Prep & Landing (2009) Reviews

• Nailed it!

  plusdb-603-9541972009-12-08

  It captured the essence of a great Christmas special without finding the pitfalls of so many other recent Christmas movies. It is contains a great deal of technological references with analogs of NASA and naval terminology and procedures, but it doesn't take the magic out of Santa. There is no attempt at explaining Santa's abilities with special engines or "Clausometers," it shows the realistic and humorous backline of Santa's huge operation. Like any great Christmas movie it has a perfectly Christmas-spirit ending that makes you feel more like a perfect you. Hilarious,touching, exciting, and it has a ton of historical, pop-cultural, and technological references. We are watching it a second time! We loved it!

• Best Christmas cartoon ever!!!

  shguerette2010-07-29

  I love watching Christmas cartoons, but no one has given us anything new in years. This is a gem. It is brilliant, charming, comedic, and heartwarming. Not to mention a terrific cast for the voices. For those who complain about the military aspect, you are reading too much into this, the cartoon is simply showing that it takes a lot to put the Christmas experience together, it's a big operation which needs some kind of structure to pull this miracle off all in one night. I truly loved every little bit of this story, the comedy was smart and works for adults as well as children. Best part I have to say is the very end with Lanny and his fruit cake, his reaction(expression) - PRICELESS!!! This should become the new standard of classics. Hope we'll see this one every year and more of these characters in the future.

• One of the Best Christmas Shorts Out There

  Michael_Elliott2011-12-21

  Prep & Landing (2009) **** (out of 4) I hate using the word "classic" on recent films as I believe they need time to grow into that but there's no question that this here is one of the best animated shorts I've seen in a very long time. An elf named Wayne (voice of Dave Foley) is expecting a promotion from Santa but when he's passed over he decides to take his job less seriously the next year, which ends up possibly causing a young boy his Christmas presents. The entire set-up of this short film is without question one of the most imaginative and entertaining that I've seen. The "prep and landing" refers to the elves job as they have to prep the house to make sure everyone is asleep and make sure that Santa's landing will allow him to get into the house without being noticed. This was such a nice and catchy way to tell the Santa legend that I can't help but think people will get a big kick out of it. Of course, it doesn't hurt that this Disney short features some terrific animation and most importantly it has some very memorable characters. Foley really does a fine job bringing Wayne to life and I thought he was terrific in the voice role and really adds a lot to the film. At just over twenty-minutes there's not a slow second to be found here and instead there are just good laughs and a terrific time.

• Disney's "Prep & Landing" is a nice addition to the already bountiful holiday entertainments out there

  tavm2010-12-25

  After recording this on DVR last year, I finally got to watch Prep & Landing today this Christmas Day. After a little more than 200 years of helping Santa make smooth landings on houses' roofs, one of the elves gets a little sour, attitude-wise, when he doesn't get a promotion and almost alienates his new partner. Then, a creature gets discovered stirring and there's a blizzard and...oh, just watch the animated special if you want to know what happens and just enjoy the hip holiday references that get sprinkled throughout that help make "Prep & Landing" such an enjoyable treat to watch thanks to all responsible for this Disney production.

• A Christmas special worthy of the Holiday!

  cardel12009-12-27

  I went into this thinking I would end up watching another boring animated Christmas special but I was surprised. I actually enjoyed it and while I can see why one reviewer thought it was militarized, it's still better than a lot of the animated specials I've seen in the past few years. Yes, we should leave the military out of it and stop prepping the kids for war! There were no angry wolves trying to eat the characters and the humour was not aimed at the adults as is so often the case in animated features these days. I guess having John Lasseter as executive producer helps. I grew up on Frosty, Rudolph, The Grinch and now that I think of it, they also had some darker elements to them but they are and continue to be classics. I don't know if this one will be a classic but the animation is top notch and kids are not fooled by cheap imitations these days.