In The Naughty Nine, Andy assembles a team of naughty kids who didn’t receive gifts on Christmas to orchestrate a heist at Santa’s workshop. The movie is now streaming on Disney+.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Andy is known for mischief at his school, and even on the day before winter break, he gets sent to the principal’s office. It turns out that getting sent to the principal’s office was part of a heist he is pulling off.
Along with his best friend, Dulce, he steals all the stuff that the school has confiscated from students and sells it back to them. Andy believes they didn’t take that stuff; they are just returning it to the people who originally owned it.
For Christmas, Andy is looking forward to receiving a gaming console from Santa. However, when the day comes, he only finds Tiny Blox under the tree, while his sister, Laurel, who is always obedient, receives the leotard for the state gymnastics team.
Andy learns that Dulce hasn’t received her gift either. They come to realize that they have made it to the Naughty List this year. They go to Lewis, a conspiracy theorist who has been researching Santa Claus, mythological figures, and a lot more, to figure out if the Naughty List is real or just a myth.
After looking at the list, Andy says that it’s wrong and questions how Santa gets to choose who deserves gifts and who doesn’t. Upon being asked where their gifts can be, Lewis says that they must be at Santa’s workshop if they never left.
Andy is thinking of pulling off a heist in Santa’s village and taking the gifts they asked for. Lewis has been able to track down where Santa’s village may be.
Even though Lewis is not on the Naughty List, he wants to visit it if Andy is going there. Andy asks Lewis to filter the Naughty List and assembles a team of naughty kids who haven’t received their gifts this year because if they are going to pull off a heist at the North Pole, they are going to need the best team ever.
The team, apart from Andy, Dulce, and Lewis, includes Ha-Yoon, who will be their getaway driver and is on the Naughty List for reckless driving, Rose, who is great with animals and is on the Naughty List for unauthorized animal liberation, and Bethany, a gymnast who is on the list for unchecked snobbery.
The last two members joining the team are Jon Anthony, who is popular for selling clothes that he designs; it is unknown why he is on the list, and Albert, who is on the list for abusing his cuteness. It is later revealed that Jon Anthony lies about designing clothes of his own, and the clothes of the elves that he designs for the Naughty Nine is his first original work.
Andy comes up with the absolute best plan to sneak into Santa’s village and the vault in which he keeps the gifts of all the kids. Now the question remains: how are they going to get to the North Pole?
Andy’s father is the manager of cargo operations and distributions at World Express. Andy has heard about a pilot named Bruno, who claims to have seen a flying reindeer. Nobody believes him, and he won’t be flying until he passes a psychological evaluation.
Andy offers Bruno a chance to prove to everyone that what he saw is real, and Bruno agrees to fly them to the North Pole. At the last minute, Bethany backs out of the plan.
Andy is forced to ask the other gymnast he knows: his sister, Laurel, with whom he doesn’t get along. Laurel agrees because she wants to prove to Bethany that she is a better gymnast than her. She joins the Naughty Nine even though she is not on the Naughty List. The Naughty Nine assemble and hop on the plane to the North Pole.
The Naughty Nine ending explained in detail:
Do the Naughty Nine find Santa’s vault?
The Naughty Nine land at the North Pole and inform the authorities that they are having mechanical problems after they are spotted and Albert rips out a part of the plane. The kids hide while the engineers find out what’s wrong with the plane.
The repair is going to take 2 hours, and that’s all the time that the Naughty Nine have to sneak into Santa’s village, pick up their presents, and hop back on the plane. Keeping that in mind, the Naughty Nine put their plan into motion.
For a while, they get lost in the celebrations taking place in Santa’s village before getting back on track. The Naughty Nine come across the Naughty List, but they also manage to find Santa’s vault and get their hands on their presents.
Why does Andy stay back?
Unfortunately, Lewis makes it too late to shut down the cameras. When one of the elves finds Lewis’ walkie-talkie, he learns what is up and alerts everyone.
The Naughty Nine successfully escape the village, but when Andy sees that Laurel stole a phone from the vault, he realizes that he turned an obedient kid into a naughty one.
Andy is into mischief, but he never tried to steal from anyone. He blames himself for this, decides not to hop on the plane, and gets busted.
Does Santa forgive the Naughty Nine?
Andy is brought to Santa, who forgives Andy’s friends but will keep Andy and Laurel’s names on the Naughty List forever. Andy pleads with Santa to forgive Laurel.
All of Andy’s friends return for him. The group hears Andy and agrees that if they deserved these presents, Santa would have delivered them to them. Laurel hands the smartphone she stole to Santa.
Santa explains to the Naughty Nine that anyone can get off the list anytime they want; every day they have an opportunity to choose who they want to be. Now all they have to do is use their skills to be nice rather than naughty. Andy and his friends promise that they will try to be nice, and all of their names are taken off the Naughty List.
Back home, they answer their parents. Laurel and Andy get along now. A year passes, and Andy has been extra good. However, he is still called to the principal’s office, where he meets Santa again. Santa claims that he has a situation and needs the Naughty Nine’s help.
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