| How the Grinch Stole Christmas! | |
|---|---|
 Print advertisement | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | How the Grinch Stole Christmas! byDr. Seuss |
| Developed by | Chuck Jones |
| Screenplay by | Dr. Seuss |
| Directed by | Chuck Jones Ben Washam |
| Voices of | Boris Karloff June Foray Thurl Ravenscroft Dallas McKennon |
| Narrated by | Boris Karloff |
| Composers | Albert Hague (songs) Eugene Poddany (additional music) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Chuck Jones Ted Geisel |
| Editors | Lovell Norman John O. Young |
| Running time | 26 minutes |
| Production companies | The Cat in the Hat Productions MGM Animation/Visual Arts MGM Television |
| Budget | $315,000 |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | December 18, 1966 (1966-12-18) |
| Related | |
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (also known asDr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!) is a 1966 American animatedtelevision special, directed and co-produced byChuck Jones. Based on the 1957 children's bookof the same name byDr. Seuss, the special features the voice ofBoris Karloff (also a narrator) as the Grinch. It tells the story of theGrinch, who tries to ruin Christmas for the townsfolk ofWhoville below his mountain hideaway.[1]
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was produced by The Cat in the Hat Productions in association with thetelevision andanimation divisions ofMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (the company that Jones was under contract at the time). The special completed production in a year[2] and originally aired in the United States onCBS on December 18, 1966. The special is considered a perennialholiday special.
The Grinch is a surly, antisocial green creature with a heart "two sizes too small" who lives alone in a snowbound cave atopMt. Crumpit, located above the village ofWhoville. He especially hatesChristmas and has always been annoyed by the town's Christmas celebrations. OneChristmas Eve, he finally decides to stop Christmas Day from coming to Whoville by disguising himself asSanta Claus, his dog Max as areindeer and, in a reversal of Santa's visit, stealing all presents, decorations, and symbols of Christmas. Once loaded, he plans on dumping the bags of stolen goods. He is noticed by a girl namedCindy Lou Who, but is otherwise undetected.
As the Grinch reaches the icy summit of Mt. Crumpit, ready to dump the bags, he discovers that the citizens of Whoville, despite having no gifts or decorations, have gathered in the middle of town to sing as Christmas Day dawns. Realizing that Christmas means more than just material possessions, the Grinch's heart grows three sizes. He saves the sleigh, returns the presents and the other belongings to the Whos, and joins in the town's Christmas celebration by carving the roast beast, giving Cindy Lou Who the first slice.
Animation and cartoon directorChuck Jones and children's-book author Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) had worked together on thePrivate Snafu training cartoons atWarner Bros. Cartoons during World War II.[3][4][5][6] Jones was interested in adapting one of Geisel's books into a television special and approached him to turnHow the Grinch Stole Christmas! into one in time for the holiday season. According to Jones, when he first read the book, his comment was that theGrinch was the best Christmas villain sinceEbenezer Scrooge fromA Christmas Carol.[5] Although Geisel was initially reluctant, he agreed with Jones' idea.[6][7]
During the process of storyboarding, Geisel and Jones worked closely at theMGM studio and Geisel's glass-enclosed eagle's nest in the neighborhood ofLa Jolla inSan Diego, California.[8] It took approximately two months to be finished.[8] After storyboarding was finished, Jones went toNew York City to sell the special to a sponsor.[8] He presented the idea with the storyboard and acted all the parts 28 times.[8] The special was bought by the Foundation For Full-Service Banks.[9]CBS gave Jones and MGM a $315,000 budget (equivalent to $3,053,000 in 2024),[4][10] more than four times whatBill Melendez was offered to produceA Charlie Brown Christmas.[11] According toThe Daily Herald-Tribune in 1992, it was a record for a cartoon at the time.[12]
Chuck Jones and Ted Geisel castBoris Karloff to narrate the special because of his "beautiful, rhythmic, caring" voice and the poetic quality of the way he read the script.[4][6][13] He also voiced the Grinch to ensure the voices of the Grinch andCindy Lou Who were well received by fans.[4] Jones described Karloff as "the only one [in mind]" because of his establishment ofRudyard Kipling's stories and others.[13] Prior to its production, Karloff was eager to do the special since he had been a Dr. Seuss fan for several years.[5] After recording, the sound engineers removed Karloff's high pitches to create the "gravelly grunt" of the Grinch's voice.[13]June Foray provided the voice of Cindy Lou Who.[6][13] She listened to Karloff's reading on earphones to maintain the same poetic quality.[13]
Since the special did not have a script, the special was presented visually.[8] Chuck Jones and MGM assured Ted Geisel that there would be no limit of quality on its animation.[4] The animation for the special was followed carefully by sixteen rules on the guidelines of "good animation", which was applied to most of Chuck Jones' films.[15] Most of the fully animated characters have implied skeletal structural and muscle movements.[14] Approximately 15,000 drawings andcels,[a] 250 background drawings, 4,500 dispensable and unusable character layout drawings, and 1,200 character layout drawings were created for the special.[2] Jones worked on more than 1,500 sketches to "bring [the characters] to life" and changed their physical appearances, although their personalities remained the same.[5][8] AnimatorsKen Harris,Abe Levitow,Ben Washam, and Dick Thompson animated the special respectively.[9]
The special was producedin color (as virtually all prime time television programs on major American networks were by 1966[16]); in discussing possible colors for the Grinch, Jones and Dr. Seuss mutually agreed that there was no other choice except green.[5] The job for animators was to animate the Grinch's movement in believability.[7] Due to the lack of Grinch's skeletons, the Grinch's sketches were carefully drawn with Dr. Seuss's academic drawings.[14] His movements were done by identifying the Grinch anatomically.[17] Jones redesigned Cindy Lou Who as the "great-granddaughter" of the Grinch in appearance and, with great reluctance, pared her role down from the role he envisioned.[13] According to Jones, the character Max was set up as an observer and victim in the same way asPorky Pig andDaffy Duck inDuck Dodgers orRobin Hood Daffy.[18] Jones also added honesty, decency, and drama for the character to be relatable.[18] The identity source for Max was Jones' childhood dog who was a youngfox terrier.[17] Animation production designerMaurice Noble establishedWhoville, the Whoville homes, the Grinch's hideaway, and the icy slopes ofMt. Crumpit.[8] Because the book ran up to 12 minutes, additional scenes were created to extend the adaptation.[6][19]
The score consists of 60 musicians playing a 34-piece orchestra with a 12-voice choir.[2][4] They worked for a total of eight hours.[2] It included three songs: "Trim Up the Tree", "Welcome Christmas", and "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch".[5] Jones questioned how to make a Christmas special without typical Christmas elements. Jones' answer: "Write our new carols inSeussian Latin. After all, 'Fahoofores, Dahoodores' seems to have as much authenticity as 'Adeste Fideles' to those unauthored in Latin." The song "Trim Up the Tree" was written in aPolka square-dance type form by Albert Hague.[6][19]
BecauseThurl Ravenscroft was not credited in the closing credits as the singer of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch",[6][20] it is sometimes attributed to Boris Karloff. In his interview inTNT'sIn the Making Of: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1994), Ravenscroft revealed that Ted Geisel neglected his screen credit.[6] After becoming aware of this oversight, Seuss called Ravenscroft to apologize, and later wrote letters to columnists nationwide telling them that it was Ravenscroft who provided vocals for the musical number.[6]
| How the Grinch Stole Christmas | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | December 18, 1966 (1966-12-18) |
| Genre | Christmas |
| Length | 31:08 (original release) |
| Label | Leo The Lion Records |
| Producer | Jesse Kaye |
On December 18, 1966,MGM released a soundtrackLP record in conjunction with the television special. In the recorded version, Boris Karloff does all voices including Cindy Lou Who. The song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", which comically describes the level of the Grinch's despicable nature, includes all verses with their original rhyming lyrics and the isolated song tracks have different durations due to being re-recorded.[citation needed] On October 3, 1995,Mercury Nashville released the soundtrack on CD.[21]
On October 5, 1999,Rhino Entertainment released a new CD soundtrack (which included the soundtrack for another Dr. Seuss cartoon,Horton Hears a Who!). Both story collections contain selected dialogue and music numbers. The "isolated music tracks" in this edition are taken from the television soundtrack and are not the re-recorded tracks from earlier versions. The dialogues are the originals, being voiced by Boris Karloff for "Grinch" andHans Conried for "Horton".[citation needed]
| No. | Title | Performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" | Boris Karloff | 21:36 |
| Total length: | 21:36 | ||
All lyrics are written byDr. Seuss; all music is composed byAlbert Hague.
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Welcome Christmas" | MGM Studio Chorus | 1:41 |
| 2. | "Trim Up The Tree" | MGM Studio Chorus | 1:18 |
| 3. | "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" | Thurl Ravenscroft | 2:56 |
| 4. | "Welcome Christmas (reprise)" | MGM Studio Chorus | 3:35 |
| Total length: | 9:30 | ||
All tracks were narrated byBoris Karloff and performed by the MGM Studio Orchestra. Most of the songs were performed by the MGM Studio Chorus, with the exceptions of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Reprise)", performed byThurl Ravenscroft.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Opening" | 1:29 |
| 2. | "Trim Up The Tree" | 0:45 |
| 3. | "Tomorrow Is Christmas, It's Practically Here" | 4:11 |
| 4. | "Welcome Christmas" | 0:46 |
| 5. | "I Must Stop Christmas" | 0:59 |
| 6. | "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" | 5:15 |
| 7. | "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Reprise)" | 5:15 |
| 8. | "A Quarter of Dawn" | 1:43 |
| 9. | "Welcome Christmas (Reprise)" | 2:52 |
| 10. | "Finale" | 3:06 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Opening" | |
| 2. | "Trim Up The Tree" | |
| 3. | "Welcome Christmas" | |
| 4. | "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" |
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was originally telecast in the United States onCBS on December 18, 1966.[5] The original broadcasts from 1966 to 1970 were sponsored by the Foundation for Full Service Banks, whose sponsor plugs within the special were edited out for subsequent broadcasts after 1970.[9] In 1971,How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was sponsored byNabisco Inc. andReynold Metals Company.[22]
CBS repeated it annually during the Christmas season until 1988.[23] AfterTurner Broadcasting System bought the pre-May 1986 MGM library in 1986,[24] it was transferred to its cable networkTNT, which debuted on the network on December 9, 1989.[25] It was also broadcast onTBS andCartoon Network.The WB returned it to broadcast television by adding its own annual screening in 2001.[26]ABC took over the special after The WB ceased operations in 2006.NBC acquired the rights in 2015; its deal withWarner Bros. Television Studios allows two broadcasts per season.[27] The Christmas night broadcast has been later followed by the airing of the2000 film of the same name. In 2022, the second airing of the special was aired on December 23 instead of Christmas Day due to aNational Football League (NFL) game between theTampa Bay Buccaneers andArizona Cardinals. Both TBS and TNT continue to air the special many times presently during theholiday season annually too as well.
Upon its initial broadcast, it received generally positive but muted reviews from critics. Roy Shields ofThe Toronto Star called the special "perfect", praising it as "faithful to the artistry of Dr. Seuss".[28] A review onThe Macon Telegraph recommended the program, describing it as a "superb, delightful, and tender animated presentation of Dr. Seuss's beloved children's book."[29] Syndicated columnist Rick Du Brow, while taken aback at the special's cost compared to others in its genre, admitted that it was "as good as most of the other holiday cartoons" and found the special's optimistic ending to be "reassuring", stating "I can't see why anyone would dislike it."[30] John Heisner ofDemocrat and Chronicle called the special a "fascinating bit of fantasy with a simple message".[31] Hal Humphrey ofThe Los Angeles Times called the special a "disappointment". Though Humphrey described the result as "much too mild", he praised the animation and music.[32] Jack Gould ofThe New York Times praised the animation, but criticized the result as a "creation that should be left undisturbed on the printed page." He further stated that it is "one of the rare children's shows that are really interesting to adults."[33] Barbara Delatiner ofNewsday criticized the special as "more elusive" and a "disappointment", describing the characters as "[not] half as funny [as they were in the book]".[34] A 1970 "Top View" survey of viewers published by Clarke Williamson ranked the show with a 70.2 "good" score, ahead ofFrosty the Snowman but lower thanA Charlie Brown Christmas,The Little Drummer Boy andRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.[35]
Throughout the years, it has since been regarded as aChristmas classic. The special has anapproval rating of 100% onRotten Tomatoes based on 28 professional reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The critical consensus reads: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas brings an impressive array of talent to bear on an adaptation that honors a classic holiday story – and has rightfully become a yuletide tradition of its own."[36] Jeffrey Westhoff ofNorthwest Herald rated the special a perfect five out of five, stating that "Christmas isn't Christmas without the Grinch."[36] Derek James ofTime Out called it a "seasonal classic".[36][37]The A.V Club stated that the special "works because of its surprisingly sentimental climax".[38]
After its initial airing,How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was ranked at No. 6 on television during the period between December 5–18, 1966, byNielsen Media Research.[39] A year later, it was ranked at No. 2 (behind a rerun ofACharlie Brown Christmas) during the period between December 4–17, 1967.[40] The special continues to be popular in Nielsen ratings, with its 2010 airing (the last of many times it had aired that year) winning its time slot among persons 18 to 49 and finishing second in overall viewers.[41]
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was first released as part of the Dr. Seuss Video Festival onVHS,CED,Laserdisc, andBetamax in 1982.[42] It was reissued several times throughout the '80s and '90s. The special was released to the VHS andDVD formats in 1999 and 2000 byWarner Home Video, which acquired the pre-May 1986MGM library in the 1996 via their purchase ofTurner Entertainment Co. MGM had earlier released it on DVD in 1998. The 2000 DVD release featured another Seuss-based special,Horton Hears a Who!, while the 2000 DVD also added an audio commentary by lead animatorPhil Roman and June Foray, interviews with Albert Hague and Thurl Ravenscroft, and the "Special Edition" documentary which aired alongside the special on TNT in 1994. The DVD was well-received for these bonus features, but also criticized for its sub-par picture quality; many critics pointed out that the Grinch looked yellow, not green, in this release.[43]
The special was re-released on DVD in 2006 and labeled as a "50th Birthday Deluxe Edition". That labeling refers to the 1957 date of the book's publication rather than to the date of the 1966 TV special. This DVD release featured a new retrospective featurette and contained all the bonus features from the previous release, except for the audio commentary, and the Grinch was restored to his original green color.[44] This edition is also available as part of the four-discClassic Christmas Favorites box set. The special was again re-released on DVD with Phil Roman's and June Foray's audio commentary replacing theHorton Hears a Who! bonus special. The special was released on high definitionBlu-ray Disc in 2009 with the title changed toDr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. It contained all the bonus features from the 2000 DVD, except forHorton Hears a Who!, and also included a DVD of the special and aDigital Copy.[45] On October 18, 2011, It featured on theDr. Seuss: Holidays On The Loose! DVD set, along withHalloween Is Grinch Night andThe Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat.
In 2004,TV Guide ranked the special No. 1 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list.[46] In 2022,Fatherly included the special on its list of the 100 best family-friendly films widely available to the public, one of only two productions made for television (A Charlie Brown Christmas being the other).[47]
A television special calledHalloween Is Grinch Night, created byDePatie–Freleng Enterprises, aired onABC in 1977, eleven years after the Christmas special. This special involved a tale of the Grinch coming down to haunt the Whos every Halloween. Though less successful than the original, it was awarded anEmmy.[48] A later cartoon,The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (alternatively titledThe Cat in the Hat Gets Grinched), aired on ABC in 1982. Though credited to DePatie–Freleng, it was produced byMarvel Productions, which had taken over DePatie–Freleng in 1981.
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