Elmo Saves Christmas ( special ) Elmo Saves Christmas is a " Sesame Street " Christmas special which originally aired on PBS in 1996 , and was released to VHS that same year . It was released on DVD in 1997 . Plot . Everyone on Sesame Street is preparing for the holidays on Christmas Eve . Elmo plans to stay up all night on Christmas Eve to see Santa Claus descend from the chimney . He falls asleep , but is awakened when Santa is stuck . Elmo nobly pulls Santa out , where they discern the cause of the extra mass - - a stowaway reindeer - in - training named Lightning . In gratitude , Santa offers Elmo a gift : a pink bear , or a magical snowglobe . He wants the pink bear at first , but then chooses the latter when Santa mentions the snowglobe will grant him three wishes , and Lightning recommends it . In order to use its power , Elmo has to shake the snowglobe , make a wish , and say " Blitzen " . To test it , Elmo uses his first wish to obtain a glass of water . Santa tells him he could wish for anything , but to not waste the rest . On Christmas Day , the excitement , joy , and happiness everyone experiences inspires Elmo , and he wishes that Christmas was every day . At first , everyone is thrilled about it being Christmas again , thanks to a news report given by Kermit the Frog . Elmo thinks it ' s a wonderful wish , until Santa thinks otherwise and returns to convince Elmo otherwise . He gives Lightning to him and instructs them to visit the future and see how Christmas every day is a not a great idea . Elmo sees Big Bird mope over the fact that Snuffy is in Cincinnati , spending Christmas with his grandmother for a whole year , Maria and Luis get crabby over the Fix - It Shop being closed all year , everyone gets annoyed at " It ' s a Wonderful Life " always playing on television , and general unhappiness is evident . Also , the elves are annoyed at their continued work shift , and slack off on the job , producing a cow - bunny combination called the " Moo - Bunny " . Other holidays , especially Easter and Independence Day , aren ' t as fun anymore either . Also , obviously , the only Sesame Street resident who likes Christmas every day is Oscar the Grouch because he loves to see all the broken toasters piled up by the Fix - It Shop , a whole lot of trash piled up by his trash can and that there ' s nothing on television but " It ' s a Wonderful Life " . He says it ' s a " bah , humbug " Christmas every day . A year after that first fateful Christmas , Count von Count has had enough of counting Christmas days , all the stores , especially the Fix - It Shop , have gone out of business , all the carolers ( including Bob ) have lost their voices from singing so much , Christmas trees have become endangered species , Big Bird is crying over missing Snuffy for a whole year , and even Santa is about to retire from his job ( thus moving to Florida ) . That ' s when Elmo realizes " if everyday was Christmas , there wouldn ' t be Christmas at all . " Guilty and realizing that wish was all his fault , he decides to use his third and last wish to undo his second [ though it was originally for rollerblades ] , but he shakes the snowglobe too much , causing it to fly from his hands and smash into dust among hitting the ground before he can make the wish . All looks lost , and everyone else sadly leaves , until Elmo suggests that Lightning could fly him back in time to the starting Christmas Eve . He does and Elmo decides to pass on the snowglobe and take the pink bear , that is until Santa offers him the Moo - Bunny instead . 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 standing near the Fix - it - Shop alone and sad . He is brightened up when he sees Snuffy who tells him that instead of him going to Cincinnati to spend Christmas with his grandmother , she actually came to Sesame Street . They join the others in the arbor around the big Christmas tree to sing " Keep Christmas With You All Through the Year " . Characters . Muppets : Background Muppets : Humans : Cast . With Special Guest Stars Child Talent