Product Details

• Actors: Anneliese van der Pol, Debi Mazar
• Directors: Sesame Workshop
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shalom Sesame
• DVD Release Date: October 5, 2010
• Run Time: 28 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003VE9WR4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,681 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

It's time to celebrate Chanukah in Israel! Grover's bringing the latkes and all is well until Anneliese gets caught in a game of tag with a chicken and loses her special menorah! Can her Muppet friends find the missing menorah in time to celebrate Chanukah? Starring Anneliese Van Der Pol and Guest Appearance by Debi Mazar.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! Incredibly well done!, December 5, 2010

By 

LawyerMom (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: New Shalom Sesame #2: Chanukah - The Missing (DVD)

We saw this film during Chanukah at a special screening for JCC members. In fact, it was the first movie that my 4 year old daughter ever saw in a theatre. It was AMAZING! The story relates the themes of Chanukah with the cast and set of Rechov Sum Sum ("Sesame Street" in Hebrew) only entirely in English. There were a lot of new characters and puppets that were unfamiliar, particularly the actual humans, but there were some familiar ones too -- Grover, Baby Bear, Telly. The film spliced in Israeli children talking about the story of Chanukah and the traditions associated with it, much like the American Sesame Street format.

The Count played his music organ to find out the number of the day (like in the American version), but I loved that as he hit the keys and counted the numbers in English, the organ pipes would sing the Hebrew numerical equivalent (achat, schtayim, shalosh, arbah.....all the way to 8-shemoneh--the obvious number of the day). The cartoon really illustrated the Chanukah story incredibly well and was very witty. I loved that Judah Maccabee asked for extra absorbent paper towels to help clean the temple. But what was really lovely about it was that it related how the oil lasted for 8 days.....UNTIL more oil could be brought to the Temple--something that people sometimes omit when telling the story. I mean, what is so special about the fact that it lasted for 8 days specifically unless you explain that later part? And the other really special thing in the cartoon was when Judah Maccabee looked at the lamp on the 8th day, and said: "Wow, the lamp is still burning! That must mean..." He paused, looked out the window, and finished "It's a Chanukah miracle!" I felt that this pause and subtle glance upwards and out the window allowed for families to tell their children that he was acknowledging G-d; but without actually verbalizing it, it allows for less religious or mixed families to not specifically push the religious aspect of the holiday. That's really important to me, because I know that there are a lot of Jewish families that want to impart some of their traditions and teachings to their kids but feel uncomfortable with a lot of existing Jewish books and materials because it feels overly Zionistic, religious, or missionary--something that doesn't really reflect their actual Jewish lives or practices. It's also a great film to show to non-Jewish kids if you want to make a lesson out of explaining aspects of the holiday in a secular school setting.

There was a cute sketch of "Extreme Home Makeover: Temple Edition". That was good for a few laughs from the adults. And I loved the little video of the boy who went to a kibbutz/farm? to actually pick olives and make olive oil using a large stone press (and a donkey!) the same way that the Maccabees used to in their time. Then he took that olive oil and lit his menorah at home with it. That was really neat and really brought the custom to life for me. I think that was my favorite scene of all.

As you can see, I cannot rave enough about this movie. I was surprised I like it so much. And my daughter enjoyed it too. I immediately bought this DVD and then signed up for the entire Shalom Sesame series in the lobby of the theatre after the screening was over. I recommend it to you too.

If you found this review helpful, please let me know!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great intro to Channukah, January 5, 2011

By 

S. Abramovich "abramovs" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Shalom Sesame #2: Chanukah - The Missing (DVD)

Some of the clips are not Hanukkah related and others are re-used from other Sesame Street episodes.

But if you are looking for a very well done Jewish themed television show for children then you can't do any better! My 4-year-old daughter has declared this one of her favorite videos and we regularly play this even though Hanukkah is over!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My kids LOVE this DVD!, December 23, 2010

By 

Wandering Hoosier "dog lover" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: New Shalom Sesame #2: Chanukah - The Missing (DVD)

My children LOVE the Shalom Sesame Missing Menorah DVD (and I like watching it too)! The DVD teaches children the background of Channukah and interesting facts, such as how to make oil. It shows scenes from Israel and even uses a few Hebrew words. The regular Sesame Street characters appear in the show and its format is similar to the regular Sesame Street programs.

My preschool-age children have seen the DVD over twenty times, even though we have only had the DVD for two weeks, and they love it. In fact, they are mesmarized by it! They laugh at all the jokes and seem interested in the educational content. I cannot recommend this video enough.