It looks like Disney just put its very own ABC network on ice.
Expanding far beyond the traditional run time of 5-plus minutes that most pre-feature animated shorts abide, the 21-minute featurette Olaf’s Frozen Adventure will play before Pixar’s big holiday release Coco in theaters worldwide.
The length of this Frozen mini-sequel, which is essentially a half-hour of television minus the commercials, is a clear giveaway that Olaf’s Frozen Adventure was originally planned to be a holiday TV special, particularly given its Christmas-y setting. No doubt it will become an annual TV tradition in the future, but in 2017 this Olaf-centric narrative will play exclusively in movie theaters.
For many, this special event will be an even bigger draw to the movie theater than the new Pixar movie that will follow it.
Adjust your box office estimates to bookoo; this is going to make a ton of money. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure and Coco will be the go-to Thanksgiving double-feature when it debuts on November 22, 2017.