Everyone knows Santa’s got a sleigh full of Christmas presents for youngsters, depending whether they’ve been Naughty or Nice.

Now meet “The Naughty Nine,” an ingenious 9-member pack of troublemaking kids led by Andy (Winslow Fegley), who decide to rip off Santa’s headquarters in a brazen move to get even with Claus for skipping their gifts.

Elaborately lavish, this holiday entry offers an unusual twist on cranky Ebenezer Scrooge in young, bright, charismatic Andy who, as played by 14-year-old Fegley with the dynamic energy of a young Jimmy Cagney, seems ready to conquer not just the North Pole but the world. He’s an unrepentant schemer.
Fegley, a high school freshman, comes to this naturally: His parents and older siblings are all actors.  Did he always, Fegley was asked in a Zoom interview, know he’d act?

“Well, of course. Yeah,” he answered. “Like you said, I come from a family of actors — my whole family. I grew up seeing my brother Oakes being in plays, stuff like that.

“So when I was younger and seeing my brother start to do movies and all that, I guess that’s why I fell in love with it. That’s what got me into it.  And it never really feels like work. It’s just a lot of fun.”

One trait of Andy is his refusal to ever back down from a challenge. He doesn’t have any introspective indecision along the likes of, “Well, maybe I don’t deserve to get Christmas presents. That’s why I don’t have any.”

Fegley delved into the character by, he said, “Just thinking about what it would be like if that happened to you. How that would make you feel. And then trying to do it in a way that’s grounded and real.

“Andy was really fun, because of how he changes substantially through the film. It was great because I was able to show many different sides, to where it was almost like I was playing different characters.”

While Fegley’s career sounds glamorous and cool, the reality is it’s work and requires discipline, dedication and stamina.

How he handles school and the world beyond soundstages is, “Definitely challenging. There’s a lot to get done in one day because you have to manage a whole day of work filming and a whole day of school. It doesn’t make sense! Because there’s not that much time in the day — but you make it work.

“Normally I go to public school. So my teachers basically just send all my work to my on-set teacher who helps make it really easy.”

“The Naughty Nine” streams on the Disney Channel Wednesday, and on Thanksgiving on Disney+