The Grinch (2000)
Does the full length live action movie of Dr. Seuss’s famous holiday hater hold up after almost 25 years?
Brief Backstory
Thought the Grinch’s antics were only allowed on television? Not according to Ron Howard and Universal. Ending the year 2000 with a visit from the Grinch on the big screen, Jim Carrey headed the role with Anthony Hopkins narrating the classic tale of the strange man who scorned Christmas.
Unfortunately, this adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s classic tale was subjected to some raspberry awards (thankfully none of them were won), but nonetheless, the Grinch (aka How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000) manages to still be a yearly tradition amongst the many who have seen it and continues to remain as a cult favorite.
Story
A hermit, named the Grinch, living north of Whoville is encouraged to come down and join the Whobilation. The bully mayor though ticks him off in malicious intent, and because of this, the Grinch thinks Christmas is just nothing but an excuse for getting stuff, so he decides to get greedy and steal everything.
Random Facts
The Grinch looks more like a big cat in this one and is overall just more of a maniac.
The name of the movie is How the Grinch Stole Christmas however I always call it the Grinch which was the working title I believe.
Unlike the cartoon, the Grinch is more of a tragic character like Vader was in the original trilogy.
Out of the two 2000s Dr. Seuss live action movies, this is the only one that audiences have said is worth watching in comparison. The Cat in the Hat fucked everything up.
The Whos seem to like Christmas a little too much.
Random Opinions
First DVD I had along with I think the Emperor’s New Groove and Recess School’s Out.
Blame Cindy Lou for ruining Christmas? The mayor did that; ruined the poor guy’s reputation and proposed to Martha in FRONT of him.
The original tale of How the Grinch Stole Christmas was a criticism of commercialization, which I think the live action movie does a better job of doing of the criticism than the cartoon did to some extent.
Contrary to the Grinch, calling it avarice (synonym for greed) to want things isn’t exactly true unless it’s resorting to crime, harming others financially, and/or actions that are heavily looked down on such as stealing, scalping/price gouging, cheating on taxes, scamming, unethically being rich, hijacking, and poaching. Collecting (unless you do it by crime and/or unethical means) and earning aren’t exactly being greedy.
Furthermore the Grinch is one hell of a hypocrite by stealing everything after screaming at everyone and accusing them of being greedy.
I view Christmas more of a time of food. Blame the scene from Mickey’s Christmas Carol with the food of generosity scene.
Going by rankings from my Disney reviews, I’d put this one around the same quality as the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the original Rescuers.
The fudge and who pudding at the Whobilation looks good; I’ve always associated Christmas with sweet homemade foods such as pies, cookies, fudge, etc. especially which reminds me, I might spend some time throwing random fudge and pudding recipes up here just for shits and giggles.
Pros
- Jim Carrey’s performance is one of my favorites. He just annihilates the competition.
- Keeps in line with the craziness of the Dr. Seuss world.
- The steampunk fantasy style fits the Grinch’s world.
- Great soundtrack by James Horner though I’d expect no less from the same man who composed soundtracks for some of Don Bluth’s classics and An American Tail Fievel goes West.
- Although the Grinch is technically a villain, the Mayor of Whoville ends up being a greater threat since he bullies the Grinch one too many times and pretty much causes the Grinch to go insane and raid the town.
- This movie is unbelievably hilarious. It’s like the Simpsons met Dr. Seuss.
Cons
- Cindy Lou knows who the Grinch is. Unless she’s just playing along and letting the Grinch get away with it, she’s beyond idiotic in that part.
- Some of the backstory should’ve been cut. We only needed to know why the Grinch hated Christmas in the first place.
- Some of the scenes such as the part where the Grinch chases the sleigh before it goes off the cliff doesn’t seem as intense (in the animated one it looks like it’s already about to fall off!) whereas here it’s just moving too slowly. The clip where you see a candy cane fall off is about the closest it gets to falling.
- I can’t watch the Grinch being fed pudding, fruitcake, and fudge without being hungry. It’s just like the Ninja Turtles cartoon from the 80s and how they eat pizza so often.
Rating: 8/10 – Great
Overall a good retelling of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but I wouldn’t rank it as high as the original cartoon.
For anyone wondering, I still prefer this over A Christmas Story and Elf.
Leave a Reply