Elmo Saves Christmas

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Elmo Saves Christmas
GenreChristmas special
Written by
Directed byEmily Squires
Opening themeIt's Christmas Again
Ending themeKeep Christmas With You (All Through the Year)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerNancy Kanter
Running time60 minutes
Production companyChildren's Television Workshop
Release
Original networkPBS
Original releaseDecember 2, 1996 (1996-12-02)

Elmo Saves Christmas is a Muppet musical fantasy comedy television special released on PBS on December 2, 1996.[1] It was released to VHS that same year. Inspired by the 1892 short story "Christmas Every Day" by William Dean Howells, Elmo wishes for Christmas to occur every day, only to be taken to the future to learn the adverse consequences of his wish. 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 and after the credits.

Plot[edit]

The story is told in flashback by Maya Angelou as she recalls the events to Telly, Zoe, Baby Bear and several children.

Elmo stays up on Christmas Eve to meet Santa Claus. He falls asleep, but is awakened by Santa stuck in the chimney. After Elmo helps pull Santa out, Santa gives Elmo the choice of a stuffed animal or a magical snow globe. Elmo chooses the globe and is granted three wishes, wasting his first wish on a glass of water.

On Christmas Day, Elmo, excited by all the cheer, wishes for Christmas to be every day. Everyone is excited but Santa explains to Elmo that Christmas would no longer be special if it was every day. Lightning, a reindeer-in-training, takes Elmo to the future to see the effects of his wish. Big Bird is sad that his friend Snuffy is still visiting his grandmother in Cincinnati, the Fix-It Shop is closed every day, It's a Wonderful Life plays on every channel, Santa’s elves never get a vacation, and the other holidays are overshadowed. However, Oscar the Grouch is the only character who enjoys all the misery.

By next year’s Christmas, the Count is "all Christmassed out", the carolers have lost their voices, Christmas trees have become an endangered species, Big Bird cries about missing Snuffy, all the businesses have gone bankrupt, and Santa has retired to Florida. Elmo uses his last wish to make Christmas come only once a year again, but his snow globe breaks before the wish is granted. So he and Lightning go back in time to the Christmas Eve when he pulled Santa from the chimney and Elmo chooses a stuffed animal as his new gift. Snuffy returns, telling Big Bird that his grandmother came to Sesame Street instead. In the end, Elmo reflects that although Christmas does not occur every day, everyone can keep their Christmas spirit alive all year.

Cast[edit]

The cast of Sesame Street[edit]

The Muppet Performers[edit]

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

References[edit]

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

External links[edit]