Holiday Primer

Holiday traditions are weird.  You are born into a family and naturally accept whatever customs they practice because it happens every year since the moment you are born.  No time to question or wonder. These traditions are just a part of life.  So, when two people of different backgrounds meet for the first, there can be a culture clash.  And what better time of year to observe this holiday mashup than December?

In the special, Elmo's World: Happy Holidays, Elmo is excited because everyone on Sesame Street is gearing up for Christmas.  But he soon learns that Christmas is not the only holiday in town (although, judging by the presentation, it is clear that Christmas dominates the collective consciousness).

Christmas is all of the holidays, right?

With the help of his new friend, Mail Carrier Kelly Ripa, Elmo learns about the various practices of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and a few others.  The Christmas portion takes the longest, as we see various elements, like the Noodle family decorating a tree, a groups of carolers singing various Christmas songs, and Prairie Dawn's Nativity pageant.

As with most Sesame Street Pageants, many errors and slip-ups occur.  Cookie brings cookies instead of myrrh, Bert gets into a sneezing fit thanks to the manger's hay, and the casting choice of active Baby Natasha results in a missing Baby Jesus.  Somehow, it warms my heart that for some children, this was their first experience with the story of the Nativity.

At least they remembered that the Virgin Mary is blue.

After watching this play, Elmo realizes that Christmas is one big birthday party, hence all the gift-giving.  He decides that he needs to give his goldfish Dorothy a great gift, but he has trouble thinking of something good.  Unfortunately, Mail Carrier Kelly only serves to distract him from his goal by delivering a letter from the Savitzky family who are celebrating Hanukkah.

Mail Carrier Kelly represents the War on Christmas.

Elmo learns about the menorah and the story of Judah Maccabee and the segment finishes up with an epic round of dreidel between Telly and the Jewish Bear Family.  And now we know everything we need to know about Hanukkah!

Up next is our Kwanzaa segment.  Kwanzaa, being the African-American holiday devoted to celebrating achievements through the Seven Principles (Unity, Self-Determination, Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith), is best represented by this:

After hearing about all of these holidays (and several others which are glossed over in a brief montage), Elmo decides that all of these holidays are actually the same.  They all involve family, love, gifts, and candles.  That certainly simplifies things.  And speaking of gifts, Elmo still needs a present for Dorothy!  So he stops by the North Pole to ask Santa himself for assistance.  (This is all in Elmo's imagination, so he can do this easily.)  Santa applauds Elmo for going to such great lengths for his friend rather than for himself and (after a brief song) tells Elmo to get Dorothy something from the heart.

Well, obviously Santa.  You're no help at all!

Elmo knows exactly what to get her and since she's just a goldfish, she loves it (or at least has nothing bad to say about it)!

 And so, Elmo learned all about the various holidays, but, being a child brought up on Christmas, he is sure to forget them all until the next holiday special.

*      *      *

This special was also adapted into a stage show at the Sesame Place theme park, and although many of the same clips are shown, there is a bizarre section in which Santa Claus is the one who teaches Elmo the story of Hanukkah.

Just like that episode of Friends, "The One With the Holiday Armadillo"

Hopefully this didn't confuse children too much.  Although the section where they all blew out the candles of the menorah like a birthday cake will probably make for some awkward moments at later gatherings.

All About Elmo

The Top Ten Sesame Street Song Countdown continues with a simple yet significant song.  You may love it, you may hate it, but there's no denying that nothing is quite like...

9. Elmo's Song - Elmo, Big Bird, and Snuffy

The force that is Elmo did not occur overnight.  The character slowly built his presence on the street over a couple of years, edging his way into the spotlight gradually and confidently.  But if we were to pinpoint a pivotal moment in Elmo's career, it would be "Elmo's Song."

Elmo speaks in the third person.  While this was intended to be a sign of his youth and innocence, it also works as a sign of Elmo's solipsism.  The world revolves around Elmo.  He is the most important creature in the universe.  He is the ultimate being.

In this scene, Elmo has written a little jingle that lacks thought-provoking lyrics and only comments on the fact that Elmo has written a song.  But he hasn't just written any song.  He has written "Elmo's Song," the song to replace all other songs.  When his friends are depressed for lacking a song of their own, the great Elmo graciously lends them his song.  But while it may be "Big Bird's Song" or "Snuffy's Song" temporarily, it is always "Elmo's Song."

After all, he wrote the music.  He wrote the words.

This song quickly became Elmo's main theme music and an adapted version of it was used to introduce the "Elmo's World" segments of the 21st Century.  Right, one half of each Sesame Street was devoted to Elmo.  And he didn't just have a street.  He owned the world!

Time to take over the world! Ahahaha!

This song merely hints at the path Sesame Street would take at the dawn of the new millennium.  Elmo is not a monster to be trifled with.  He has laid his claim to all of music and has won over trusted friends, lulling them into a false sense of security.  By participating in his charade, Big Bird has lost the power he once held.  His era is over.  There's a new kid on the block.

Forget it, Big Bird.  It's Elmo's Town.

Random Muppet #2: The Birthday Cake

On the Muppet Wiki, there is a "Random Muppet" button which sends you to the page of one of the thousands of Muppets in existence.   I will press the button and discuss the importance of the Muppet that comes up, no matter how obscure.  No skips.  No redos.  This is the Random Muppet Challenge.

Random Muppet #2: The Birthday Cake

A sentient, sexually-ambiguous, floating cake with an unintentional death wish.

Performer:  Fran Brill/Joey Mazzarino

Muppet Universe of Origin:  Sesame Street

Most Significant Appearance:  Sesame Street, February 2, 2001, "Episode 3940"

In the recurring "Elmo's World" segments that began taking up a third of each Sesame Street episode in recent years, Elmo would choose a topic and ask questions about it without relenting for about 20 minutes.  He would interview various authorities on the subject, or present little clips that related to the subject in some way.  It was the television equivalent of a toddler tugging at your pant leg and asking "Why?" after every single thing you said.

One day, Elmo became really excited about birthdays, so he set out to explain the concept to all the viewers at home.  And while everyone in the world has the experience of being born, Elmo managed to book some abstract guests for his show, namely a birthday cake.  The cake only appears for two lines and then Elmo's short attention span causes him to get distracted by something else.

 

If you managed to make it to the birthday cake's appearance, you'll notice that it only had one noteworthy piece of wisdom when Elmo asks what its life is like:

Birthday Cake: "It's a piece of cake"

And that's it. The birthday cake floats on to spread advice and icing throughout the land.

Why Is He/She the Best Muppet?

Imagine the life of a birthday cake. Prepared with tender care, the birthday cake is treated very delicately, dressed up and decorated, quite possibly the prettiest of all foods. You are assigned a dangerous but revered task of carrying one or more burning torches, like an Olympian. When you are brought out to meet the public for the first time, the crowd erupts in a song of delight. Everyone focuses on you as you are presented to the guest of honor. They blow out your torches, you grant them a wish, and the ceremony is complete.

All sentient food in the land of the Muppets is aware of their imminent demise. They choose to accept or ignore their short lifespan and instead sing and be merry. But this birthday cake is actually treated with class and respect. It doesn't sing because it genuinely believes it will have a long rich life. The way everybody treats it, how could it not think that it is the center of the universe?

As soon as the knife is injected to make the first slice, realization hits and death is mere seconds away. But the cake has no reason to expect any harm. All other food is eaten along with other food. On the dinner plate, food helplessly watches as their brethren are eaten. In the fridge, food trembles in fear, awaiting the day they are either selected for consumption or met with expiration. The birthday cake lives it's entire life in solitude. It doesn't interact with other food, as it is often hidden from the birthday guest. The cake, for all intents and purposes, is untouchable.

The birthday cake appears again in a segment explaining the word "scrumptious." This time, it has a manlier voice, so it is unclear whether or not this is the same cake from Elmo's World. Either way, the cake has the perspective that all cakes have, unaware of the truth.

"Attractive celebrity" Jessica Alba presents various food items she finds scrumptious. Her final choice is the birthday cake, who in turn agrees that Alba is also "scrumptious."

They are both scrumptious, in very different ways.

This birthday cake clearly doesn't realize that scrumptious has two meanings. He/she believes Alba is complimenting his/her good looks and attractiveness. Alba laughs and plays along, but she knows that cake is not meant for this world very much longer.

Is it better or worse to be ignorant of ones mortality? The birthday cake lives its entire life in bliss. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Is there even an answer?

Life is not a piece of cake. Unless it is.