Frozen’s “Love Is an Open Door” Secret Reference

Nephew of Donny and Marie Osmond, Hyrum Osmond’s job as supervising animator on Disney’s Frozen enabled him to capture a signature Donny Osmond move in the character of Prince Hans.  During the song “Love Is an Open Door,” Prince Hans, belting out his high notes under a waterfall, closed his eyes and raised his arm exactly like Donny Osmond did during his 70’s rise to stardom.

In an interview with Yahoo!, Hyrum said that he “requested that shot, just because I knew that that was the perfect moment to pepper in that Donny Osmond feel to it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaxbH2t9Ik

Originally, the scene portrayed Donny’s move more emphatically.

“I originally had the shot with his eyes closed during that entire section, just really belting it out,” Hyrum explained. The directors felt that was just a little too Donny Osmond, so we pulled that back.”

Hyrum’s father, George Osmond, worked backstage during the Osmond’s show in the 1970’s, and Hyrum and his siblings’ time watching, and participating, on the “Donny and Marie” Show gave them plenty of opportunity to watch and mimic the Osmond’s moves.

“My brothers and sisters and I almost playfully mocked our uncles with their signature move, which was basically sort of a tilted head, eyes squinting, with the raising of their arm or arms as they belt out that note.” So when it was time for Hans to hit his high note, the younger Osmond wanted to pay tribute to that move. “I just thought it was a perfect moment to hit the Donny Osmond pose there.”

Hyrum Osmond’s animating career with Disney began in 2008 on the movie “Bolt.” He worked on Tangled, and Tangled Ever After, Wreck-It Ralph, and several video and TV shorts.  He was the supervising animator for Olaf in Disney’s Frozen, incorporating idiosyncrasies of himself and his son into the peppy little snowman.  “I watched my five year old at the time — the way he moved — and we tried to copy little things here and there from what he would do.”