Elmo, that red furry monster with the high-pitched voice who likes to refer to himself in the third person, is forever a 3-year-old on "Sesame Street." In reality, he just hit three decades.
Elmo celebrates the 30th anniversary of his first "Sesame Street" appearance on Nov. 18, 1985. He may have the syntax of a child, but the monster remains just as marketable today as he was during his "younger" years, such as when he broke record sales with Tickle Me Elmo dolls.
To celebrate our favorite crimson crush, here is a look at some of the sweet moments Elmo has provided us over the years:
Theme song to Elmo's World
La la la la, it's the song that started it all for the monster, in that squeaky voice you either love, or love to hate.
“To think he wrote this alone!” Big Bird exclaims.
Elmo and Norah Jones don’t know Y
Elmo proves to be a great friend when Norah Jones ruminates about why her friend, the letter Y, has failed to show up: “We had great times I won’t forget, spelling words 'Yarn' and 'Yet.' But now that Y has gone away, how I yearn for yesterday."
Kermit And Elmo Discuss Happy And Sad
Elmo wildly vacillates between the two emotions while waiting for Kermit the Frog to finish explaining the differences between them so the pair can finally go play.
Bye Bye Binky
Gordon helps Elmo put down the pacifier once and for all so he can do “more grown-up things,” like go to pre-school and monster sleepovers. Good luck getting this song out of your head.
Celebrity lullaby
Elmo is having a hard time getting to sleep but thankfully Ricky Gervais has stopped by with his guitar to sing “a celebrity lullaby” featuring the letter N. Unfortunately, Elmo and Gervais have differing ideas about what a lullaby should sound like.
Elmo In the Sky
Elmo learns about day and night — and rainbows and constellations. He also gets to dance on the moon, showing the world he knew how to do the Whip long before the Nae Nae was brought to you by the letter “n."
Two heads are better than one
Elmo and Telly head to two-headed monster school to learn how to, well, act like a two-headed beast.
The skin you're in
Lupita Nyong’o teaches Elmo some of the reasons why animals have skin, even if it's beneath lots of red fur.
Her favorite part about skin? It "comes in lots of beautiful shades and colors," she says.