By Anton Massopust III
“All the Who’s down in Whoville love Christmas! But the Grinch who lives just north of Whoville did not!”
That’s the beginning of one of the most famous Christmas stories ever written. One of the most famous children authors of all time Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss “Ted” Geisel). He wrote some of the most famous children’s stories of all time including “The Cat in the Hat”, “The Sneeches”, “Green Eggs and Ham”, and of course, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. He helped thousands of children learn to read with his works of literature. Of course, these stories were made into television specials and movies.
I will look at all three versions of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
The original, if you’ve never seen it, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” animated TV special, won an Emmy and a Grammy award. The Grinch believed that Christmas would come without all the Christmas cheer, presents, etc. We know in love he disguises himself as Santa Claus and using his dog, Max as a reindeer makes his way down to Whoville from the mountains and steals everybody’s Christmas presents, their trees and every piece of Christmas cheer in order to destroy it. At the top of a mountain. when the Grinch realizes the Christmas does not come from the store or from a box or from the Christmas tree – it comes from the love that’s inside us all of us. Dr. Seuss wrote the story about commercialism in 1957. When he wrote the story on how commercialism has infected Christmas, the Grinch was just one of those personas that Dr. Suess had.
The 1966 animated special featured Boris Karloff who both narrated and performed the voice of the Grinch. Warner Brothers famous voice actress June Forey voiced Cindy Lou Who and Thurl Ravenscroft (who voiced Tony the Tiger) sings the famous “You’re Mean One, Mr. Grinch”.
The 2000 Live Action Movie, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” featured Jim Carrey as the Grinch. This version isn’t too bad. It is a little bit too dark, but Jim Carrey is so funny in it. He added lots of great jokes. The look of the film is a little weird, but I think that the costumes really make up for it. It’s a lot better than any of the other live action film versions of Dr. Seuss that were made later on (such as “The Cat in the Hat”.
They concentrate a little too long on other aspects of the Who’s and the backstory of the Grinch. Remember, the book is only a few pages long.
My biggest complaint about the animated 2018 Benedict Cumberbatch version is that Cumberbatch does not use his English accent which takes away from it. It takes away from Cumberbatch, who is a wonderful actor. The animation is fine. There are a lot of gags added that are not really needed a give no dimension to the Who’s, especially Little Cindy Lou Who, who is turned into “a supergirl” who jumps around doing crazy stunts.
This version is okay with beautiful colors that make you feel like Christmas, but there was no real reason for its existence. There is a rap version of “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” sung by Tyler, the Creator.
I think there are good things in both animated versions, but the original version by the great animator Chuck Jones is the one to go for. Chuck Jones brought back the Grinch into other sequels or prequels: “Halloween is Grinch Night” and “The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat.”
Merry Christmas!
