Pixar’s new movie “Coco” has had a very successful opening week. The movie hit the theaters during the Thanksgiving weekend but not without its own share of controversy. Disney decided to pair the movie with Olaf’s Frozen Adventure featurette which runs for 21 minutes. It’s a very unique decision to be honest, but fans all over the world are not happy.
Integrating the “Frozen” short into Coco is unusual on many levels. To start with, the Frozen short is considered to be an outlier in the short film industry. Normally, the movie would come first before Pixar movies in theatres. The featurette was not even produced by Pixar. Instead, Walt Disney Animation Studios did it. Although these two companies are related, their films are often considered separate entities.
But the biggest issue that seems to have angered many fans is the runtime. The featurette runs for 21 minutes. For an audience that came to watch “Coco”, having to watch something else for a whole 21 minutes couldn’t have been easy.
There have been many complaints. In Mexico, for example, audiences were so angered with the “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” featurette that one theater decided not to show it at all before “Coco.” Mexico is a significant market for “Coco.” In fact, “Coco” is the highest grossing film of all time in Mexico.
Judging from the backlash that this incident has attracted, many people have started thrashing “Frozen.” Actor Devon Sawa, in particular, was quick to criticize the “Frozen” short calling it a giant piece of frozen trash. The same sentiments were also shared by Nick Thune, Ian Bogost, and other high profile celebs who tweeted on the issue.
Although it’s understandable that the 21-minute “Frozen” short can be annoying, going further and downgrading the film to trash it is absolutely wrong. The movie is absolutely amazing. “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” is a charming story of Elsa and Anna as they celebrate their first Christmas in Arrendelle. The short film has its own shortcomings (including a weak storyline) but it’s a good watch, especially during the festive season.
Many people are blaming Disney. If there were plans to sneak in a 21-minute short of “Frozen” in “Coco”, the least they could do was to let everyone know. Sadly, most ads and trailers for the movie failed to mention this. Besides, for families who are going to the theaters with younger kids, the 21-minute “Frozen” short could be confusing.
“Coco” was also the first Pixar feature film that did not involve a white protagonist. Many people say that Disney felt that the film would fail to attract a significant audience and as such they decided to sneak in the “Frozen” short.
