In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The plot's a little thin, but Elmo's Magic Cookbook doesn't rely on using previously produced clips as much as some Sesame Street straight-to-video releases. Instead, it uses the clips to tie together cooking segments where the kids make some easy food dishes with supervision from a Muppet genie that came from the titular magic cookbook, Alan ('zapped' over from Hooper's Store for his appearance), and the celebrity guests.For the adults, the video has a couple of great running gags and two celebrity appearances -- Emeril Legasse, who makes pizza with the kids and talks about where cheese comes from, and singer Heather Headley, who teaches the kids about pocket foods and makes a summer roll for Elmo to try.