A Sesame Street Christmas Carol - DVD Review for Parents

Don't Expect It to Be Anything Like the Dickens Version

MPAA Rating: NA
Genre: Childrens/Christmas
Runtime: Approx. 45 minutes

A twist on the Dickens classic, A Sesame Street Christmas Carol relates a tale about Oscar the Grouch and how he finds something to like about Christmas.

Oscar is visited by three ghosts: The Ghost of Christmas past, a famous British Grouch; The Ghost of Christmas Present, a cheery talking Christmas tree; and The Ghost of Christmas Future, a floating robot. The ghosts show Oscar various films to help him find the Christmas Spirit, and the films feature many beloved Sesame Street characters.

I think I expected too much from this one. I had visions of Oscar playing the part of Scrooge, and Elmo being Bob Cratchit or Tiny Tim. But alas, the only Dickens-like characters in this show are the ghosts.

The story seems to be straining to fit the movie's title; the first ghost is interesting, but the other two are lame; and Oscar doesn't seem to really learn anything at all. The three ghosts do have very heart-warming and pertinent messages about Christmas, though. The Ghost of Christmas Past shares an especially sweet Bert and Ernie clip about friendship and sacrifice.

Overall, the DVD does have a good message, and kids will like seeing their favorite Sesame Street characters in a new holiday special. (Although, Happy Holidays From Sesame Street! features kids' favorite characters in a collection of three holiday DVDs which are a lot more fun and have the exact same heart-warming stories.)