Elmo Saves Christmas

Elmo Saves Christmas is a 1996 Christmas special based off of the television series Sesame Street, narrated by guest star. Its plot is based off of the short story Christmas Every Day by.

Synopsis
It is once again Christmas time on Sesame Street. Snuffy, Big Bird's best friend, departs for to visit his grandmother for the holiday, and promises to return the day after Christmas. Meanwhile, Elmo plans to stay up all night on Christmas Eve to see Santa Claus descend from his chimney. He falls asleep, but is awakened when Santa gets lodged halfway up his chimney. By freeing him, Elmo is granted the privilege of choosing a gift. When he chooses a magical snow globe instead of a pink teddy bear, he is granted three wishes. Using the snow globe, his first wish is a glass of water because he is thirsty.

On Christmas morning, the excitement and joy delights Elmo so much that he wishes it could be Christmas everyday. This proves to be a very costly mistake. At the urging of Santa, Lightning, one of his reindeer-in-training (and the reason he got stuck in Elmo's chimney), uses his speed to take Elmo to the future to see what Christmas is like in the spring (during Easter), summer (especially on 4th of July), and next Christmas. He sees Big Bird is sad when Snuffy is spending Christmas with his grandmother in Cincinnati all year, Maria and Luis get crabby and upset over the Fix-It Shop being closed all year, everyone gets annoyed at It's a Wonderful Life being the only thing on TV, meaning that general unhappiness is evident, and Count von Count tired of counting the days of Christmas when he gets to 365. Also, the elves are annoyed at their continued work shift, and slack off on the job, and other holidays (especially Easter and Independence Day) are less interesting than before. The only Sesame Street resident who isn't getting tired of Christmas every day is Oscar the Grouch, who obviously enjoys seeing everyone else feeling as grouchy as him.

After regretting his second wish, Elmo suddenly realizes that "if everyday was Christmas, there wouldn't be Christmas at all". Elmo decides to use his third wish to undo it (although it was originally for rollerblades), but he shakes the snow globe too much, causing it to fly from his hands and smash on the ground before the wish can come true. Luis laments, "It's Christmas...forever!", and Big Bird says, "Goodbye, Snuffy." The crowd all moans into an even deeper depression and leaves.

Elmo’s hope become unlucky, so he suggests that Lightning could fly him back to the starting Christmas Eve, before he wished it was Christmas every day, removing everyone's memories (except for Santa, Elmo, and Lightning). After saving Santa again, Elmo chooses the pink bear, but Santa immediately offers him a new gift: the "Moo Bunny", a cow plush toy with rabbit ears. Also proud of Lighting's part in helping Elmo, Santa offers to promote him so he may pull the sleigh with the other reindeer. The next morning, Big Bird is reunited with Snuffy early, because just as he was about to leave for Cincinnati, his grandmother came to Sesame Street instead. Elmo learns that although Christmas can't be every day, it's important to have its spirit in your soul every day and every year. The special closes with its final song, "Keep Christmas With You (All Through the Year)" (previously featured in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street).

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)"