Prep & Landing

First airing back in 2009 on ABC, this animated special would be made by Disney after John Lasseter expressed interest in the story as a holiday special after the idea was originally intended as a short by Chris Williams to go with a new Disney animated film after the studio decided to bring that back. Well, it was shown in cinemas in front of Monsters Inc when it got re-released in 3D, so I guess Chris still got what he wanted in the end! Anyway, this would become a surprise success & spawned sequel shorts & specials (which I shall review in the following years) including another one planned for some time in the future! So can the military-esque elves surprise me, or will they be as annoying as the elves sans Bryony in Arthur Christmas? Let's find out!

Story: Now, I know everyone will be ringing alarm bells at me due to the similarities between this & the elves in Arthur Christmas (which I reviewed last year). But considering this was released before Arthur Christmas, I really can't complain because for what it is, it's pretty enjoyable! Sure, it's the generic buddy comedy where one's a grouch, the other's all chipper & naive, there's a huge problem caused by them & they have to fix it while becoming friends & the grouchy one realizing the error of his ways, but the way they execute it in this actually makes you forget that they're using that type of formula because the heart of the special is clearly in the right place! The factor that the humour can be pretty funny thanks to the banter between the main characters & the creative Christmas gadgets for the prep & landing missions and the characters in the special with their fun personalities also help. Another thing I want to add is I think the whole concept of the elves preparing everything before Santa arrives at each house is surprisingly creative & gives the special a chance to show many fun Disney Easter Eggs throughout! Sure, the plot may seem generic with the structure, but the execution along with the heart is really what makes this a joy to watch!

Believe it or not, that's Bolt recoloured!

Animation: Considering it was technically made by Disney around the time they were getting to grips with CGI, it's pretty good! It is an improvement over their first attempts like Chicken Little & Meet The Robinsons, so it's around the time Bolt was made where the texturing had greatly improved (this is no exception as the rendering on the fur of the reindeers & the snow all look really nice especially during the flying scenes)The backgrounds also look very creative & memorable (especially the HQ at the NPCEE, Santa's office & the Winter Wonderland Larry finds) & considering we see most of the things from the elve's perspectives in Timmy's house, it's pretty amazing to see how big it all really look for them! As for the character designs, it's honestly a pretty mixed bag since the elve's designs range from a bit too over the top with the caricatured looks (still better than Arthur Christmas' designs on the elves) With the character animation, it may be pretty cartoony, but it works for something like this due to the fast pace of the prep & landing scenes & they do have the opportunity to move in a realistic manner & the attention to detail on them is really nice to look at. If there is one thing I'd critique along with the designs, it'd be the rendering on the skin. It's not bad, it's just that it doesn't really look as defined as the other parts which look really really good! Other than those tiny nitpicks, the animation is still amazing to look at.

 

Characters: If I can be very honest, I was surprised with the characters in this! Wayne (voiced by Dave Foley) is a cynical elf after being in prep & landing for over 200 years, but once an accident he causes makes him realize the purpose of his job & the meaning of Christmas to every individual child (along with his new partner's optimism), he becomes a pretty likeable lead. Larry initially REALLY got on my nerves thanks to his naive nature, but later into the special, it shows that he does have a good heart in all of it & the way he & Wayne play off against each other as the naive & straight man type of characters makes him a bit more tolerable at the start. Magee (voiced by Sarah Chalke), is an elf that works in the NPCECC (North Pole Christmas Eve Commander Centre. Boy, that's a mouthful)& is pretty likeable & funny due to her driven, commanding & worrying personality along with the fact she is not a love interest for either of the main characters. Santa himself is also likeable as he's surpsingly benevolent by the end even if you'd expect him to fire Wayne after his antics almost ruining Christmas. Timmy is just the cliched kid really & is more of a plot device. And as for the reindeers Dasher & Dancer (including a cameo by Tangled & Bolt director Nathan Greno), they're pretty funny with the banter they're given along with Thrasher, Dasher's secret cousin. They're all really likeable & memorable for their personalities & the main character's development feels pretty believable, topped off with some brilliant voice acting from all the cast!

If I can be very honest, I went into this with very low expectations! But what I got out of it was a funny yet heartwarming story which is well executed, great animation & fun & memorable characters! I can understand why Disney have now been making more specials involving Wayne & Larry & I can't wait to watch them because it's clear this is now gonna be one of them specials I'll watch every Christmas!
Story: 9/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Overall: 9/10