I got a great one on tap for you guys tonight, a series of Christmas specials which is quite new but rapidly gaining a fanbase: Disney’s ‘Prep & Landing.’ The original first aired in 2009, followed in 2010 by a five- minute short/ sequel called ‘Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa,’ and earlier this month by the newest entry in the series, ‘Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice.’ They’re a series of CGI animated specials which focus on Santa’s elves, and present a much different picture of them than most Christmas specials that feature them.
The original ‘Prep & Landing’ introduces us to the main character, Wayne (Voice of Dave Foley), an elf who’s a veteran of the ‘Prep and Landing’ division, a group of stealth- ops elves that arrive at nice kids’ houses shortly before Santa does, to ensure that the houses are ready for him (i.e. everyone in the house asleep, enough room under the tree for whatever gift he’s bringing to that house, even making sure the milk and cookies are at the optimum temperature). Wayne’s been doing this for a VERY long time, and is getting rather bored with it, desiring a promotion. When our story begins, Wayne is dismayed to discover not only that he was turned down for a promotion he had his heart set on, but also that he is now saddled with a brand new Prep and Landing elf named Lanny as a new partner. He’s a naïve, enthusiastic, slightly annoying rookie with a catchphrase of ‘This is so tinsel!†When the two elves arrive at their first house (Flown there by an awesomely butch reindeer named Thrasher), Wayne is so bitter over what happened that he begins pretty well ditching his job, letting Lanny do all the work while he slumps in a chair eating one of the cookies meant for Santa (Or, as the elves in this know him, simply “The Big Guyâ€).
The boy in that house, Timmy, wakes up and snaps a picture of Wayne, and that emergency combined with a sudden snow storm puts Timmy’s house in danger of being passed over by Santa. Lanny reminds Wayne that elves aren’t in it for themselves, they’re in it to help the kids have a happier Christmas, so Wayne gets his priorities sorted and the two of them work together (And in a pretty creative and resourceful way, to boot) to ensure that Santa’s able to make it to the house and give Timmy the merry Christmas that the boy clearly deserves. Wayne, in turn, receives the recognition he deserves, but decides to stay as Lanny’s Prep and Landing partner.
‘Prep & Landing’ has a lot going for it. The characters are great. As the voice of Wayne, Dave Foley helps reflect all his anger and frustration over having been screwed over so many times. Lanny is a goofy and warm- hearted character whose sincerity and enthusiasm can bring a smile to anyone. Also, there’s a female elf named Magee who helps them a lot, and proves to be quite a funny character herself.
There are also lots of laughs from subtle in- jokes and sight gags (i.e. behind Magee’s desk on a shelf is the tree from ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’). It’s really funny to see/ hear (Going along with the black- ops theme of the series) the various code names the elves have for everything they do. For instance, Lanny and Wayne’s respective code names are “Tree Skirt†and “Little Drummer Boy,†when Santa’s in his sleigh and ready to go, the elves say “The Partridge is in the Pear Tree,†and so on.
The original ‘Prep & Landing won a bunch of Annie awards (Awards ceremony specializing in various achievements in the field of animation), and it’s clear why. It’s a great special that I look forward to seeing every Christmas.
Next up, “Operation Secret Santa†is a five- minute short in which Lanny and Wayne are hired by Mrs. Claus (Voice of Betty White, why it’s taken this long for her to play Mrs. Claus is a mystery) to retrieve something special from Santa’s office while he’s napping. While it may be short and thus I can't say a whole lot about it, it’s exciting, funny as usual, and the conclusion in which you learn why Mrs. Claus wanted that particular item proves to be quite heart- warming.
Lastly, “Naughty vs. Nice†has the elves dealing with the problem of a computer- hacking naughty kid known by the internet handle of “JingleSmell1337†attempting to hack into the North Pole’s Naughty and Nice Database through the use of a bit of stolen elf technology. It’s decided that Wayne and Lanny might need some extra help retrieving the elf tech, so they contact an experienced “Coal elf†named Noel, who happens to be Wayne’s estranged younger (Though larger, tougher, and generally cooler) brother. Noel’s happy to be working with his brother again, but Wayne clearly is not, especially after Noel seems to keep outdoing him in everything relating to the mission.
The mission runs into problems right from the start, as they set off the hacking kid’s surprisingly advanced and powerful security system (Accompanied by a freaking awesome punk- rock cover of the old Christmas song “I’m Gettin’ Nuttin’ for Christmas†by the Plain White T’s). Tensions between the brothers explode, leading to Wayne making a hurtful admission and Noel pointing out how much he used to admire his brother, but not anymore. The hacker (Who turns out to be not quite so bad, just a little girl who’s had some family problems of her own, and only hacked into the system to get off the Naughty List) unwittingly causes a potential catastrophe to happen, so the brothers must set aside their differences to save Christmas for kids everywhere, and both they and the girl come out of the experience with a better appreciation of family.
The only minor hangup with this one is that there’s a somewhat annoying character in the form of a senile elderly elf who appears a couple times and keeps referring to Wayne as ‘Dwayne.’ That joke’s been stupid ever since it was used in the film ‘Wayne’s World 2.’
Though, ‘Naughty vs. Nice’ also brings a lot of good stuff to the table. The laughs keep coming, Noel and the hacker girl both make for very nice and well- developed new supporting characters (Noel has the pretty cool catchphrase of “Jingle BAM!â€), and seeing the interactions between Noel and Wayne are really funny, and occasionally moving. Seeing them inevitably reconcile in the end (Partly due to a present that Noel gives Wayne) will definitely tug at your heart strings, as will seeing the hacker girl reconcile with her own family member that hurt her. It may not be quite as good as the first ‘Prep & Landing,’ but ‘Naughty vs. Nice’ still makes for a good, solid entry in the series, and has already gotten a lot of Annie nominations just a day or two after it premiered.
For those who want to check ‘Prep & Landing’ out for themselves, both the original special and ‘Naughty vs. Nice’ will be airing back- to- back tomorrow night (Dec. 22) on ABC at 8:00 pm EST. ‘Operation Secret Santa,’ in turn, is available to be viewed on the Prep & Landing website. I highly recommend checking them all out.
And, there you have the ‘Prep & Landing’ trilogy: A great set of specials which are destined to become classics, and hopefully will produce more good follow- up specials in the future. They also help further inspire hope that Disney is definitely starting to regain its past magic. Come back tomorrow as I do a couple more entries that wrap up the modern classics theme.
