Photo by Jeff Lange

“I’ve been checking your site for days now, waiting for the D23 EXPO coverage to begin. When are you going to start telling us what this show was like, what your favorite parts were?”

Favorite parts? There’s a line out of Ben Brantley‘s May 2001 review for “The Producers” that comes to mind here. “How do you single out highlights in a bonfire?”

Let’s cut to the chase here, shall we? The Walt Disney Company – long noted for its ability to entertain & inform – put on the ultimate dog-and-pony show with its D23 EXPO this past weekend. Wherever you went in the Anaheim Convention Center, there were displays that dazzled. Exhibits loaded with dozens of pieces of concept art that no one outside of 1401 Flower Street had ever seen before.

There were panels & presentations that gave you the skinny on upcoming Disney films & ABC TV shows. There were booths on the show floor that were handing out free samples of all manner of Disney-related product. And everywhere you went, there were Cast Members standing about. Who – when you asked “what’s the story behind this new ride/ show / attraction” – would immediately spill their guts.

Photo by Angela Ragno

I gotta tell you, folks. I’ve been writing about The Walt Disney Company for more than 25 years now. Which means that – previously – I’ve had to pull entire articles out of that single paragraph description and/or that one piece of concept art that the Mouse’s publicity department would typically, almost begrudgingly release to the press whenever Parks & Resorts was announcing a new project.

So to suddenly be faced with a situation like this, where all of this highly detailed information comes flooding out of The Walt Disney Company … Well, to quote a line from “A Christmas Carol” (which also got hyped big-time at the D23 EXPO), "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.”

Now I know that you all want to hear about the big stuff. The Enchanted Forest project for WDW’s Magic Kingdom (which will effectively double the size of that theme park’s Fantasyland section), “The Princess and the Frog” (If you attended all of the panels & presentations that touched on Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation, you actually got to see about half of this film. Plus hear 5 out the 7 musical numbers that Randy Newman wrote for this new John Musker / Ron Clements production), “Cars 2” (Come back tomorrow for that story) and “Toy Story 3” (Look for a full write-up on that highly anticipated CG sequel next Tuesday).

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But – for now – I’d like to start small. Talk about this 22-minute-long holiday special that got a huge reaction from audience members in The Walt Disney Studios Theater this past Saturday. A brand-new Walt Disney Animation Studios production that is sure to become a Christmas classic, “Prep & Landing.”

“Prep & Landing” has kind of an unusual pedigree. It was originally this story idea that “Bolt” director Chris Williams came up with for Walt Disney Animation Studios’ new shorts program. But John Lasseter …

Well, as it turns out, the chief creative officer of both Pixar Animation Studios & WDAS is kind of a nut when it comes to Christmas. He just loves the holiday season. In particular those animated Christmas specials from the 1960s. Shows like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

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In fact, if John had had his way back in the early 1990s, Pixar’s first project of size wouldn’t have been “Toy Story.” But – rather – “A Tin Toy Christmas.” Back then, Lasseter thought that a half-hour-long holiday special would be the logical stepping stone between all of those shorts & TV commercials Pixar was churning out and that feature-length film that this Studio’s employees someday dreamed of doing.

Unfortunately for all you Christmas special fans out there, Jeffrey Katzenberg (i.e the then-head of production at Walt Disney Studios) disagreed with John’s plan. He didn’t want to wait for Pixar to finish that holiday special before they then got around to producing that Studio’s first-ever feature-length computer animation project. Jeffery wanted a full-length CG feature ASAP. Which is why the team at Pixar took the storyline that had already been mapped for “A Tin Toy Christmas” and used that as their jumping-off point for “Toy Story.”

But John never entirely gave up on the idea of someday producing a holiday special. So when “Prep & Landing” came along with all of these great characters that Chris Williams had cooked up (i.e. this previously unknown group of elite elves who sneak into your home ahead of Santa to make sure that all is in readiness for the Big Guy’s arrival) … Lasseter immediately saw the potential in this proposed production. More importantly, that  – with a little additional development, some story extension – this short had the makings of a really fun holiday special.

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So John walked out of the Sorcerer Mickey building and went next door to ABC corporate headquarters. Where he then supposedly pitched Stephen McPherson’s staff on the idea of Walt Disney Animation Studios producing a brand-new holiday special for the network.

I’m told that this was a very short meeting. That ABC officials pretty much leaped at the chance to add a Lasseter-led Christmas show to that network’s already impressive line-up of holiday specials.

Unfortunately, Chris Williams was far too busy last year co-directing “Bolt” to also helm a new holiday special. Which is why John turned “Prep & Landing” over to Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton. And these two then spent the next several months expanding on the characters & situations that Chris had created. This covert group of Santa’s Helpers who use candy cane-shaped grappling hooks and wield snowflake-shaped cutting tools.

Kevin & Stevie wondered: What sort of character would be drawn to a job like this? Which is how they came up with Wayne. Who’s been part of Santa’s prep & landing team for 227 years now. Wayne’s really good at his job. But after all those years of setting up landing strips on snow-covered roofs and then waving the Big Guy in using Christmas tree-shaped flashlights, he’s now ready to tackle a new assignment.

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Which is why Wayne applies to become Director of Naughty List Intelligence. A job that this North Pole veteran thought that he had in the bag … Only to then learn that Wayne had been passed over. Worse yet, Santa has awarded this job to Wayne’s longtime prep & landing partner.

Wayne tries to put on a brave face. But losing out on that promotion really saps his holiday spirit. Which is why he isn’t exactly enthusiastic about showing the ropes to his newest partner, Lanny. Who’s fresh out of Kringle Academy and chock full of Christmas spirit.

That’s a promising premise, don’t you think? Well. Kevin, Stevie & the “Prep & Landing” production team deliver on that promise. In spades. This new 22-minute-long holiday special is loaded with humor & heart. It has something for every member of the family (Including all you film fans out there. Who are sure to appreciate that the Elves’ code name for Santa’s sleigh is Rosebud).

Trust me, if you saw that two-minute-long teaser that Lasseter screened at Comic-Con back in July, the full-length version of “Prep & Landing” more than delivers on the promise shown with that material. From the way the Elves rev up the “engines” for Santa’s sleigh, to Dasher’s tougher-than-tough brother, Thrasher to … Well, the dilemma that Magee (i.e. the North Pole Christmas Eve Command Center Coordinator . NPCECCC for short) faces this holiday season (“I’m supposed to be Santa’s Secret Santa? How exactly does that work?”) … “Prep & Landing” is laugh-out-loud funny.

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Mind you, this holiday special does have more than its share of thrills. As Codename Little Drummer Boy and Codename Tree Skirt (i.e. Wayne& Lanny) jury-rig a landing strip on top of Timmy Terwhelp’s house. Borrowing the next door neighbor’s Christmas decorations (which include one of those giant inflatable Santa snowglobes which have become so popular in the past few years) in an effort to safely bring the Big Guy and his sleigh-full of toys in for a safe landing during a blinding snowstorm.

Will Wayne & Lanny succeed? Or will Timmy’s “best Christmas ever” go all figgy pudding? To get an answer to those questions, you’re going to have to watch “Prep & landing” this holiday season. Which ABC executives think so highly of that they’re actually pairing this new Walt Disney Animation Studios production with the mother of all animated holiday specials, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

What’s that you say? You want to know more about “Prep & Landing” ? Sorry, but to reveal any more (The coal elves!) would spoil (Miss Holly!) this great (The fruitcake!) Christmas surprise.

So – borrowing one of Wayne’s better lines from this great holiday special – I’ll just say “Does the phrase ‘Silent Night’ mean anything to you?” … And then move on to my next D23 EXPO-related article.

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