The special was released online the next day, along with an original one-minute short film Tiny's BIG Adventure.[3] A sequel, Operation: Secret Santa, aired on December 7, 2010, reprising the original cast with the addition of Betty White as Mrs. Claus. The second half-hour Christmas TV special, Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice aired on December 5, 2011, on ABC.[4] A third half-hour special, to be produced at Walt Disney Television Animation, Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol was announced at Annecy 2024 for a 2025 release.[5]
Plot
Wayne, a Christmas elf, is part of an elite organization known as "Prep & Landing", whose job is to ready millions of homes around the world for Santa Claus's visit. After working with "Prep & Landing" for 227 years, Wayne looks forward to getting promoted to director of the naughty list. Instead, his former partner and trainee, Peterson, gets the promotion. Wayne is introduced to Lanny, a freshly graduated rookie, whom Wayne has to also train.
Wayne is still bitter about the promotion, and decides to slack off during a mission. He permits Lanny to do all of the work, which is disastrous. Meanwhile, Santa is informed mid-flight of a massive snow storm and that Wayne and Lanny have not fully prepared the house yet. He is told to cancel the landing, which has never happened before; they promise to make it up for Timmy, a boy living at the house. Wayne and Lanny discover that the re-routing was a final decision, but after hearing Timmy thank them in his sleep, Wayne decides to fix it. He calls up Santa, telling him that he must land at Timmy's house. Wayne and Lanny then work together to land Santa safely on Timmy's roof. On Christmas morning, Santa shows Wayne that Timmy had a merry Christmas. Santa offers a promotion to Wayne as the director of the nice list, but he turns it down so he can work with Lanny.
Cast
Dave Foley as Wayne, the main character. He worked in "Prep & Landing" for years and looked forward to being promoted to Director of Naughty List Intelligence, but he was stuck with Lanny to train as his partner. His call sign is "Little Drummer Boy".
Derek Richardson as Lanny, an overly enthusiastic "Prep & Landing" rookie, who was given by Magee to Wayne to train. He looks up to Wayne, being his biggest fan. His call sign is "Tree Skirt" and his catchphrase is "This is soo tinsel!"
Sarah Chalke as Magee, the North Pole Christmas Eve Command Center Coordinator (NPCECCC) for Santa's flight. She was promoted to her current position from Toy Design after not listening to her friend Jerry and taking the job (something she admittedly regrets). Her call sign is "Jingle Belle".
W. Morgan Sheppard as 'The Big Guy' Santa Claus. His call sign is "Partridge". "Pear Tree" is his sleigh (in flight).
Mason Vale Cotton as Timmy Terwelp, an excited young boy who befriends Wayne before he is put back to bed only seconds later.
Nathan Greno and David DeLuise as Dasher and Dancer (respectively), Santa's lead reindeer. Their call sign, along with the other six reindeer is "Eight Maids 'a Milking", something Dasher hates.
Hayes MacArthur as Thrasher, Dasher's aggressive cousin and Reindeer for "Prep & Landing". Thrasher's P&L transport was the last one out before Santa's flight, making it imperative that Wayne and Lanny get on board. According to Lanny, Thrasher is a myth to those outside P&L.
Tiny is Magee's assistant in the command center. He has his own short film on-line, "Tiny's Big Adventure", which takes place during the show.
Prep and Landing was originally pitched by director Chris Williams as a short film for the newly re-opened shorts program at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Liking the idea, John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation) considered it to work best as a television special. ABC executives, keen to repeat the success of the 2007 DreamWorks Animation special Shrek the Halls, approved the project.
Following Williams' directorial debut on the short film Glago's Guest, he was moved on to co-direct the feature film Bolt. The special continued production under directors Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton's (Goofy's How to Hook Up Your Home Theater) control.
The special was released on DVD on November 22, 2011, along with the short films Tiny's BIG Adventure and Operation: Secret Santa.[6] It was also released on DVD and Blu-ray of Prep & Landing: Totally Tinsel Collection on November 6, 2012, together with Operation: Secret Santa, Naughty vs. Nice, and Tiny's BIG Adventure.[7][8]
On February 10, 2010, "Prep & Landing" was nominated for two awards at the 8th Visual Effects Society Awards, winning in the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special category and losing in the Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or Commercial category.[10]
An 8-page comic story, titled Prep & Landing: Mansion Impossible, was released on November 16, 2011, in Avengers #19, Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #20, and Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #20. The comic tells a story of Wayne and Lanny preparing Avengers Mansion for a visit from Santa. It was written by Kevin Deters, and illustrated by Joe Mateo.[11]
↑ Desowitz, Bill (July 15, 2008). "An Inviting Glago's Guest". Animation World Magazine. Animation World Network. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
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