”Some people are worth melting for.”
—-
"Because I love you, Anna, I insist you run."
OLAF
Played by: Josh Gad
Role: The Comic Relief, Walking Metaphor
PL 2 (73)
STRENGTH -2
STAMINA --
AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0
DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE -1
AWARENESS 0
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Athletics 4 (+2)
Expertise (Snow) 4 (+3)
Expertise (Singing) 4 (+7)
Advantages:
None
Powers:
"Small Size" Shrinking 4 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
(-1 Strength, +2 Defenses, +4 Stealth, -2 Intimidation)
"Snowman"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
"Stuff Goes Through Him" Immunity 10 (Piercing Damage) [10]
"I Don't Have A Skull. Or Bones." Immunity 30 (Slashing & Bludgeoning Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [15]
Protection 2 [2]
Regeneration 4 [4]
Features 1: May Reattach Limbs [1]
"Power Slide" Speed 2 (8 mph) (Flaws: Limited to Within Snow) [1]
"Detachable Limbs" Summon Limb or Butt 1 (Feats: Mental Link) (Extras: 4 Minions +4) (Flaws: Requires Limb Severing) [5]
Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-2 Damage, DC 13)
Initiative +0
Defenses:
Dodge +2 (DC 12), Parry +2 (DC 12), Toughness +2, Fortitude --, Will +4
Complications:
Motivation (Summer)- As soon as Olaf hears about "Summer", he's fascinated by it, and obsessed with the idea of bringing Summer back to Arendelle. He wants to sun himself on the beach, enjoy a warm breeze, and feel the sand on his cheeks. "I'm guessing you don't have a lot of experience with heat" says Kristoff.
Weakness (Lack of Cold)- Warm weather (or proximity to a fire) has a negative effect on a creature made of frozen water. This does not mix well with the above.
Total: Abilities: -12 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 77 / Defenses: 4 (73)
Olaf- Averting Jar-Jar Binks:
-Olaf could have been SO bad. I mean, the early trailers for the film were like 90% Olaf doing dumb things and being a goof-off. People were fearing a Scrappy-Doo situation, or worse- a Jar-Jar Binks. One of those characters who becomes iconic for just being SO annoying to adults in their desperate attempt to appeal to the kiddie audience. Jennifer Lee, the Co-Director, even points out she had these fears when looking at early bits, because they didn't have the voice actor, and the character was more snarky and acidic- "I wanted to kill that ****ing Snowman". But instead, the character was actually pretty funny (Josh Gad got noticed a fair bit for
The Book Of Mormon as a funny guy), and was understated (and under-used) enough to be tolerable. While the gags from the trailers were there, he wasn't just running around getting in the way, interrupting dramatic moments, and defeating the bad guys by accident. He just helps the gang find Elsa, then lets Anna out of a room. That's his overall relevance to the action.
-HOWEVER, they also do a neat thing by having him represent the former relationship of the sisters. See, when they were kids, Elsa used to make "Olaf", a snowman playmate for the girls (sort of an imaginary friend, since he didn't talk then). But when Elsa finally reveals her powers to everyone and unleashes them in full, she inadvertently creates a real Olaf during
Let It Go, and he begins trying to help the sisters come together. He's sort of a walking bit of nostalgia (as Anna soon recognizes him) representing happier times. It's also neat how he's the one who points out to Anna (who is a bit naiive and clueless) what love is- pointing out the nature of sacrifices. And it's not done in that cheesy a way! And of course he gets one of the movie's most killer, memorable lines with "Some friends are worth melting for".
Olaf's Stats:
-Olaf has some pricey abilities, but is generally pretty useless as anything other than a sidekick. He can take off his limbs, take damage easily, pick a lock with his carrot nose, stick his limbs back together, and slide really fast through the snow, but can't really do any damage.
Post-Frozen Olaf: Olaf, as a wildly popular mascot character, has shown up again and again. He was even chosen as an ally in
Sofia the First- unfortunately, the writers of that show aren't as good as the Feature Animation writers, and so the character was 100% jokes for like fifteen minutes, which DEFINITELY grew old. He's briefly used in
Frozen Fever, just for a gag or two, but becomes the main character of
Olaf's Frozen Adventure. Here, he's actually still pretty likeable, with many jokes about damage that befalls him ("Let's go, Sven!" *holds up a hand* *Sven high-fives his arm off* *still smiling* "OW!"), or his casual reaction to horrifying things ("So you KILL A TREE, then light its CORPSE with candles... I... LOVE IT!!!). His eagerness to give Anna & Elsa a real holiday tradition is actually pretty swell, and helps keep him likeable, as is his utter despondence at failing in his mission (which sees him buried in snow, attacked by wolves and badly burned).
About the Performer: Josh Gad probably didn't even realize he'd made a job for life here. He only got known for
The Book of Mormon, where he had a star-making turn as the goofy, nerdy "bad Mormon" Arnold, who changes the course of Uganda with his unique variation of religion. This comic turn led to him being cast as Olaf, the friendly Snowman, and his performance was so good (particularly his deadpan reactions to horrible things, or his delivery of stuff like "He's CRAAAAAAAAAZZZYYYYY...") that he became the movie's second-biggest star. Olaf has since shown up in EVERYTHING- Gad even plays him in
Sofia the First and the Lego video game. His own acting career aside from that hasn't really taken off, though many liked him as LeFou in the Live-Action
Beauty and the Beast. His key problem is that, as a short chubby guy with a nerdy, high-pitched voice... he's really just a Poor Man's Jack Black, and Black is notably more famous. His biggest role was probably in the awful
Pixels, which did nothing for his career. He's still getting work, though- just more minor stuff, like the upcoming
Toy Wars (about the war between Mattel & Hasbro in the '80s & '90s).