One of a handful of essential, "must-see"
animated Christmas classics, How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a Dr.
Seuss holiday masterpiece. Created in 1966 on the heels of the
phenomenal success surrounding such TV specials as A Charlie Brown
Christmas (1965) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), the
Grinch has morphed into a sacred annual Christmas rite perfect for
any child from one to ninety-two. The narration and singing voice of
Boris Karloff breathes life into the 1955 Dr. Seuss tale of a dark
and miserly heart’s redemption, thus revealing the true meaning of
Christmas. Based on Charles Dickens’ literary classic A Christmas
Carol, it creates a uniquely memorable caricature of the Scrooge
personality we’ve come to know so well…
How The Grinch Stole Christmas follows the life of a lumbering green
cave monster with a heart seven-sizes-too-small. Living with his dog
in a mountaintop retreat high above the town of Whoville, the Grinch
(voiced by Karloff) hates all the Whos, but what he hates worst of
all is their incessant happiness and celebration come Christmas. So
the Grinch, smiling his evil Grinch grin, hatches a plan to steal
Christmas. Fashioning crude reindeer horns for his dog and a Santa
suit for himself, the Grinch drives a makeshift sleigh down into
Whoville while the Whos lie sleeping on Christmas Eve. He steals
their lights, their ribbons, and their bows. He steals their boxes,
packages, and bags. He steals wreathes and Christmas trees and even
their Roast Beast – why that evil Grinch even stole the Who hash!
And the only thing he left behind was a crumb far too small for even
a mouse... But when the Grinch is caught by the most innocent of
Whos, his master plan begins to unravel. He discovers that Christmas
isn’t quite what he thought it was. In fact, Christmas might be a
whole lot more. But with the trimmings of Christmas hanging in the
lurch, what the Grinch finds out about himself just might be the key
to saving all of Christmas for the Whos…
Created under the direction of Chuck Jones,
the famed creator of such Warner Brothers characters as the Road
Runner, Wile E. Coyote, and Pepe Le Pew, How The Grinch Stole
Christmas is a masterful production with stellar voice-overs,
imaginatively drawn characters, and Boris Karloff’s impressive
narration. In fact, the facial expressions and movements of the
Grinch mimic Wile E. Coyote in numerous ways. Several songs
interspersed throughout the story, such as the song “You’re A Mean
One, Mr. Grinch,” have become holiday classics in-and-of themselves.
In a nutshell, no celebration of the Christmas holiday is truly
complete without at least one viewing of this brilliant cartoon…
