Santa's Little Helper the show in minor appearances, although there have been some episodes that feature him heavily, including the first episode of "The Simpsons". In that episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (season one, 1989), Homer discovers that he has no money to buy Christmas presents for the family. Desperate for a miracle, he and Bart go to the greyhound racing track on Christmas Eve in hopes of winning some money. Although Homer has inside information on which dog is the most likely to win, he instead bets on a last-minute entry, Santa's Little Helper (here despite being brown), believing the
Santa Claus and the Magic Drum go and show it to the master elf. At the same time odd things are happening around Santa's village, and strange accidents follow Santa. The peculiar events are traced back to a shaman with a powerful magic drum. At the end of the movie the shaman explains that he sent the mysterious letter as a child, and the drawing is him dressed as an elf because he wanted to be Santa's little Christmas helper. By accident the letter was not delivered to Santa, and as years passed and Santa did not reply, Vekara became begrudged. After both sides of the