I walk by a house with the Dr. Seuss character “The Grinch” in front of it. He is a mean-looking creature. When Dr. Seuss created him, he made the perfect villain. He is ugly, uncaring and has a particularly nasty attitude. I’m sure you know people like this. I have had co-workers like this. But, just like the Grinch, if you can penetrate that outer offensive shell, you may find a fearful, lonely person underneath. It is always easier to take things at face value, no matter how much your feelings are hurt. The difficult work is finding the true person, the one lurking beneath all the misery. Some of the characters in Whoville do find the true Grinch. We need to let them be our guides to find people’s true personalities. It is only then that we can experience the true meaning of Christmas.
History
The first use of the word “grinch” in a work by Dr. Seuss appears in the 1953 book “Scrambled Eggs Super!” about Peter T. Hooper, a boy who collects eggs from a number of exotic birds to make scrambled eggs. One of these exotic birds is the "Beagle-Beaked-Bald-Headed Grinch" who looks like a real sourpuss.
The name later appeared in the May 1955 issue of Redbook in a 32-line poem called "The Hoobub and the Grinch." This version bears virtually no resemblance to the later character other than name, instead being a fast-talking salesman in the vein of Sylvester McMonkey McBean from “The Sneetches” and the Once-ler from Seuss's later book “The Lorax.” "The Hoobub and the Grinch" would be republished as part of the posthumous anthology “Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories” in 2014, in which the illustration draws this Grinch far differently.
The Grinch in his best-known incarnation made his book debut in the 1957 story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss, published as both a Random House book and in an issue of Redbook magazine. In 1966, the story was adapted into an animated television featurette of the same name, which was directed by Chuck Jones and included the song "You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” Boris Karloff serves as both the story's narrator and the voice of the Grinch, but the song was sung by Thurl Ravenscroft, as Karloff could not sing.
In 1977, Seuss responded to the fan request for more Grinch tales by writing “Halloween Is Grinch Night.” The Grinch is voiced by Hans Conried. This was followed in 1982, when Marvel green-lit “The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat,” a TV film co-starring The Cat in the Hat. The Grinch is voiced by Bob Holt. The special was produced by Dr. Seuss — though under his real name, Ted Geisel. Although not as successful as the original, the two films both received Emmy Awards.
Several episodes of the 1996 Nick Jr. television show “The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss” feature the Grinch, this time in puppet form. He was performed and voiced by Anthony Asbury from Season 1 in 1996 to Season 2 in 1998.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” — also known as “Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and simply “The Grinch” — is a 2000 American Christmas fantasy comedy film directed by Ron Howard and written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. Based on Dr. Seuss’s 1957 book of the same name, it was the first Dr. Seuss book to be adapted into a full-length feature film. The film is narrated by Anthony Hopkins and stars Jim Carrey in the title role along with Taylor Momsen, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin and Molly Shannon in supporting roles.
Because the film is based on a children's picture book, many additions were made to the storyline in order to bring it up to feature-length, including some information about the backstory of the title character and reworking the story's minor character Cindy Lou Who as a main character. Most of the rhymes that were used in the book were also used in the film, though some of the lines were to some degree changed and several new rhymes were put in. The film also borrowed some music and character elements that originated in the 1966 animated television special, such as the song "You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and the Grinch's green skin tone.
Produced by Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” was released by Universal Pictures in the United States on November 17, 2000. The film grossed over $345 million worldwide, becoming the sixth-highest grossing film of 2000 and was originally the second highest-grossing holiday film of all-time behind “Home Alone” in 1990, until both films were surpassed in 2018 by the third adaptation of the story. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup as well as getting nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
Plot
All the Whos of Whoville enjoy celebrating Christmas. The Grinch arrives in Whoville as a baby, adopted by two elderly women. He was a timid child who had a crush on Martha May Whovier, one of the prettiest girls in his school, who showed empathy towards him. Bully Augustus MayWho, however, was jealous that Martha liked the Grinch more than him and began to mock him for having a beard. Because of this, on the day of the school's Christmas party, the Grinch cut his face while attempting to shave, to which his classmates — except Martha — laughed at him and caused the Grinch to lose his temper and declare that he hates Christmas. He fled to the top of Mount Crumpit, north of Whoville, where he then took up residence.
Years later, nobody liked the Grinch because of his mean-spiritedness, especially at Christmastime. But six-year-old Cindy Lou Who believes that everyone is missing the point about Christmas by focusing too much on the gifts and festivities and too little on the personal relationships. She encounters the Grinch at the post office and later discovers his tragic past.
Cindy nominates the Grinch to be the town's "Holiday Cheermeister," much to the displeasure of Augustus MayWho, who is now the mayor of Whoville. Cindy climbs to Mount Crumpit to invite the Grinch to the celebration and he eventually accepts. As Cheermeister, the Grinch participates in several events and begins to have fun, but Mayor MayWho spoils everything by giving him an electric razor as a present reminding him of his childhood humiliation. The Mayor then publicly proposes marriage to Martha, giving her a gaudy engagement ring. Enraged, the Grinch berates the Whos for their materialism by telling them that Christmas is only about gifts that they will end up throwing in the garbage, which is dumped on Mount Crumpit near his home. He burns down the tree (the Whos, however have a spare) and goes on a rampage before returning home to Mt. Crumpit.
Finally fed up with the Whos' Christmas, the Grinch concocts a plan to crush the Whos' Christmas spirit by stealing all of their presents, decorations and food while they're sleeping. He disguises himself as Santa Claus and dresses his dog Max as a reindeer, then descends into Whoville. The first house he enters is Cindy's, and he lies to Cindy when she catches him stealing their tree, allowing him to escape. The Grinch continues stealing all of the gifts, decorations and food and stuffing them all in a large sack, before climbing back to the top of Mt. Crumpit to destroy it all by pushing the sack off the side. When the Whos wake up on Christmas morning, they are horrified to discover the theft, and Mayor MayWho blames Cindy for letting the Grinch ruin the holidays for the town. However, her cheerful father, town postmaster Lou Lou Who, comes to his daughter's defense by explaining to the mayor and all of the other Whos that he has finally figured out what Cindy has been trying to tell the whole town — Christmas is mainly about being together with family and friends, not just gifts and fancy decorations. The Whos agree with Lou and start singing Whoville's Christmas carol.
Before the Grinch can push the sack of stolen gifts off the top of Mount Crumpit, he hears the Whos singing and realizes that he has failed to prevent Christmas, but then has an epiphany and finally realizes the true meaning of Christmas, causing his heart to grow three sizes. The sleigh full of gifts then begins to slide over the edge of the cliff along with Cindy, who had come to spend Christmas with him. The Grinch gets the strength to lift the loaded sleigh and carry Cindy to safety, and they ride down the mountain to return everything.
The Grinch tearfully apologizes for his pranks and the burglary before surrendering himself to the police, who accepts his apology and deny the mayor's request to arrest and pepper spray the Grinch. Martha even turns down his proposal and returns his engagement ring to him, declaring that her heart belongs to the Grinch. Afterwards, the redeemed Grinch joins in the Whos' celebration feast and carves the roast beast himself in his cave.
Production
Before his death in 1991, Dr. Seuss had refused offers to sell the film rights to his books. However, his widow Audrey Geisel, agreed to several merchandising deals, including clothing lines, accessories and CDs. In July 1998, Geisel's agents announced via letter she would auction the film rights of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” In order to pitch their ideas to Geisel, the suitors ultimately had to be willing to pay $5 million for the material and hand over 4 percent of the box-office gross, 50 percent of the merchandising revenue and music-related material and 70 percent of the income from book tie-ins. The letter also stated that "any actor submitted for the Grinch must be of comparable stature to Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman." Additionally, it was stipulated that the estate would not consider a director or writer who had not earned at least $1 million on a previous picture.
20th Century Fox pitched its version with director Tom Shadyac and producers Dave Phillips and John Davis in attendance, in which Nicholson was in mind to play the Grinch. Additionally, the Farrelly brothers and John Hughes pitched their own separate versions. Universal Pictures held its pitch presentation with Brian Grazer and Gary Ross in attendance, but Geisel refused each offer. Grazer then enlisted his producing partner Ron Howard to help with the negotiations. At the time, Howard was developing a film adaptation of “The Sea-Wolf,” and, despite being an avid fan of the animated special, did not express interest in “Grinch” but Grazer talked Howard into traveling to Geisel's residence for the pitch meeting. While studying the book, Howard became interested in the character Cindy Lou Who and pitched a film in which she would have a larger role as well as a materialistic representation of the Whos and an expanded backstory of the Grinch.
On September 16, 1998, it was announced that Howard would direct and co-produce a live-action adaptation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with Jim Carrey attached to star. It was also reported that Universal Pictures, who had acquired the distribution rights, paid $9 million for the film rights for an adaptation of “Grinch” and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” to Geisel. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman — both of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Doc Hollywood” fame — wrote the final screenplay following eight drafts, but Geisel also had veto power over the script. She objected to several jokes and sexual innuendos in the screenplay, including one about a family who did not have a Christmas tree or presents jokingly called the "Who-steins" and the placement of a stuffed trophy of the Cat in the Hat on the Grinch's wall. Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer — who were also writers on the television series “Seinfeld” — did an uncredited rewrite of the script.
The film was shot between September 1999 and January 2000. Geisel visited the set in October 1999. Much of the Whoville set was constructed on the backlot of Universal Studios behind the Bates Motel set from “Psycho.” Rick Baker was hired to design and create the film's prosthetic makeup for Carrey and the rest of the cast. It took a number of tests — and ultimately, Carrey admiring a photo of Baker in his first test makeup — for the decision to use Baker's original makeup design. The Grinch suit was covered in yak hair, dyed green and sewed onto a spandex suit. The application of the makeup took up to 8 and a half hours, after which a frustrated Carrey kicked a hole in the wall of his trailer. Carrey's makeup artist Kazu Hiro recounted, "On set, [Carrey] was really mean to everybody, and at the beginning of the production they couldn't finish. After two weeks we only could finish three days' worth of shooting schedule, because suddenly he would just disappear and when he came back, everything was ripped apart. We couldn't shoot anything." Kazu Hiro left the production until Baker and Howard had a discussion with Carrey on how important Kazu Hiro was to the production. Carrey agreed to keep his anger in check and Kazu Hiro returned to his role. Meanwhile, Josh Ryan Evans — who played the 8-year-old Grinch — wore the same style of makeup and bodysuit that Carrey wore. In total, Carrey spent 92 days in the Grinch makeup and became adept at remaining calm while sitting in the make-up chair. Most of the appliances the actors wore were noses that connected to an upper lip along with a few dentures, ears and wigs.
A video game based on the film, simply entitled “The Grinch”, was released on several consoles and PC in the same year. It was followed in 2007 by the release of the Nintendo DS title “Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”
The Grinch was portrayed on the stage when the story was turned into a 1994 musical by the Children's Theater Company out of Minneapolis. The show made it to Broadway by way of a limited run in 2006. Icelandic actor Stefán Karl Stefánsson portrayed the Grinch in the touring production of the musical from 2008 to 2015. The Grinch is also a minor character in the 2000 musical “Seussical,” which is based on multiple Seuss works.
The Grinch's story was adapted for a 2018 animated film by Illumination Entertainment, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the title character.
On Wednesday, December 9, 2020, NBC aired the holiday live production, “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical Live!” based on the Broadway stage musical. Booboo Stewart plays young Max, Amelia Minto plays Cindy Lou Who, Denis O’Hare plays old Max and Matthew Morrison stars as the Grinch. The musical includes songs from the original musical, such as "You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”
Character description
The Grinch is depicted as a hairy, pot-bellied, pear-shaped, snub-nosed creature with a cat-like face and cynical personality. In full-color adaptations, he is typically colored avocado green. He has spent the past 53 years living in seclusion on a cliff, overlooking the town of Whoville.
In contrast to the cheerful Whos, the Grinch is misanthropic and mean-tempered. The reason for this is a source of speculation; the consensus among the Whos is that he was born with a heart that is "two sizes too small." He especially hates the Christmas season, making particular note of how disturbing the various noises of Christmas time are to him, including the singing of Christmas carols.
The Grinch is still portrayed as a bitter and ill-tempered character in artwork or other media. In both the animated TV special and the 2000 live-action film, he is shown to have superhuman strength when he stops an entire sleigh loaded with presents from going over a cliff and lifts it over his head, and he is also described as "[finding] the strength of ten Grinches plus two" — a phrase lifted from the original book — during that moment of crisis. In the 2018 film, the Grinch has assistance saving all the Whos' stolen goods. Cardiologist David Kass suggested that the rapid growth of the Grinch's heart at the end of the story indicates that the Grinch has the physiology of a Burmese python.
In popular culture
The Grinch has become an anti-icon of Christmas and the winter holidays, as a symbol of those who despise the holiday, much in the same nature as the earlier character of Ebenezer Scrooge. Over the years, the Grinch has appeared on various forms of memorabilia such as Christmas ornaments, plush dolls and various clothing items. The grumpy, anti-holiday spirit of the character has led to the everyday term "Grinch" coming to refer to a person opposed to Christmastime celebrations or to someone with a coarse, greedy attitude. In 2002, TV Guide ranked The Grinch number 5 on its "50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" list.
He also made a brief appearance on the television in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”
In the early hours of Christmas Eve 2018, a group of climbers put a giant Santa hat on Antony Cormley’s colossal “Angel of the North” statue near Gateshead, north England. They had attempted to do this, unsuccessfully, for several Christmases. In the early hours of December 29, the pranksters returned — one of them dressed as the Grinch and the others as Santa Claus — and the Grinch "stole" Santa's hat.
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