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Nearly a year after I first heard about it ABC has finally aired Disney’s newest television Christmas special: “Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice.” If you recall, the “Prep & Landing” universe introduces Santa’s elite special ops group of elves, the guys and gals in charge of preparing houses for Santa’s arrival, so that his gift-leaving goes smoothly.
Using James Bond-style technology, holiday-themed code names, and sleek spy moves, these elves are the cream of the crop. In the follow up to 2009’s special, “Naughty vs. Nice” introduces another aspect of the Christmas corps: the Cole Elf Brigade.
You see, Prep & Landing squads only visit the homes of the kids on the nice list. Naughty kids get a visit from the Cole Elf Brigade. These rough-and-tough duos check the homes for signs of naughty and upload them back to the central server in the North Pole. Once naughtiness has been confirmed (the list checked twice, natch), the Brigade’s authorized to leave a lump of coal, wrapped in a ribbon that’s inscribed, “try harder next year,” in the naughty kid’s stocking.
Only this year disaster has struck. A naughty kid managed to secure a Fruitcake device (the main tool of the Coal Elf Brigade), and is using it to hack the North Pole’s servers. Our heroes from last time, Wayne and Lanny, are dispatched to retrieve the Fruitcake. They’re joined by a top Naughty Kid Field Expert, Coal Elf Brigade member Noel. Who also happens to be Wayne’s little brother.
My main (and only) complaint about the prior “Prep & Landing” was that its overall message was too consumerist: a child might not receive his present from Santa one year, and that would supposedly ruin both this and all of his Christmases to come. “Naughty vs. Nice” still uses the threat of children not receiving their presents as a source of some quick plot tension, but it’s a brief aside. In fact, the people behind Disney’s newest special have finally gotten the holiday message right; as Santa says at the end, the greatest gift every year is family.
Wayne has a complex relationship with his brother. Noel is younger, but in Wayne’s eyes he’s always managed to upstage his older sibling. Wayne isn’t happy about having to work with Noel, especially once it becomes clear that Noel’s the true expert on this particular mission.
Things become more complicated still once we meet the naughty culprit behind the North Pole mainframe hacking. She is a computer whiz in a Disney Princess t-shirt, managing to break multiple stereotypes in one fell swoop. She’s also just a despairing kid who feels like she’s gotten blamed for a lot of trouble caused, inadvertently, by her infant brother. How do I love complex villains? Let me count the ways.
To call Grace (the supposedly naughty kid) a villain is pushing it a bit, but for the majority of the special she’s the main source of conflict. Once we learn more about the characters, the focus transfers to the resentment that can sometimes build between siblings, and how the holidays bring us together and teach us to forgive and love each other.
“Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice” has all of the fun innovation of its predecessor, while shifting the seasonal spirit to a much better message. For those, like me, who missed the original broadcast, it’s currently streaming for free on ABC’s website.
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*(This image by kcdsTM is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
