The Grinch

**The Grinch** is a popular cartoon character created by Dr. Seuss for his 1957 children's book *How the Grinch Stole Christmas!*As the book's villainous protagonist, he is also the main character in the 1966 animated adaptation (produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Chuck Jones), the 2000 live-action adaptation (released by Universal Studios and directed by Ron Howard), and the 2018 animated movie adaptation (which is directed by Pete Candeland).

In 1977, Seuss responded to the fan request for more Grinch tales by writing *Halloween Is Grinch Night*, a Halloween special that aired on CBS. Like its predecessor, the sequel was recognized at the Emmy awards. In 1982, Marvel Productions green-lit *The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat*, which was also produced by Dr. Seuss, under his real name, Ted Geisel. This third special garnered two Emmy awards. The Grinch later became a recurring character on the TV series *The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss*, where he often schemed to ruin the fun of the citizens of Seussville and the rest of the Wubbulous World.

The Grinch is considered a Christmas standard, and has often been parodied or featured outside the Dr. Seuss brand frequently around the holiday season. The character is referenced by the media often in instances where a holiday display is ruined by vandals, or holiday burglaries are committed. Outside Christmas, the term "Grinch" is synonymous with "grouch". In 2002, the Grinch was voted #5 in TV Guide's Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters.

## Personality

The Grinch is an unpleasant, surly, cold, grumpy, selfish, venomously cranky, "Who-hating" grouch with a wicked temper, sour attitude, depressed judgment, and a heart about two sizes too small, (the only exception to this is the end of *How the Grinch Stole Christmas!*, where he becomes whole-hearted and loving), and is always out to ruin something. He comes down to Whoville only on holidays, which we see in two of the three TV specials, which are holiday-based. However, in *How the Grinch Stole Christmas!* he is opposed to the holiday (Christmas), and comes down to sabotage by stealing presents, Christmas Trees, food and decorations, whereas in *Halloween is Grinch Night!*, he comes down to waltz around for Halloween night, which in Whoville is called "Grinch Night". This signals all the Whos to annually lock down their homes. In the second Grinch movie, it is stated that he stole the Christmas presents, trees and decorations and was mean because he was bullied during Christmastime as a child. He is best described by the song *You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch*, sung by Thurl Ravenscroft which is often played on Christmas stations around the world. The Grinch's only friend is his pet dog, Max, a big-eyed pooch who is loyal to his master despite the Grinch treating Max like a nuisance. Max also is an unwitting accomplice in the Grinch's plots. The Grinch forces him to masquerade as a "reindeer" by attaching a crooked horn on him and making Max pull the sleigh with all the Whos' Christmas trappings inside. Despite, the Grinch treating him badly by doing these things he does love Max. After the holiday special, he sincerely apologizes for what he did and takes the presents back after having grown 3 sizes as he changed his ways. In addition, he became nicer toward the who's and started loving them again.

## Appearance

The Grinch has a bulbous stomach, lengthy feet and fingers, grimy yellow teeth and is covered in green hair. His fingers and feet look longer due to the long portions of hair coming off of them. He has large, sinister black eyebrows, and deep lines on his forehead. His mouth lines are subtle when he is in a neutral mood, yet very stretched when he is happy. He has a pair of brooding, deep-set, ovoid eyes with red irises and yellow sclera which are noted to become more round and feature blue irises and white sclera after the Grinch's "conversion". Another physical characteristic noted to change after the Grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas is his face, which in addition to the line softening mentioned above, becomes somewhat heart-shaped as he smiles broadly. He also has a thinking smile which is sweet until the idea is fully revealed with an evil smile. A long neck is prominent, with layers of green fur coming down it. He seems to have pockets in the fur of his large stomach, as he rests his hands inside this area. With regard to posture, he is loose and can bend easily. He often walks in stealth-mode when around Whos. He is SMEXY as hell.

## Movie portrayals

After Seuss's death, a 2000 live-action feature film adaptation was produced. Directed by Ron Howard, the film featured Jim Carrey in the titular role and was a major financial success. Although a box-office hit, the film received mostly negative reviews, comparing it unfavorably to the book and the television special. In recent years, though, the movie has become a cult classic, mainly due to Carrey's over-the-top and memorable performance.

The movie fleshes out the Grinch's story by showing the Grinch as a youngster, explaining his origins and giving him a reason for hating Christmas. It also vastly expands and ages forward the character of Cindy Lou Who, whose efforts to bring the Grinch back into the Whoville community meet with decidedly mixed results. The Grinch sometimes finds himself, despite his best efforts and to his horror, falling into Seussian rhyme. He also tries to get rid of his bad childhood memories by clubbing himself with a hammer (his version of sedative), reads random names from a phonebook and yells that he hates them, and acts rather off-kilter, such as pretending to be an Olympic diver when going down the first chimney, hiking the roast beast like a football, and trying to scare Cindy Lou by making himself look like a psycho, which doesn't faze her, leading him to complain that media is desensitizing modern youth.

Another feature film adaptation, this time a CGI animated film produced by Illumination Entertainment (which had also produced the previous Seuss-based movie, 2012's *The Lorax*), was released in November 2018, with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Grinch. Like the 2000 version, this film provides a sympathetic backstory to the Grinch; in this case, he was a lonely, unadopted orphan who lived in a presumably cruel orphanage that never celebrated Christmas. A notable difference from previous adaptations is that the Grinch regularly visits Whoville whenever he needs to get food; as a result, the Whos do not seem to fear him as much as they did in *Halloween is Grinch Night!* or the 2000 film.