Prep & Landing
From Christmas Specials Wiki
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| Directed by: | Kevin Deters Stevie Wermers-Skelton |
| Written by: | Chris Williams Robert L. Baird Daniel Gerson |
| Release date: | December 8, 2009 |
| Running time: | 22 minutes |
| Characters: | Wayne Lanny Magee Timmy Terwelp Miss Holly Santa Claus |
| Available on: | |
Prep & Landing (officially known as Disney Prep & Landing; sometimes listed as Prep and Landing) is the name of a computer animated television special produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios that premiered on ABC on December 8, 2009 at 8:30 PM ET/PT, while in Canada, the special debuted on CTV December 10th. The original date was to have been December 1, however, a speech at the United States Military Academy by President of the United States Barack Obama postponed the debut for a week. The special also airs on ABC Family as part of their annual 25 Days of Christmas programming block.
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Background
Prep & Landing was originally pitched by director Chris Williams as a short film for the newly re-opened theatrical shorts program at WDAS. Liking the idea, John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation) considered it to work best as a television special and with ABC executives were 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.
Synopsis
SPOILER: Plot details or story follow.
The setting is a high-tech command center at the North Pole, where an elf named Magee (voiced by Sarah Chalke), the North Pole Christmas Eve Command Center Coordinator (NPCECCC for short), pairs Wayne (voiced by Dave Foley), who after working tirelessly on Prep & Landing for 287 years, doesn't receive an expected promotion to be the Director of Naughty List Intelligence as his partner, Peterson, won the job. Instead, Magee partners Wayne with Lanny (Derek Richardson), an idealistic rookie who has an undying enthusiasm for Christmas, to prepare the world for the annual trip of Santa Claus. However, they get more than they can bargain for when a young boy named Timmy Terwelp captures them in action, enabling Lanny to respark the spirit of Christmas in Wayne. Meanwhile, Miss Holly, Santa's assistant gives a briefing back at the North Pole on the trip, and Magee gets word of a storm over Section 7, where they are located and utters "Oh, frostbite" and calls out a code of "figgy pudding", canceling a visit by Santa (code named "the Big Guy") to Timmy's house, but Wayne decides to override Magee's call to pass by and visit the house. However, prep is lost when their tracking and landing device is lost in said snowstorm so they improvise from a display using an inflatable Santa snow globe, and save Santa's sleigh from disaster. In the end, Santa gives Wayne a snowglobe with a miniature version of Timmy's house, and they see him enjoying Christmas... and turns down a promotion to being in charge of Nice List Intelligence.
Spoilers end here.
Hidden Gags
- In one scene, Mickey's Christmas Carol is shown on the television of Lanny and Wayne's assigned house in tribute to John Lassater's first stint at Disney, and Timmy Terwelp's name is a tribute to Tiny Tim.
- Santa's sleigh is codenamed "Rosebud" after the sled of Orson Wells' titular character in Citizen Kane.
- The latitude and longitude of Timmy Terwelp's residence (N 34' 9' 20" / W 118' 19' 23") are in actuality that of The Walt Disney Company's world headquarters in Burbank, California, however, the map shows what is the Ohio Valley instead.
- Director Kevin Deters' hometown is Quincy, Illinois, home to Deter's Dairy. During a scene in which Wayne is "being naughty" and making himself a drink, the milk carton Wayne is using has the Deter's logo.
- Look closely for the Christmas Tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas in Magee's office.
- A station wagon with the license plate "12501 WED" is the birthdate of Walt Disney (December 5, 1901).
- The German Shepard who was 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.
- The image of Goofy used in Timmy Terwelp's bedroom came from the poster for How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre.
- The scene of Christmas Eve prep is all shot from an elf's point of view, which is why you never see Santa's face.
- The home of Timmy Terwelp seen in the snowglobe is actually based on co-director Kevin Deter's boyhood home, and a giraffe in Terwelp's bedroom represents a plaything that one of his children plays with.
- As Wayne prepares to enter Santa's office, Miss Holly is typing the lyrics to Jingle Bells.
Ratings
The premiere showing on ABC drew over 20 million viewers December 8, 2009. This ended the 35-year reign of Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as the number one Christmas Special according to ACNielsen.
Voice Cast
- Wayne - Dave Foley
- Lanny - Derek Richatrdson
- Magee - Sarah Chalke
- Timmy Terwelp - Mason Vale Cotton
- Miss Holly - Kasha Kropinski
- Coal Elf #1 - Adam Shapiro
- Dancer - Peter DeLuise
- The Big Guy (Santa) - W. Morgan Sheppard
- Dasher - Nathan Greno
- Thrasher - Hayes MacArthur
- Brian - Kevin Deters
- Gristletoe Joe (a/k/a "Nancy") - Lino DiSalvo
- Rev-Up Elf - Stevie Werners-Skelton
- Waterkotte - Peter Jacobson
Merchandise
A printed adaptation is available from Disney Press, and plush toys, pins and ornaments are available at Disney Stores in season. An expected DVD release will be in 2010.
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