Ok, so I know we did Prep & Landing last year, and we already did Operation: Secret Santa this year, but I just had to complete the trilogy. Not to be a downer, but I don’t know if I’m going to do this next year so I need to make sure that I feel good about the list of Christmas specials I’ve covered here at The Nostalgia Spot. And Prep & Landing, being perhaps the best series of Christmas specials since the days of Rankin Bass, needs to get the full treatment. Well, all except for Tiny’s BIG Adventure. It’s not that the cartoon short starring the diminutive elf is bad, it’s just not essential. There’s a reason why it’s the only one not on Disney+.

Operation: Secret Santa felt like a little treat for fans of Prep & Landing when it landed in 2009, but Naughty vs. Nice is the true sequel to the original special. It’s maybe not the very next Christmas for our heroes Wayne (Dave Foley) and Lanny (Derek Richardson), but it is another Christmas that sees them sort of on the job. As was the case with Operation: Secret Santa, Lanny and Wayne won’t be asked to actually prep a house in this one. Instead, they’re tasked with saving Christmas from another threat, the dreaded jinglesmell1337! Yeah, it ups the stakes as sequels often do. In the first one, Wayne had to realize the value of his job and preserve Christmas for just one little boy. In this one, the villain threatens to take down the entire Santa Naughty and Nice list grid throwing the entire operation into pure chaos. The kind of chaos that not even Santa can solve quickly putting the entire holiday in jeopardy. Look what technology has done to Christmas!

Like the original, Naughty vs. Nice was essentially created to give the ABC network a Christmas special it could turn to year after year. And since it was the second half hour length cartoon in the series, it gave the network a solid hour of programming it would return to year in and year out. With the creation of Disney+, that network timeslot has probably lost some value, but it still aired this year back on December 10. Apologies for not getting to this one sooner in case you were hoping to go and watch it after this, but at least you still have streaming options.

This one begins like the previous one with a licensed Christmas song. This time it’s “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” as performed by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters over scenes of an idyllic Christmas town. We move into a home and the camera settles on a fireplace with stockings hung with care about it. Then the music cuts out as a puff of black smoke filles the area and out comes The Coal Brigade! We saw a brief glimpse of the Coal Elves in the first special, but they weren’t elaborated on. Not that any was really needed. They were dirty and covered in soot and one could surmise these guys were in charge of delivering coal to the bad kids.

As the elves emerge from the fireplace, one cocks his “gun” like a break-action shotgun, though it more resembles a gatling gun made out of roman candles. The other elf takes out his “fruitcake,” a little handheld device from which the elves communicate and document. They spy a drawing on the wall with crayons on the floor around it and the way the shot is framed it’s like they’re two crime scene investigators coming upon a corpse. Wayne’s voice fills our ears explaining the nature of these two as they spy other elements of naughty behavior including a broken lamp and a bad report card. They document everything and then send it back to HQ via a satellite in space. An elf there reviews the findings and confirms the naughty behavior. A supervisor elf then does the same to check it twice. A naughty rating is then relayed back to the elves via the fruitcake and they print out a ribbon that says “Try harder next year.” It’s affixed to a lump of coal and loaded into a gun which is then fired into one of the stockings.

As the elves make their way for the fireplace, they’re intercepted from behind by a masked figure. It’s clearly a child based on their stature sporting a “Not Storm Trooper” mask and towel for a robe. The child activates a toy, robotic, dog which comes running down the hallway at the elves. The elf with the gun unloads on the dog, but it does nothing since their ammo appears to match the sleep grenade we’ve seen the elves use and a robotic dog isn’t going to succumb to that. They scramble to get back up the chimney as the dog bites at them eventually escaping. However, our assailant pats the dog on the head and it opens its jaw to reveal the fruitcake! The child laughs in a distorted voice for it seems that was the goal all along.

We are taken to the North Pole and a message on the screen alerts us that it is December 22nd, the following year. Magee (Sarah Chalke) is in her office coordinating the lead-up to Christmas and giving Tiny her order for what I assume is eggnog. She grabs the phone to place a call to Mr. Thistleton (Chris Parnell), the elf we saw in the prior scene checking the list twice. He appears to be the head tech elf when it comes to the Naughty and Nice list and coordinating of presents. Magee requests he deliver some good news “baby,” and he responds by calling her “baby” too, but catches himself and immediately seems regretful about it. Hey man, Magee created the hostile work environment first by calling you baby so don’t feel bad about returning with the same.

Thistleton does, however, have some good news to relay. It’s looking like this year will produce a record number of names on The Nice List and as he explains we see old pal Timmy Twerlep on said list. He’s getting a football. We also get a glimpse at the assembly line for toy production, though it’s mostly gift wrapping. They have conveyor belts of stuff and tubes to suck up the finished product and deposit them in a massive sack already loaded onto Santa’s sleigh. Suddenly, an image in red flashes across the monitor of one of the elves. The image is unmistakably the child we saw in the opening scene, mask and all, and for a moment the assembly line shuts down. It then resumes operation and the elves mostly shrug it off, all except Thistleton. He has the image on every monitor in front of him seemingly preserved as he narrows his gaze and remarks that someone is being very naughty.

Smash cut to old pal Wayne who appears to be driving a snow mobile while saying he’s been very nice this year. It’s a demo for a new model of snow mobile called a Natalé and it would seem that Wayne intends to get himself a rather expensive Christmas present this year. As he disembarks the floor model, Lanny (Derek Richardson) enters the showroom with his arms full of gifts. Lanny has been out shopping for others while Wayne is shopping for himself. I’m sure there will be no comeuppance later for such selfish behavior. Lanny gets slammed in the automatic door and doesn’t appear to have the wherewithal to just step out of it as he asks Wayne if he wants to come trim the tree with his family. Wayne tells Lanny that this shiny new Natalé is all the family he needs. He even asks the sales elf if he can remove the passenger seat. I guess he no longer has the same girlfriend he had in the prior special.

Lanny’s fruitcake then flashes a dire sign: Cranberry Red. He holds it up to Wayne who springs into action ordering the sales elf not to sell the snow mobile as he’ll be right back. We cut to the pair on a gondola as we hear Magee apologizing for pulling them away from their holiday shopping spree. The gondola is basically a Christmas ornament and inside is like a mobile command center. Thistleton is appearing via hologram while Tiny drives. He informs the pair that someone has acquired a fruitcake conduct calculator and is attempting to hack the Naughty List, which they obviously cannot have. The person is known only by their online handle: jinglesmell1337. Lanny seems particularly taken aback by the image of the perp and their disgusting handle. Thistleton tries to humble brag following the disclosure of this information, but Magee ends transmission. Wayne then attempts to cut to the chase as he’s got this figured out: the big guy wants THE Prep & Landing elf to infiltrate the home of jinglesmell1337 and retrieve the stolen fruitcake. He announces that he will indeed undertake this mission, but Magee has some apparent bad news for him. She relays that the big guy does indeed want he and Lanny to get this item back, but also that he thinks they need the help of someone with expertise in the field of naughty children. In other words: a coal elf.

Magee drops the two off in the Coal District and slips in a quick apology towards Wayne before ordering Tiny to floor it. Lanny thinks working with a coal elf is going to be pretty tinsel while Wayne doesn’t see the point. We then head into a coal elf bar. A more rock n’ roll type of song about naughty children (“Naughty Naughty Children (Better Start Actin’ Nice)” by Grace Potter) is played against a backdrop of coal elves shooting pool, tossing axes, and riding a mechanical bull. Because they’re covered in soot, the animation team can get away with making the bar cloudy and smoke-filled like a bar occupied by a bunch of cigar-chomping miscreants. At the bar, Wayne notes that their so-called expert is fifteen minutes late as the bartender delivers their drinks: hot chocolate. Wayne receives a pretty standard sized mug with a single marshmallow while Lanny receives an oversized one with several marshmallows and even some candy canes. He says “Thank you, sir!” as the bartender slides a piece of paper his way. It says Carol and there’s a phone number. Lanny then feels embarrassed as he realizes he just called a woman “Sir” and we finally pan to the bartender who is indeed a rather large, muscled, female elf. She seems unbothered by the slip-up and gives the elf a wink and moves along leaving Lanny to feel rather embarrassed. I say go for it, man.

Wayne then looks to his left and sees an old coal elf (the credits would seem to suggest that this is Crumbles, voiced by Phil LaMarr) reading a newspaper. The headline is “Who Will be Elf of the Year?” and Wayne has no inhibition about offering up to the fella that he will be named Elf of the Year. The old guy puts down the paper and appears transfixed as Wayne confirms that he’s THE Prep & Landing guy. The elf has apparently heard of him, but mistakenly calls him Dwayne. He calls out to the other elves that Dwayne from preps and landing is in their presence and that he’s going to be Elf of the Year! Wayne basks in the attention modestly remarking how he’s here to save Christmas and all that while also remarking that their so-called expert is late.

He’s interrupted by the sound of a novelty car horn as we hear an engine being revved. A voice cries out “Jingle Bam!” as a snow mobile comes barging into the bar in a cloud of coal dust. A large, rowdy, coal elf with big sideburns emerges from the snow mobile firing off finger guns to the adoration of all in the bar. He quickly apologizes to Carol for the mess, who shrugs it off indicating that she’s unbothered by his entrance. By the bar, Wayne looks horrified while Lanny is excited as he suspects this is their expert. Wayne just says “Noel” as this elf explains how he just dropped some serious coin on a brand, new, Natalé – it’s a turbo! Lanny notes it’s a lot like the one Wayne was going to buy, but he just says “Noel” again with disbelief. The elf explains that the dealer had another buyer, but he was able to sweet talk him into letting him take it. He then announces that he’s here to save Christmas and repeats his “Jingle Bam!” catchphrase again. The old coal elf then calls attention to Dwayne since he said he was going to do the same. Noel takes one look at “Dwayne” and calls him by his real name, Wayne, but the old elf corrects him and adds “No one ever listens to me.” Noel then orders Wayne to come and dispense with some hugging, but when Wayne doesn’t move Noel tackles him and puts him in a headlock. Through a collapsing wind pipe, Wayne is able to croak out an explanation to Lanny: this is Noel, his little brother.

Lanny is understandably shocked to hear that Wayne has a brother as we next catch up with the trio at headquarters. Noel is in a good mood and happy to be finally teaming up with his big brother, who is in fact much smaller in stature than the coal elf, but Wayne does not seem to share in his brother’s enthusiasm. As they approach the hangar where Thrasher (Hayes MacArthur) resides, Wayne warns his brother that the secret reindeer can be pretty irritable and that it’s best he just doesn’t say anything. When he catches a glimpse of Thrasher, Noel’s face hardens. He marches over to him shouting out “Hey! Bambi! I told you if I ever saw you again I’d put your head on my wall!” Thrasher responds with a snort at him and a threat, but when Noel whips out a box of candy canes, the two erupt with laughter. It would seem they’re old friends making Noel one of the few creatures Thrasher actually likes. He does not feel the same way about Wayne.

As the crew heads for their target, Noel is teaching Lanny how to properly utter a “Jingle Bam!” of his own. He’s having some trouble, but Noel encourages him to keep at it. He then takes a seat by Wayne who is reading a brochure for snow mobiles since he needs to find a new one. Noel informs Lanny that he was Wayne’s original partner, though not in Prep & Landing. We see a flashback of Wayne and Noel playing superheroes as kids. Wayne was Captain Avalanche and Noel was his sidekick Snowball. The flashback is shown like an old 8mm film and it’s a nice effect as we see the two playing to Noel’s narration. He then brings up a toy associated with the product, the Commander Avalanche Super Sled, and how Wayne wanted it so bad, but that Peterson kid (Peterson was also the elf who got the promotion Wayne wanted in the first Prep & Landing) got it instead. Wayne was enjoying the flashback until Noel got to that part and he especially doesn’t like Noel bringing up how he cried like a baby when he didn’t get that toy. Noel sighs wistfully as he says “My big brother, the big baby.”

Wayne angrily hops off the bench and reminds everyone that they have a mission to do. He asks Thrasher over the intercom how soon until they hit the drop zone, but Thrasher just snaps back, “Do not question me, Wayne! I tell you when we’re over the drop zone!” He then kindly informs Noel that they’re over the drop zone, much to Wayne’s annoyance. He even tosses in some words of encouragement about saving Christmas to old Noel. Wayne then summons Lanny for an equipment check, but Noel interrupts him to say the only thing they need is his big, freakin’, gun. Lanny is impressed with the weapon as Noel chuckles about the two still using parachutes. He then saunters over to the exit, and with a “Jingle Bam!”, jumps out. Wayne angrily removes his hat which contains his parachute and hands it to Lanny as he follows his brother. The two head for land, but as Noel lands on his feet with relative ease, we see Wayne completely miss the roof. Crashing sounds and a car alarm are heard as Lanny comes into frame safely via his parachute.

It’s time to enter the belly of the beast, as Noel calls it. It must be he that extinguishes the flames of the fireplace for a large plume of smoke emerges before we see Noel and Lanny enter. Noel cautions Lanny that this is a dangerous mission and that one of them might die. He matter-of-factly states “Probably you,” which unnerves Lanny even more. Wayne then pops up between them stretching and cracking his back following that tremendous fall from Thrasher. He tells Noel to stop being dramatic and for the pair to follow his lead saying “Stealth is my middle name.” Lanny whispers to Noel “I thought it was Frances,” who nods in acknowledgement. Wayne then creeps over towards the tree and calls attention to an ornament on the floor. Standing beside it, he says that Noel would have stepped on it and blown their cover, but as he picks it up to put it back on the tree Noel cries out for him to stop!

That’s because the ornament is connected via string to an iPod dock. Yes, this is from 2011 when an iPod dock could be found in many living rooms across the country. It activates and we get another lively, licensed, Christmas song (“Nuttin’ for Christmas” performed by Plain White T’s) which is sure to alert the residents in this house that someone is lurking downstairs. A quick cut to a teddy bear placed on a staircase with a glowing red light suggests a camera is in place. We then cut quickly to jinglesmell1337 at their computer as further traps are unleashed. A dump truck full of ornaments pulls up beside the trio and unloads on them. Noel gives the order to run and to “Serpentine! Serpentine!” as toys from the hallway fire Nerf-style darts. They reach the stairs with Noel and Wayne seemingly unscathed, but poor Lanny is loaded with darts.

We cut back to jinglesmell1337 as they handle a video game controller. As the brothers reach the top of the stairs, they’re met by a purple, stuffed, bunny with a voice like Elmo. Hop With Me Bunny (Kevin Deters) is just a toy that hops in place and Wayne thinks he’s up to the task. He runs at the doll, but it drop kicks him back into Noel and Lanny. Noel announces that he’s got this, much to the annoyance of brother Wayne. He tackles the toy and puts it in a headlock. Wayne, ever defiant and determined to prove he’s as tough as his brother, tries to join in, but the rabbit kicks him again. Noel then pins it to the floor and with a mighty yell reaches into the beast’s chest to rip out its heart! I mean battery pack. The bar, gunplay, and now this apparent Mortal Kombat style fatality are all possible thanks to creative use of coal, sleep aids, and toys. Wholesome Disney is marketing violence to your kids, parents.

While this melee is taking place, Lanny decides to go for the fruit cake. We see him nervously darting and rolling towards the lair of jinglesmell1337. The kid is seen just sitting in front of their PC as Lanny removes the pin from a sleep grenade and nervously approaches. He spins the chair around and the head of the kid rolls off and to the floor. Lanny thinks he killed the naughty kid, and in his moment of panic basically forgets that he’s holding a live grenade. It goes off with a puff of sparkles in his face as Wayne and Noel come running down the hall. The bedroom door slams shut trapping Lanny inside as he tries to fight off the effects of the grenade. He rises to his feet as a figure approaches. He asks “Jingle Smell?” and the child emerges from the shadows. It’s a girl sporting a pink Disney Princess sweatshirt and a sour expression. Lanny can only look at her say, “but you’re so adorable!” before he passes out.

After an act break, we find Lanny stuck to the wall being held in place by adhesive give tags. We’re also properly introduced to Grace Goodwin aka jinglesmell1337. Grace (Emily Alyn Lind) wants the password to the fruitcake so she can take her name off the Naughty List, but Lanny isn’t going to be too cooperative. He’s also loopy from the sleep grenade which essentially means he’s drunk. He’s coherent enough to question why he would ever help a kid remove themself from the Naughty List which is when Grace reveals him: Gabriel. Gabriel is her little brother and he’s revealed by her opening a door to his room where he slumbers peacefully in his crib. A connecting door between two kid rooms is rather unusual, but it works for the reveal. Grace says that ever since he was born, she’s essentially been getting blamed for his naughty, toddler, behavior. She details how he destroyed her favorite plush and I guess we’re to assume he’s responsible for the writing on the wall, busted lamp, etc. I’m not sure that we can totally blame the poor grades on the little guy, but maybe that alone isn’t enough to land Grace on the dreaded Naughty List.

As Grace details her arguments towards Gabriel, Wayne and Noel can be seen lurking in the ductwork above. We also see some of Gabriel’s actions via a cutaway which includes a scene of Grace waiting to see Santa at a mall. A misbehaving Gabriel causes her mother to pull her away before she gets her turn and behind her is a clear reference to A Christmas Story of Ralphie waiting in-line to see Santa and that weird kid in the pilot gear is staring uncomfortably at him. Grace adds that no one notices her ever since her brother was born nearly two years ago (in case you were thinking he wasn’t the cause of her landing on the Naughty List the prior year) and she really needs Lanny’s help to get the password to allow her to access the fruitcake. Unfortunately, Lanny tells her that what he needs is a pizza! Dismayed she turns to her computer, but Lanny then suggests that maybe all she needs to do is say the magic word.

Grace giddily races to the computer and enters “Please” as the password and is instantly granted access to the fruitcake. She changes her entry on the Naughty List and does a celebratory dance in response. Noel, who has now moved under the bed amongst some stuffed animals, warns us that we don’t want to see what happens next as he basically cocks his gun while Wayne begins his descent from the ventilation – and gets his hat stuck in the grate. As the change is uploaded to the network, we see quick cuts of the satellite and Thistleton as things start beeping and a red image of Grace in costume appears on a screen. This is not good.

Noel decides to make his move as he army crawls across the floor. Unfortunately, he’s spotted by Lanny who calls out to him, “Noel! We’re getting pizza!” Grace then whirls around to see the elf, but Wayne intercepts Noel and yanks his gun from his hands. Declaring this is his mission, Wayne attempts to fire at Grace while Noel cries out a warning, and with good reason. Not only does Wayne miss, but the recoil of the gun sends him flying backwards where he lands in a tackle box full of makeup and has the lid shut on him. Noel then lunges for the fruitcake, but Grace does as well. They fight over it with one grabbing the fruitcake and the other the cable it’s connected to. It ends up getting sent soaring through the air where it smashes through a window to land down in the street. Grace may have been able to blame a lot of naughty stuff on her baby brother, but that broken window is pretty much all on her.

Noel springs into action as Wayne calls for him to stop. He tells his brother not to worry, he’ll get the fruitcake. He jumps out of the window and sees the device in the middle of the street. Unfortunately, a snowplow is heading right for it. Noel steals himself and makes a run for it deftly avoiding the plow and snatching up the fruitcake all in one motion. He then places a call to Magee to inform her mission accomplished, they have the fruitcake. She is, of course, delighted and even tells Noel he’s likely to win Elf of the Year for this! She’s interrupted by an emergency call from Thistleton and has to disconnect, but Noel is left feeling pretty good about himself.

An individual who is not feeling too good right now is Wayne who has followed his brother and is shown staring at his little brother from the sidewalk. When Noel announces to him that Magee said he’s likely to get Elf of the Year is when Wayne seems to feel totally deflated. He seems almost numb as he makes sarcastic quips as he slams his head into a nearby trash barrel causing a pile of snow to fall on him. Noel then finally asks his brother if he’s all right indicating that he’s been getting kind of a vibe from him so he’s not completely oblivious to his older brother’s hostility.

From beneath the pile of snow, we see Wayne’s eyes laser-focused on his brother. He shakes the snow off and, despite the obvious cold, he’s steaming like a tea kettle. He starts yelling at Noel and throwing snowballs at him about how his problem is, and has always been, Noel. He accuses him of showing him up all of the time as he chases after him. Noel, to this credit, doesn’t stand his ground even though he could probably wipe the floor with Wayne. He apologizes for “Dolores” and swears he never knew there was mistletoe there. Wayne is apparently still mad about this so-called Dolores, but also the mission, the turbo, and pretty much everything. Grace comes running outside to witness the last of Wayne’s volley. As Noel tries to appeal to him by saying how great it is they got to go on this special mission together, Wayne reveals that he not only didn’t want to have Noel along for this, but he also wishes he never had a brother!

That one cuts deep. Noel stops running and lets the snowballs strike him harmlessly as he stares up at his brother from the street as he’s perched on a car. He has a serious expression his face, one we haven’t seen on the jolly elf yet, and tells Wayne he knows he didn’t mean that as he finally fires a snowball in retaliation. The blast of snow knocks Wayne off the car and to the ground as Wayne tells his brother to tell him he didn’t mean what he said. Wayne says nothing as he dusts himself off and won’t even look at his brother his face still simmering with rage. Noel’s face softens to one of hurt as he details that he always looked up to Wayne and thought of him as a hero, until now. The writers even slip a joke into this otherwise weighty moment by having Noel mention that Wayne taught him how to write his name in the snow. I don’t think we needed that, let the moment be.

Wayne still doesn’t turn around as Noel produces a gift from behind his back. Where he was concealing it no one really knows. He tosses it at Wayne’s feet with a half-hearted “Merry Christmas.” The box opens and out falls the Captain Avalanche Super Sled. No wonder why Noel mentioned it during their transport, he needed to get his brother fired up to finally get one. Wayne picks it up with awe and looks it over. It’s just as awesome as he remembered it. Now, it’s Noel’s turn to turn his back on his brother as he gathers up his hat. Wayne says the sled is even better than he remembered and adds that Captain Avalanche was nothing without Snowball – never have been, never will be. Noel stares a dagger over his should to quip “You got that right,” seemingly expecting more. Wayne then apologizes and somewhat sheepishly says “Jingle Bam?” Noel turns around with a smile, returns the “Jingle Bam!,” and pulls Wayne in for a great, big, bearhug.

Grace has been watching the whole time and a look of relief crosses her face to see the brothers makeup. Behind her, Lanny has apparently broken free to stumble out the front door asking if the pizza is here yet. Grace’s parents must be very heavy sleepers. Wayne gets a jingle in his earpiece and answers with a “Hello, beautiful,” so these elves really need a crash course in workplace etiquette from HR. It’s Magee, naturally, and they have a crisis. She asks if Wayne is in possession of the fruitcake and he indicates that he is. Something is wrong though as they now have a glitch in the system that is placing every child in the world on the Naughty List! Thistleton indicates it’s an issue originating from the fruitcake, but he can’t seem to interface with it. That would be because the antenna is broken. Thistleton instructs Wayne that he needs to basically find a new antenna, but not just any antenna, the most powerful antenna he can source. The elves are dumbfounded when they hear this, but the still drunken Lanny happily points out a giant antenna on a nearby building. Perfect!

Grace, who understands this is all her fault and would like to make amends, begins rewiring the fruitcake so that it can accept the new antenna. As the crew races over to the building, we see Lanny is riding in Grace’s backpack. As she finishes what she’s doing, she tosses the device to Wayne and also apologizes for being so naughty. Wayne just encourages her to always be her brother’s hero while Lanny tries to insist that he’s coming with them, only to suddenly pass out. At headquarters, the Naughty List has consumed about 75% of the world’s children and it’s climbing. The implication here is that if it hits 100% there’s somehow no way to undo it because we need some real stakes here, people.

Wayne and Noel race up a tree outside the building and use a cable attached to the building like a zipline. Now they’re actually working together in a functional manner with Wayne using his silly, curled, elf shoes as the zipline handle and Noel grabbing onto his hands. When they reach the side of the building they’re met by a series of lighted snowflakes which have been mounted to the side of it. Noel notes it looks like the lair of Professor Permafrost prompting Wayne to toss him one of those candy cane grapnel launchers with a “Race you to the top, Snowball!” The two elves move with lightning speed up the obstacles like Spider-Man, but a new obstacle awaits them at the top.

When they reach a landing the pair is met by grating above them that they can’t simply scale. There’s also some high voltage warnings indicating that they might not want to go any further even if they could. Noel asks Wayne what they’re to do now, but Wayne has an idea: the Captain Avalanche Super Sled! With it’s suction cup grappling hook and zipline action, they can shoot it through the grating with the fruitcake attached! Wayne then wisely hands the sled to his brother noting that he’s the better shot. Problem is, Noel can’t get a clear view of the tower because of the grating and some flags. Wayne, with Magee chirping in his ear, has one final solution: holiday hug. He tackles his brother off the landing and activates his parachute. The parachute allows the pair to float above the grating clearing the way for Noel to fire the Super Sled at the antenna and activate the zipline feature to bring the fruitcake where it needs to be. Parachutes don’t really work that way, but maybe there was some giant fan below them that wasn’t shown?

With the fruitcake in position it’s able to sync with the computer at the North Pole. Almost instantly, the Naughty List comes down replaced with a record number of Nice List occupants. Maybe this even worked out for some kids who were supposed to be on the Naughty List? A celebration breaks out up at the North Pole and Magee is so overjoyed that she plants a wet one on Thistleton. This is a full blown HR crisis at this point. Wayne and Noel celebrate as well and a crisis would appear to be averted.

We’re then shown a clip of Christmas morning. Grace, who did not make the Naughty List, receives a brand new Miss Whiskers, her favorite toy her brother destroyed. She’s so happy that she even hugs the little guy and wishes him a merry Christmas. We’re shown this via Santa’s magic snow globe as the big guy is here to put a bow on this thing. The moral of this story is that family is everything. Wayne thanks Santa (W. Morgan Sheppard) for pairing them up with Noel adding it was the best Christmas present ever. Santa then notes the time, 4:30, and how they don’t want to be late.

And what don’t they want to be late for? Why, the Elf of the Year presentation! And wouldn’t you know, the award is being shared this year by both Wayne and Noel. Lanny and Magee are there to celebrate with them as the pair triumphantly hold up their award. The credits then enter with Crumbles, the old elf, looking at the newspaper about it still insisting that Wayne’s name is actually Dwayne. Carol is also present and she reprises the song from earlier seemingly revealing that she is the vocalist of this group? Good for her.

And that’s the end! A kid mistakenly placed on the Naughty List finds her way onto the Nice List while Wayne the elf learns to appreciate his family above things, glory, and so on. Noel gets celebrated as co-Elf of the Year and demonstrates he’s a very forgiving elf while Lanny is basically just along for the ride. Naughty vs. Nice has a lot of the elements that made the original Prep & Landing so much fun. We get sneaky, super specialized elves who have to overcome personal problems for the greater good. There’s a race against time and Christmas is in jeopardy, but it all works out in the end.

It’s just that Naughty vs. Nice is a bit messy compared with the first special. How is Santa’s Naughty and Nice system so bad that kids are getting blamed for the misdeeds of a baby sibling? That seems like quite a flaw in the system that would impact a lot of children, not just Grace. She also went about addressing her problem in a pretty naughty manner that I guess is just forgiven since she ends up helping Wayne and Noel solve the problem she created, in response to a problem caused by Santa, which was caused by her brother. It’s certainly a thing.

Where this special really doesn’t work as well for me as the original is with Wayne. In the first Prep & Landing, Wayne basically flirts with the Naughty List himself. He maintains some sympathy though in doing so because he feels overlooked and unappreciated. Again, a problem caused by the top of the North Pole hierarchy. What’s that big man do all year? In this one, Wayne is just plain hostile towards his loving, adoring, brother out of pure jealousy. Even before Noel enters the picture, Wayne can be seen downplaying the importance of family and overinflating his own ego with boasts of winning Elf of the Year and being THE Prep & Landing guy. He’s a total dick not just to Noel, but to Lanny who he completely dismisses. And as for Lanny, the special basically treats him the same. He’s basically sidelined in this one. Sure, he gets a couple of funny lines and basically gets to be drunk, but he should be pretty pissed with Wayne too and he gets nothing.

Basically what I’m saying is that Naughty vs. Nice has an unlikable protagonist. We went from moments of frustration with Wayne in the first special to outright detesting him here. He’s basically the villain and he gets off easy. He gets the present he’s always wanted, the award he coveted, and all he had to do was say “I’m sorry.” Noel would have been justified in refusing that apology and maybe he should have? Wayne should not have been rewarded with Elf of the Year. I think it would have been a much better arch for him if he was forced to humbly congratulate Noel for receiving the honor.

In spite of all of that, is Naughty vs. Nice worth a watch? Yes, it’s still entertaining, just a bit frustrating. I think it really needed one more pass by a script doctor or someone who had been separated from the pre-production process who would have recognized that Wayne was awful and needed refinement. It’s similar to the original Toy Story which had to do the same thing with the Woody character when it was realized that he was far too villainous initially and needed refinement. I can excuse the sidelining of Lanny because there’s only so much room in a 23 minute cartoon, but the Wayne character is a tough pill to swallow. There’s still a relatively fun story here and the action is well done. There’s humor, and Michael Giacchino’s score is as excellent as ever. It’s just not as enjoyable an experience as the original Prep & Landing.

If you would like to view this or the first one, Disney+ is the easiest way to do so. The specials are also likely being shown on Freeform if you have cable and may even still have an airing scheduled this late in the game. The special was also released on DVD and Blu Ray with the first one and isn’t terrible expensive should you wish to go that route. And if you love these characters then be on the lookout for a brand new Prep & Landing coming in 2025. I honestly thought the franchise was dead when Disney+ was launched without the promise of a new one, but I’m happy to see it’s going to continue. Hopefully, the next one let’s Lanny do something.