Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice

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Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice
Prep & Landing - Naughty vs. Nice poster.jpg
GenreAnimated television special
Created by The Walt Disney Company
Based onan Idea by Chris Williams
Written by
Directed by
Starring
Music by Michael Giacchino [1]
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerDorothy McKim
Editor Jeff Draheim
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseDecember 5, 2011 (2011-12-05)

Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice is an American animated television special, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton. It aired on December 5, 2011, on the ABC TV channel. [2] The special is the second half-hour Christmas special, and the fourth short film in the Prep & Landing series, after Prep & Landing , Tiny's BIG Adventure , and Operation: Secret Santa . A new half-hour special, Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol, is set to release in 2025. [3]

Contents

Plot

The beginning of the special introduces the Coal Elf Brigade, a special unit of Christmas elves responsible for delivering lumps of coal to naughty children. While seeming cruel to some, the brigade adds small, encouraging notes in an attempt to steer the children back to the nice list.

With Christmas Day approaching, Wayne and Lanny race to recover classified North Pole technology that has fallen into the hands of a hacker identified only as "jinglesmell1337". Desperate to prevent Christmas from descending into chaos, Wayne seeks out his younger brother Noel, an expert in naughty children and member of the Coal Elf Brigade. [2] Reluctant to take Noel along with him, Wayne relents, and Noel joins the Prep & Landing team on the mission. During the trip, Noel and Wayne reminisce about their childhood, when they worked together far better than they do now. As the trio arrives at the hacker's house, Wayne sets off a booby trap, imperiling the entire team; Noel manages to defend himself, Wayne takes a particular beating from the trap's various mechanisms, and Lanny makes it into the hacker's room, only to be captured.

The hacker then reveals herself to be Grace Goodwin. Her mission is to get herself off the naughty list, believing that she had been set up by her toddler brother, Gabriel, who had destroyed her favorite toy and ruined her chances to ask Santa for a new one by his crying. After Lanny suggests using the "magic word" to get the password for the device that will get her off the list, she does just that: using the word "please" as the password, since genuinely naughty kids never say "please". At first, she appears successful in changing her status from naughty to nice, but the device malfunctions, threatening to place the entire planet on the naughty list unless she and the team can pull off a risky operation to fix the problem.

Meanwhile, Wayne is particularly bitter at being "shown up" by his younger brother, prompting a fight in the street in front of Grace's house. Noel throws what he had intended to give Wayne as a Christmas present at him. The gift—a toy sled that Wayne had wanted as a kid but was never able to get—prompts Wayne to reconcile with Noel and carry out the mission. Grace, watching the whole argument as it unfolds, learns a powerful lesson and a newfound appreciation for her younger brother.

Wayne then receives a call from Magee who tells him that the device is causing bigger problems by transferring every child to the naughty list. Wayne tells them that the antenna on Conduct Calculator is broken. Mr. Thistleton tells him to fix it and attach it to a powerful antenna to reverse the damage. Grace realizes that this is all her fault and apologizes for being naughty. As Noel and Wayne climb up the building, all the presents are sucked up into the tube as the tree farm progresses on transferring every child onto the naughty list. Once Wayne and Noel reach the top, they realize that they cannot go near the antenna due to electric hazards, so they work together to launch the calculator to it, causing the satellite to go back to normal as all the presents get dropped back into Santa's sack.

The next morning, Gabriel gives Grace her new Christmas present; a replacement toy for the one he had destroyed a year prior. Meanwhile, back at the North Pole, Wayne and Noel both win the title of "Elves of the Year" for their efforts and cooperation.

Cast

Release

The special was released on DVD and Blu-ray of Prep & Landing: Totally Tinsel Collection on November 6, 2012, together with Prep & Landing , Operation: Secret Santa , and Tiny's BIG Adventure. [4] [5] The 3D version of the special is being screened at the Muppet*Vision 3D theatre at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, CA. [6]

Awards

On December 5, 2011, on the day of its first broadcast, Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice was nominated for eleven Annie Awards in seven categories by the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood. [7] It won four awards, one for character animation, character design, music and storyboarding. [8]

ResultAwardWinner/Nominee Recipient(s)
NominatedBest General Audience Animated TV Production Walt Disney Animation Studios
NominatedCharacter Animation in a Television ProductionChad Sellers
NominatedRebecca Wilson Bresee
WonTony Smeed
WonCharacter Design in a Television ProductionBill Schwab
NominatedDirecting in a Television ProductionKevin Deters, Stevie Wermers-Skelton
WonMusic in a Television Production Grace Potter, Michael Giacchino
NominatedStoryboarding in a Television ProductionBarry W. Johnson
WonBrian Kesinger
NominatedJoe Mateo
NominatedWriting in a Television ProductionKevin Deters, Stevie Wermers-Skelton

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References

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  3. Betti, Tony (2024-06-11). "New "Prep & Landing" Special, 5th Season of "Big City Greens" Among Announcements And First Looks From Disney Branded Television at Annecy Festival". LaughingPlace.com. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
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  5. "Prep And Landing: Totally Tinsel Collection (Blu-ray + DVD) (Widescreen)". Walmart. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
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  8. Beck, Jerry (February 4, 2012). ""Rango" tops Annie Award Winners". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2012.