Pixar’s new Frozen spin-off axed amid audience backlash

FROZEN is the biggest animated movie ever — but a new spin-off has copped such a backlash, it’s been quietly removed from cinemas.

Olaf from Frozen.

WHILE Disney’s new animated family film Coco is a hit at the US box office, those going to see it after December 8 will be relieved to know that Disney is getting rid of the much-griped-about short film that plays in theatres beforehand.

According to Mashable, Disney has directed theatres that are playing Pixar’s Coco to stop showing the short Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, a spin-off of the hit 2013 Disney animated film Frozen. While it’s not uncommon for Pixar movies to begin with a short film unrelated to the story, those films are usually no longer than 10 minutes and are a homegrown Pixar creation. Olaf, however, is 22 minutes long and many have complained that it’s an elaborate ad for Frozen 2, which is set to release in November 2019.

As a result, those who paid to see Coco were upset to learn that the feature didn’t begin until 40 minutes into its allotted runtime.

In its note to theatres, Disney politely suggested that theatres try to fit in another screening of Coco each day now that 22 minutes has been shaved off its runtime.

Audiences in the US coming to see Disney’s Coco have to sit through a 22-minute short about a snowman first. Picture: AP

While it may seem that Disney is making the choice in response to a backlash from fans, the studio is maintaining that this was always the plan. The studio told Entertainment Weekly that it always advertised Olaf’s Frozen Adventure as a limited run, destined to end on December 8 no matter what.

“This was always promoted as a limited run so it’s not really a story — the end of our Olaf theatrical play is coming next week,” a Disney representative told the outlet. “All our ads and messaging called it as such.”

Not everyone’s a fan of poor old Olaf.

Despite the aggravation some experienced when seeing Coco, it’s maintained the top grossing movie at the US box office the past two weeks amid a low studio output during the holiday season.

This story originally appeared on Fox News and is republished here with permission.

Originally published as Pixar’s new Frozen spin-off axed amid audience backlash