Rating:  

Featuring the Voices of: Dave Foley, Derek Richardson, Morgan Sheppard, Sarah Chalke, Mason Vale Cotton, David DeLuise.
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Director: Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers
Rating: TV-G
Running Time: 22 Minutes
Release Date: December 8, 2009
Home Video Release Date: November 22, 2011
Box Office: $N/A
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Walt Disney Animation and Walt Disney Studios.

Written by: Stevie Wermers and Kevin Deters; Story by Chris Williams; Additional Story Material by Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson, and Reid Harrison.

Disney’s Prep & Landing first made its arrival in December 2009, when it debuted as an ABC network television special. The televised short was a throwback of sorts, as networks used to generate half-hour animated cartoon specials for the holidays on a more regular basis. The show generated great ratings in its initial airings and won an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production (the Annies are the Animation world’s equivalent to an Oscar). Now finally available on DVD, Disney’s Prep & Landing shares an oddly familiar premise with Sony Pictures’ Arthur Christmas which hit theaters the same week as …Prep And Landing comes to home video.

Both stories attempt to figure out how Santa Claus can pull off his incredible ability to deliver all of the presents to the nice boys and girls around the world in one night.  Arthur Christmas and Disney’s Prep & Landing hypothesize that an army of incredibly skilled and trained elves pull everything together for the Big Man with an intricate, militaristic-style operation, employing the latest in high-tech gear and equipment to pull everything off without a hitch.

Of course the fear is being caught and this happens in …Prep & Landing when Wayne (voice of Dave Foley), disgruntled after being passed over for a promotion as the Head of Naughty List Intelligence, is relegated back to elf duty for another Christmas with rookie Lanny (Derek Richardson). After serving in the same role for 227 years, Wayne decides he’s had enough and lets Lanny handle all the prep for the houses that Wayne and Lanny have been assigned to get ready for Santa’s arrival. Lanny is gung ho and eager but Wayne could care less and that carelessness leads to the elves being caught by a young boy who photographs and interacts with them. Naturally, panic ensues and with a debilitating snow storm and the boy’s house not being ready, Santa may have to cancel a delivery for the first time ever.

This is all fast-paced and easily digestible and quite an entertaining animated short film. Co-directors Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers balance things out well and Dave Foley is especially terrific in his voicing of Wayne. The replay factor is key with Prep & Landing, and I think my youngest has seen this special about 50,000 times, through our preserving it on the DVR the last two years and now watching it on repeat on DVD. She laughs and chuckles in all the right places and it remains at or near the top of her list when we are deciding on something to watch together as a family. In that regard, Disney’s Prep & Landing is quite rewarding and an easy recommendation as a new addition to your family’s annual holiday viewing routine.

Should I See It?

Easily watchable and something that the whole family can watch time and time again each holiday season.

For an animated special, the film is visually accomplished and looks cinematic. Thus, it feels significant, more so than a number of other recent Christmas specials stowed away on cable and one-time only showings on network television.

Proposes something alternate from the Santa Claus delivers everything by himself premise. The first in a recent line of Christmas films and specials that propose that Santa has millions of assistants helping and aid him every Christmas Eve night may cause you to have to alter the details you share with your children.