Sesame Street: The Nutcracker Starring Elmo & Tango is an animated holiday special spun off from the children's television series Sesame Street, that premiered on HBO Max on December 1, 2022. It made its televised premiere on PBS Kids on December 2, 2023.
Synopsis[]
The holidays are here at Sesame Street and Elmo and his parents host a big holiday party for his friends. When his friends arrive, everyone sings about how wonderful this holiday will be. The Count arrives to the celebration late, bearing gifts for everyone, including a wind-up rocket ship for Elmo and a cute nutcracker-shaped doggie toy for Tango.
After a fun-filled night, Elmo and Tango fall asleep listening to Louie read them the story of The Nutcracker. Then, Elmo and Tango fall asleep and have a dream.
In the dream, Tango gets the ability to speak. A little mouse who is looking for a friend, mistakes Tango's new nutcracker toy for a buddy and runs off with it. Elmo and Tango chase after the mouse and toy through magical lands to get it back. Along the way, Elmo and Tango go to a giant garden, where three grumpy flowers refuse to let them pass. Abby Cadabby helps them out with the lullaby, which she learned from the Sugar Plum Fairy. This makes the flowers sleep. Then, Elmo and Tango go to a candy land where they meet Cookie Monster skating on a large lake made of icing. Elmo and Tango have difficulty skating across, so Cookie gives them a musical lesson in skating and the importance of practicing.
In the Land of Toys, the mouse takes a break on playing with the squeaky toy. Elmo and Tango find a toy rocket and retrieve the toy back. As the special ends, the mouse surprises Elmo and Tango reveals that he wants to make a new friend with the nutcracker toy. They join Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby convened around a Christmas tree singing "Best Christmas Ever."
Songs[]
- Uncredited
Home media release[]
The special was made available on the Sesame Street compilation Elmo's Holiday Spectacular: The Nutcracker and Other Tales, released on Digital and DVD on October 10, 2023. It also contains the direct-to-video version of the ABC special Elmo's Christmas Countdown and Elmo Saves Christmas.
Notes[]
- This is the first Sesame Street Christmas production where Matt Vogel and Eric Jacobson fully assumed the roles of Big Bird and Oscar respectively, following Caroll Spinney's retirement in 2018 and eventual death the following year.
Cast[]

Voice actor/actress | Character(s) | The Nutcracker Role(s) |
---|---|---|
Ryan Dillon | Elmo | Fritz |
Leslie Carrara | Tango | Marie (Dog) |
Abby Cadabby | Party Guest and The Sugar Plum Fairy | |
David Rudman | Cookie Monster | Party Guests (Grover, Bert and Big Bird) |
Eric Jacobson | Grover Oscar the Grouch Bert | |
Matt Vogel | Big Bird | |
Count von Count | Drosselmeyer | |
Tyler Bunch | Louie | Fritz & Marie's Parents |
Stephanie D'Abruzzo | Mae | |
Peter Linz | Ernie | Party Guest |
Royina Patel | Dream Tango | Marie (Dog) |
Donovan Monzon | Mouse | The Mouse King |
Accolades[]
The special was nominated for the 2023 Children's Family & Emmy Award for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for a Preschool Animated Program, but lost to Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Muppet Wiki: The Nutcracker: Starring Elmo & Tango
- Sesame Street: The Nutcracker Starring Elmo & Tango at the Internet Movie Database
- Sesame Street: The Nutcracker Starring Elmo & Tango at RetroJunk.com