When we talk about Sesame Street celebrating Christmas, usually we think about the 1978 special Christmas Eve on Sesame Street or 1996's Elmo Saves Christmas. Hell, many of us even think of 1987's A Muppet Family Christmas. But there's one holiday production in the Sesame Street library that doesn't get talked about as much as those, if at all. I am, of course, talking about the 2002 direct-to-video, Elmo's World: Happy Holidays.
The plot of the special is pretty straightforward; it's essentially an hour-long episode of Elmo's World, but with a bit of a subplot involving Elmo trying to think of a present he can give to his pet goldfish, Dorothy. But what do you give a goldfish for Christmas? Along the way, he receives visits (and postcards) from a letter carrier played by actress Kelly Ripa (of All My Children fame).
Now, right off the bat, many a parent is thinking "Ugh... Elmo's World?! Do I have to sit through that drivel again?" But Happy Holidays may be more educational than I think those people give it credit for. For one, the team who worked on the special decided to be more liberal with the use of "happy holidays", something that even Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, as legendary as it is, never really touched upon, at least to a certain degree. When we think of this statement, we immediately think of Christmas and its associated images (the tree, the stockings, the presents, the like). But, this special reveals to us that there are people in the world who celebrate different holidays that are like Christmas, but different in their own way.
At one point in the special, we learn that Baby Bear and his family celebrate Chanukah, a holiday highlighted by a game of dreidel, which Baby Bear and his Papa Bear teach Telly Monster to play. Amazingly, despite being a dreidel rookie, Telly manages to land on gimel (the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the highest letter of value on a dreidel) and wins the game! In another, Elmo learns about Kwanzaa, a tradition that honors African culture and heritage, from then-child actor Tyler James Williams and family, complete with a cameo from the African dance company, Batato Yetu.
But wait, there's more! In one particular scene, Prairie Dawn stages a pageant chronicling the birth of Jesus (played by Baby Natasha for some reason, with Rosita and Bert as Mary and Joseph). Yeah, Sesame Street delved into the holiday's Christian roots! They even included the Three Wise Men (Herry Monster, Grover and Cookie Monster) who followed the shining star that led them to Jesus' birthplace and the gifts they brought to baby Jesus; gold, frankincense, and cookies (the last one was a mistake; Cookie Monster was supposed to present myrrh). For anyone expecting solely a contemporary Christmas celebration, this should come as a huge shock.
But the heart-melting pinnacle comes when Elmo treks to the North Pole to seek Santa Claus (played by stage actor Charles Edward Hall, reprising his roles from seasonal performances at Radio City Music Hall). Elmo asks Santa what he should give Dorothy for Christmas, and Santa responds by offering a piece of advice that I feel should be at the core of every Christmas celebration, no matter how it is celebrated. The greatest gift that anyone can give or be given isn't something fancy wrapped in a box, but something made out of love; something that shows that someone loves you and cares for you, whether it's your family or your best friend, or your neighbor, or simply someone you give much needed help to.
Don't worry, folks; this special still contains plenty of comedic moments, even if they are hit or miss. One joke I never really understood is the four Muppet carolers who show up at Elmo's door and sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". See, the joke is that while they have lovely singing voices, their speaking voices are loud and abrasive. That's the kind of joke that's only funny one time, but when you do it again, it loses what made it funny the first time. I think these carolers were created when their performers (David Rudman sounding like a pissed off Baby Bear, Joey Mazzarino doing a caricatured Bobcat Goldthwait impression, Carmen Osbahr, and Stephanie D'Abruzzo sounding like Kate Monster from Avenue Q after puffing a gram of helium into her system) began a contest to see which one of them could put on a voice that made ears bleed the fastest, and Kevin Clash was like, "OK! You all sound annoying! Can I go home now?" and then the writers made them into characters in a desperate attempt to milk whatever comedic value was to be had in irritating voices until it dried up like a rotting leaf in the fall.
To conclude, if you haven't watched Elmo's World: Happy Holidays, you should make plans to do so next holiday season. I guarantee you, you will learn something truly new and informative, and you will be inspired to live by what should be the creed of Christmas; that someone's love is the greatest present of all. All of this, from a one-hour episode of Elmo's World!
The plot of the special is pretty straightforward; it's essentially an hour-long episode of Elmo's World, but with a bit of a subplot involving Elmo trying to think of a present he can give to his pet goldfish, Dorothy. But what do you give a goldfish for Christmas? Along the way, he receives visits (and postcards) from a letter carrier played by actress Kelly Ripa (of All My Children fame).
Now, right off the bat, many a parent is thinking "Ugh... Elmo's World?! Do I have to sit through that drivel again?" But Happy Holidays may be more educational than I think those people give it credit for. For one, the team who worked on the special decided to be more liberal with the use of "happy holidays", something that even Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, as legendary as it is, never really touched upon, at least to a certain degree. When we think of this statement, we immediately think of Christmas and its associated images (the tree, the stockings, the presents, the like). But, this special reveals to us that there are people in the world who celebrate different holidays that are like Christmas, but different in their own way.
At one point in the special, we learn that Baby Bear and his family celebrate Chanukah, a holiday highlighted by a game of dreidel, which Baby Bear and his Papa Bear teach Telly Monster to play. Amazingly, despite being a dreidel rookie, Telly manages to land on gimel (the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the highest letter of value on a dreidel) and wins the game! In another, Elmo learns about Kwanzaa, a tradition that honors African culture and heritage, from then-child actor Tyler James Williams and family, complete with a cameo from the African dance company, Batato Yetu.
But wait, there's more! In one particular scene, Prairie Dawn stages a pageant chronicling the birth of Jesus (played by Baby Natasha for some reason, with Rosita and Bert as Mary and Joseph). Yeah, Sesame Street delved into the holiday's Christian roots! They even included the Three Wise Men (Herry Monster, Grover and Cookie Monster) who followed the shining star that led them to Jesus' birthplace and the gifts they brought to baby Jesus; gold, frankincense, and cookies (the last one was a mistake; Cookie Monster was supposed to present myrrh). For anyone expecting solely a contemporary Christmas celebration, this should come as a huge shock.
But the heart-melting pinnacle comes when Elmo treks to the North Pole to seek Santa Claus (played by stage actor Charles Edward Hall, reprising his roles from seasonal performances at Radio City Music Hall). Elmo asks Santa what he should give Dorothy for Christmas, and Santa responds by offering a piece of advice that I feel should be at the core of every Christmas celebration, no matter how it is celebrated. The greatest gift that anyone can give or be given isn't something fancy wrapped in a box, but something made out of love; something that shows that someone loves you and cares for you, whether it's your family or your best friend, or your neighbor, or simply someone you give much needed help to.
Don't worry, folks; this special still contains plenty of comedic moments, even if they are hit or miss. One joke I never really understood is the four Muppet carolers who show up at Elmo's door and sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". See, the joke is that while they have lovely singing voices, their speaking voices are loud and abrasive. That's the kind of joke that's only funny one time, but when you do it again, it loses what made it funny the first time. I think these carolers were created when their performers (David Rudman sounding like a pissed off Baby Bear, Joey Mazzarino doing a caricatured Bobcat Goldthwait impression, Carmen Osbahr, and Stephanie D'Abruzzo sounding like Kate Monster from Avenue Q after puffing a gram of helium into her system) began a contest to see which one of them could put on a voice that made ears bleed the fastest, and Kevin Clash was like, "OK! You all sound annoying! Can I go home now?" and then the writers made them into characters in a desperate attempt to milk whatever comedic value was to be had in irritating voices until it dried up like a rotting leaf in the fall.
To conclude, if you haven't watched Elmo's World: Happy Holidays, you should make plans to do so next holiday season. I guarantee you, you will learn something truly new and informative, and you will be inspired to live by what should be the creed of Christmas; that someone's love is the greatest present of all. All of this, from a one-hour episode of Elmo's World!
