Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas is a Sesame Street Christmas Special that first aired on HBO in 2016.
On Christmas Eve, Elmo wonders why people leave cookies out for Santa Claus. His dad Louie spins a bedtime story about Sesame Street a couple of centuries back, where Elmo and his friends' ancestors brought kindness to Sesame Street.
Features appearances by Audra McDonald, Zosia Mamet, and Jim Gaffigan.
The special provides examples of:
- Book Ends: The special opens outside 123 Sesame Street on Christmas Eve with Big Bird in the background preparing his nest for Santa's arrival; the special's last shot is the same exterior of 123 Sesame Street, and Big Bird is fast asleep.
- The Cameo: Leslie Carrara-Ruloph, Abby's performer, appears as a singer during "Holiday Lights."
- Crapsack World: Back in time, Sesame Street was deemed so unfriendly that not only Santa Claus would avoid it, but Oscar (a Grouch) is deemed the nicest guy around by comparison.
- Crowd Song: The special opens with the majority of Sesame Street residents singing "Holiday Lights".
- Framing Device: The special is framed by Louie telling the story to Elmo at bedtime on Christmas Eve.
- Generation Xerox: Somewhat; all the 19th century ancestors have the same names (save for Oscar the Malcontent) and minor physical differences.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: The special ends with Elmo going to sleep and Louie kissing him goodnight. The final shot as the credits appear also show Big Bird asleep in his nest in the background.
- Identical Grandson: The Muppets' ancestors in the past bear rather uncanny resemblances to how they appear in the here-and-now, even sharing the exact names of them.
- It Will Never Catch On: Santa tells Cookie Monster that he's writing a song called "C is for..." and can't think of the rest. Cookie proposes "C is for Cookie," but Santa thinks it's not a good fit.
- Musical Nod: A few bars of "C is for Cookie" play when Santa Claus scarfs down the cookies left out by Elmo.
- Token Good Teammate: Aside from Elmo, Grover and Big Bird's ancestors are the nicest out of the others, and team up with Elmo to spread kindness to the street.
- You Mean "Xmas": Instead of Christmas, Grouches apparently celebrate "Crankymas."
