Product Details

• Actors: Sesame Street Muppets and the Sesame Street Live Cast
• Directors: Jon Stone
• Producers: Jim Henson & Children's Television Workshop
• Format: VHS, Live, Color, Closed-captioned
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Random House Home Video
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000LKZRBQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,618 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

This Emmy Award-winning musical from 1978 explores an age-old Christmas conundrum: how does a big guy like Santa Claus squeeze down all those narrow chimneys? When Big Bird and his Sesame Street friends set out to find the answer one Christmas Eve, they explore a variety of amusing theories and learn a lot about the meaning of Christmas in the process. You won't want to miss seeing all your favorite Sesame Street characters as they take to the ice at a nearby skating rink. Perhaps the most enjoyable feature of all is the wealth of wonderful music--everything from traditional Christmas songs to the now famous "Keep Christmas with You" by Joe Raposo. Several numbers are signed in American Sign Language and there's even a brief mention of Hanukkah. This 60-minute, classic Sesame Street special, which teaches kids from 2 to 10 to value giving more than receiving and stresses the importance of love and togetherness, is also thoroughly entertaining.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars My 4 year old asked "Where's Elmo?"..., December 23, 2011

By 

Red Xala "~23~" (Minneapolis, MN USA (Earth)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (VHS Tape)

My 4 year old son really enjoyed watching this 1978 Christmas special. However, when he asked me "Where's Elmo?" I started to laugh and I told him that the movie came out before Elmo was born! Also, there was another scene where Cookie Monster ate the typewriter on which he was attempting to type a letter to Santa. Confused, (this time by the contraption that Cookie Monster was destroying), my son pointed and asked "What's that?" It had never occurred to me that in our hi-tech communications world of today, my son would have no concept of the antiquated typewriter. It was an interesting moment that made me feel a little old!

It was truly refreshing to watch a pre-Elmo Sesame Street special. I don't dislike Elmo, but his over saturating and ubiquitous presence can be annoying at times. Moreover, I truly feel that during the era of this film, the Sesame Street writers did a good job of keeping adults entertained as well - similar to today's Pixar projects in some ways - with quips and bits of humor that would "go over" young children's heads. Unfortunately, Sesame Street today probably could not get away with Big Bird referring to Santa Claus as being "fat," or with the caustic nature of the 1970's Oscar the Grouch, without someone complaining to the network.

It was also nice to see Mr. Hooper again - the little Jewish shopkeeper, beloved as much as any of the Muppets of the time. He, along with Bert and Ernie recreate a touching and memorable version of "The Gift of the Magi."

The picture on the front of the VHS version of the film, with Big Bird sitting on a snowy rooftop waiting to see how Santa manages to get down the chimney, is much better than the generic cover picture for the DVD. They should have continued to use the original image.

This truly is a great Christmas special, and a nice piece of nostalgia...I think we'll watch it again tonight!