''Prep & Landing'' is a

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

, based on an idea by Chris Williams at

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

and developed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton into a half-hour Christmas special. It first aired December 8, 2009 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. The special was released online the next day, along with an original one-minute short film ''Tiny's BIG Adventure''. A sequel, '' Operation: Secret Santa'', aired on December 7, 2010, reprising the original cast with the addition of

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work in the entertainment indust ...

as Mrs. Claus. The second half-hour Christmas TV special, '' Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice'' aired on December 5, 2011, on ABC, with another holiday special being planned for the future.

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 Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

'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 A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessar ...

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 David Scott Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and ...

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 Sarah Louise Christine Chalke (; born August 27, 1976) is a Canadian actress and model. She is known for portraying Elliot Reid on the NBC/ABC comedy series '' Scrubs'', the second Becky Conner on the ABC sitcom ''Roseanne'', Stella Zinman on ...

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." She is almost never seen without a mug of eggnog or cocoa in her hand. She is seen to get very stressed under pressure. This is most evident when she faints after Santa's sleigh almost slides off a roof. * W. Morgan Sheppard as 'The Big Guy'

. His call sign is "Partridge". "Pear Tree" is his sleigh (in flight) (The coded message "The Partridge is in the Pear Tree" means Santa is in the sleigh) and "Big Red" (a tall, red,

Candlestick telephone The candlestick telephone (or pole telephone) is a style of telephone that was common from the late 1890s to the 1940s. A candlestick telephone is also often referred to as a desk stand, an upright, or a stick phone. Candlestick telephones feature ...

) is the phone Magee uses to call him. * Mason Vale Cotton as Timmy Terwelp, an excited young boy who befriends Wayne before he is put back to bed only seconds later. He takes a picture of Wayne which is promptly deleted by Lanny. * Nathan Greno and

David DeLuise David Dominick DeLuise (born November 11, 1971) is an American actor and television director. He has appeared on numerous television shows as well as films. He is known for Coop in the animated show ''Megas XLR'' and Jerry Russo in ''Wizards of W ...

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 Hayes MacArthur (born April 16, 1977) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He starred in the TBS comedy series ''Angie Tribeca''. Early life MacArthur was born in Chicago to Bruce and Shelley MacArthur. His stepfather is businessman ...

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. Tiny attempts to get Magee a new cup of cocoa, but misses the last cup and has to make a new one, something quite difficult since he cannot reach the storage shelf. So, he tries using a broom to reach the storage shelf, but it knocks down other cups. It also causes the can of Yuletide Gae to dump into the

Coffee pot A coffeemaker, coffee maker or coffee machine is a cooking appliance used to brew coffee. While there are many different types of coffeemakers the two most common brewing principles use gravity or pressure to move hot water through coffee gr ...

and the can to fall onto his head and he accidentally bumps into the dispenser of Fun Nog, causing it to fall on him, spilling it all over him. Then, the Coffee pot is done making the cocoa and he gets up, puts the cocoa in a cup and takes it to Magee. But when she drinks it, it tastes awful and she asks if he could try no Decaf and Tiny sighs. All that is shown of Tiny is the top of his hat, but, when Wayne threatens to expose Magee and Tiny's relationship, we see it point straight up with alarm. *

Peter Jacobson Peter Jacobson (born March 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Dr. Chris Taub on the Fox medical drama series ''House''. He also starred on the USA Network science fiction drama ''Colony'' as former Proxy Snyde ...

as Waterkotte *

Kasha Kropinski Kasha Kropinski (born Katarzynka Kropiński 1991) is a South African actress and a classical ballerina. Personal life Kasha was born in South Africa, the daughter of Jacek Kropiński and Debbie Cochrane. Jacek is a filmmaker and Debbie is a for ...

as Miss Holly, Santa's Executive Assistant. * Lino DiSalvo as Gristletoe Joe

Production

''Prep and Landing'' was originally pitched by director Chris Williams as a short film for the newly re-opened shorts program at

. Liking the idea,

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, ...

(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 DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

special ''

Shrek the Halls ''Shrek the Halls'' is an American Christmas computer-animated comedy television special that premiered on the American television network ABC on November 28, 2007. The thirty minute Christmas special was co-written and directed by Gary Trousdal ...

'', 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 ''How to Hook Up Your Home Theater'' is a 2007 American animation, animated comedy film, comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, directed by Kevin Deters, and co-directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton. It was the first theatrica ...

'') control.

Release

The original premiere date was scheduled for December 1; however, a speech at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

on his

Afghan war War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

strategy by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

delayed the special's debut one week to December 8, 2009. The special was released on DVD on November 22, 2011, along with the short films ''Tiny's BIG Adventure'' and '' Operation: Secret Santa''. 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''.

Hidden gags

''Prep & Landing'' includes a number of references and

in-joke An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...

s left by the animators. Many pay homage to other Christmas specials and traditions. For example, Magee's office has the Christmas tree from ''

A Charlie Brown Christmas ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' is a 1965 animated television special. It is the first TV special based on the comic strip ''Peanuts'', by Charles M. Schulz. Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Bill Melendez, the program made its debut on C ...

''. Magee's coffee mug from Dr. H Dentistry is a nod to Hermey the Elf from the claymation Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. When Wayne prepares to enter Santa's office, Miss Holly is typing the lyrics to "

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed th ...

". The clear to launch acknowledgement given by the flight controllers during the pre-launch check is "Dash away", and Magee's final clearance is "Dash away all" from the poem ''

A Visit from St. Nicholas ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...

'' ("Dash away, dash away, dash away all"). Timmy Terwelp himself is named in honor of Tiny Tim, a character from

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' classic ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

''. Others are related to Disney itself. ''

Mickey's Christmas Carol ''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' is a 1983 American Animation, animated family comedy-drama featurette directed and produced by Burny Mattinson. The cartoon is an adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol'', and stars Scrooge ...

'' is shown on the television of Lanny and Wayne's assigned house. The latitude and longitude given for Timmy's house (N 34' 9' 20" / W 118' 19' 23") are of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's world headquarters in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

. A

license plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate ( Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificati ...

with the characters "12501 WED" is a reference to the birth date of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

. The

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

shown in the prologue getting dusted to sleep was a recolored version of the titular character of the 2008 film '' Bolt'', which was completing production as ''Prep & Landing'' was being made. Timmy's night-light features

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled f ...

in a pose from the poster for the theatrical short ''

''. Lastly, some of the references were inspired by the show's co-director, Kevin Deters. During a scene in which Wayne is "being naughty" and making himself a drink, the milk carton Wayne is using has the logo of Deter's Dairy, a real-life dairy located in

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

, Kevin Deters' hometown. A toy giraffe in Timmy's bedroom is based on a similar toy belonging to one of Deters' children. When Santa shows Wayne what happened at Timmy's house Christmas morning, the home shown is based on Deters' boyhood home.

Ratings

^T - Tied for that slot in that week.

Awards

On December 1, 2009, prior to its first broadcast, ''Prep & Landing'' was nominated for nine

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally desi ...

s in seven categories by the

International Animated Film Association The International Animated Film Association (French: ''Association Internationale du Film d'Animation'', ASIFA) is an international non-profit organization founded in 1960 in Annecy, France, by the best known animation artists of the time such a ...

ASIFA-Hollywood ASIFA-Hollywood, an American non-profit organization in Los Angeles, California, United States, is a branch member of the "Association Internationale du Film d'Animation" or "ASIFA" (the International Animated Film Association). Its purpose is to ...

. It won three awards, including the award for Best Animated Television Production. 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. On August 21, 2010, ''Prep & Landing'' was honored with four

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s including the

Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series. In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which ...

category.

Comic

An 8-page comic story, titled ''Prep & Landing: Mansion Impossible'', was released on November 16, 2011, in

Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...

#19, Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #20, and

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man ''Marvel Adventures Spider-Man'' (preceded by ''Marvel Age Spider-Man'') is a Marvel Comics comic book series intended for all ages, especially children, that ran for 61 issues from May 2005 through May 2010. The ''Marvel Age Spider-Man'' stories ...

#20. The comic tells a story of Wayne and Lanny preparing

Avengers Mansion Avengers Mansion is a fictional building appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It has traditionally been the base of the Avengers. The enormous, city block-sized building is located at 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York ...

for a visit from Santa. It was written by Kevin Deters, and illustrated by Joe Mateo.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prep And Landing Christmas television specials 2009 computer-animated films 2000s Disney animated short films 2009 television specials 2000s animated television specials American Broadcasting Company television specials 2000s American television specials Disney television specials American Christmas films 2009 films 2010s Christmas films 2009 short films Films scored by Michael Giacchino Emmy Award-winning programs American Christmas television specials Santa Claus in television Elves in popular culture Films directed by Kevin Deters 2010s American films