Elmo Saves Christmas is a 1996 Christmas special based on the PBS television series Sesame Street, narrated by guest star Maya Angelou. Its plot is inspired by the short story Christmas Every Day by William Dean Howells.
Synopsis
The special is told in flashback by Maya Angelou as she recounts the events to Telly, Zoe, Baby Bear, and some children in her apartment:
It is once again Christmas on Sesame Street. Elmo takes some cookies home for Santa Claus. Big Bird's best friend, Snuffy, is going to Cincinnati to spend Christmas with his grandmother and will return the day after. Meanwhile, Elmo plans to stay up all night on Christmas Eve to see Santa descend from his chimney. He falls asleep, until being awakened when Santa gets stuck halfway up his chimney. By freeing him, Elmo gets to choose either a pink teddy bear or a magic snow globe as a gift. When he chooses the snow globe, he is granted three wishes, wasting his first one for a glass of water because he is thirsty.
On Christmas Day, the excitement and joy delights Elmo so much that he wishes for it to be Christmas every day, so he uses that for his second wish. At first, everyone is thrilled about it being Christmas again, thanks to a news report given by Kermit the Frog. However, this proves to be a very costly mistake as Santa explains to Elmo that Christmas would no longer be special if it was every day. Lightning, a reindeer-in-training (and the reason he got stuck in Elmo's chimney), uses his super speed to take Elmo to the future to see what Christmas is like throughout the year. As the seasons change, Elmo sees everyone's Christmas spirit go downhill: Big Bird is sad because Snuffy is still spending it with his grandmother in Cincinnati, Maria and Luis become increasingly exasperated over a lack of work due to the Fix-It-Shop being closed all year, Grover struggles selling Christmas trees, which have been dwindling, and It's a Wonderful Life plays continuously on television, meaning that general unhappiness is evident. Also, Santa's elves are exasperated and fatigued at their continued work shift and slack off on the job, and the other holidays of the year (especially Easter, coincidentally the day of Jesus' resurrection, and Independence Day, a day when Christmas in July is also ironically celebrated) are overshadowed by Christmas. However, Oscar the Grouch is the only one who enjoys all the misery - the pile of broken toasters in front of the Fix-It-Shop, the mounting Christmas trash, endless repeats of It's a Wonderful Life, and the fact that everyone is as grouchy and miserable as him - declaring it as a "bah humbug Christmas every day".
By next year's Christmas, Sesame Street is shut down:
- The Count is "all Christmassed out" after counting all 365 consecutive Christmas days.
- The carolers (especially Bob) have lost their voices from singing every day.
- Christmas trees have become an endangered species, according to Grover.
- Big Bird cries over missing Snuffy for a whole year.
- All the businesses (including the Fix-It Shop) are permanently closed.
- And Santa has decided to retire and move to Florida.
Regretting his second wish, Elmo now realizes "if every day was Christmas, there wouldn't be Christmas at all." He decides to use his third wish to undo it (although he was originally going to wish for rollerblades, according to Oscar's thought), but he shakes the snow globe too much, causing it to fly out of his hands and break before the wish can come true, which means it will be Christmas forever. All looks lost, until Elmo remembers Lightning's super speed and ability to go forward and backward in time, so they fly back in time to the Christmas Eve when it all started, before he chose the snow globe, thus changing the past (and erasing everyone's memories except his own and Lightning's in the process). After saving Santa again, he chooses the pink bear, but best of all, Santa reveals that he has a new gift: a plush cow with rabbit ears called a "Moo-Bunny", which Elmo delightedly chooses. Also proud of Lightning's part in helping Elmo, he offers to promote him so he may pull the sleigh with the other reindeer. Later, Snuffy reunites with Big Bird, who tells him that just as he was about to leave for Cincinnati, his grandmother came to Sesame Street instead. As the special ends, Elmo learns that although Christmas doesn't occur every day, everyone can still keep its spirit in their hearts every day of the year, as he and the rest of the cast convene around the big Christmas tree in the yard and sing "Keep Christmas With You (All Through the Year)."
Songs
- "It's Christmas Again"
- "Everyday Can't Be Christmas"
- "Give Your Friend an Easter Egg for Christmas"
- "All I Want for Christmas is You"
- "Keep Christmas With You (All Through the Year)"
Home video releases
US releases
International releases
Cast
Muppeteer/actor/actress | Character(s) |
---|---|
Kevin Clash | Elmo Natasha Brown Elf Father Benny Rabbit |
Joey Mazzarino | Lightning Lavender Elf |
Caroll Spinney | Big Bird Oscar the Grouch |
Martin P. Robinson | Mr. Snuffleupagus Telly Monster Pumpkin Elf |
Frank Oz | Grover Cookie Monster |
David Rudman | Baby Bear Humphrey Fat Blue Elf |
Fran Brill | Zoe Green Elf Easter egg customer |
Carmen Osbahr | Rosita |
Steve Whitmire | Kermit the Frog |
Jerry Nelson | Count Von Count Mr. Johnson News Flash Announcer |
Bob McGrath | Bob Johnson |
Sonia Manzano | Maria Rodriguez |
Emilio Delgado | Luis Rodriguez |
Desiree Casado | Gabi Rodriguez |
Alison Bartlett O'Reilly | Gina Jefferson |
Roscoe Orman | Gordon Robinson |
David L. Smyrl | Mr. Handford |
Carlo Alban | Carlo |
Maya Angelou | Herself |
Charles Durning | Santa Claus |
Harvey Fierstein | Easter Bunny |
14 Karat Soul | Themselves |
Gallery
External links
- Muppet Wiki: Elmo Saves Christmas (special)
- Elmo Saves Christmas at TV Tropes
- Elmo Saves Christmas at the Internet Movie Database
- Elmo Saves Christmas at Behind the Voice Actors