How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( TV special ) - wikipedia How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( TV special ) How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! Print advertisement Based on How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! by Dr. Seuss Screenplay by Dr. Seuss Directed by Chuck Jones Starring Boris Karloff Uncredited : June Foray Thurl Ravenscroft Narrated by Boris Karloff Theme music composer Albert Hague Eugene Poddany Country of origin United States Original language ( s ) English Production Producer ( s ) Chuck Jones Ted Geisel Running time 26 min. Production company ( s ) Cat in the Hat Productions MGM Animation / Visual Arts Distributor MGM Television Budget $315,000 Release Original network CBS Original release December 18, 1966 ( 1966 - 12 - 18 ) Chronology Followed by Halloween Is Grinch Night How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( full title : Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ) is a 1966 Christmas animated television special directed and co-produced by Chuck Jones. It is based on the eponymous children 's book by Dr. Seuss, the story of the Grinch trying to take away Christmas from the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway. Originally telecast in the United States on CBS on December 18, 1966, it went on to become a perennial holiday special. The special also features the voice of Boris Karloff as the Grinch and the narrator. Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Reception 4 Home video releases 5 Soundtrack 6 Sequels 7 See also 8 References 9 External links Plot The Grinch ( voiced by Boris Karloff ) is the film 's main character. He lives in a cave atop Mt. Crumpit, located above the village of Whoville. The Grinch is a surly character with a heart `` two sizes too small '' who has especially hated Christmas for 53 years. On Christmas Eve, he finally becomes fed up with seeing the decorations and hearing all the music and caroling in the village and wishes he could stop Christmas Day from coming to Whoville. When he sees his dog, Max, with snow all over his face in the shape of a beard, he decides to disguise himself as Santa Claus and steal Christmas. The Grinch makes himself a Santa coat and hat and disguises the innocent Max as a reindeer. He loads empty bags onto a sleigh and travels to Whoville with some difficulty. In the first house he is almost caught by Cindy Lou Who ( voiced by an uncredited June Foray ), a small Who girl who wakes up and sees him taking the Christmas tree. Pretending to be Santa, the Grinch tells Cindy Lou that he is merely taking the tree to his workshop for repairs, and then gets her a drink before sending her back to bed. He empties the first house of all the food and Christmas - related items, namely presents, trees, mistletoes, and even the stockings on the chimney, then repeats the process at the other houses in Whoville, while also taking the village decorations. With the Whos ' stolen Christmas goods, the Grinch and Max travel back up Mt. Crumpit. Before dropping the loaded sleigh off the mountain, the Grinch waits to hear a sad cry from the Whos. However, down in the village, the Whos joyously begin to sing Christmas carols, proving that the spirit of Christmas does not depend on material things. The Grinch begins to understand the true meaning of Christmas, though he barely does so in time to prevent the stolen treats from going over the cliff and while he tries to stop the sleigh from falling off, his heart grows three sizes -- granting him `` the strength of ten Grinches, plus two ! '', which he needs to lift up the sleigh. He brings everything back to the Whos and participates in the holiday feast. He is given the honor of carving the roast beast, while Max gets the first slice for himself for all his troubles. Production Director Chuck Jones and children 's - book author Ted Geisel ( Dr. Seuss ) had worked together on the Private Snafu training cartoons at Warner Bros. Cartoons during World War II. How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! was produced by The Cat in the Hat Productions in association with the television and animation divisions of Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer Studios. The half - hour ( with commercials ) short was originally telecast in the United States on CBS on December 18, 1966. CBS repeated it annually during the Christmas season until 1988. It was then aired on various other networks multiple times a season. In the 1990s and 2000s, it was primarily seen on Turner - owned properties ( TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network ), and later ABC and ABC Family. On August 13, 2015, NBC announced that the special would move to that network, which would air it twice during the Christmas season under a three - year licensing deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. Reception The special was released in the midst of a wave of animated holiday specials, many of which ( such as 1964 's Rudolph the Red - Nosed Reindeer and 1965 's A Charlie Brown Christmas ) went on to become regarded as classics. It received modestly positive reviews at the time it was released. Critic Rick Du Brow said it was `` probably as good as most of the other holiday cartoons. '' It has since been recognized as a classic, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 100 % `` fresh '' rating on its website ; 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. '' 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. TV Guide ranked the special No. 1 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list. Home Video releases How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! was released to VHS and Betamax by MGM / UA Home Video in 1986, and was reissued several times. The special was first released to the VHS and DVD formats in 1999 and 2000 by Warner Home Video, which acquired the rights to the MGM library in the late 1990s. The DVD release featured another Seuss - based special, Horton Hears a Who !, and contained an audio commentary by Phil 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. 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. This edition is also available as part of the four - disc Classic Christmas Favorites box set. The special was again re-released on DVD with Phil Roman 's and June Foray 's audio commentary replacing the Horton Hears a Who ! bonus special. The special was released on high definition Blu - ray Disc in 2009 with the title changed to Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! It contained all the bonus features from the 2000 DVD, except for Horton Hears a Who !, and also included a DVD of the special and a Digital Copy. Soundtrack The special includes, nearly verbatim, the entire text of the original book, with a few embellishments. To pad the special to a full time slot, several animated sequences and musical numbers were added. As all the major networks had flipped to full color schedules by 1966, the special was likewise produced in color, establishing the Grinch 's color ( white in the two - tone illustrations of the original book ) as green, a convention used in later television specials as well as the 2000 live - action film The Grinch. Three songs with lyrics were among the additions : `` Welcome Christmas, '' `` Trim up the Tree '' and `` You 're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. '' The last of these was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft ; the other two were performed by a chorus representing the voices of the Whos. None of the vocalists were credited at the time. On December 18, 1966, MGM released a soundtrack LP in conjunction with the television special. CD releases include albums produced by Island ( 1995 ) and Mercury Records. 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. 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 directly 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 '' and Hans Conried for `` Horton. '' Because Thurl Ravenscroft was not credited in the closing credits of the 1966 television special as singing the song `` You 're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch '', it is sometimes attributed to Boris Karloff. After becoming aware of this oversight, Seuss himself called Ravenscroft and apologized profusely and later wrote letters to columnists nationwide telling them that it was Ravenscroft who provided vocals for the musical number. Karloff received a Grammy Award in the Spoken Word category -- the only major performing award of his career -- for the album. Sequels A television special called Halloween Is Grinch Night, created by DePatie - Freleng Enterprises, aired on ABC in 1977, eleven years after the Christmas special. This special involved a tale of the Grinch coming down to scare the Whos every Halloween. Though less successful than the original, it was awarded an Emmy. A later cartoon, The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat ( alternately titled The Cat in the Hat Gets Grinched ), aired on ABC in 1982. Though credited to DePatie - Freleng, it was produced by Marvel Productions, which had taken over DePatie - Freleng in 1981. See also Grammy Award for Best Album for Children List of films with a 100 % rating on Rotten Tomatoes References Jump up ^ Stephen Jacobs, Boris Karloff : More Than a Monster, Tomohawk Press 2011 p. 478 ^ Jump up to : McCracken, Elizabeth ( December 25, 2005 ). `` Our Cereal Hero ''. New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Grinch at Don Markstein 's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Jump up ^ `` UPDATE / Lee Margulies ''. latimes.com. November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016. Jump up ^ `` ' How The Grinch Stole Christmas ' Animated Special Moves To NBC -- TCA ''. Deadline.com. August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2015. Jump up ^ Rick Du Brow ( December 19, 1966 ). `` Christmas ' Theft ' A Charming Hour ''. Beaver County Times. Retrieved December 23, 2012. Jump up ^ `` How the Grinch Stole Christmas ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 15, 2011. Jump up ^ TV ratings : CBS reruns dominate, ABC 's double - ' Grinch ' wins demo. Zap2It. Retrieved December 26, 2010 Jump up ^ TV Guide Guide to TV. Barnes and Noble. 2004. p. 574. ISBN 0 - 7607 - 5634 - 1. Jump up ^ `` DVD Movie Guide : Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas / Horton Hears A Who ! : Special Edition ( 1966 ) review ''. Dvdmg.com. Retrieved December 15, 2011. Jump up ^ `` DVD Movie Guide : Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas / Horton Hears A Who ! : 50th Birthday Deluxe Edition ( 1966 ) review ''. Dvdmg.com. Retrieved December 15, 2011. Jump up ^ `` WHV Press Release : Seasonal Family Classics Combo Packs ( Blu - ray ) ''. Hometheaterforum.com. July 14, 2009. Retrieved December 15, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Boris Karloff ( British actor ) -- Encyclopædia Britannica ''. Britannica.com. March 18, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Primetime Emmy ® Award Database Emmys.com ''. Cdn.emmys.tv. Retrieved December 15, 2011. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( TV special ) How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! on IMDb How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! at The Big Cartoon DataBase How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! at Rotten Tomatoes Dr. Seuss Characters The Cat in the Hat The Grinch Horton the Elephant Bartholomew Cubbins Bibliography And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins The King 's Stilts The Seven Lady Godivas Horton Hatches the Egg McElligot 's Pool Thidwick the Big - Hearted Moose Bartholomew and the Oobleck If I Ran the Zoo Scrambled Eggs Super ! Horton Hears a Who ! On Beyond Zebra ! If I Ran the Circus How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! The Cat in the Hat The Cat in the Hat Comes Back Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories Happy Birthday to You ! Green Eggs and Ham One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish The Sneetches and Other Stories Dr. Seuss 's Sleep Book Dr. Seuss 's ABC Fox in Socks Hop on Pop I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew Come over to My House The Cat in the Hat Songbook The Foot Book I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today ! and Other Stories My Book about ME Mr. Brown Can Moo ! Can You ? : Dr. Seuss 's Book of Wonderful Noises ! The Lorax Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now ! Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are ? The Shape of Me and Other Stuff Wacky Wednesday Great Day for Up ! Oh, the Thinks You Can Think ! The Cat 's Quizzer I Can Read with My Eyes Shut ! Oh Say Can You Say ? Hunches in Bunches The Butter Battle Book You 're Only Old Once ! I Am Not Going to Get Up Today ! Oh, the Places You 'll Go ! There 's a Wocket in My Pocket I Wish That I Had Duck Feet Daisy - Head Mayzie My Many Colored Days Hooray for Diffendoofer Day ! The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories What Pet Should I Get ? Adaptations Television The Gerald McBoing - Boing Show ( 1956 -- 57 ) Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( 1966 ) Horton Hears a Who ! ( 1970 ) The Cat in the Hat ( 1971 ) The Lorax ( 1972 ) Dr. Seuss on the Loose ( 1973 ) The Hoober - Bloob Highway ( 1975 ) Halloween Is Grinch Night ( 1977 ) Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You ? ( 1980 ) The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat ( 1982 ) The Butter Battle Book ( 1989 ) In Search of Dr. Seuss ( 1994 ) Daisy - Head Mayzie ( 1995 ) The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss ( 1996 -- 98 ) ( episodes ) Gerald McBoing - Boing ( 2005 -- 07 ) The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That ! ( 2010 -- present ) ( episodes ) Green Eggs and Ham ( 2018 ) Film Horton Hatches the Egg ( short ; 1942 ) Gerald McBoing - Boing ( short ; 1950 ) How the Grinch Stole Christmas ( 2000 ) The Cat in the Hat ( 2003 ) Horton Hears a Who ! ( 2008 ) The Lorax ( 2012 ) The Grinch ( 2018 ) Other media Welcome ( Russian short film ) Seussical ( musical ) Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! The Musical The Grinch ( video game ) Dr. Seuss : How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( video game ) `` You 're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch '' ( song ) The Lorax ( play ) Other works Private Snafu The Pocket Book of Boners Your Job in Germany Our Job in Japan Design for Death The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. Hejji Society of Red Tape Cutters Flit Related A Fish out of Water Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum Beginner Books Dr. Seuss Goes to War The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss National Memorial Geisel Award Geisel Library Geisel School of Medicine Helen Palmer PM Political messages of Dr. Seuss Read Across America Seuss Landing as `` Theo. LeSieg ''. Posthumous. Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! Characters Grinch Book How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( 1957 ) Music `` You 're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch '' ( 1966 ) Adaptations Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( 1966, TV special ) Halloween Is Grinch Night ( 1977, TV special ) The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat ( 1982, TV special ) Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! The Musical ( 1994 ) Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ( 2000 live action film ) Dr. Seuss ' The Grinch ( 2018 animated film ) Related Dr. Seuss Memorial Chuck Jones Short subjects The Night Watchman ( 1938 ) Dog Gone Modern ( 1939 ) Robin Hood Makes Good ( 1939 ) Prest - O Change - O ( 1939 ) Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur ( 1939 ) Naughty but Mice ( 1939 ) Old Glory ( 1939 ) Snowman 's Land ( 1939 ) Little Brother Rat ( 1939 ) The Little Lion Hunter ( 1939 ) The Good Egg ( 1939 ) Sniffles and the Bookworm ( 1939 ) The Curious Puppy ( 1939 ) Mighty Hunters ( 1940 ) Elmer 's Candid Camera ( 1940 ) Sniffles Takes a Trip ( 1940 ) Tom Thumb in Trouble ( 1940 ) The Egg Collector ( 1940 ) Ghost Wanted ( 1940 ) Stage Fright ( 1940 ) Good Night, Elmer ( 1940 ) Bedtime for Sniffles ( 1940 ) Elmer 's Pet Rabbit ( 1941 ) Sniffles Bells the Cat ( 1941 ) Joe Glow, the Firefly ( 1941 ) Porky 's Ant ( 1941 ) Toy Trouble ( 1941 ) Porky 's Prize Pony ( 1941 ) Inki and the Lion ( 1941 ) Snow Time for Comedy ( 1941 ) The Brave Little Bat ( 1941 ) Saddle Silly ( 1941 ) Porky 's Midnight Matinee ( 1941 ) The Bird Came C.O.D. ( 1942 ) Porky 's Cafe ( 1942 ) Conrad the Sailor ( 1942 ) Dog Tired ( 1942 ) The Draft Horse ( 1942 ) Hold the Lion, Please ( 1942 ) The Squawkin ' Hawk ( 1942 ) Fox Pop ( 1942 ) The Dover Boys ( 1942 ) My Favorite Duck ( 1942 ) Case of the Missing Hare ( 1942 ) Point Rationing of Foods ( 1943 ) To Duck or Not to Duck ( 1943 ) Flop Goes the Weasel ( 1943 ) Super-Rabbit ( 1943 ) The Unbearable Bear ( 1943 ) The Aristo - Cat ( 1943 ) Coming Snafu ( 1943 ) Wackiki Wabbit ( 1943 ) Spies ( 1943 ) The Infantry Blues ( 1943 ) Fin'n Catty ( 1943 ) Inki and the Minah Bird ( 1943 ) Tom Turk and Daffy ( 1944 ) Bugs Bunny and the 3 Bears ( 1944 ) Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike ( 1944 ) The Weakly Reporter ( 1944 ) A Lecture on Camouflage ( 1944 ) Going Home ( 1944, unreleased ) Gas ( 1944 ) Angel Puss ( 1944 ) Outpost ( 1944 ) From Hand to Mouse ( 1944 ) Lost and Foundling ( 1944 ) Hell - Bent for Election ( 1944 ) Odor - able Kitty ( 1945 ) In the Aleutians - Isles of Enchantment ( 1945 ) Trap Happy Porky ( 1945 ) It 's Murder She Says ( 1945 ) Hare Conditioned ( 1945 ) Fresh Airedale ( 1945 ) No Buddy Atoll ( 1945 ) Hare Tonic ( 1945 ) Secrets of the Caribbean ( 1945 ) Quentin Quail ( 1946 ) Hush My Mouse ( 1946 ) Hair - Raising Hare ( 1946 ) Fair and Worm - er ( 1946 ) Roughly Squeaking ( 1946 ) Scent - imental Over You ( 1947 ) Inki at the Circus ( 1947 ) A Pest in the House ( 1947 ) Little Orphan Airedale ( 1947 ) House Hunting Mice ( 1948 ) A Feather in His Hare ( 1948 ) What 's Brewin ', Bruin ? ( 1948 ) Rabbit Punch ( 1948 ) Haredevil Hare ( 1948 ) You Were Never Duckier ( 1948 ) Daffy Dilly ( 1948 ) My Bunny Lies over the Sea ( 1948 ) Scaredy Cat ( 1948 ) So Much for So Little ( 1949 ) Awful Orphan ( 1949 ) Mississippi Hare ( 1949 ) Mouse Wreckers ( 1949 ) The Bee - Deviled Bruin ( 1949 ) Long - Haired Hare ( 1949 ) Often an Orphan ( 1949 ) Fast and Furry - ous ( 1949 ) Frigid Hare ( 1949 ) For Scent - imental Reasons ( 1949 ) Bear Feat ( 1949 ) Rabbit Hood ( 1949 ) The Scarlet Pumpernickel ( 1950 ) The Ducksters ( 1950 ) Dog Gone South ( 1950 ) 8 Ball Bunny ( 1950 ) The Hypo - Chondri - Cat ( 1950 ) Homeless Hare ( 1950 ) Caveman Inki ( 1950 ) Rabbit of Seville ( 1950 ) Two 's A Crowd ( 1950 ) Bunny Hugged ( 1951 ) Scentimental Romeo ( 1951 ) A Hound for Trouble ( 1951 ) Rabbit Fire ( 1951 ) Chow Hound ( 1951 ) The Wearing of the Grin ( 1951 ) Cheese Chasers ( 1951 ) A Bear for Punishment ( 1951 ) Drip - Along Daffy ( 1951 ) Operation : Rabbit ( 1952 ) Feed the Kitty ( 1952 ) Little Beau Pepé ( 1952 ) Water, Water Every Hare ( 1952 ) Orange Blossoms for Violet ( 1952 ) Beep, Beep ( 1952 ) The Hasty Hare ( 1952 ) Going ! Going ! Gosh ! ( 1952 ) Mouse Warming ( 1952 ) Rabbit Seasoning ( 1952 ) Terrier Stricken ( 1952 ) Do n't Give Up the Sheep ( 1953 ) Forward March Hare ( 1953 ) Kiss Me Cat ( 1953 ) Duck Amuck ( 1953 ) Much Ado About Nutting ( 1953 ) Wild Over You ( 1953 ) Duck Dodgers in the 241⁄2th Century ( 1953 ) Bully for Bugs ( 1953 ) Zipping Along ( 1953 ) Lumber Jack - Rabbit ( 1953 ) Duck ! Rabbit, Duck ! ( 1953 ) Punch Trunk ( 1953 ) Feline Frame - Up ( 1954 ) No Barking ( 1954 ) The Cat 's Bah ( 1954 ) Claws for Alarm ( 1954 ) Bewitched Bunny ( 1954 ) Stop ! Look ! And Hasten ! ( 1954 ) From A to Z-Z-Z-Z ( 1954 ) My Little Duckaroo ( 1954 ) Sheep Ahoy ( 1954 ) Baby Buggy Bunny ( 1954 ) Beanstalk Bunny ( 1955 ) Ready, Set, Zoom ! ( 1955 ) Past Perfumance ( 1955 ) Rabbit Rampage ( 1955 ) Double or Mutton ( 1955 ) Jumpin ' Jupiter ( 1955 ) Knight - mare Hare ( 1955 ) Two Scent 's Worth ( 1955 ) Guided Muscle ( 1955 ) One Froggy Evening ( 1955 ) A Hitch in Time ( 1955 ) 90 Days Wondering ( 1956 ) Bugs ' Bonnets ( 1956 ) Broom - Stick Bunny ( 1956 ) Rocket Squad ( 1956 ) Heaven Scent ( 1956 ) Gee Whiz - z-z-z-z-z-z ( 1956 ) Barbary Coast Bunny ( 1956 ) Rocket - bye Baby ( 1956 ) Deduce, You Say ! ( 1956 ) There They Go - Go - Go ! ( 1956 ) To Hare Is Human ( 1956 ) Scrambled Aches ( 1957 ) Ali Baba Bunny ( 1957 ) Go Fly a Kit ( 1957 ) Boyhood Daze ( 1957 ) Steal Wool ( 1957 ) What 's Opera, Doc ? ( 1957 ) Zoom and Bored ( 1957 ) Touché and Go ( 1957 ) Drafty, Is n't It ? ( 1957 ) Robin Hood Daffy ( 1958 ) Hare - Way to the Stars ( 1958 ) Whoa, Be-Gone ! ( 1958 ) To Itch His Own ( 1958 ) Hook, Line and Stinker ( 1958 ) Hip Hip - Hurry ! ( 1958 ) Cat Feud ( 1958 ) Baton Bunny ( 1959 ) Hot - Rod and Reel ! ( 1959 ) Wild About Hurry ( 1959 ) Fastest with the Mostest ( 1960 ) Hopalong Casualty ( 1960 ) Who Scent You ? ( 1960 ) Rabbit 's Feat ( 1960 ) Ready, Woolen and Able ( 1960 ) High Note ( 1960 ) Zip ' N Snort ( 1961 ) The Mouse on 57th Street ( 1961 ) The Abominable Snow Rabbit ( 1961 ) Lickety - Splat ( 1961 ) A Scent of the Matterhorn ( 1961 ) Compressed Hare ( 1961 ) Beep Prepared ( 1961 ) Nelly 's Folly ( 1961 ) Now Hear This ( 1962 ) A Sheep in the Deep ( 1962 ) Zoom at the Top ( 1962 ) Louvre Come Back to Me ! ( 1962 ) Martian Through Georgia ( 1962 ) I Was a Teenage Thumb ( 1963 ) Now Hear This ( 1963 ) Hare - Breadth Hurry ( 1963 ) Mad as a Mars Hare ( 1963 ) Transylvania 6 - 5000 ( 1963 ) To Beep or Not to Beep ( 1963 ) Tom and Jerry ( cartoon shorts, 1963 -- 1967 ) War and Pieces ( 1964 ) The Dot and the Line ( 1965 ) The Bear That Was n't ( 1967 ) Man : The Polluter ( 1973 ) Chariots of Fur ( 1994 ) Another Froggy Evening ( 1995 ) Superior Duck ( 1996 ) From Hare to Eternity ( 1997 ) Television specials How the Grinch Stole Christmas ! ( 1966 ) The Pogo Special Birthday Special ( 1969 ) Horton Hears a Who ! ( 1970 ) The Cat in the Hat ( 1971, producer ) The Cricket in Times Square ( 1973 ) A Very Merry Cricket ( 1973 ) Yankee Doodle Cricket ( 1975 ) The White Seal ( 1975 ) Rikki - Tikki - Tavi ( 1975 ) Mowgli 's Brothers ( 1976 ) Bugs and Daffy 's Carnival of the Animals ( 1976 ) A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur 's Court ( 1978 ) Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper ( 1978 ) Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Pumpkin Who Could n't Smile ( 1979 ) Bugs Bunny 's Looney Christmas Tales ( 1979 ) Daffy Duck 's Thanks - for - Giving Special ( 1980 ) Bugs Bunny 's Bustin ' Out All Over ( 1980 ) A Chipmunk Christmas ( 1981 ) Peter and the Wolf ( 1995 ) Feature films Sleeping Beauty ( 1959, layout artist ) Gay Purr - ee ( 1962, screenplay ) The Phantom Tollbooth ( 1970 ) The Bugs Bunny / Road Runner Movie ( 1979 ) Bugs Bunny 's 3rd Movie : 1001 Rabbit Tales ( 1982 ) Daffy Duck 's Fantastic Island ( 1983 ) Who Framed Roger Rabbit ( 1988, animation consultant ) Gremlins 2 : The New Batch ( 1990, animation sequences ) Stay Tuned ( 1992, animation sequence ) Mrs. Doubtfire ( 1993, animation supervisor ) Four Rooms ( 1995, animation sequences ) Books Daffy Duck for President ( 1997 ) Comics Crawford ( 1977 -- 1978 ) Characters Bugs Bunny Charlie Dog Claude Cat Daffy Duck Elmer Fudd Gossamer Hubie and Bertie Marc Antony and Pussyfoot Marvin the Martian Michigan J. Frog Penelope Pussycat Pepé Le Pew Porky Pig Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog Sniffles The Three Bears Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner Witch Hazel Other works Chuck Amuck : The Movie Chuck Jones : Extremes & Inbetweens -- A Life in Animation Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=How_the_Grinch_Stole_Christmas!_(TV_special)&oldid=820161135 '' Categories : 1966 television films CBS television specials 1966 television specials Animated television specials Christmas television specials Musical television specials Screenplays by Dr. Seuss Television programs based on works by Dr. Seuss American television specials Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from December 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016 Pages containing citation needed template with deprecated parameters Articles with unsourced statements from April 2013 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Български Español فارسی Français Hrvatski Italiano Nederlands Polski Русский Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 13 January 2018, at 11 : 06. 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Question: when did how the grinch stole christmas first air
Answer: December 18, 1966