Like many Muppet fans, and more importantly like many parents, I have a love-hate relationship with Elmo. Back when he first came on the Sesame Street scene in the mid-80’s, I loved the little guy. He was cute, energetic, and a great addition to the Sesame Street gang. Then a series of events including Jim Henson’s death and Frank Oz moving on to a career in directing propelled Elmo to the top of the Sesame heap, and for most of the 1990’s, Sesame Street was under the tyrannical rule of the cutest little monster to ever be tickled. I resented him for pushing some of my favorites out of the limelight—the imagined slights to The Count, Cookie Monster, Grover, Bert and Ernie were more than I could bear. It took having my son fall in love with Elmo to open up my heart enough to appreciate the red furball again, and I can admit now that I really do like the little guy.

In reasonable doses. The real problem comes when Elmo dominates a particular production. By the end of an hour spent with Elmo, you’re looking for power drills to drain the high pitched voice echoing in your head… What I’d like to see is balance among the characters. And Sesame Street seems to be moving in that direction in recent seasons. This particular Christmas special, “Elmo Saves Christmas,” came at the height of Elmomania, in 1996—the year after the Tickle Me Elmo Craze hit its peak, and before Elmo’s World debuted as a recurring, separate part of Sesame Street.

Despite the Elmocentricity of the program, it’s enjoyable for the most part, with only one scene that will have you scrambling for the Fast Forward on the Remote. More on that later.

The story is basically this: Elmo saves Santa, who got stuck in Elmo’s chimney. Santa grants Elmo three wishes, one of which is that he wants Christmas to be EVERY DAY! Christmas is great, right? So Christmas every day would be even better! With the help of a time traveling reindeer (it makes more sense in context) Elmo is able to experience a year on Sesame Street where Christmas is every day.

This provides some great material for comedy with all of the Sesame Street characters:

The Count, at first delighted at the opportunity to count more than one Christmas per year, gets bored with counting them…

Maria and Luis, not able to open the Fix-It Shop on Christmas Day, soon find that they actually miss their jobs—and those toasters pile up pretty quickly when you don’t fix them every day.

Grover, ever the hopeful salesman, sells Christmas Trees until he’s down to selling twigs and eventually the sign itself (to that moustached blue fellow who’s always the guest to Grover’s services)

Santa’s elves (played by various Muppets) have to work non-stop, canceling their vacations and making the North Pole more of a sweatshop than it usually is.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is broadcast on every channel every day—providing a cute moment when Bert and Ernie watch Jimmy Stewart talking to Bedford Falls’ Bert and Ernie (who are a cab driver and cop, I believe), they both sort of shake their head in disbelief and go on their way.

But there are also some sad sides to Christmas being every day:

Big Bird’s best friend Mr. Snuffleupagus, who’s out of town visiting his grandma in Cincinnati, isn’t able to come home. Big Bird writes him letters, but since it’s always Christmas, the mail never gets picked up…and Big Bird is perpetually separated from his friend.

Soon everyone’s tired of Christmas, and Elmo learns that it may be better to have one special day that’s REALLY special than have 365 holidays per year.

There are several human “guest stars” in the special in addition to the usual Sesame Street cast, and most of them do a good job. Poet Maya Angelou is in a framing scene, narrating the story to Zoe, Baby Bear and Telly, and she comes across as a nice wise grandmotherly type. Charles Durning, who back in 1979 had pursued Kermit the Frog cross country as Doc Hopper in The Muppet Movie, does a 180 and plays Santa Claus here—jolly enough, but with a little bit of gritty realism that makes him quite lovable, if a little weary.

The worst part of the entire special, the part that makes you want to cringe, cry, and wall yourself up in a room that will never have a DVD player in it, is an appearance by HARVEY FIERSTEIN AS THE EASTER BUNNY. What were they thinking? What were they thinking? What were they thinking? I can’t stop saying it. He gets a whole damn song that he sings about his “Christmas Eggs,” and the banter between him and Elmo just makes you want to put sharp implements into your ears. His costume, including his blushed cheeks, makes you want to put sharp implements into your eyes. The safer alternative is just to fast forward like the wind, and never look back.

As Elmo’s productions go, this is one of the better ones. There are enough characters involved that he’s not in every scene, and there are jokes that adults would appreciate more than the children. Miles (age 20 months) enjoyed the entire program, and I enjoyed watching it with him. As a Christmas special, it’s good fun, and although it will never be as good as “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street” it’s better than many Christmas specials available these days.

If you have a little one who loves Elmo, this would be a nice treat for them to enjoy in the days before Christmas. If you have time, watch it with them. If you don’t have time, it gets them out of your hair for an hour. And sometimes, that’s the best gift of all.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD