DreamWorks presents a feisty, heisty new prequel special to one of their most recent hit movies. The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday premieres Thursday November 30th on Netflix. Director (and seven-time Emmy-winner) Bret Haaland and Executive Producer Katherine Nolfi join me for this Animation Scoop Q&A. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Congrats on this special. Bret, let me first ask you about the impact of the movie — what those characters and that film has had on you since it was released, and in the development of this fun holiday special?

Bret Haaland: Kudos to those guys making such appealing characters. We’re talking about apex predators who would normally scare the pants off me, and I’m actually finding them charming, like a tarantula or a snake. That’s not easy to do. They really sing. They’re funny. They’re great to be with. That comes from what they did on that movie. Hats off to them.

JM: They are fun characters. I’m so glad they’re back. I love that the holiday special starts with them in the car. What does that car, which was so big in the movie, give you as far as a storytelling device and a way to open this special?

Katherine Nolfi: I love that we open the special on The Bad Guys casing places they want to rob because our story is set before the events of the feature. It felt like such a fun way to hang out with these incredible characters again and to see their take on the holiday.

JM: It’s Christmas Eve. They’re planning this heist. And all of a sudden this giant St. Nick balloon gets in the way and gets the day off to an interesting start. Bret, do you have memories of giant Santa balloons or maybe watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade or a Christmas Parade?

BH: I didn’t really watch it that much. I get a little bored watching that on TV. The stuff I like more… it’s all about the presents for me.

JM: Katherine, the [residents] love this Santa balloon maybe more than the holiday itself.

KN: Big Nick is a local hero to the town. He’s an important balloon. I always loved watching the balloon handlers at the parade. How are they doing this? Had a blast getting to play in that arena?

JM: You make a great point in the special that Santa, The Grinch and Scrooge are iconic Christmas criminals. And they are inspirations to The Bad Guys.

KN: Yeah. Santa Claus has broken into more houses than anyone, and he’s never been caught.

JM: Bret, tell me more about Robo Claus, who comes-in about halfway through.

BH: We got some great advice from the feature team that we should try to make that robot as if it was from found objects, so that it’s not a perfect, pristine robot.

JM: The humor of this special is very nice. As are the visuals, including how you show snow and a vortex.

BH: Fortunately we already had a cyclone built. It was just for fire or a tornado. Our effects artist was able to change that into ice and snow and do these incredible images of buildings freezing over.

JM: It’s maybe the craziest day Tiffany, the reporter, has ever had. But hey — it comes with the territory of reporting on The Bad Guys!

KN: Tiffany’s a pro, and she takes it in stride. (laughs)

JM: In casting the special, how did you want to find actors who could breathe new life into these characters, while at the same time, mimic a little bit Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, and who we heard in the movie?

KN: I think Michael, Mallory, Ezekiel, Chris and Raul, who play our versions of The Bad Guys are incredible. They brought so much to the characters, while also having to do, as you said, this really challenging balancing act of also feeling like the characters from the movie. It’s a real testament to their talent how well they did that and how much comedy they brought and also how much they were able to allow us to connect with the characters.

JM: It’s good energy from them. Bret, in making a 22-minute story, as opposed to a 90-minute story, or a many-season show like “Fast & Furious: Spy Racers”, which we spoke about a few years ago… are there more challenges to making a tight 22 minutes as opposed to something that goes on longer?

BH: Yeah. You could say that this episode is maybe three times this length before we cut it down. You shave off all this stuff, and then you’re joining the bits together to make it work. The areas that might’ve been sluggish before now just fly through. That’s the beauty of it. You can get it all really zippy and fast. But you have to do a lot of work to get it to that point. (laughs)

JM: You did a good job. What I think will be interesting for fans who saw the movie and read the books… is that they have their ideas of what is good and what is bad / what is good and what is evil… Katherine, what do you think this special will show as far as putting their theories of good and bad to the test?

KN: That’s a great question, and I’m glad you brought up the books. It’s such a great book series and such an inspiration. I agree that there’s something really fun about [seeing] The Bad Guys before the movie — before they turned good. They’re still bad, but they have a moral code. There’s a line that they walk, and it’s really about the joy of heisting. This is their family tradition — heisting on Christmas morning. At first they’re being put in this situation in which they have to bring holiday spirit to the city — it’s not really what they would like to be doing in the holidays. But they get in the spirit. Ultimately it’s about spending time with each other — with their found family.

JM: The final scene twist is very clever. I did not expect that. Every year, families gather around the TV and their mobile devices and watch iconic animated holiday specials. And now this. What have animation and the holidays together meant to you and especially during the process of making this special?

BH: In terms of animation with Christmas in general, that takes me back to childhood and watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” and the Charlie Brown special. You watched those over and over and over again and they become part of your life. We’re hoping this will also achieve that, and I think there’s a unique camaraderie between these five predators, who are also animals and are very funny. They got a little bit of that “Ocean’s Eleven” feel going on. I think people are going to enjoy that — watching them handle these problems that they create, almost accidentally. That’s part of the fun. It’s a good special.

KN: I hope our special is something that can bring families together — maybe talk about what the holidays mean. For The Bad Guys… it takes a bit to find what the holidays mean for them. I hope that our special can be a part of that. It was so meaningful for me as a kid watching so many animated specials. It’s such a privilege to be able to be a part of this.