Disney Veteran Kevin Deters Revisits ‘Prep & Landing’ in a Charming New Holiday Special

Back in 2009, a couple of charming elves named Wayne and Magee (voiced by Dave Foley and Sarah Chalke) made their debut in an Emmy-winning Disney holiday special named Prep & Landing. Based on an idea by Chris Williams, the half-hour special was developed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton. This year, the elves are back for their third animated gift-delivery special, which premieres on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 27) on Disney Channel, followed by a debut on Disney+ the next day. The half hour-long Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol, is exec produced by Deters and Wermers-Skelton, with Colleen Evanston co-producing and story editing, Melissa Kurtz producing, Shane Zalvin as director and Hilary Helding as writer.

In the new comedy-adventure, the high-tech team of elves from Santa’s elite unit named Prep and Landing find themselves in big trouble with Santa when their holiday missions go awry. The cast includes Foley, Chalke, Manny Jacinto, Derek Richardson, Debi Derryberry, Danny Pudi and Dulce Sloan. To find out more about this fun new animated special, we caught up with three-time Emmy winner Kevin Deters, who wrote and directed all the other Prep & Landing specials as well as such gems as The Ballad of Nessie, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.

Kevin Deters: Thanks! It’s pretty thrilling to tell new adventures with the characters we love so much! Stevie and I were working at Disney Television Animation after many years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where we made the original specials. Meredith Roberts, who runs DTVA, approached us about developing a new Prep & Landing story for Disney+. We were excited to assemble a great team of collaborators at DTVA to create The Snowball Protocol.

How did it feel to be back with these popular characters after 14 years?

Crafting this new story with our old friends Lanny, Wayne and Magee was really special. Stevie and I know these characters well and talked often over the years about what they might be up The experience was like putting on the most comfortable pair of your favorite old sweatpants and finding that thankfully they still fit nicely! Getting to work again with our actor pals Dave Foley (Wayne), Derek Richardson (Lanny), and Sarah Chalke (Magee) was a lot of fun. They all slipped right back into their characters as if no time passed.

What do you love particularly about most about The Snowball Protocol?

Beyond getting to revisit our characters (and introduce some new ones!) in our unique North Pole world, what I love most about The Snowball Protocol was the collaboration with our creative and production team, all of whom were new to Prep & Landing. Their fresh perspective and enthusiasm made the creation of this project even more rewarding than I was anticipating.

What were the biggest challenges in putting this new special together?

From day one, Stevie and I were insistent that this new special fit on the shelf with the original Prep & Landing specials we produced at Walt Disney Animation Studios. We worked hard to ensure the story warranted revisiting the characters and that the production values maintained visual consistency with our previous efforts. Obviously, 14 years had passed since the release of Naughty vs. Nice, with technological advances that our new special would benefit from, but we wanted the audience to be able to watch all the Prep & Landing stories as if they had all been produced one right after the other.

Where was the animation produced? How did new improvements in animation technology improved help your team out?

Development, story and editorial, art direction and preliminary design, as well as early layout were all done by our creative team at Disney Television Animation. The ICON Creative Studio crew handled asset building, layout, character animation, lighting and effects. Technology in the industry is always advancing, and our partner studio’s new rigging and compositing systems helped us match the high standards of the original specials’ production designs. Character interaction with elements like snow, sand, and water has always proven a real challenge in computer animation, but we happily found the advancements since the first special made those moments in The Snow Protocol even more convincing than in the originals.

You have some new cast members in this outing. What was appealing about these new members of the team?

Ever since we started working on the original Prep & Landing, Stevie and I talked about the many different characters that might exist in the world. We love the idea of expanding the cast with each new story, so we were thrilled to find opportunities to bring even more new faces to the screen. We had teased the existence of Renato, the holistic healer of Spa Navidad, way back in 2011, so it was a lot of fun to finally introduce him in the flesh.

Why do you think the Prep & Landing specials have been so popular throughout the years?

I am really grateful that Prep & Landing has maintained popularity and that we get to bring this new story to the fans. I believe part of its appeal lies in its sincerity and relatable characters. We have always worked very hard to warrant the audience’s time and investment in our stories. Working on a project that viewers of all ages can enjoy together with loved ones, especially at the holidays, is something I will never take for granted.

What is your take on the uncertain world of animation (AI, consolidations, etc.) in 2025 and beyond?

The animation history has a long history of peaks and valleys, but I remain optimistic that ultimately stories that truly resonate with audiences and stand the test of time are those told by strong creative teams collaborating and nurturing each other. The spark of creativity cannot be replicated by a machine. The human connection with fellow filmmakers has always been the most gratifying aspect of my animation career, and that will never change for me

What are the chances of seeing our popular elves in a movie in the future?

We have lots of different ideas for our characters, so you never know what may happen! Prep & Landing is a fun sandbox (or snowbank in this case) to play in, so if the audience demands more stories, then hopefully we will be lucky enough to produce them!

Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol premieres on Disney Channel on November 27, and arrives on Disney+ the next day.