Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol
Official release poster
Genre	Animated Christmas special
Based on	Prep & Landing by Kevin Deters Stevie Wermers-Skelton Chris Williams
Screenplay by	Hilary Helding
Directed by	Shane Zalvin
Starring	Dave Foley Derek Richardson Sarah Chalke Manny Jacinto Dulcé Sloan Danny Pudi Christopher Swindle
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Kevin Deters Stevie Wermers-Skelton
Producers	Melissa Kurtz Carson Loveday Shea Wageman
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Disney Television Animation ICON Creative Studio[1]
Original release
Network	Disney Channel Disney+ Freeform ABC
Release	November 27, 2025 (2025-11-27)

Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol is an American animated television special, produced byDisney Television Animation, and directed by Shane Zalvin, from a screenplay by Hilary Heldin. It premiered on November 27, 2025, onDisney Channel, and the following day onDisney+. The special is the third 22-minute Christmas special, and the fifth short film in thePrep & Landing series, afterPrep & Landing,Tiny's Big Adventure,Operation: Secret Santa, andNaughty vs. Nice. It starsDave Foley,Derek Richardson,Sarah Chalke,Manny Jacinto,Dulcé Sloan,Danny Pudi, and Christopher Swindle.

ANorth Pole mission goes haywire and elf Wayne fears he's going to get in trouble with his boss,Santa Claus. This will serve as theframing device for aflashbackrevisiting multiple incidents in Wayne's career history.

• Dave Foley as Wayne, a world-weary, but dedicated elf and Lanny's partner.
• Derek Richardson as Lanny, Wayne's partner.
• Sarah Chalke as Magee, the ambitious command center coordinator, who is obsessed with eggnog lattes
• Manny Jacinto as Renato, the massage therapist and holistic healer at the North Pole
• Dulcé Sloan as Janice, a post office clerk at the North Pole
• Danny Pudi as Chef Geoff, the master chef at the Fruitcake Factory
• Christopher Swindle as 'The Big Guy'Santa Claus. Swindle replaces the lateW. Morgan Sheppard.

In a 2011 interview promoting the fourth entry in the series of Christmas specials,Naughty vs. Nice, creators Kevin Deters andStevie Wermers-Skelton stated that there were plans for a fifth entry in the series, but that they could not reveal any more about the project.^[2] The project ultimately never made it to broadcast, and the two were instead assigned to a different Christmas short,Olaf's Frozen Adventure, in 2016; by this point, the two spoke of the series in the past tense.^[3]

At theAnnecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2024, it was announced that the franchise was revived atDisney Television Animation with a new 22-minute special calledPrep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol, written by Hilary Heldin and directed by Shane Zalvin, while the original franchise creators would serve as executive producers.^[4][5][6] It was animated by Canadian animation studio ICON Creative Studio.^[1] By September 2025,Dave Foley was cast to reprise his role of Wayne, alongsideSarah Chalke as Magee andDerek Richardson as Lanny, while newcomers includeManny Jacinto as Renato,Dulcé Sloan as Janice,Danny Pudi as Chef Geoff, and Christopher Swindle asSanta Claus.^[7] Swindle replacesW. Morgan Sheppard, who voiced Santa Claus in the previous entries but died in 2019.^[8]

The special is set to be released on November 27, 2025 (Thanksgiving night) onDisney Channel, the first of the series to debut via that channel, and the following day onDisney+.^[9][7] The special will also bererun onABC on November 30,^[10][11] and onFreeform as part of the25 Days of Christmas.^[7]

• Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol atIMDb

• 2020s American television specials
• 2020s animated television specials
• 2020s English-language films
• 2025 films
• 2025 television specials
• American Broadcasting Company television specials
• Animated Christmas television specials
• Christmas television specials
• Disney+ original television specials
• Disney Channel original programming
• Disney television specials
• Elves in popular culture
• English-language Christmas films
• English-language short films
• Prep & Landing
• Santa Claus in film
• Thanksgiving television specials
• Works by Chris Williams
• Works by Kevin Deters
• Works by Stevie Wermers

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from May 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from May 2025
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