Elmo's Christmas Countdown is a made-for-TV Christmas Special starring Elmo and told by Stiller the Elf (voiced by Ben Stiller). It aired on December 23, 2007 and was released on DVD the following year. In the special, Stiller tells the story of how Christmas almost didn't happen. He recalls the time Oscar The Grouch had been selected as the one with the most Christmas joy and was presented with the official Christmas Counter-Downer, a device used to count down to Christmas which cannot happen without the countdown. When Oscar throws away the device and loses the numbers to count down to Christmas, Elmo must jump in to help. It received a book adaptation that has a brand new plot.
Tropes:
- Accidentally Broke the MacGuffin: Ate, in this case. The #1 box had a cookie inside it, causing Cookie Monster, who is obsessed with cookies, to eat the Christmas Counter-Downer whole, leaving the journey All for Nothing.
- Adaptation Deviation: In the book version, "Mr. Elf" (the renamed Stiller the Elf) falls out of Santa's sleigh and loses the boxes from the Christmas Counter-Downer. Elmo wishes on a star for a miracle after promising Mr. Elf to help and the other characters arrive with the boxes. Afterwards, the #1 box is found when Stiller trips over the box and the Counter-Downer is a success as it is not eaten by Cookie Monster.
- Adapted Out: None of the segments appear in the book version for obvious reasons. Stan the snowball doesn't appear either.
- All for Nothing: After the Christmas Counter-Downer is complete, the final box has a Christmas cookie, which leads Cookie Monster to eat it before it can release its magic and let Christmas begin.
- Framing Device: The special is framed by Stiller recalling the events at Santa's place.
- The Grinch: Oscar as usual. But according to the corporate research Stiller the Elf is using, he's the one with the most Christmas spirit, so he gives him the Counter-Downer — despite Elmo's warnings that the info may not be reliable.
- Lighter and Softer: When you compare it to its predecessor Elmo Saves Christmas; Christmas may need saving again, but there's no Bad Future for Sesame Street that needs to be undone.
- Ludicrous Gift Request: The eighth box has a music video featuring Big Bird and Anne Hathaway singing about how they want a Snuffleupagus for Christmas (in a rewrite of Gayla Peevy's 1953 novelty song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas").
- Running Gag: Three of the boxes contain news updates by reindeer newscaster Charles Blitzen (voiced by Charles Gibson, host of ABC's nighttime newscast at the time) warning that Christmas is threatened, causing mass hysteria around the world — and he's thoroughly blaming Stiller the Elf for the disaster.
