How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

On the outskirts of Whoville lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans to ruin Christmas for all of the citizens of the town.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Dr. Seuss (book), Jeffrey Price (screenplay)

Stars:

Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Kelley

Won 1 Oscar. Another 17 wins & 37 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Carrey	...	Grinch
Taylor Momsen	...	Cindy Lou Who
Kelley	...	Max
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Mayor Augustus Maywho
Christine Baranski	...	Martha May Whovier
Bill Irwin	...	Lou Lou Who
Molly Shannon	...	Betty Lou Who
Clint Howard	...	Whobris
Josh Ryan Evans	...	8-Year-Old Grinch
Mindy Sterling	...	Clarnella
Rachel Winfree	...	Rose
Rance Howard	...	Elderly Timekeeper
Jeremy Howard	...	Drew Lou Who
T.J. Thyne	...	Stu Lou Who
Lacey Kohl	...	Christina Whoterberry

Storyline

Inside a snowflake exists the magical land of Whoville, wherein live the Whos, an almost-mutated sort of Munchkin-like people who all love Christmas. Just outside of their beloved town lives the Grinch (Jim Carrey), a nasty creature that hates Christmas and plans to steal it from the Whos, which he equally abhors. Little Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) decides to befriend the Grinch.

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Plot Keywords:

the grinch | dr. seuss' how the grinch stole christmas | christmas | dog | dr seuss | 

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Taglines:

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some crude humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rance Howard: An old timekeeper who gets his liquor taken by the Grinch, who uses it to burn the town's giant Christmas tree.

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Goofs

An overview shot of The Grinch building the sled reveals the camera's shadow.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Inside a snowflake like the one on your sleeve, there happened a story you must see to believe.

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Crazy Credits

Near the end of the Imagine Entertainment logo, snow begins to fall, the snow continues to fall even after the words "Imagine Entertainment" fade away.

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Alternate Versions

Included on the DVD release of the film are some deleted and extended scenes. One is an extended version of the Grinch wreaking havoc in Whoville by using a marble, which causes a domino effect. Another is a scene where Lou Lou Who is called into a parent-teacher conference because Cindy Lou Who wanted to do a report on the Grinch. A final scene reveals that the tree the Grinch cut out from the floor is the Whoville police officer. The officer comes downstairs sleepwalking and the Grinch locks him in the linen closet.

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Hannibal (2019)

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Soundtracks

Christmas Dreaming
Written by I Found God
Produced by Stress
Performed by I Found God

User Reviews

Visually good but really carried by Jim Carrey

In the land of Whoville everyone loves Christmas and count down the whole year until that wonderful time. However just outside Whoville lives the Grinch, a green hairy twisted creature that hates, and always has hated, Christmas and was rejected by the Who's as a child. A young girl from Whoville sets out to befriend the Grinch and help him find his love of Christmas but, when it goes wrong early on, the Grinch becomes even more rotten and plans to ruin it for everyone.

I have never read the book or seen the original animated version of this story, but I do enjoy a bit of Dr Seuss and was worried about how such imagination would be filled out on the screen. The film actually manages it very well and the whole film has the look of the books, even if it lacks soul at times. The plot is stretched out to the running time and could have easily been shorter and punchier, but at heart it is a good little moral that is good from Christmas time.

However, aside from the look of the film, the main reason that the film works is Jim Carrey. I cannot think of another actor who could have pulled off this role as well as he did. He is manic and really funny although I imagine that if you dislike him and his antics that you'd hate the film totally. I'm on the fence about him but I did enjoy him here. Momsen is OK but really just a `cute kid' and, while the support cast has quite a few famous faces, they don't make much of an impact under the makeup and the film is left to Carrey to save it - which he happily does.

Overall this film is a little too long and padded out, but while Carrey is onscreen it seems to go pretty fast due to his hyper acting and comedy antics. However, it's Christmas and it has a nice message while not totally giving in to syrupy sentiment (thanks again to manic Carrey) and it's just perfect for kids and adults at Christmas time.

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Filming Locations:

Stage 16, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$123,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$55,082,330, 19 November 2000

Gross USA:

$260,465,005

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$363,597,184

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, LUNI Productions GmbH and Company KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 110 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS DTS (DTS: X)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1