A grumpy hermit hatches a plan to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.
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Title: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV Movie 1966)
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Storyline
Bitter and hateful, the Grinch is irritated at the thought of the nearby village having a happy time celebrating Christmas. So disguised as Santa Claus, with his dog made to look like a reindeer, he raids the village to steal all the Christmas things. The village is sure to have a sad Christmas this year. Written by Anonymous
Plot Keywords:
generosity | christmas special | change of heart | christmas | compassion |Taglines:
The fabled story world of DR. SEUSS comes to television for the first time in this colorful special for the whole family!Parents Guide:
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Narrator: Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville - did not. The Grinch hated Christmas - the whole Christmas season. Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all... may have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But, whatever the reason, his heart or his ...
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(1966) (uncredited)
Lyrics by Dr. Seuss
Music by Albert Hague
Conducted by Eugene Poddany
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Cynthia "Cindy" Lou Who's role was moved down, which broke Charlie Martin Jones' heart. See more »Goofs
When the camera pans away from the Grinch and the Whos at the dinner table, one of the diners' pink beard switches to brown, and then back again. See more »Quotes
[first lines]Narrator: Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville - did not. The Grinch hated Christmas - the whole Christmas season. Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all... may have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But, whatever the reason, his heart or his ...
See more »
Crazy Credits
Thurl Ravenscroft received no screen credit for his singing, an oversight Dr. Seuss attempted to rectify by sending letters to every major columnist in America identifying Ravenscroft as the singer on "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". He is also part of the chorus on the other two songs. See more »Alternate Versions
In 1994, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas!" was shown on TNT as an hour long special with a "behind-the-scenes" documentary that followed immediately after the end of the cartoon. This version was not available after the host, Phil Hartman, was murdered. The 30min documentary is available on the DVD. See more »Soundtracks
Welcome Christmas (Flashback)(1966) (uncredited)
Lyrics by Dr. Seuss
Music by Albert Hague
Conducted by Eugene Poddany
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
18 December 1966 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! See more »Company Credits
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I know that I will catch a lot of heat for saying this, but this is the ONLY version of Dr. Seuss' tale that you should bother to watch. That's because it closely follows the book (with, of course, songs added for this Christmas special) and the moral of the original tale is preserved (that the Whos don't really NEED presents and they are truly filled with the Christmas spirit). Years ago, an abomination arrived in movie theaters and parents dutifully took their kids to see it--and it was a total bastardization of the story. This time, the moral is completely changed and the Whos are selfish jerks who are 100% commercially-oriented and annoying!! And, to make things worse, since it's only a short story, it's horribly padded by allowing Jim Carrey to shamelessly overact. My advice is stick to the original!
Why is this original telling so great? Well, much of it is because the quality of the animation is very good and Chuck Jones had a wonderfully devilish quality about the Grinch that makes the character come to life. And, with the terrific voice talent of Boris Karloff (who is PERFECT for the role), you can't help but love this rogue! For the special, Seuss wrote some great songs--particularly the Grinch song that was so perfectly sung by Thurl Ravenscroft. You can't help but adore this film from start to finish--it's about as well-made as any Christmas production and is a definite must-see in my home.
UPDATE: When I wrote this in 2008, the other version was the hellishly bad Jim Carrey live action film. So, when I said that this cartoon is the only version to watch, I didn't know they'd one day make a CGI version that was actually quite good. Is it as good as this cartoon? No way...but it is respectably good and is also well worth your time.