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That is how Magee (Sarah Chalke), North Pole Christmas Eve Command Center Coordinator, describes the work of Santa Claus' elves; and part of that "perfect execution" falls on the hands of the Prep & Landing team, the elite group whose job is to prepare millions of homes for the arrival of Santa Claus.
This short film follows Wayne (Dave Foley), one of the elves from Prep & Landing who after 227 years feels like "the thrill is gone". Disappointed and bitter for being passed over for a promotion, Wayne now has to deal with a new partner, Lanny (Derek Richardson), a hyper-excited and lively rookie elf he has to train.
From a technical perspective, the craft here was pretty solid. The animation was pretty good, especially considering it was made more than 10 years ago. I honestly thought it was more recent. The voice talent also does a fine job, with probably Chalke being the one I enjoyed listening to the most.
However, the main enjoyment of Prep & Landing for me comes from watching the creative and inventive ways that co-directors and co-writers Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton juxtapose the whole Santa Claus/Christmas elves "magic work" into a corporate-like organization, and I felt that they mostly succeed. There is a decent balance of slapstick and wit in all of it, and I had fun with it.
This is yet another short I put to the kids a couple of nights ago, and I ended up enjoying probably as much as them. Fun, creative, and simple, which is more than I could ask of an animated short I just stumbled on Disney+.
Grade:
PREP & LANDING
(2009, Deters & Wermers)
A Christmas/Holiday film
(2009, Deters & Wermers)
A Christmas/Holiday film
"This is it, people! 364 days of planning, one night of perfect execution."
That is how Magee (Sarah Chalke), North Pole Christmas Eve Command Center Coordinator, describes the work of Santa Claus' elves; and part of that "perfect execution" falls on the hands of the Prep & Landing team, the elite group whose job is to prepare millions of homes for the arrival of Santa Claus.
This short film follows Wayne (Dave Foley), one of the elves from Prep & Landing who after 227 years feels like "the thrill is gone". Disappointed and bitter for being passed over for a promotion, Wayne now has to deal with a new partner, Lanny (Derek Richardson), a hyper-excited and lively rookie elf he has to train.
From a technical perspective, the craft here was pretty solid. The animation was pretty good, especially considering it was made more than 10 years ago. I honestly thought it was more recent. The voice talent also does a fine job, with probably Chalke being the one I enjoyed listening to the most.
However, the main enjoyment of Prep & Landing for me comes from watching the creative and inventive ways that co-directors and co-writers Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton juxtapose the whole Santa Claus/Christmas elves "magic work" into a corporate-like organization, and I felt that they mostly succeed. There is a decent balance of slapstick and wit in all of it, and I had fun with it.
This is yet another short I put to the kids a couple of nights ago, and I ended up enjoying probably as much as them. Fun, creative, and simple, which is more than I could ask of an animated short I just stumbled on Disney+.
Grade: