How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
Classic Christmas Heist.
Brief Backstory
Dr. Seuss is one of the very first men and women to come to mind for children’s fiction and why not? With a horde of hot sellers from a hat wearing cat getting cake all over a dress then all over the rest of the house to an outbreak of Oobleck, Dr. Seuss has made a name for himself. Dr. Seuss would also (around the same time the Cat in the Hat was written I believe) create a tale of a greedy monster named the Grinch who attempted to take Christmas for himself. Nearly a decade later, Chuck Jones’s animation department at MGM started doing retellings of some of Dr. Seuss’s tales, most famously, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Nearly 60 years after airing, this has become just as timeless as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and is often seen every year.
Story
50+ years of agonizing noise and constant tranquility amongst the Whos sends the greedy and heartless Grinch attempting to stop Christmas from actually happening. Despite the raid, Christmas still comes.
Random Facts
The guy singing the Mr. Grinch song must really hate the Grinch.
As you might guess, just about everyone I know has seen this. My parents, my siblings, etc. I believe this was the only 2D cartoon that dad actually might’ve seen years ago – if any.
Shown on Home Alone 1 and 2 and parodied numerous times, such as in Family Guy where two occasions involved Joe fighting the Grinch and Lois plagiarizing the Grinch’s moves a very long time later. Other references are seen in Last Exit to Springfield (The Simpsons), Cartmanland (South Park).
Some home video copies from the late 90s and early 2000s have the Grinch colored more yellowish presumably due to the film print.
The Grinch is the only Christmas cartoon character to make it on TV Guide’s best cartoon characters (which is actually a pretty shitty list – how come Batman and Bobby Hill are so low on that list and Angelica Pickles is so high up?). Check the whole list and be disturbed: https://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/30/cartoon.characters.list/
Aired 3 days after Walt Disney died from cancer. Damn.
100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Random Opinions
I’d have more of a problem with the Grinch taking my food than anything else.
Who hash can mean many things but I thought it was referring to canned hash browns or corned beef hash (which is amazing; I like to add sausage to the corned beef hash).
As a kid I thought the Grinch was scary. He sneaks in houses and steals everyone’s shit!!
The Grinch getting stuck in the chimney is much scarier than it was in the live action adaptation. Hell the whole cartoon’s way scarier.
Halo 2 must’ve taken inspiration from the electro who-cardio floox.
Pros
- Boris Karloff does a great narration job.
- You’re a Mean one Mr. Grinch – well he sure as HELL is.
- Unlike the 2000 and 2018 Grinches, this one is more evil looking and acting.
- The Grinch is one of the greatest Christmas animated villains of all time going up there with Professor Hinkle.
- One I’ve always loved from Dr. Seuss was the insane Alice in Wonderland styled set pieces.
Cons
- I was never keen on some scenes being completely reused. It’s not like Disney where those were movies going an average hour and 15 minutes.
Rating: 9/10 – Amazing
While I wouldn’t certify 100% on this one, it’s still one of the absolute best Christmas cartoons of all time. If you haven’t seen it before, go see it.
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