Trivia
The scene where the Grinch is directing his dog, Max (Kelley), before stealing Christmas, is Jim Carrey making fun of producer and director Ron Howard, imitating his style of directing. Howard found the scene hilarious and decided to include it in this movie.
According to Rick Baker, the prosthetic make-up Jim Carrey wore took about two hours to apply and one hour to remove. Jim Carrey revealed in The Graham Norton Show that he felt so confined and uncomfortable in the latex skin that he sought counselling from a CIA agent who taught him torture-resistance techniques.
The line "6:30 p.m. Dinner with me. I can't cancel that again." was improvised by Jim Carrey.
Jim Carrey spent ninety-two days in Grinch make-up, spending two hours in the morning getting in, and one hour in the evening to get out. According to Carrey, he became a "Zen Master" while sitting in the make-up chair.
In the final scene, Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) passes Max (Kelley) a plate of "Green Eggs and Ham", in reference to Dr. Suess' book published on August 12, 1960.
The Whoville set was built mostly on the backlot of Universal Studios behind the Bates Motel. During a break in filming, Jim Carrey surprised and scared tourists on the Universal Backlot Tour by running out of the hotel wearing a dress and brandishing a knife. Nobody recognized him, and the tour guide at Universal Studios will tell you the story when you pass by the hotel on the Backlot Tour.
Jim Carrey's Grinch suit is covered in yak hair, which was dyed green and sewn onto a spandex suit.
Producer and director Ron Howard was so thankful for Jim Carrey putting up with the uncomfortable hours to apply his make-up that during filming he put on the Grinch suit with full make-up and directed one day with the suit on. He intended this to be a show of appreciation to Carrey. However, when Carrey saw Howard in full Grinch outfit, he was angered, believing it was a stunt double who "looked nothing like him."
When the Grinch pulls the sheet off of the table, all of the silverware was scripted to fall off. Jim Carrey pulled the sheet off so well that he improvised and went back to push the silverware off.
The jewels in Martha May's hair when she is explaining the Grinch's backstory is from the tree topper that the young Grinch made for Martha.
Sir Anthony Hopkins recorded all of the narration for this movie in one day.
Jim Carrey's yellow contact lenses were so uncomfortable that he wasn't able to wear them at times during filming. Some shots of his eyes were colored in post-production.
Jim Carrey was suggested for the title role by Audrey Geisel, the widow of Dr. Seuss who controlled the rights to the book. She also suggested Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, and Robin Williams.
The original Grinch was not green. Like everything else in the book, he was black and white with some red and pink splotches, but producer and director Ron Howard wanted this movie to also be an adaptation of the 1966 TV special.
Jim Carrey, with no accompaniment nor anything to alter his voice, sang a few verses of the signature song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" which had the lyrics written by Dr. Seuss himself.
No movie, other than this, has featured so many characters in heavy make-up and costumes since The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Jim Carrey's accent in The Grinch is based off Sean Connery.
Actors and actresses went to Who-School with a choreographer, learning how to move and be comfortable being a Who.
Audrey Geisel came to the set of Man on the Moon (1999) to see if Jim Carrey was right to play the Grinch. He was so deep into the character of Andy Kaufman, however, he had to essentially do an impression of himself doing an impression of the Grinch, and that was what got him the gig.
Jim Carrey accepted the role of The Grinch when he heard a tape of a kid's choir singing the song "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch".
Suss Cousins, a Los Angeles-based sweater designer (whose first name is pronounced just like Dr. Seuss), along with two other knitters, produced 250 pieces of original knitwear for this movie (including eight identical red-striped sweaters for Jim Carrey) in four months. That works out to 83.3 sweaters per person in just 120 days, which is quite amazing, as all were hand-knitted.
Everything in this movie revolves around a swirl, like the original drawings of the book. This includes the clouds. In several scenes, the initials "C.H.", "J.C.", and "R.H." briefly form as the clouds move. They stand for Clint Howard, Jim Carrey, and Ron Howard.
Jeremy Howard (Drew Lou Who) shaved off his eyebrows for the duration of production, to help cut make-up time in half.
The Grinch (Jim Carrey) is the only character who breaks the fourth wall in this movie. He actively tries to avoid speaking in rhyme and even interacts with the narrator (Sir Anthony Hopkins).
The photo of the Grinch in the Whoville newspaper has the Grinch in the same pose as an infamous alleged photo taken of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, from the Patterson Gimlin movie. Another Christmas movie, Elf (2003), similarly featured its main character, Buddy the Elf, walking near Central Park and mimicking the walking style of Bigfoot/Sasquatch.
Jim Carrey admitted to feeling ashamed for not trying to prevent some of the adult humor in this movie, and has repeatedly stated that all of the jokes he ad-libbed were age-appropriate. He then found out that producer and director Ron Howard had removed many other jokes that were even raunchier, but had to keep some of it due to what they both claim as "studio interference".
In the original adaptation of the Grinch, his main dislike of Christmas is due to the loud noise and extreme gluttony. However, for this movie, an extensive backstory was created to explain why he hates Christmas.
Many Cirque du Soleil performers were used for the more acrobatic tricks and stunts in the movie. They can be spotted in the beginning as some of the Whos in the parade.
Jim Carrey actually contorts his face muscles to get the Grinch's sinister grin, it isn't prosthetic.
The first time he tried on the Grinch makeup, Jim Carrey was so uncomfortable that he kicked a hole in the wall and told Ron Howard that he couldn't play the role. He compared the experience to being buried alive.
Author Dr. Seuss (Theodore Seuss Geisel) and (after his death) his widow had been approached previously to authorize a live-action version of the story. But Seuss was unhappy with his previous live-action effort, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953), and turned down any such proposals. But then, after the success of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, Mrs. Geisel saw the potential of a live-action interpretation.
After The Grinch leaves Whoville for the second time, the camera pans up and a statue of an elephant can be seen, in reference to "Horton Hears a Who", also by Dr. Seuss. Jim Carrey voiced Horton in Horton Hears a Who! (2008).
The town of Whoville was left intact on the Universal Studios backlot when filming wrapped, though all the decorations were removed. It can still be seen on the Universal Studio Tour, though its bright colors have long since faded due to sun exposure over time.
Audrey Geisel had veto power over the final script for the film. She objected to several elements, notably jokes aimed at mature audiences. She also objected to the inclusion of a Who family with no Christmas decorations known as The Who-steins (the implication being that the family was Jewish) as well as a stuffed trophy head of the Cat in the Hat being included in the Grinch's lair.
When the Grinch was sucking up all of the presents at the Lous' house, there is a goldfish in a bowl, a reference to Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat.
Some statistics: Make-up appliances used during production: approximately eight thousand. Props created for this movie: over three hundred - Number of ornaments: over eight thousand. Number of candy canes: one thousand nine hundred thirty-eight. Crushed marble used for snow on Who suburbs exterior sets: one hundred fifty-two thousand pounds. Outfits created by wardrobe: four hundred forty-three. Number of sound stages used: eleven. Make-up artists used on busiest days: forty-five. Styrofoam used to build sets: two million linear feet (or six miles, if it was cut into standard board length).
Producer and director Ron Howard's family showed up in several spots in the movie: his father, Rance, was the Elderly Timekeeper Who that shouted "Put him in the Chair of Cheer!" His daughter, Jocelyn, showed up as the young redheaded Who in the quick shot after the Grinch turned the lights in Whoville back on. His wife, Cheryl, can be seen holding hands with the Elder Who when all of the Whos gather around the tree, and his brother, Clint, played Whobris, the Mayor's Assistant. Another "Howard", Jeremy, appeared as Dru Lou Who, although he is of no relation to the other Howards involved with this movie.
During the 2000 holiday season, a licensing agreement between Universal Studios and the U. S. Postal Service allowed mail to be postmarked "Happy Who-lidays".
The actual time it took to apply Jim Carrey's Grinch makeup was around 2 hours and 15 minutes (despite Carrey's claim that it took 8). Makeup artist Kazu Hiro is very vocal about his difficult experience working with Carrey. "Onset, [Carrey] was really mean to everybody and at the beginning of the production they couldn't finish," Hiro said. "After two weeks we only could finish three days' worth of shooting schedule, because suddenly he would just disappear and when he came back, everything was ripped apart. We couldn't shoot anything." Things escalated to the point where Hiro had to leave the production for a few days until director Ron Howard called him back promising that Carrey would keep his temper in check. Hiro returned to production to continue applying Carrey's makeup but cited it as the worst experience of his life and one of the reasons why he initially retired from the film business.
Cinematographer Donald Peterman's final movie before his death in 2011. He was unable to shoot any more, due to the injuries he sustained in an accident on the set of Mighty Joe Young (1998). He found it difficult working on this movie, due to the after-effects of his injuries, and by the end of shooting, much of his work had been taken over by his son, second unit cinematographer Keith Peterman.
Jim Carrey would smoke often in order to cope with the stress caused by his intense makeup (which he compared to being buried alive). However, as his suit was covered in flammable yak hair, he had to use a very long cigarette holder in order to avoid a potential fire hazard.
When the Grinch drove the little car, when he was destroying Christmas, Jim Carrey said that it was really hard to drive and it took him forever to get the feel of the car.
When Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) is discussing how the aunts got the Grinch, Clarnella (Mindy Sterling) says it was during one of their parties. You can see through the window that there is a lot of adult activity going on, and at the end the aunts are putting keys in a glass jar. This is a nod to a key party or swinger party. Obviously an adult only joke that kids would not get.
Max was originally going to be a CGI dog to give him comical expressions much like in the 1966 animated short.
For a while, Tim Burton was considering to direct, but could not due to a conflict with another movie.
This movie was dedicated to Jean Speegle Howard who was Clint Howard and Ron Howard's mother, who loved Christmas the most.
Martha May Whovier's (Christine Baranski's) nose appears to be sculpted to look more human, giving her a more attractive appearance when compared to the other Who women.
Approximately six hundred visual effects were used in this movie, totalling forty-three minutes of screentime.
The song which is played over the credits, "Where are you Christmas?", was written by Mariah Carey and performed by Faith Hill. Carey was initially set to release her recording of the song but due to a legal dispute between herself and her ex-husband Tommy Mottola, who was also the chairman of Carey's label at the time, she was unable to do so. Hill was then brought in to re-record the song. Carey still retained songwriting credit while Hill retained producing credit.
Final theatrical movie of Josh Ryan Evans (8-Year-Old Grinch) before he sadly passed away in 2002 at the age of 20.
Costume designer Rita Ryack had a bit of fun in designing different Whos, amongst them was a Chanel-Who, and a Prada-Who.
During shooting, more than one thousand man hours were used to apply the extensive make-up on the actors and actresses.
The same song playing during the Christmas sack race was in another Jim Carrey movie, Bruce Almighty (2003), when he does the report about the largest cookie and says "cue the cheesy music".
When the Grinch is hating The Who's alphabetically, there is a telescope in the background with a fake green leg. The leg has lace on it, similar to the leg lamp in A Christmas Story (1983).
Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) and the children in the Grinch's (Jim Carrey's) class don't have the same nose as the adult Whos. It is mentioned later by Mayor Augustus MayWho (Jeffrey Tambor) that Who children eventually "grow into" their noses.
Max, the male dog, was played by Kelley, a female dog.
Cindy Lou Who has actual egg nog on her head when she nominated the Grinch. It even spills slightly in a shot.
When Cindy Lou goes to visit the aunts Clarnella and Rose, there is a map of Whoville to Mt. Crumpit. This was taken directly from the original book by Dr. Seuss.
Jim Carrey stated on The Graham Norton Show (2007), season sixteen, episode eleven, "Jim Carrey/Jeff Daniels/Jude Law/Tamsin Greig/Nicole Scherzinger", that the only thing that helped him endure the hours of being in the make-up chair was listening to everything that the Bee Gees had done.
The real Santa Claus is shown for a total of five seconds in this movie. The Grinch and Max are the only ones who see him, since all of the Whos are asleep.
Mt. Crumpit and Whoville are based on two real-life locations, just north of Dr. Seuss' hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts. Mt. Crumpit is based on Mt. Tom, a one thousand two hundred two-foot peak, that overlooks the town of Easthampton, just as the Grinch's mountain overlooks Whoville.
According to the set designers, Medieval, Moroccan, and Islamic influences were used as architectural references in the books.
Dutch Angle shots were used in the movie ( a tilt on the cameras roll axis). It makes some of the shots look like the room/set is swaying. As an observation only, it makes the sets appear as it would if you refer to "Horton Hears A Who" - Whoville is a village inside of a clover flower that Horton found in a meadow. If they live in a flower, the wind would create a similar affect to the town.
The Navy cap the Grinch (Jim Carrey) wears when pretending to be the producer and director Ron Howard with Max (Kelley) reads "W.S.S. Whoville WVN-70".
The movie was originally going to be shot on a greenscreen stage, with CGI sets added in post-production.
The casting of Sir Anthony Hopkins as the narrator mirrors the casting of the horror genre great Boris Karloff in How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966), in that Hopkins had a career revival in the Hannibal Lecter film franchise.
When the Grinch's heart begins to grow, it hurts his chest and he falls to the ground and wounds his hand. He turns back and forth between his two injuries, mimicking a similar gag from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) in which Ace takes a spear to each leg.
Eddie Murphy visited the set in full makeup and costume as Sherman Klump because Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) was being shot nearby. He got a picture taken with Jim Carrey in full Grinch makeup and costume. Oscar-winning makeup master Rick Baker worked on both films for both actors.
Despite the fact that their characters were in the same class as kids, Jim Carrey is considerably younger than the actors playing his former classmates. Christine Baranski (Martha May Whovier, the Grinch's love interest) is ten years older, and Jeffrey Tambor (Mayor Augustus MayWho, the Grinch's archrival) is eighteen years older.
Due to the time-consuming nature of applying Jim Carrey's Grinch make-up, he arranged to have packages delivered to his dressing room instead of his actual house.
Despite living with the Grinch (Jim Carrey), Max (Kelley) has a lot of Christmas spirit. Max is shown secretly dancing to Christmas music while the Grinch is away.
The Grinch's only real victim while he is stealing Christmas is a fluffy white cat that he accidentally sucked up with a vacuum while stealing presents from a house. The cat survives.
On a 2001 VHS release, the film was originally stated to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA at the end of the tape, as possibly from its original theatrical release. This, however, was dropped from the DVD releases since MPAA confirmed this film to be rated PG.
Jeffrey Tambor (Mayor Augustus Maywho) appeared in the Brian Grazer production Arrested Development (2003), narrated by Ron Howard.
Taylor Momsen (Cindy Lou Who) became one of the leading rock singers and songwriters of the 2010s, fronting the band "The Pretty Reckless".
The Grinch actually steals "visions of sugarplums" dancing in the head of a Who child, an allusion to the classic Christmas poem, "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore.
When the Grinch (Jim Carrey) is trying to drown out the noise of the Whos singing, he hits his head, right before using the giant monkey bashing the cymbals, and he says, "Owie!" He says the same thing, in the same tone, as he says it in Liar Liar (1997), when he bangs his head against the bathroom wall while standing at the urinal, trying to think of a way to get the case postponed. In fact Liar Liar (1997) was released and also made by Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.
In the post office scene, Martha May Whovier's mail box, filled with Christmas ornaments, is right next to the Grinch's empty box.
Jim Carrey (The Grinch) played another Christmas-hating character, Ebenezer Scrooge, in Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009). Happily, both characters become kind and generous at the end of their respective movies.
At around 32:00, when the Grinch is brooding outside his cave, there is a telescope beside him and one leg of the tripod is a green mannequin leg with fishnets
The American Humane Association monitored the animal action. No animals were harmed. Scenes appearing to place animals in jeopardy were simulated.
Jim Carrey was one of the very few actors to play two Christmas hating characters, as he went on to play Scrooge in Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009). Like the Grinch, Scrooge repents and becomes the opposite of what he was for much of the movie.
Voice actress June Foray (the voice of Cindy Lou in the original cartoon) expressed her dislike for the film in her autobiography "Did You Grow Up With Me Too?". She wrote that she went to see the film, but Chuck Jones was unable to attend due to his poor health. After seeing the film, she commented that she was glad that Jones didn't get to see it. Believing that the film would've "finished him off".
The longer theatrical trailer was narrated by Percy Rodrigues.
The Grinch's dog, Max, has the same name as Jim Carrey's son in Liar Liar (1997) which is another movie which was released by Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.
This the second time Jim Carey was in the highest grossing film of the year the first time being batman forever in 1995.
Jim Carrey and Sir Anthony Hopkins were involved in comic book movies. Carrey played The Riddler in Batman Forever (1995) and Colonel Stars and Stripes in Kick-Ass 2 (2013). Hopkins (Narrator) played Odin, Thor's father in Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), and Thor: Ragnarök (2017), and Dr. Edward Bailey in RED 2 (2013).
There is a scene where Jim Carrey as The Grinch drives a very tiny car. This mimics a very similar scene that Jim acted as the character Fire Marshal Bill on a Christmas-themed sketch from In Living Color (1990), also driving a very tiny car with the same posture.
The Grinch has two similarities to Jim Carrey's character Stanley Ipkiss (the Mask) in The Mask (1994). The Grinch and the Mask are green in appearance (although the Mask is only green in the face), and the Grinch and Stanley have dogs, named Max and Milo, respectively.
Cameo
Rance Howard: An old timekeeper who gets his liquor taken by the Grinch, who uses it to burn the town's giant Christmas tree.
Gavin Grazer: The yodeller who gets nabbed, and clothes stolen by the Grinch.
John Alexander: One of the shopping Whos during the opening scene.
Jeremy Howard: Drew Lou Who, one of the children of Lou and Betty Lou Who.
Clayton Martinez: A cook Who during the Cheermister celebration.
