When families and moviegoers arrived in theaters to catch a showing of Pixar's latest film, Coco, they first had to sit through Olaf's Frozen Adventure, a new Disney short based on Frozen. While it's a tradition for short films to play in front of Disney and Pixar films, those are two to five minutes long. The Frozen short had an extended runtime of 22 minutes, which led to understandable complaints from viewers who didn't like having to wait over 30 minutes for the movie they paid to see. It seems that Disney has listened and they could be pulling the short from all future screenings of Coco.
Theatergoers won't have to worry about a 22-minute wait to see Coco for much longer. A Redditor who claims to work at a movie theater wrote a post that Disney sent their theater a notice that Olaf's Frozen Adventure will be pulled from future showings of Coco. According to Reddit, starting Friday, Dec 8, no Coco screening should come with the Frozen short. This apparent memo from Disney could potentially be a reaction from the Mouse House to numerous loud complaints from parents, impatient kids, and critics who disliked having to watch a 22-minute short -- on top of 15-20 minutes of trailers -- before watching Coco.
It's pretty strange to assume that any audience would want to wait through a 20-plus-minute gap before seeing the movie they paid for. As mentioned, theaters could have fit in an extra screening of Coco if it weren't for the Frozen short, giving more people a chance to see what has widely been celebrated as a charming Day of the Dead tale. Had Olaf's Frozen Adventure simply aired as a television special, it's likely that it would not have drawn nearly as many complaints, but now the short will likely be associated with a negative connotation.
At least people who have hung back from seeing Coco due to the extended short can likely rest easy and enjoy the film once December 8 comes around. Coco is said to be a heartwarming tale and an imaginative look at Mexican culture, so hopefully, people won't have to deal with a hug obsessed snowman anymore.
As for Olaf's Frozen Adventure, it's not clear what's in store for the troubled short. It's unknown whether Disney plans to release it as a TV special or if it will get some kind of home release. It also serves as a reminder that Frozen 2 is arriving in theaters on November 2019. Hopefully, this experience has not soured anyone's mood for a return to Arendelle. For everything else in the world of Disney, here are all the upcoming releases from the Mouse House.
