Last year, Prep & Landing was given the prestigious slot at The Christmas Spot of Christmas Day. I try to reserve a really good special for the big day each year and Prep & Landing is one of the best. In fact, I have declared it the 9th best Christmas special of all-time. That’s no faint praise and I suppose that means it’s a good thing that Disney wasn’t content to make Lanny and Wayne, the Christmas Elves, one and done. The original special debuted in 2009 and hot on the heels of that was the short Operation: Secret Santa.

The first instance of Prep & Landing was produced as a half hour television special. It’s sequel was not. Coming in at a tidy 7 minutes, Operation: Secret Santa is more like a theatrical short than a television special. I don’t know why they took this approach. The sequel that’s actually a half hour special arrived in 2011 in Naughty vs Nice. Did they fast-track the shorter one to have something ready for 2010? Maybe, but a seven minute short still takes a lot of work and given the short window in which all of them were released (not to mention the other short, Tiny’s Big Adventure, which is even shorter than this one by a lot) it stands to reason that development was taking place concurrently. This special doesn’t require a lot of backgrounds or new assets and maybe Disney just figured they could combine it with one of their many other shorts of a similar length to fill out a half hour of television. Regardless, it was only an issue for one year as once Naughty vs Nice arrived in 2011 there was a reliable hour of television content for ABC pushing Operation: Secret Santa to physical media and digital.

In the first Prep & Landing, we were introduced to Wayne (Dave Foley) and new his partner Lanny (Derek Richardson). The two elves are part of the prep and landing team which is tasked with getting a house ready for Santa’s visit. Wayne was in a rut and not really feeling the job after 227 years, but by the end of the night he and Lanny basically save Christmas for one kid and it restores his faith in his job. In this short, the stakes are lower and there’s no real internal conflict. Wayne and Lanny are going to be put to a different task, but one that takes advantage of their skills. And the job is coming from an unlikely source.

The short begins with an image of a cozy fireplace at night in a very scenic home which is just used to display the title card. There’s no big intro or anything since this is a short one, or a “Stocking Stuffer,” as it’s branding would indicate. We’re then shown an exterior shot of Santa’s work shop at the North Pole while some text over the screen informs us that it’s December 21st like this is some episode of 24 or something (it was 2010). We soon find our leads, Lanny and Wayne, as they’re walking in a shadowy hallway and discussing a meeting through whispers. Lanny seems especially on edge, but both jump when Magee (Sarah Chalke) emerges from the shadows. She tersely informs them of their tardiness and quickly gets to the point. She is merely the facilitator of this meeting as it’s not with her, but someone else. Someone in a big sleigh, with a red coat, and white gloves.

Magee rings a little bell and the robed one returns with the same. As Wayne and Lanny begin the long walk to the chair, Magee lets Wayne know that if he doesn’t come back from this she’s claiming his snowmobile. This is some heavy stuff! The two elves approach nervously likely anticipating a face-to-face with the big boss, Santa Claus, but are surprised to see who their real contact is: Mrs. Claus. It would seem their trepidation was unwarranted, as Mrs. Claus (Betty White) quickly shows us that she’s a kind woman and not someone to be feared. She gives the boys some hot chocolate and goes into why she summoned them. She needs to call upon their special skills to retrieve an item for her, an item that’s being kept in Santa’s own personal office.

What do you do when Mrs. Claus requests a job of you? You do it, of course! Wayne and Lanny take the intel Mrs. Claus relayed and head out for Santa’s office. She let them know that he takes a nap everyday just before 3 o’clock so that’s their chance, but he only takes a very short one so the window is tight. As the two approach the chimney to Santa’s office, Lanny is clearly unnerved and unsure about this one. Wayne gives him a pep talk, the old stuff your worries in a hat bit (I thought it was a sack?) and the two begin their descent down the very long chimney. They go via cable with their night vision goggles on. At the bottom, they find a roaring fire which they quickly extinguish. Wayne can see that Santa is asleep at his desk and the two enter. Even though the room is very well lit, they still keep their goggles on. We get some nice espionage music from Michael Giacchino and the sequence is very reminiscent of the first special right down to Wayne using his gingerbread man device to note the lack of stirring creatures. The two start sneaking around and Lanny looks up at the clock which show it’s currently 2:45. The minute hand then jumps five minutes and the coocoo function engages!

Santa (W. Morgan Sheppard) jumps from his desk as alert as if he had never been sleeping. Immediately, Lanny and Wayne are discovered. He picks up a sheet of parchment which contains the worst punishment imaginable: The Naughty List. Their names are jotted down, they’ll be on it forever, and Wayne can only faint in response. Santa shoves a lump of coal in Lanny’s hands, then his pants fall down for added shame. We cut quickly to Lanny getting kicked out the door and into the snow where he’s forced to take shelter in an igloo. Freezing and clutching his knees, it would seem there’s nothing left for hm to do except wait for the icy hand of death to claim him. That’s right, Lanny is doomed. Or not, as he quickly snaps out of it and we find out he’s just having a minor panic attack at the base of Santa’s desk.

Wayne grabs his own head and sends Lanny a signal to resume putting his worries in his hat. Lanny just responds he thinks his hat is leaking. They move on and synchronize their watches to Santa’s clock. They have five minutes to pull this off. Wayne takes out the “doohicky” Mrs. Claus gave them which creates a 3D projection of a ceramic Christmas tree. There’s audio as well from the old gal informing them this is to be found on a shelf nearby. The elves locate it, but they have to lock it in position to advance further. Wayne is unsure of what to do, but he remarks he was never very good at trimming the tree which seems like a little motivational bait for Lanny to take. It works, as Lanny realizes that since it’s a tree it should be oriented so that the most festive side is facing out. He spins the tree parts into place and a soft click indicates that what he did was a success.

The tree lights up and on Santa’s desk, a button emerges. It’s red and glowing – what do you do with a red and glowing button? You press it! Wayne and Lanny climb up onto the desk and push the button. The desk rumbles and shakes and the two elves do their best to hide amongst the clutter in case Santa wakes up, but the look of concern on their face suggests they know they’re boned should that happen. The floor opens beneath the desk and the whole thing descends down into the basement, or rather, Santa’s secret work shop.

All fear of getting caught seems to melt away at the sight of the work shop. Some lights automatically flicker on and we can see some of Santa’s other wardrobe such as robes of green and a longer red. We hear the voice recording of Mrs. Claus in the ears of the elves explain the nature of this work shop, how it’s basically just a place for Santa to basically tinker and get some alone time. She also gets to try out some material as she warns the pair to watch out for a giant nutcracker. Naturally, Lanny bumps into it and Wayne has to help him keep it from falling over. Mrs. Claus goes on to explain it used to be in their foyer and she’d bump into it a lot suggesting it should have been called a hip-cracker. Her joke doesn’t get a response from Lanny or Wayne, better luck next time Mrs. C.

Mrs. Claus directs the boys to a pile of what she describes as “manly clutter.” The target, a small, ornate, box, is indeed amongst such clutter. It’s on top of a bunch of more conventional boxes with several more on top of it. Getting it out without making a sound is going to be like playing a game of Jenga, but apparently these elves are pretty good at Jenga. The two elves play Batman and fire off their grapnel guns into the ceiling. Then, both dangling by their belts, Wayne informs Lanny they’ll be using the Gift Exchange maneuver. Lanny seems enthusiastic as Wayne basically gives him a slap on the behind to get him swinging. As Lanny swings towards the clutter, he grabs a gift from the top. Wayne then swings in and pulls out the target. Lanny quickly swings in behind him and slots the box he grabbed into the spot vacated by the target. Piece of cake.

Or not. Unfortunately for Lanny, the force of shoving the replacement box into place caused the whole pile to shift slightly backwards. It contacts a switch which activates a toy train, the track for which is suspended from the ceiling. It’s pretty cool actually, but as Wayne congratulates Lanny on a task well done he’s struck by the train and knocked onto the top of it. Lanny snaps out of his momentary high and out from his wrist springs his mini saw. Normally, this is used for trimming a tree to accommodate presents under it, but now it’s used to slice the cable holding him from the ceiling. Lanny drops onto the track and chases after Wayne. Meanwhile, Wayne comes to after some momentary grogginess to see that the box they’re after is stuck in front of the train and is getting pushed down the tracks. A bend is coming up which is right in front of Santa’s desk. Wayne runs across the top of the train and jumps, too late. The box falls and Wayne soars through the air after it. He catches up to it, but a lot of good that did as he’s currently on a path that will see him land in Santa’s beard.

Lucky for Wayne, he’s got Lanny! Lanny jumps off the track after him, grabs Wayne, and fires off another grapnel. The two swing out of harm’s way and Santa’s beard stirs ever so slightly due to the rush of wind as they pass over him. They’re not quite out of harm’s way though, as they have to swing back. Lanny lets go of Wayne and the cable and they both tumble onto Santa’s desk in a somewhat sloppy manner. He still doesn’t wake, but with only 15 seconds left on their timer Lanny requests permission to panic. Wayne grants him that as he presses the button, but the desk is moving way too slow for them to have any hope of getting out of there undetected.

The desk reaches the top floor, but there’s only five seconds for the elves to go back up the chimney. As they run, Lanny announces they’re out of time. Wayne has one final trick up his sleeve though: a snowflake shuriken! These guys are armed with saw blades and shurikens? Seems a bit extreme for a couple of Christmas elves, but I’ll allow it. Wayne tosses the snowflake at the clock striking the second hand and knocking it back another five seconds. He catches the shuriken as well so this guy is pretty damn talented. The two quickly flee up the chimney and drop their little fire sparkle on the logs causing it to burst into flames. The clock hits three, and a little figurine pops out to ring the quietest of bells. Santa jolts from his slumber seemingly refreshed by his cat nap and none the wiser about what took place in his secret work shop that afternoon.

We cut quickly to Mrs. Claus opening the box the two elves retrieved as they look on. Inside is an old, worn, wooden, wheel. Mrs. Claus explains that this thing has been tucked away for ages, but she finally found the toy it goes to. We cut to December 25th, 09:00 hours, and a bunch of elves are watching Mrs. Claus give Santa his Christmas present. We can only see the elves while Santa and the Mrs. are shadows on the wall. Turns out, the toy is a little wooden duck. It was the first toy Santa built and he sounds pretty emotional upon receiving it from his wife. Lanny, with moist eyes, nudges Wayne and remarks, “Mission accomplished, partner.” Magee then leans in to say she really wanted that snowmobile as we iris out.

Operation: Secret Santa is a fun little Christmas cartoon. The production values are on par with the longer special that came before it, it’s just a lot tidier. It’s also a cartoon willing to let us just enjoy the Wayne and Lanny pairing. There’s no drama there, they’re happy to be working together, and they have a somewhat unusual task to perform. It makes sense though and is an extension of the original Prep & Landing which shined a light on how the job of Santa and his elves is a bit like a spy movie. This just leans full into that by having the Christmas Elves essentially steal something, rather than help to deliver a present. And if you want to portray the elves as sneaky, little, thieves, they need an altruistic task.

Enter Mrs. Claus and her wish to get something from her husband’s work shop without him knowing. We can poke holes in this, of course, like why didn’t she just do it herself when he’s out delivering presents? She is old so maybe she didn’t think she was physically capable of getting that box. And since she knew where the thing was, maybe it indicates that she’s tried. No matter, it’s a lot more fun to watch Lanny and Wayne swing and sneak about to accomplish the task. They get to demonstrate their skill for the camera and the fake out was pretty fun too. It all leads to a syrupy sweet ending, but an appropriate one. It’s not long enough for the viewer to get all that invested in the object the elves are after and the structure of the short also allows it to move very quickly. It’s faster than its 8 minute run time, but it works pretty well. It’s a shame we haven’t received more.

Operation: Secret Santa was a cute little short when it came out. Now, it’s a nice little palette cleanser if you’re watching all of the Prep & Landing specials in a single session. They’re a little weighty, dramatic, and there are some actual stakes in them. This one, by extension, is far more low stakes. There’s a bit of tension, but it becomes clear that nothing save for the clock can wake Santa. After the fake-out, it pretty much feels like clear sailing, and that’s okay. We don’t need every holiday special to put Christmas in crisis and it’s also nice that we get to just like and enjoy Wayne when the longer form specials are not so accommodating.

If you want to check out Operation: Secret Santa the easiest way to do so is via Disney+. The short has also been released on physical media a couple of times, once as part of a collection of other Disney shorts and also on the Prep & Landing Blu Ray which includes the rest. Disney+ has kind of made that release superfluous, but it is definitely worth buying if you want a physical back-up.