New Prep & Landing Animated Short Coming This Holiday Season, All-New 30 Minute Special Announced for 2011

Walt Disney Animation Studios announces the characters from the popular holiday special "Prep & Landing" will return this season with an all new 7-Minute animated short, "Operation: Secret Santa," airing on ABC in December, with a new half-hour, holiday special entitled "Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice" announced for 2011.

In "Operation Secret Santa" Mrs. Claus, voiced by Betty White, and Magee, voiced by Sarah Chalke, enlist Wayne voiced by Dave Foley, and Lanny voiced by Derek Richardson on a secret mission to retrieve a mysterious item hidden deep within the office of Santa Claus! Should they fail their mission and be discovered by Santa, voiced by Morgan Sheppard, they could find themselves on the dreaded Naughty List?

Commenting on the announcement, Disney Chief Creative officer Walt Disney/Pixar Animation John Lasseter said, "We had so much fun making the first 'Prep & Landing' special, and the response from the audience and our colleagues in the industry was so terrific, that we wanted to bring these great characters back for more holiday fun. Kevin and Stevie have done an amazing job writing and directing these films, and everyone at Walt Disney Animation Studios has pitched in to make them truly extraordinary entertainment. Wayne, Lanny and the rest of our animated cast are funnier than ever in 'Operation: Secret Santa' and 'Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice;' we know they will become holiday favorites."

"Operation: Secret Santa" was written and directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton & Kevin Deters, produced by Dorothy McKim, and executive produced by John Lasseter.

Kevin Deters
Joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1996, and has worked in a variety of creative capacities during his 14-year tenure. He made his directing debut in 2007 on the hilarious animated Goofy short, "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater," and went on to write and direct Walt Disney Animation Studios' first-ever Christmas special for TV, "Prep & Landing." In addition to "Operation: Secret Santa," Deters (and his writing/directing partner Stevie Wermers-Skelton) shares writing and directing credits on the upcoming Disney animated short, "The Ballad of Nessie." His previous Disney film credits include "Mulan," "Tarzan," Lilo & Stitch," "Brother Bear," and "Chicken Little."

Stevie Wermers-Skelton
Joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1994, starting as a clean-up artist/in-betweener on "Pocahontas," and continuing on to work as a story artist on "Fantasia/2000," "Tarzan," and "Brother Bear." In 2007, she became one of the Studios first female directors with her work on the Goofy short, "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater. In collaboration with Kevin Deters, she wrote and directed the upcoming short, "The Ballad of Nessie."

Dorothy McKim
Joined Disney in 1980, and currently serves as development producer for Walt Disney Animation Studios. In that role, she is responsible for working with all of the Studio's directors in developing their films. She also oversees the development of all Disney Animation shorts. In 1984, McKim started a long association with Walt Disney Animation Studios with her first assignment on the 1988 feature, "Oliver & Company." She went on to work in a variety of production roles (production manager, director of production, and co-producer) on such landmark films as "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King," and "Tarzan." McKim also served as producer on Disney's 2007 computer-animated release, "Meet the Robinsons," and the six-minute short Tick Tock Tale. McKim repeated that role on the 2009 ABC original animated holiday special, "Prep & Landing."

source: ABC News Release