Elmo Saves Christmas is a children's home video

Home video

Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...

 that was released in 1996. In the story, Elmo learns that Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 cannot occur every day. The Christmas special is the basis idea from the Christmas short story, 'Christmas Every Day

Christmas Every Day

Christmas Every Day is a 1996 American television movie, directed by Larry Peerce, starring Erik von Detten, and originally broadcast on The Family Channel during their first 25 Days of Christmas programming block...

' by William Dean Howells

William Dean Howells

William Dean Howells was an American realist author and literary critic. Nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters", he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own writings, including the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day" and the novel The Rise of...

, (1892). The special was shot at Sesame Streets usual home, the Kaufman Astoria Studios

Kaufman Astoria Studios

The Kaufman Astoria Studios is an historic movie studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens.-History:It was originally built by Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Synopsis

It is Christmas time on Sesame Street. Snuffy, Big Bird's best friend, departs for Cincinnati to visit his grandmother for the holiday, and promises to return the day after Christmas. While Elmo falls asleep on Christmas Eve watching TV, Santa Claus gets lodged halfway up his chimney. By freeing him, Elmo is granted the privilege of choosing a gift. When Elmo chooses a magical snow globe instead of a pink teddy bear, he is granted three wishes. Using the snow globe, Elmo wishes for a glass of water because he is thirsty.

Elmo's second wish is more significant to the plot of the story: "Elmo wishes it was Christmas every day."

This proves to be a very costly mistake. Suddenly, all the businesses are permanently closed for Christmas. Snuffy is gone all year, visiting his grandmother out of town, making Big Bird extremely depressed. There is nothing playing on TV but It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....

. Carolers carol and children exchange gifts. At the urging of Santa Claus, Lightning, one of Santa's reindeer-in-training, uses his speed to take Elmo into the future to see what Christmas is like in the spring, summer and to the following December 25. The Count becomes "all Christmassed out" and furious at Elmo, and so does the rest of Sesame Street. The carolers lose their voices from constant caroling. Big Bird is upset, as he misses Snuffy, who has been in Cincinnati for an entire year. Luis finally closes up the Fix-It Shop for good.

After regretting his second wish, Elmo decides on his final wish (although it was originally for rollerblades), shaking his snow globe rapidly: "Elmo wishes that everything on Sesame Street was the way it used to be, when Christmas was only once a year." Oscar tries to intervene, but Maria furiously demands silence from him and pleads for Elmo to fix the whole issue. The globe flies out of Elmo's hand and breaks. Luis laments, "It's Christmas...forever!", and Big Bird says, "Goodbye, Snuffy."

Elmo and Lightning go back in time to the Christmas on which Elmo wished it was Christmas every day, erasing everyone's memories (except for Santa, Elmo, and Lightning). After saving Santa for the second time, Elmo chooses the pink bear, but Santa immediately offers him a new gift, the "Moo Bunny", a half-cow, half-rabbit plush toy. Big Bird is reunited with Snuffy early, because just as he was about to leave for Cincinnati, his grandmother came to Sesame Street instead for Christmas. The show closes with its final song: "Keep Christmas With You All Through the Year", which was also featured on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is a Sesame Street Christmas special first broadcast on PBS on December 3, 1978.-Plot:The opening features the inhabitants of Sesame Street enjoying an ice skating party. Big Bird has trouble skating, but a child gives him a hand, and he ends up skating very well...

. Elmo learns though that although Christmas can't be every day, it's important to have the spirit of Christmas every day.

Cast

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...

 as Herself/Narrator

Emilio Delgado

Emilio Delgado

Emilio Delgado is an American actor. He is best known for his long-running role as Luis, the friendly Fix-it Shop owner, on the children's television series Sesame Street. Delgado joined the cast of Sesame Street in 1971 and recently completed Season 41 with the show. He began his professional...

 as Luis

Sonia Manzano

Sonia Manzano

Sonia Manzano is an American actress and writer. She is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street since 1971. She also licenses her image to promote items of baby clothes and plates in Hispanic America....

 as Maria

Bob McGrath

Bob McGrath

Robert Emmet "Bob" McGrath is an American singer and actor best known for playing the human character Bob on Sesame Street. He was born in Ottawa, Illinois. McGrath was named for Irish patriot Robert Emmet....

 as Bob

Roscoe Orman

Roscoe Orman

Roscoe Hunter Orman is an American actor who plays Gordon Robinson on the television program Sesame Street. Orman joined the show in 1973, taking over as the third actor to play Gordon on the show...

 as Gordon

David Langston Smyrl as Mr. Handford

Carlo Alban

Carlo Alban

Carlo Alban is an Ecuadorian actor. He is known as Carlo from Sesame Street , appearing in the telefilm Elmo Saves Christmas. He grew up in Sayreville, New Jersey and attended Rutgers University, majoring in visual arts.-Notable roles:He has had recurring roles in Strangers with Candy, Thicker...

 as Carlo

Charles Durning

Charles Durning

Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...

 as Santa Claus

Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...

 as the Easter Bunny

Carroll Spinney a Big Bird/Oscar

Kevin Clash

Kevin Clash

Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters include Elmo, Baby Sinclair, Clifford, Splinter and Hoots the Owl...

 as Elmo

Frank Oz

Frank Oz

Frank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of...

 as Cookie Monster/Grover/Bert

Jerry Nelson

Jerry Nelson

Jerry Nelson is an American Muppet puppeteer, known for his wide range of characters, singing abilities, and his frequent partnership with Richard Hunt.-Early years:...

 as Count von Count/News Flash Announcer/Mr. Johnson

Steve Whitmire

Steve Whitmire

Steven Whitmire is an American puppeteer who works for The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop and Disney's The Muppets Studio. He has been the performer of two signature Muppets - Kermit the Frog and Sesame Street's Ernie - since the death of their creator and original performer, Jim Henson, in...

 as Kermit the Frog/Ernie

Carmen Osbahr

Carmen Osbahr

Carmen Osbahr is an American actress who has puppeteered Rosita in the popular US children's series Sesame Street, since 1991. Osbahr has also puppeteered Kiki Flores in The Puzzle Place...

 as Rosita

Martin P. Robinson

Martin P. Robinson

Martin P. Robinson is a puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company. He originally built, designed, and performed the puppets for Little Shop of Horrors. He is perhaps best known for his work on Sesame Street. He has performed the characters of Telly Monster, Slimey the Worm, Mr. Snuffleupagus, and Tony...

 as Mr. Snuffleupagus/Telly Monster

David Rudman

David Rudman

David Rudman is a puppeteer, voice actor and producer, best known as a performer of many of Sesame Street's Muppets. He originated the role of Baby Bear, and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work replacing Frank Oz in the role of Cookie Monster...

 as Baby Bear/Humphrey

Fran Brill

Fran Brill

Frances Joan "Fran" Brill , is an American actress and puppeteer, best known for her roles on Sesame Street.Brill was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Linette and Joseph M. Brill. Her father was a physician...

as Zoe

Joey Mazzarino as Lightning