{"id":296,"date":"2026-03-30T07:25:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T07:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/296\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T07:25:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T07:25:31","slug":"how-walt-disney-imagineers-brought-frozen-to-at-disneyland-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/296\/","title":{"rendered":"How Walt Disney Imagineers Brought ‘Frozen’ to at Disneyland Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tVisitors of Disneyland<\/a> Paris finally have the chance to experience Arendelle.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe World of Frozen opens on Sunday at the park\u2019s Disney Adventure area and features an ice sculpture fountain, a Frozen Ever After ride and a walking Olaf.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe experience is based on the 2013 animated feature film about two sisters, Elsa and Anna, of Arendelle. Elsa\u2019s (voiced by Idina Menzel) magical command over ice forces her to go into hiding. Anna (Kristen Bell) meets Kristoff and his reindeer Sven, who go in search of Elsa, and along the way, they encounter Olaf.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFrozen\u201d opened in 2013 and became the highest-grossing animated feature film ever<\/a>. \u201cZootopia 2\u201d currently holds the title. But aside from becoming a cultural phenomenon, its characters and songs quickly became beloved.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2018, the creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering,<\/a> Michel den Dulk, started work on bringing the World of Frozen to the Parisian Disney Park. Den Dulk was no stranger to the process since he already installed \u201cFrozen\u201d in various iterations across the other Disney Parks, including Walt Disney World in Florida and Hong Kong Disneyland.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere, he and creative director Roger Gould break down how they brought the World of Frozen to France.<\/p>\n

\n\tWalking Olaf<\/p>\n

\n\tNo \u201cFrozen\u201d experience would be complete without Olaf, the film\u2019s beloved snowman who loves a warm hug.<\/p>\n

\n\tInnovation and technology are in the DNA of every Walt Disney Imagineer.<\/a> Creating Olaf was a collaborative effort between the company\u2019s research and development studio in Zurich, Switzerland and Walt Disney Imagineering<\/a> HQ in Glendale, Calif.<\/p>\n

\n\tGould credits the advancement of imagineering in robotics for the hyper-realistic Olaf.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt allows Olaf to be himself, to have this free-reining character who can walk around Arendelle,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s what you imagine. It felt so natural, and it\u2019s an extraordinary combination of the advances in robotics that the Imagineering team is doing and this ability to really infuse him with the personality on the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHelping to animate him are Hyrum Osmond and Darrell W. Johnson, who worked as animators on the film. And Olaf wouldn\u2019t be who he is without Josh Gad voicing the character. Gad provides the voice of Olaf\u2019s robotic character, who is part of the ride and the Arendelle celebration show.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe interactive Olaf can speak and engage in conversations, and his mannerisms and characteristics are spot on. However, he isn\u2019t yet at the stage of giving and receiving warm hugs. That\u2019s something in the future. Den Dulk says, \u201cThe goal is that we provide something where you can get up close to him and admire Olaf.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Frozen Ever After Boat Ride<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGraham Uden<\/p>\n

\n\tFrozen Ever After is a new family-friendly ride that takes visitors on a musical journey through Arendelle.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn constructing a ride for the World of Frozen, den Dulk explains that there are various components they take into consideration: What works in the parks and what guests are looking for.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe answer was the Ever After Boat Ride, which has \u201ca bit of a thrill.\u201d Spoiler alert! There\u2019s a small drop backwards. Den Dulk adds, \u201cThere\u2019s a bigger drop, and because it\u2019s in the dark and a lot of people don\u2019t expect the drop, it gives it a little bit of a wow moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBringing Frozen to Life<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tIn bringing the World of Frozen to Paris, den Dulk was inspired by the animated feature\u2019s world-building. \u201cWouldn\u2019t you want to go to this grand ice palace?\u201d he asks, referring to Elsa\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, creating ice proved challenging. Using real glass and crystals was not just expensive but also hazardous.<\/p>\n

\n\tDen Dulk explains that with each \u201cFrozen\u201d project, he leaned into using different components and developing solutions. \u201cWith Elsa\u2019s ice palace on the North Mountain on the exterior, that\u2019s far away. We could do scenic painted tricks that make it look really beautiful.\u201d He reveals, \u201cMost of that is all made out of stainless steel, but we give it the illusion that it might be translucent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the fountain in the middle of Arendelle village, again, it was about using different components. \u201cThe lights are slim pipes of fiber optics that are embedded in these clear crystals or ice snowflake arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt nighttime, the fountain and ice palace all shine and sparkle. \u201cThat\u2019s the exciting part of our job because we want to give people the illusion that they stepped into the kingdom of Arendelle and see and recognize things that they know and love from the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBobby and Kristen-Anderson Lopez Wrote the Music for \u201cA Celebration of Arendelle\u201c<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA Celebration of Arendelle\u201d is a 15-minute show taking place on Arendelle Bay featuring all the characters riding on Viking Longships. One features Kristoff and Olaf, and another features Anna and Elsa.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film\u2019s songwriters and composers, Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, worked closely with Gould and the team. Gould says, \u201cThey collaborated with us on the show and crafted a whole musical journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe duo who won the original song Oscar and the music for the film\u2019s sequel, \u201cFrozen 2,\u201d also wrote custom lyrics for \u201cDo You Want to Build a Snowman?\u201d and \u201cLet it Go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSays Gould, \u201cIt was fun being with Josh, Bobby and Kristen. There\u2019s just this \u2018Frozen\u2019 family that keeps getting together and expanding the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors of Disneyland Paris finally have the chance to experience Arendelle. The World of Frozen opens on Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[324,30,325],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-paris","tag-disneyland","tag-paris","tag-walt-disney-imagineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}