There’s a moment in the first Frozen when Elsa (Idina Menzel), in the middle of the big “Let It Go” musical number, creates a sentient snowman in the image of a childhood plaything and simply … walks away. A few scenes later the snowman meets up with Anna (Kristen Bell) and Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) but what the snowman was doing in the time in between when he was brought to life and when he joined our heroes on their adventure has remained a mystery. Until now. “Once Upon a Snowman,” a brand-new animated short from Walt Disney Animation Studios, premiering on Disney+ this Friday, explores the first few moments of everyone’s favorite snowman’s life in an incredibly sharp, entertaining way, even if you’ve never actively wondered about Olaf’s origins before.

The short, written and directed by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham, begins during “Let It Go” and follows Olaf from the time of his creation. We are being asked to be light with spoilers, so we will spare you specifics, but you’ll see some familiar faces, but in an alternate angle, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead type of way. (Yes, the set-up does feel a little bit like Lion King 1 ½, one of the cleverer direct-to-video sequels that recontextualized The Lion King from the point-of-view of amiable Lion King sidekicks Timon and Pumbaa.) And you’ll get to see how some of the touchstones of the Olaf character were established, from his beginning of his adorable desire for a carrot nose to the genesis of his single-minded obsession with summer.

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Image via Disney

Zippy and fun, “Once Upon a Snowman” seems to take great pleasure from the way it’s painted into various narrative corners and how it creatively shimmies out of those corners. The centerpiece of the short is a chase sequence through the snowy woods, over a frozen pond, and over a cavass, as a gang of wolves pursues Olaf. It’s a thrilling sequence, with the kind of madcap, Looney Tunes-esque physical humor and energy that feels outside of what you’d expect from a normal Frozen film or short that it comes across as exhilarating and new. Correy and Abraham stage the action breathlessly, with some truly inventive camerawork and staging, as Olaf separates from himself and transforms in increasingly hilarious ways (again, we are forbidden from giving details but it’s pretty wild).

It’s worth noting how wonderful Josh Gad, once again essaying the characters, is in the new short. He’s always been there for the character, appearing in the Christmas special, theatrical short and those little online shorts that the animators completed during quarantine, along with countless consumer products and theme park attractions (including Frozen Ever After at EPCOT), and he never sounds voicing the character is a chore. He’s always full of life and innocence and that charming Olaf naivete. And there are some tender moments in the short, especially towards the end, that will absolutely tug (nay, yank) on your heartstrings. Those moments could have come across as cloying or saccharine, if it weren’t for Gad’s thoughtful, considerate performance.

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Image via Disney

So yes, try as you might to stay away from the gravitational pull of Frozen (and released less than a year after Frozen 2 took the world by storm), “Once Upon a Snowman” is very much worth your time. Tender and sweet, with gorgeous animation completed towards the tail end of the Frozen 2 production, it explores an uncharted part of the franchise’s mythology with humor and sophistication, reminding you why you fell in love with the property in the first place. And thanks to Gad’s performance, you might just shed a tear or two. But it’s okay. Let it go.

Rating: A

Once Upon a Snowman premieres on Disney+ on Friday, October 23rd.