The 2000 animated television program "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" portrays the events depicted in the song, though made for children; the cartoon is toned down a bit, so that Grandma survives. Moreover, Santa is actually innocent of the crime, which was instead masterminded by scheming relative Cousin Mel, who is mentioned briefly in the song but made into a gold-digging villainness in the special. Elmo Shropshire narrates the special and voices Grandpa. The special is a staple of Cartoon Network's holiday programming and airs every holiday season on AMC and The CW (The special originally aired on the WB Network every holiday season until the 2006 merger with UPN to form The CW, where it continues to air today).