The Grinch | |
---|---|
Grinch character | |
First appearance | How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957) |
Created by | Dr. Seuss |
Designed by | Dr. Seuss |
Portrayed by | |
Voiced by |
|
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Family | Max (pet dog/best friend) Aloysius O'Hare (adoptive father) |
Spouse | Martha May Whovier ( How the Grinch Stole Christmas ) |
The Grinch is a character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. [1] He is best known as the titular main protagonist of the 1957 children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, including Boris Karloff, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, Walter Matthau, Anthony Asbury, Jim Carrey, Rik Mayall, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Morrison, David Howard Thornton, and James Austin Johnson.
The Grinch is depicted as a green, furry, pot-bellied, pear-shaped, snub-nosed humanoid creature with a cat-like face and a cynical personality. In full-color adaptations, he is typically colored green. He has spent the past 53 years living in seclusion on a cliff overlooking the town of Whoville.
In contrast to the cheerful Whos, the Grinch is misanthropic, ill-natured, and mean-tempered. The reason for this is a source of speculation; the consensus among the Whos is that he was born with a heart that they say was "two sizes too small". Though always hateful, he especially hates the Christmas season, making particular note of how disturbing the various elements of Christmas time are to him, including the earsplitting noises of strangely-designed musical instruments, eating Christmas dinner, and singing Christmas carols. Unable to stand the holiday any longer, he decides to destroy it once and for all.
Aided by his pet dog, Max, he meticulously designs a red suit to disguise himself as Santa Claus and breaks into the Whos' homes on Christmas Eve while they sleep to steal everything they own, and dump it off from a nearby mountain. Although he pulls off the theft successfully, on Christmas morning he is shocked to hear the Whos still singing cheerfully, happy simply to have each other. He then realizes that the holiday has a deeper meaning that he never considered. Inspired, he stops the Whos' belongings from falling off the edge of the mountain, and in the process his heart grows "three sizes". He returns all the gifts he stole and gladly takes part in the Whos' Christmas celebration.
The Grinch is still portrayed as a bitter and ill-tempered character in artwork and other media. In both the animated TV special and the 2000 live-action film, he is shown to have superhuman strength when he stops an entire sleigh loaded with presents from going over a cliff and lifts it over his head, and he is also described as "[finding] the strength of ten Grinches plus two" during that moment of crisis. In the 2018 film, the Grinch has assistance saving all the Whos' stolen goods.
With the character's anti-Christmas spirit followed by the transformation on Christmas morning, scholars have noted similarity to Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol . [2] [3] Cardiologist David Kass suggested that the rapid growth of the Grinch's heart at the end of the story indicates that the Grinch has the physiology of a Burmese python. [4]
In Seuss's book, "no one quite knows the reason" for the Grinch's grudge. In contrast, the 2000 film adaptation provides a backstory in his upbringing: abandoned in infancy in Whoville and left in the cold, unnoticed by the revelers at a Christmas party, the Grinch is taken in by two Who women. He proves an unruly schoolboy and is bullied by a schoolmate, Augustus May Who (later Whoville's mayor), but falls for a Who girl named Martha May Whovier. Determined to impress her, he uses various family heirlooms to make an angel Christmas tree-topper for a Christmas gift exchange and vainly attempts to shave. He is mocked for his efforts by everyone at school except Martha and so conceives an abiding resentment. The TV special The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat lays much of the blame on the absence of the Grinch's mother, who had been a positive, nurturing influence on the Grinch in her lifetime but died some time prior; when the Grinch is finally provoked to grieve at the end of that special, he returns to being good.
The first use of the word 'Grinch' in a work by Dr. Seuss appears in the 1953 book Scrambled Eggs Super! (one of the books withdrawn from circulation by the Seuss estate in 2021 [5] ) about Peter T. Hooper, a boy who collects eggs from a number of exotic birds to make scrambled eggs. One of these exotic birds is the "Beagle-Beaked-Bald-Headed Grinch" who shares the later Grinch's cantankerous attitude.
The name later appeared in the May 1955 issue of Redbook in a 32-line poem called, "The Hoobub and the Grinch". This version bears virtually no resemblance to the later character other than name, instead being a fast-talking salesman in the vein of Sylvester McMonkey McBean from The Sneetches and the Once-ler from Seuss's later book The Lorax . [6] "The Hoobub and the Grinch" would be republished as part of the posthumous anthology Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories in 2014, in which the illustration draws this Grinch far differently. [7]
The Grinch, in his best known incarnation, made his book debut in the 1957 story How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss, published as both a Random House book and in an issue of Redbook magazine. In 1966, the story was adapted into an animated television featurette of the same name, which was directed by Chuck Jones and included the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". Boris Karloff serves as both the story's narrator and the voice of the Grinch, but the song was sung by Thurl Ravenscroft, as Karloff could not sing. [8] The Grinch's green color debuted in the television special as a consensus choice among Jones and Seuss, who agreed green was the only choice that made sense. [9]
In 1977, Seuss responded to the fan request for more Grinch tales by writing the animated television special Halloween Is Grinch Night . The Grinch is voiced by Hans Conried. This was followed in 1982, when Marvel green-lit The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat , a TV film co-starring the Cat in the Hat. The Grinch is voiced by Bob Holt. The special was produced by Dr. Seuss (though under his real name, Ted Geisel). Although not as successful as the original, the two films both received Emmy Awards.
Several episodes of the 1996 Nick Jr. Channel television show The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss feature the Grinch as the main antagonist, this time in puppet form. He was performed and voiced by Anthony Asbury from Season 1 (1996) to Season 2 (1998). [10]
A 2000 live-action feature musical comedy film based on the story, directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey as the Grinch, was a major success at the box office. [11] A video game based on the film, simply entitled The Grinch , was released on several consoles and PC in the same year. It was followed in 2007 by the release of the Nintendo DS title Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! .
The Grinch was portrayed on the stage when the story was turned into a 1994 musical by the Children's Theater Company out of Minneapolis. The show made it to Broadway by way of a limited run in 2006. [12] Icelandic actor Stefán Karl Stefánsson portrayed the Grinch in the touring production of the musical from 2008 to 2015. The Grinch is also a minor character in the 2000 musical Seussical , which is based on multiple Seuss works.
The Grinch's story was adapted for a 2018 animated film by Illumination Entertainment, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the title character. [13]
On Wednesday, December 9, 2020, NBC aired the holiday live production, Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live! based on the Broadway stage musical. Booboo Stewart plays young Max, Amelia Minto plays Cindy Lou Who, Denis O'Hare plays old Max and Matthew Morrison stars as the Grinch. The musical includes songs from the original musical, such as "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". [14] [15] [16]
In 2022, XYZ Films produced a horror film interpretation, starring David Howard Thornton as the "Mean One", a spoof of the Grinch character. [17] In this adaption, the titled character became a literal monster that will kill anyone who celebrates Christmas. This leads to an adult, Cindy: who had met the Mean One a long time ago and witnessed him killing her mother, to try to stop his reign of terror and bringing the holiday spirit back to Newville.
In 2023, Outright Games and Casual Brothers Ltd. developed a videogame titled "The Grinch: Christmas Adventure" where you play as both the Grinch and his dog Max as they traverse through 18 levels in Whoville to steal Christmas presents from the Whos, including jigsaw puzzles in order to unlock upgrades.
In many different movies, specials, and television series, the Grinch has been voiced and played by many different characters throughout many films. In Chuck Jones' 1966 television special, the Grinch was voiced by Boris Karloff before he died three years later in 1969. [18] Hans Conried voiced the character in Halloween Is Grinch Night while Bob Holt voiced the character in The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat , a crossover with one of Dr. Seuss' characters The Cat in the Hat.
In an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures , a parody of the Grinch was voiced by Homer Simpson's voice actor Dan Castellaneta. Castellaneta would later work on another Dr. Seuss project in 2003's The Cat in the Hat as the voice of Thing One and Two. Walter Matthau voiced the character in Random House Home Video. The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss also features the Grinch, where he was played by puppeteer Anthony Asbury. In Family Guy , the Grinch appeared as a cameo, being voiced by Wally Wingert.
The Grinch was voiced by Corey Burton in Seuss Landing and Sneech Beach Area. In Ron Howard's 2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas film, the Grinch's first live-action feature, he was played by Jim Carrey. Despite the film having mixed reviews, Carrey's performance as the Grinch was praised by critics. In The Grinch video game, he was voiced by Peter Cugno (uncredited) and Josh Gerhardt. Stefán Karl Stefánsson played the character in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical from 2008 until 2015. The Grinch also appeared as a cameo in Mad , voiced by Stephen Stanton.
The Grinch also appeared as a cameo in Robot Chicken , voiced by the series creator Seth Green. In Universal Pictures and Illumination's feature film The Grinch directed by Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney, he was voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. In the Grinch's third live-action feature, Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live! , he was played by Matthew Morrison. In the horror movie parody of the Grinch, The Mean One , the Grinch was played by David Howard Thornton. [19] In some Capital One commercials, the Grinch was voiced by David Kaye, In some of the Walmart commercials, the Grinch was voiced by Darin De Paul.
The Grinch has become an anti-icon of Christmas and the winter holidays, as a symbol of those who despise the holiday, much in the same nature as the earlier character of Ebenezer Scrooge. Over the years, the Grinch has appeared on various forms of memorabilia such as Christmas ornaments, plush dolls, and various clothing items. [12] The grumpy, anti-holiday spirit of the character has led to the everyday term "Grinch" [27] [28] coming to refer to a person opposed to Christmas time celebrations [29] [30] or to someone with a coarse, greedy attitude. [28] In 2002, TV Guide ranked The Grinch number 5 on its "50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" list. [27]
He also made a brief appearance on the television in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York .
The Grumple is a green monster featured in the Christmas special "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" of The Simpsons. He is a parody of the Grinch and is voiced by Hank Azaria. [31]
In The Fairly OddParents episode, "Merry Wishmas", Timmy Turner, Santa Claus, and the elves watch "How the Grump Stole Wishmas", a parody of the Grinch.
In the season 19 Christmas special of American Dad! , Roger turns into a Grinch-esque monster due to observing 1 year straight of celibacy and proceeds to steal the coital paraphernalia at a sex party. During his thieving rampage, a parody of You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch plays acknowledging that this plot line is, in fact, a parody.
In the early hours of Christmas Eve 2018, a group of climbers put a giant Santa hat on Antony Gormley's colossal Angel of the North statue (20 metres; 66' high, wingspan 54 metres; 177') near Gateshead, north England. They had attempted to do this, unsuccessfully, for several Christmases. [32] In the early hours of December 29, the pranksters returned, one of them dressed as the Grinch and the others as Santa Claus, and the Grinch "stole" Santa's hat. [33]
From 2021 to 2024, a popular meme depicted a blue version of the Grinch smiling, with text stating that his smile was a result of having 'knee surgery tomorrow'. [34]
A creature based on The Grinch, known as "The Gooch", was added to Grand Theft Auto Online in the 2022 holiday update. The creature appears in green smoke, robbing players of money and any items in their inventories. Defeating the creature grants the player an outfit similar to that of the Grinch. [35]
Multiple politicians in the United Kingdom and United States have been compared to the Grinch, often due to accusations that they will 'steal' Christmas.
Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham described President of the United States Joe Biden as "the Grinch Who Stole Christmas" on Fox News in 2021, criticising him for delays in the supply chain for US imports. [36]
Mick Lynch, head of the UK's National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, was compared to the Grinch from November to December 2022 in media coverage of the ongoing railway strikes by the union. Tabloid newspaper Metro as well as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak likened him to the Grinch and accused him of wanting to "steal Christmas". Lynch retorted that "I'm not the Grinch, I'm a trade union official and I'm determined to get a deal." [37] [38] [39] [40] [41]
In December 2023, lawyers for Donald Trump called Special counsel Jack Smith a Grinch in a court filing in response to Smith's request for an expedited appeal on whether Trump could claim presidential immunity. The filing directly quoted How the Grinch Stole Christmas! , arguing that if the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit did not rule against Smith's request, it "would make President Trump’s opening brief due the day after Christmas. This proposed schedule would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans. It is as if the Special Counsel ‘growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, “I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming. … But how?"'" [42] [43]
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American children's author and cartoonist. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1957 book by Dr. Seuss.
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a Christmas song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 animated special Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
In Search of Dr. Seuss is a 1994 American television film chronicling the adventures of a news reporter, Kathy Lane, who enters the world of Dr. Seuss by opening a magical book. Also starring are Matt Frewer, Christopher Lloyd, Andrea Martin, David Paymer, Patrick Stewart, Andraé Crouch, Robin Williams and Eileen Brennan.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a 2000 American Christmas fantasy comedy film directed by Ron Howard, who also produced with Brian Grazer, from a screenplay by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. Based on Dr. Seuss's 1957 children's book of the same name, this marked the first Dr. Seuss book to be adapted into a full-length feature film. It is the first live-action adaptation and the second adaptation of the book, following the 1966 animated TV special.
Halloween Is Grinch Night is a 1977 children's animated Halloween television special and is a prequel to the 1966 television special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! It premiered on ABC on October 28, 1977. The original voice actor for The Grinch, Boris Karloff, by then deceased, was replaced by Hans Conried, though Thurl Ravenscroft, who sang on the original special, again provided singing vocals. The songs and score were written by Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1966 American animated television special, directed and co-produced by Chuck Jones. Based on the 1957 children's book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, the special features the voice of Boris Karloff as the Grinch. It tells the story of the Grinch, who tries to ruin Christmas for the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway.
Horton Hears a Who! is a 2008 American animated adventure comedy film based on the 1954 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, from a screenplay written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell as Horton the Elephant and Mayor Ned McDodd, respectively, alongside Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Dan Fogler, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, and Amy Poehler. Recurring Blue Sky collaborator John Powell composed the film's musical score. It is the fourth screen adaptation of the book following the 1970 Chuck Jones television special, the 1987 Soviet animated short, and the 1992 Russian animated short.
The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat is a 1982 American Emmy Award–winning animated musical television special and crossover starring The Cat in the Hat and The Grinch. Completed in 1981, it premiered on May 20, 1982, on ABC and would be DePatie and Freleng's final Dr. Seuss special and the only Dr. Seuss cartoon by Marvel Productions. The songs were written by Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo.
Stuart Zagnit is an American voice, film and television actor. He has worked in Broadway, off-Broadway, regional and national tours, television, films, commercials, and voice-overs. Zagnit has worked as a voice actor for 4Kids Entertainment, DuArt Film and Video, and TAJ Productions. He is best known for voicing Professor Oak in the Pokémon franchise.
The Cat in the Hat is an American animated musical television special originally broadcast March 10, 1971 on CBS. It was based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss children's story of the same name, and produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. With voices by Allan Sherman and prolific vocal performer Daws Butler, this half-hour special is a loose adaptation of the book with added musical sequences.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, or simply How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, is a seasonal musical stage adaptation of the 1957 Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Versions of the musical have been produced since the 1990s, including a Broadway production that ran during two Christmas seasons.
Horton the Elephant is a fictional character from the 1940 book Horton Hatches the Egg and 1954 book Horton Hears a Who!, both by Dr. Seuss. He is also featured in the short story Horton and the Kwuggerbug, first published for Redbook in 1951 and later rediscovered by Charles D. Cohen and published in the 2014 anthology Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories. In all books and other media, Horton is characterized as a kind, sweet-natured, and naïve elephant who manages to overcome hardships.
Horton Hears a Who! is a 1970 American animated television special based on the 1954 Dr. Seuss book of the same name, Horton Hears a Who! The special was produced and directed by Chuck Jones who previously produced the Seuss special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! for MGM Television and first broadcast March 19, 1970 on CBS. The special contains songs with lyrics by Seuss and music by Eugene Poddany, who previously wrote songs for Seuss' book, The Cat in the Hat Song Book.
Whoville, sometimes written as Who-ville, is a fictional town created by author Theodor Seuss Geisel, under the name Dr. Seuss. Whoville appeared in the 1954 book Horton Hears a Who! and the 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! with significant differences between the two renditions. Its denizens go by the collective name Whos, as in a plural form of the pronoun who.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a children's Christmas book by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a green cranky, solitary creature who attempts to thwart the public's Christmas plans by stealing Christmas gifts and decorations from the homes of the nearby town of Whoville on Christmas Eve. Miraculously, the Grinch realizes that Christmas is not all about money and presents.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, published over 60 children's books over the course of his long career. Though most were published under his well-known pseudonym, Dr. Seuss, he also authored a certain amount of books as Theo. LeSieg and one as Rosetta Stone.
The Grinch, also known as Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, is a 2018 American animated Christmas comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. The third screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss' 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, following the 1966 television special and the 2000 live-action feature-length film, it is Illumination's second Dr. Seuss film adaptation, after The Lorax in 2012. The plot follows the Grinch, who plans to stop Whoville's Christmas celebration by stealing all the town's decorations and gifts, with his pet dog Max.
Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical is an American Christmas musical television special that aired on NBC on December 9, 2020. It is a performance of an adaptation of the 2006 musical Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, which is based on the 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss. It was filmed at the Troubadour Theatre in London. The special stars Matthew Morrison as the titular character, Denis O'Hare and Booboo Stewart as Max the dog, and Amelia Minto as Cindy-Lou Who. The special aired during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mean One is a 2022 American Christmas slasher film directed by Steven LaMorte from a screenplay written by Flip and Finn Kobler. It is an unlicensed parody of Dr. Seuss' 1957 children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and its adaptations, and stars Krystle Martin, Chase Mullins, John Bigham, Erik Baker, Flip Kobler, and Amy Schumacher, with David Howard Thornton as the eponymous character. It follows a young woman as she attempts to defend her childhood town from a green-skinned creature who goes on a murderous rampage during the holiday season.