Elmo Saves Christmas

Elmo Saves Christmas is a sixty minute fantasy comedy television special released on PBS on December 2, 1996.[1] It was released to VHS that same year. In the story, Elmo learns that Christmas should not occur every day. The program was filmed in Sesame Street's usual home, the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City. Footage from the film It's a Wonderful Life also appears in the program.

Plot

Elmo vows to stay awake on Christmas Eve to meet Santa Claus. He falls asleep, but is awakened by Santa stuck in the chimney. After pulling him out, Santa thanks him by letting him choose a pink bear or a magical snow globe as a gift. When Elmo chooses the snow globe, he is granted three wishes. His first wish is a glass of water. Santa, however, warns him not to waste any of his other two wishes.

On Christmas morning, Elmo, excited by all the joy and cheer, wishes it could be Christmas every day as his second wish. At first, everyone is excited until Santa arrives and explains to Elmo that Christmas would no longer be special if it occurs every day. He then assigns Lightning, his reindeer-in-training, to take Elmo to the future to see the effects of his wish. Big Bird is sad because Snuffy is in Cincinnati, celebrating with his grandmother, Maria and Luis are annoyed and frustrated from a lack of work, It's a Wonderful Life plays nonstop on every channel, Santa's elves have not had a vacation in months, and the other holidays are overtaken by Christmas. Oscar the Grouch, however, is the only one who enjoys seeing how grouchy everyone is.

By next year's Christmas, Sesame Street is in ruins, Count von Count is "all Christmassed out", the carolers have lost their voices, Christmas trees are an endangered species, Big Bird cries about Snuffy being gone for a whole year, the Fix-it Shop has gone bust, and even Santa has retired to Florida. Elmo decides to use his final wish to make it Christmas once a year again, but his snow globe flies out of his hands and breaks before making the wish. So he and Lightning go back to the Christmas Eve when Elmo first pulled Santa from the chimney. This time, Elmo chooses the Moo-Bunny as his new gift. The next morning, Big Bird reunites with Snuffy, who explains that his grandmother came to Sesame Street instead. In the end, Elmo learns that even though Christmas cannot happen every day, everyone can keep their Christmas spirit alive every day in their heart.

Cast

The cast of Sesame Street

The Muppet Performers

Additional Muppets performed by Alice Dinnean, Peter Linz, Noel MacNeal, Pam Arciero, Jim Martin, John Tartaglia, Jim Kroupa, Alison Mork and Matt Vogel

References
  1. Geiss, Tony (12 July 1996). "Elmo Saves Christmas". Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
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