frames for this project- so shoutout to the animators!”
When you see the movie (opening nationwide November 22) I think you’ll agree that this work is absolutely stunning and the animation team deserves all the kudos.
And we can forgive them for having a little fun with the cast along the way.
From the Academy Award®-winning team—directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, and producer Peter Del Vecho—and featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, and the music of Oscar®-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Frozen 2” opens in U.S. theaters on Nov. 22, 2019.
©2019 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
The Frozen 2 Animators Love Their Jokes
While praising the animation team, Gad also took a moment to share how they trolled him pretty hard.
Olaf is hilarious in the Frozen movies. And Josh Gad is probably used to people reacting appropriately, i.e. laughing hysterically, during his lines.
Producer Peter Del Vecho, however, was unmoved by Gad’s lines during a recording session and Gad called him out in Olaf’s voice- while tape was still running in the booth.
Tape the animators put to good use to troll Gad.
“The first thing they ever showed me was something I said in the booth,” Gad told us, looking down the couch for confirmation from Del Vecho that this was ok to share to the room. Because this was certainly not Disney-friendly!
“This is the way Peter watches me [shows a totally straight face] when I record and I’m making a really funny line. So the first clip they [the animators] ever showed me was Olaf going, ‘Oh really? Well, f* you, Peter.’”
I repeat: this is NOT in the movie as one of Olaf’s best Frozen 2 quotes, but it was pretty funny to imagine.
Kristen Bell, directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, and Producer Peter Del Vecho at the Frozen 2 press junket
Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell Had Frozen 2 Animator Stories As Well
Kristen Bell, who plays Anna, shared how the animators horrified her with the first take of a huge moment for her character.
Anna has to make a leap- which she totally nails in the final version of the movie. Phew.
But the animators had some fun with it, and Bell, on her first look.
The first time they showed Kristen Bell the scene of her character jumping across the cliff, she didn’t make it.
“They’re happy and we can tell because often when I watch a pre-vis, they throw some jokes in there,” Bell said. “They really trick me because let me tell you something, the first time I was shown ‘The Next Right Thing’, I didn’t make the cliff jump.”
Idina Menzel is as close to perfection as anyone can get when it comes to song, and I’ll fight you if you say otherwise. But she admitted to receiving some “fun” animation on a non-Disney-like moment she had in the recording booth.
“They had one of me singing, ‘Into the Unknown’ and messing up my note really bad in the studio,” Menzel said. “I have an expletive that’s not Disney friendly.”
While I know I’d love to see all the fun the Frozen 2 animators had behind the scenes, I’m also happy to watch Frozen 2 on the big screen in a completely PG and family-friendly form.
The movie opens November 22, 2019, nationwide.
About Frozen 2
Why was Elsa born with magical powers? The answer is calling her and threatening her kingdom. Together with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, she’ll set out on a dangerous but remarkable journey.
In “Frozen,” Elsa feared her powers were too much for the world. In “Frozen 2,” she must hope they are enough.
Patty Holliday is a movie critic, writer, and podcaster living in the Washington, DC area. Her goal is to bridge the gap between casual fandom and picky critic with parent movie and television reviews.
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