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| Written by | John Rox |
| Date | 1950 |
| Publisher | Edwin H. Morris & Co. Inc. |
"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" is a novelty Christmas song popularized in a 1953 recording by 10-year-old Gayla Peevey. The Oklahoma City Zoo used the song as part of a campaign to raise money to purchase a hippo. A baby hippo named Matilda was purchased as a Christmas present for Peevey, who in turn donated it to the zoo.
Elmo sings "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" on the album Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites.
Anne Hathaway and Big Bird sang the song in Elmo's Christmas Countdown, replacing "Hippopotamus" with "Snuffleupagus".
