So the second Prep and Landing is... not as good as the first one. It spends a lot of time with new characters and relationships, and the story is more kid-friendly this time. It focuses on Dwayne's brother, and their relationship. I like how their story mirrors the "villain" in the show, and the dual resolution of both parts is a nice touch.
In fact, it's so nice I almost want the rest of the show to be better. I like Lanny's sideline story a lot (though he gets so little screentime I question his top billing in this one), and there are some fun twists, but this is a lot less interesting to me as a grownup than the first one.
So, like the first special, this one has a bunch of Easter eggs. There's a small plush cameo from Nessie, the star of the two directors' previous short. Mickey and several princesses appear as merchandise, too. And then there are these two kids, in a scene with a mall Santa.
We get to see more of the North Pole's culture in this show, and I got a silly amusement-park kick out of their mass transportation system (and I can only hope that any one of our several "Santa's Village" parks install something like that).
Overall, this is a flawed but fun sequel to something nearly perfect. The worst thing about it is that it can't live up to the first one.
As a Christmas special, I rate this 6/10. It's certainly better than the average, and I'll watch it several more times. It's got plenty of laughs, but the laughs and the heart feel separate from each other this time, not intertwined in the same way the first one managed.
As a spotlight for Dave, I rate this 6/10. He doesn't get as much to do emotionally, and I feel like his character has a lot less Dave in it this time.
Argh! How did I forget to mention the awesome Tickle-Me-Elmo joke? It was even a director cameo! I'm terrible at this.
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