Building Kristoff's Ukulele from Frozen

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DanielHulbert

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kristoff uke.jpg

Ever since I saw Kristoff's instrument from the first Frozen movie, I wanted to make one. It be a lute, a guitar, or some obscure Scandinavian instrument, but my version is a tenor scale ukulele.

Frozen Uke - 1.jpg

I studied and measured still images from Frozen, and the short film "Olaf's Frozen Adventure" from 2017. I was able to figure most of the specs from those pictures.


Frozen Uke - 2B (2).jpg

For my bowl back, I used a "band saw" bowl method instead of the traditional method of bending staves. I also made the soundhole smaller and closer to the fretboard.

It was a fun project. Here is a video about the build process, and a playing demo at the end.

 
That's really cool. Thanks for sharing!

I appreciate the insight into the reverse engineering / design process, and I love the bandsaw box bowl idea. Looks like it gives some extra heft for fighting off wolves!
 
Daniel, your 'get an idea and go for it' approach is inspiring. Well done.
 
A very well realized project. It looks great and sounds good. Congratulations!

John Colter
 
I'm SCREAMING.

this is so cool and the video at the end was too cute :love:

So like, did you just have all the stuff lying around to make it? Or did you have to plan a ton since there wasn't really a blueprint to make this thing? When did it go from like a "wouldn't it be rad if I made Kristoff's uke" off-hand idea to actually getting out the band saw?
 
Thanks for checking out my project. It had some challenges, but solving those are half of the fun of building.

To answer your question YUNI, I have been building ukuleles (and other instruments) for a few years now. I've done everything from normal ukulele to crazy ukuleles (like my retractable ukulele, or my ukulele with four necks).


For this ukulele project, I happened to already have all of the parts from other projects. So, after I planned it out, I could get right to it.
 
Wow what a fun uke. It looks and sounds great.
 
Great 'reconstruction/realization'. Sounds fine. I love the FCK t-shirt.
The seven dwarfs' ball from Disney's 'Snow White' shows many instruments that 'need' to be made in real life. I had a go at one of them. I'll see if I can post a picture when I get home.
 
Fantastic! Hugely inspirational.
When I grow up, I hope I can make a ukulele as nice as yours.
 
Here it is, the duckulele (inspired by Disney):
 

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jop said:
Great 'reconstruction/realization'. Sounds fine. I love the FCK t-shirt.
Click to expand...

Thanks jop.

And just so no thinks that I am wearing a naughty shirt, FCK stands for FC København. It's the professional soccer/football team in Copenhagen. :D
 
jop said:
Here it is, the duckulele (inspired by Disney):
Click to expand...

That is excellent. I love it.

I have one more video to do in my informal Denmark trilogy. I made a LEGO ukulele, this Frozen ukulele, and I presently making an electric ukulele with some wood from the Danish island of Bornholm. Hopefully that will be done by the end of the year.
 
DanielHulbert. "making an electric ukulele with some wood from the Danish island of Bornholm." What kind of wood are you using? Do you have a special connection to Denmark, or is it coincidence?

captain-janeway. I cannot remember the exact tuning, but the relationship between the strings is like on a low-g ukulele minus the a-string, giving an open major chord. So, the chord fingerings are related to those of ukulele/guitar. The sound is a bit shrill and loud enough to be annoying. But just to be on the safe side I added a piezo mike. :)
 
DanielHulbert said:
Thanks jop.

And just so no thinks that I am wearing a naughty shirt, FCK stands for FC København. It's the professional soccer/football team in Copenhagen. :D
Click to expand...

Good thing you clarified. I might have thought "The only thing missing is you."
 
jop said:
DanielHulbert. "making an electric ukulele with some wood from the Danish island of Bornholm." What kind of wood are you using? Do you have a special connection to Denmark, or is it coincidence?
Click to expand...

My wife lived in Denmark for a couple of years in the early 2000s. Then we went to visit again a year and a half ago. I saw a stack of wood in a barn at a friend’s property, so I asked for a piece. :)
 
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