Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.