Prep & Landing

Prep and Landing (also known as Disney's 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 United States President Barack Obama postponed the debut for a week. The special will also air on ABC Family December 18th, 2009 as part of their annual 25 Days of Christmas programming block at 7 PM ET/PT.

Story
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 a disgruntled elf named Wayne (Dave Foley), who after working tirelessly on Prep & Landing for 227 years, doesn't receive an expected promotion to be the Director of Naughty List Intelligence. 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", passing by 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 the Nice List Intelligence.

Trivia

 * In one scene, Mickey's Christmas Carol is shown on the television of Lanny and Wayne's assigned house.
 * The premiere showing was pre-empted in Dallas, Texas when WFAA-TV opted to air a local Christmas special instead of this program and A charlie Brown Christmas. Station management apologized for the error after heavy promotion by ABC.
 * Santa's sleigh is code named "Rosebud" after the sled of Orson Wells' titular character in Citizen Kane.

Voice Cast

 * Wayne - Dave Foley
 * Lanny - Derek Richatrdson
 * Magee - Sarah Chalke
 * Miss Holly - Kasha Krpoinski
 * Timmy Terwelp - Mason Vale Cotton
 * Dancer - Peter DeLuise
 * The Big Guy (Santa) - W. Morgan Sheppard
 * Dasher - Nathan Greno

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.