# Olaf from "Frozen" = Jar Jar Binks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2014, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olaf-from-frozen-jar-jar-binks/679436 "2014-01-22T06:54:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olaf-from-frozen-jar-jar-binks/679436/41 "2014-02-04T19:54:32Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > … > The trolls, on the other hand, felt like they were invented for the movie solely as a marketing tie-in. I agree, the Trolls were the most clunky bit of the film, but they did serve a story purpose. In a story with magic, but the people arent wizards, something has to be the teller of the magical rules. This could be a crazy hermit, a prophecy, a book, a villain, a talking tree, or a bunch of magical living rocks. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olaf-from-frozen-jar-jar-binks/679436/42 "2014-02-04T20:19:47Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Did you ever get around to watching it? > > Frozen is one of the few movies that has made me go back and really think about all the layers, symbolism, plotting choices, etc in a long time. It is a movie that has a lot of depth, and I can’t wait to buy it on Blu-Ray (it will be the first movie I bought on Blu-Ray in over a year I think) so I can watch it and experience it again. > > It is extremely clever and much deeper than I got at first viewing. After reading this and other threads, and listening to the soundtrack again and again, I’ve gotten a lot out of it and it’s even better than I imagined. > > You should definitely see if if you get the chance! I haven’t. We moved (from Cincinnati to Denver) and unpacking, etc. is taking up all our free time. It looks like I will have to wait for the DVD release. ---
**Author:** ![Neofio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@Neofio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neofio)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olaf-from-frozen-jar-jar-binks/679436/43 "2014-02-05T06:47:38Z")
> [@opossum](#): > > The only thing I don’t know is why the last indoor scene with Olaf and Anna didn’t count as an “act of true love.” (I’m being vague because I don’t know how to make spoiler boxes. I mean the scene with the “some people are worth melting for” line). I would think that it makes perfect sense, and a very good bit of foreshadowing. The heart being frozen is Anna’s. Hence, why would an act of love being done _to her_ melt her heart? It actually makes more sense that the act of love has to come from _within_ - Anna has to melt her own heart. Olaf’s readiness to sacrifice himself works as foreshadowing. Here was this incredibly innocent, loving snowman, who was literally willing to _die_ for Anna. If that didn’t work, no way some kiss will either. The cliche’d “True Love’s Kiss” most likely would never have worked anyway. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olaf-from-frozen-jar-jar-binks/679436/44 "2014-02-05T07:39:29Z")
This movie had so much damn foreshadowing it’s almost insane. That’s a great point you made Neofio. This movie gets cleverer and cleverer the more I discuss it and think about it. I think it should have been nominated for best movie and I think it should have been considered a strong contender for winning it as well, in the oscars. Also, thank you for the input on the Annies. I had never heard about it but I guess it is a real honor! ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olaf-from-frozen-jar-jar-binks/679436/45 "2014-04-08T18:52:09Z")
So I’d heard good things about the movie, and it has a catchy tune that’s been turning up everywhere, including Idina Menzel singing it on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, with Jimmy and the Roots doing backup with elementary school instruments (kazoo, xylophone, recorder, etc). Jimmy said he usually sings along, but on that he couldn’t add a thing of value to Idina’s voice. So I found the movie On Demand and gave it a watch. I’m not typically watching these animated movies, no kids, but I gave this one a go. I am impressed. From the opening scene with the ice-miners cutting blocks of ice, it was pretty impressive. I was a little thrown with the little boy (Kristoff) running around during all this and getting left behind by the men, but that set the stage for his character later. I thought this movie was just superb from top to bottom. Well-plotted, well-paced, it just flows. The musicals enhance the story rather than intrude. “Do you wanna build a snowman? (It doesn’t have to be a snowman.)” And the whole thing has lots of foreshadowing. You totally buy Prince Hans as the good guy, right up until he says “If only you had someone who loved you.” He completely sells the accidental meeting and the love at first sight vibe for the naive princess Anna. I thought Olaf was not really out of place. I mean, it’s slightly jarring when he comes walking out of the forest, but he serves as a tie in to the pure innocence of their childhood, as a symbol of the sweetness and caring. And yes, he’s comic relief, but not at all as obnoxious as Jar-Jar. That ad shows Olaf with a couple elements from the movie (the sneeze, Sven going for the carrot, Olaf’s flexibility and clumsiness), but it’s funny. Yes, he plays a similar role on screen, getting knocked about (“Watch out for my butt.” “Grab my butt.”) It’s funny in context. But I really love the same things below: > [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Remember, the troll doesn’t specify what sort of act or what sort of love it needs to be, or which heart is supposed to be doing the loving. I thought the fact that this scene didn’t break the spell was, frankly, brilliant. > > [spoiler]Only true love can melt a frozen heart, it’s true. But it has to melt by loving, not by being loved. Ana has to thaw her own heart by thinking someone else is worth melting for. > > I love this take on the traditional “only love can break the spell” trope. I _hate_ that the true love is always expressed by someone else taking action and/or making a sacrifice for the accursed one, so that you have both the idea that you should just sit around waiting for someone else to solve your problems _and_ the idea that what you can get someone to do for you is what true love is really about. Those are both such horrible ideas to plant in someone’s head, you know? This ending turns both of those ideas on their ears and pisses firmly in their faces, because Ana’s the only one who can break her curse and the whole point of the ending is that true love is about what you’re willing to do for someone else. [/spoiler] AMEN! Do you know what the definition of love is? I’ll tell you: Love is when another person’s welfare and happiness become essential to your own. (Nods to Robert Heinlein). > [@Neofio](#): > > I would think that it makes perfect sense, and a very good bit of foreshadowing. The heart being frozen is Anna’s. Hence, why would an act of love being done _to her_ melt her heart? It actually makes more sense that the act of love has to come from _within_ - Anna has to melt her own heart. > > Olaf’s readiness to sacrifice himself works as foreshadowing. Here was this incredibly innocent, loving snowman, who was literally willing to _die_ for Anna. If that didn’t work, no way some kiss will either. The cliche’d “True Love’s Kiss” most likely would never have worked anyway. Bingo! Anna breaks the freezing of her own heart by her own act of love. But notice, when the icy storm is raging on the fjord, and Hans is confronting Elsa on the ice, When Prince Hans tells Elsa that she killed Anna, that Anna is dead, it is Elsa’s love of Anna that stops the howling, blowing snow in it’s tracks, and the air clears in an instant - the instant Elsa turns and drops to a grieving heap. Yet another sign it is love that is the key. Even more When the trolls are busy trying to marry up Anna and Kristoff, they bring up love and how special it is. The whole song “Fixer-upper” is talking about love, but it’s really a foreshadowing of the role love plays in controlling Elsa’s power. In fact, my complaint is that this whole mess could have been avoided if Grandpabbie had told Elsa and her parents _how_ to control the powers. He explained that fear was her weakness, but didn’t mention love. But that’s standard sitcom level gaffe. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olaf-from-frozen-jar-jar-binks/679436/46 "2014-04-09T14:14:13Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Do you know what the definition of love is? I’ll tell you: > > Love is when another person’s welfare and happiness become essential to your own. > > (Nods to Robert Heinlein). It reminded me of something even older. John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. It was so great that love was not just a feeling, but a willingness to sacrifice for those one loves. That theme goes throughout the move, where everyone, including Olaf, sacrifices their own interests for those they love. While the villain uses the intoxicating feeling of romantic love for his own selfish purposes. It is a great message for girls, boys, and people of all ages. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olaf-from-frozen-jar-jar-binks/679436.md?page=2)