What Would Juliana Do: The Arendelle Castle Yule Log Revisited
Less than a week ago, I fired up Disney+ to check on the Arendelle Castle Yule Log 2020, and it hadn’t changed a bit. It was the same old log as the year before. I shared my opinions in The Arendelle Castle Yule Log: What Would Juliana Do. In that installment of our WWJD series, I made some minor suggestions to make the Frozen Yuletide experience more festive. Well, guess what? It appears our friends Bob may have heard.
Before we get to the exciting new developments, let’s look at what hasn’t changed. There is still no music; no sound but the crackle of the fire. I don’t know why I am so disappointed in that. I mean, that’s all a yule log is supposed to be, right? Just a crackling TV fire? Yet still, I feel this is a miss.
Second, the fire is still tiny relative to the large fireplace. This would have been a much easier fix, and, frankly, a more welcome one. If a yule log is about the fire, give me a FIRE.
But, all is not lost. As I said, it appears some of my suggestions DID in fact make it into the final cut of the Arendelle Castle Yule Log 2020.
The Disney Touches. In my last installment I talked about some of the items around the hearth and how I had hoped for some more detail, or a Frozen Easter Egg ( I called it a Candy Cane). Well, it turns out I missed one. The cute little reindeer on the mantle that I mentioned is actually the very same that catches the entire sled on fire in Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, so my apologies there. This little guy remains on the Arendelle Castle Yule Log 2020 mantle.
But there are also a couple of new additions about which I am super excited. I suggested adding detail to the hanging stockings. Last year they were so nondescript, I couldn’t tell whose was whose. Well, not this year. Take a look! My friends at Disney+ followed my advice, and now it’s pretty clear which of these belongs to Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and even Sven.
Something Happens! I complained that there was “No enchanted snowfall in the snowglobe. No voices celebrating in a nearby room. No Olaf dancing across the hearth. Nothing.”
Well, I didn’t get all of my wishes, but I got the most exciting one. I got OLAF! I absolutely love that snowman. He is truly my favorite character in all of the Disney canon. He doesn’t dance across the hearth, but he does show up. At about 10 minutes into the Arendelle Castle Yule Log 2020, you can hear his sweet Olaf giggle, and then he chases a leaf across the hearth and off the screen. In fact, he appears every 10 minutes for the whole 3 hours, so if you blink and miss him, you’ll catch him on the next loop.
What Would Juliana Do? Did these changes to the Arendelle Castle Yule Log 2020 change my mind? You bet they did. While I still wish the fire took up more space in the fireplace, the presence of Olaf and the personalization of the stockings have me pleased. It’s not much, but I am satisfied. I may not have this playing for the solid 3 hours that it runs, but I would at least let it cycle through at two of the 10 minute loops.
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