“The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season! Now please don’t ask why, no one quite knows the reason. It could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight. It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was too sizes too small.”—The narrator about the Grinch.
The Grinch is the titular protagonist villain/anti-hero of all adaptations of the 1957 Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, as well as the main antagonist of the Dr. Seuss’ Halloween is Grinch and the former main antagonist in Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat. He is a green hermit who originally used to develop a hatred of the Whos and the season of Christmas even more, so he planned to steal Christmas by sneaking out in the disguise of Santa Claus and stealing all of the Whos’ presents. However, in the end, after seeing the Whos sing (even without their presents), the Grinch’s heart softens and he becomes a much nicer person.
Personality[]
In contrast to the cheerful Whos, the Grinch is a misanthropic, ill-natured, unpleasant, surly, cold, grumpy, selfish and venomously cranky “Who-hating” grouch with a wicked temper, sour attitude, depressed judgment, and a cold heart about “two sizes too small” (until the end of the original story, where he becomes whole-hearted and loving). He is described as hating any sort of happiness and is always out to ruin something. He is every mean, sly, cunning, manipulative and cruel. Among his long list of things that he hates the most are children, feasts, toys, and all forms of noise.
He is also shown to be neglectful and outright abusive to his dog, Max, of whom he often treats like a nuisance. Examples of his abuse include forcing him to wear a crooked reindeer horn on his head and pull his sled (in the Christmas special) and magical wagon (in the Halloween special), even using a whip to drive him on.
In Grinch Night, the Grinch is far more menacing, and the Whos are shown to actively fear him. He is also shown to be sadistic, as shown when he chases an endangered animal, the Wuzzy Woozoo. He tries desperately to murder him just because he is the only Woozoo to not have migrated, not only showing a lack of remorse but also smiling with homicidal glee as he pursues him, intent on seriously harming him. This utterly twisted act is made even worse by him intending to force Max to help carry out this unfeeling slaughter, despite this doubtlessly traumatizing the already lethargic canine. In addition, he takes great pleasure in doing everything he can to futilely traumatize Euchariah on purpose; granted, while he almost literally asked for it, he is still just a little boy trying to protect his family (as well as the town) from the Grinch’s malice.
In The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat, he appears as something of a mad scientist who constructs various powerful contraptions to ruin the lives of others (particularly the Cat in the Hat), such as a machine that mumbles sounds and his most complex invention called a “dark house,” which projects a beam of darkness onto a desired target. While he started out nice, implying that this special takes place after the original Christmas story, he reverted back to his old evil self once again after some encouragement from his own reflection. This wickeness is further embraced after his first encounter with the Cat in the Hat, who angers him when he refers to the Grinch as “Green-face” (which he really hates), and thus makes it his mission to make the Cat’s life as difficult as possible.
However, after the Whos start singing in all adaptations of the Christmas story (and the 1982 special), even after he stole all of their gifts and used his technology to ruin others lives, he ends up deeply regretting his crimes. In all the Christmas adaptations, he not only returns everything that he stole, but he attends to the feast; indicating that the reason he was the way he previously was is that he was lonely (which is prominently emphasized in the 2018 film). He is seen giving up his evil reputation and becoming important (or even more important) to Whoville.
2000 film[]
Similar to his original counterpart, in the live-action film, the Grinch is shown to be mean, bitter, ill-tempered, very grouchy, selfish, odious, sociopathic and wrathful in nature. He is portrayed as having a reputation similar to that of Bigfoot, although in his case, he is known to exist. He would play harmful pranks on the citizens of Whoville, such as tampering with their mail, making prank phone calls, and scaring away trespassers from entering his lair. He also somewhat abusive to his dog Max, as he would lash out orders at him, though he genuinely cares about him; even complimenting him for scaring off intruders from his lair and holding him up carefully while hanging above the ceiling to prevent the two of them from being caught in the post office.
However, the real reason behind his nasty disposition is because as a child, he was an outcast at school and was bullied by his classmate, Augustus MayWho. It was this horrible mistreatment that drove him over the edge to become the Christmas/Who-hating person he was known as. The only one that didn’t bully him was his childhood crush, Martha May Whovier, of whom Augustus won the heart of later on in life.
Despite his flaws and due to his mistreatment, the Grinch is somewhat insecure as he thinks of himself as nothing but a monster to be hated because of his appearance and nature. However, it wasn’t until the intervention of Cindy Lou Who and the epiphany of Christmas’ true meaning that he finally learned the error of his ways, even admitting that he truly loves Max and was willing to return the gifts and decorations that he stole from the Whos.
Compared to any other incarnation of the Grinch, this incarnation’s behavior is more over-the-top. He is noticeably more unhinged, eccentric and deranged than any other version of the Grinch, being remarkably aloof, and clown-like in his voice and movements in an incredibly cartoonish, energetic and exaggerated manner. He also tends to be rather jocular and throws child-like tantrums at the drop of a hat.
Despite all of his silliness and exuberance, he’s also insightful as he saw the Whos as commercialized, materialistic and wasteful beings because they take their holiday for granted by asking for gifts before disposing of them in favor for more to satisfy their greed, to which he is correct about. Surprisingly, in the end, the Whos finally learned from their mistake for commercializing the holiday, which was the main reason why they decided to forgive the Grinch after he apologized for stealing their gifts and decorations.
2018 film[]
In the 2018 film from Illumination Studios, the Grinch is still rude and mean to the citizens of Whoville, but is significantly less mean than previous versions. He is portrayed as more of a grouchy cynic who prefers to mind his own business rather than actively hurt other people. Nevertheless, he is still grouchy, cruel and likes to bully and antagonize the citizens of Whoville whenever he can. He takes some sadistic pride in his work, seeing an artistry and style to being generally mean and nasty. That said, he is still very sadistic at times as he takes as much delight in ruining Christmas as his other incarnations. However, unlike in the 2000 adaptation in which he does it because he was bullied, in this film he does it because he was a lonely orphan who never had a Christmas in his life, and decides to steal Christmas to prove a point rather than out of pure hatred for the Whos and the holiday. In addition, he believes that the Whos are all greedy and only think about themselves, which adds to hatred of Christmas.
While still a loner, the Grinch will be social when he needs to be, particularly when he goes to Whoville to buy groceries, although he hates the town and its residents. However, as mentioned above, deep down this incarnation of the Grinch is slightly nicer and has a soft spot, which he shows to a select few individuals (including animals, especially Max) that manage to appeal to it under his tough exterior. He is also slightly clumsier than his original counterpart. After his inevitable change of heart, he is shown to be socially awkward around other, mostly because of his guilt and because his only companions at the time were Max and a reindeer named Fred.
Physical appearance[]
The Grinch is a humanoid creature with a pear-shaped body (much like the Whos) with a large potbelly, grimy, crooked and yellowed teeth, long fingers and feet, a snub nose, and is covered in green fur. He has large, sinister black eyebrows, deep lines on his forehead, and a pair of brooding, deep-set, and soulless eyes with red irises and yellow sclera (which become more round and feature blue irises and white sclera when he reforms). He has a long, prominent neck, with layers of brown fur coming down it. He seems to have pockets in the fur of his large stomach as he rests his hands inside this area. Concerning posture, he is loose and can bend easily. He also has a thinking smile, which starts out sweet until the idea is fully revealed with an evil smile. Another physical characteristic noted to change after the Grinch’s iconic change of heart is his face, which in addition to the line softening mentioned above, becomes somewhat heart-shaped as he smiles broadly. He often walks in stealth-mode when around the Whos.
In the Halloween special, his fur appears more greyish yellow green, with his fur collar being dark green instead of brown. In the 1982 special, he doesn’t have the fur collar and his fur appears softer and smoother compared to the previous incarnations.
In the 1966 Christmas special, Santa attire consists of a red jacket with white fur trim along with collar, hemline and cuffs, matching red shoes with pointed toes and the same fur trim, and a Santa stocking cap.
2000 film[]
In the live-action film, his 2000 incarnation is similar to his appearance in the original illustrations and the 1966 special. He stands 1.75 to 6’6” to 2.14 meters, his fur is slightly darkened and scragglier, his fur collar is more jagged, he has a longer and thicker unibrow, and redesigned eyes in two-toned goldenrod to chartreuse. The tuft of hair on his head is scruffier, and the toes of his shoes are more curled. His fingers and feet look longer due to the long portions of hair coming off of them.
When he secretly goes into Whoville to pull pranks on the Whos, he dons an old, hooded brown cloak and a rubber Who mask with large, grinning teeth, dirty socks and brown shoes.
When he reluctantly decides to attend the Whobilation, he steals a pair of lederhosen from a Who mountaineer, along with a pair of knee socks and black leather shoes. During the celebration, he is given a sweater with LED light that reads “I ♥ XMAS” as well as the Cheermeister crown, which is fashioned after a Christmas wreath.
When initiates his plan to steal Christmas from the Whos, he dons Santa attire consisting of a Santa stocking cap, a red coat with white fur trim along the hemline, front and on the cuffs, red shoes with curled toes with small gold bells on the toes and white fur lining, and a black belt with a vertical, rectangular gold buckle.
2018 film[]
In the CGI animated film, his 2018 incarnation is vastly different than all the other versions, appearing less exaggerated to reflect his slightly less jerky personality. He looks softer and a bit more lovable, more like a furry green “dog-man” than a creepy old goblin. His fur is smoother, cleaner and lighter, and the tuft of hair on his hair is combed neatly. He is taller and slenderer compared to his original version, and he has pink lips, buck teeth, and normal eyes with green irises instead of the yellow sclera and narrow shape like in the other versions.
In some scenes, he wears a red and white striped scarf (and a like-colored necktie at the film). In the scene where he explains his master plan to Max, he dons athletic attire, consisting of white and magenta striped wristbands, a matching headband, white knee socks with a matching magenta stripe, white and purple striped flipflops, and magenta yoga pants that read “GO TIME.”
When he and Max go searching for reindeer, he wears a red plaid and green Scottish bonnet and a matching red plaid scarf. During the scene where he steals Bricklebaum’s decorative Santa sleigh, he wears a burglar hat (similar to the one worn by Harry Lyme from the Home Alone films) and a black and grey striped scarf (like the one worn by Gru).
Unlike his 1966 and 2000 counterparts, the Grinch puts more effort into looking Santa Claus. His Santa attire consists of a red jacket white fur trim and two puffball buttons, black leather boots with white fur lining and extendable soles, which he uses to traverse the rooftops, and a Santa stocking cap with a built-in beard, which he had the insight to actually don compared to the previous versions of the character, who didn’t even bother. That said, he still does little to hide his distinguishing green fur.
Powers and abilities[]
Several interpretations of the Grinch (particularly in the 1982 special, the 2000 live-action remake, and the 2018 Illumination feature film) portray him as a skilled inventor and craftsman. In the 1982 special, he invents several machines designed to spread evil and misery, including his “vacu-sound-sweeper,” a machine that sucks out pleasant nosies and makes them sound garbled, or projects them out of the wrong mouth, and his dark-house, a tower that sends a beam of darkness anywhere he projects it. He can also change the beams to turn things different colors or patterns, and presumably make objects move on their own.
In the 2000 film, he exhibits remarkable engineering and crafty skills as his sleigh actually flies, and even as a child, he manufactured a rather beautiful angel tree topper.
In the 2018 film, instead of building his own sleigh, he instead steals it from a particularly cheerful Who named Bricklebaum, then modifies it to run like a motor-powered vehicle and even traverse the rooftops. In addition, he also invents various gadgets which uses to steal all the gifts and decorations.
In the 1977 Halloween special, the Grinch appears as more of an evil magician. In this film, he is shown to actually possess supernatural powers, such as being able to make his eyebrows fly off of his face and attack Euchariah while singing a chant, and shrink and grow in size as seen during the song “The Grinch Night Ball.” He also drives a “paraphernalia wagon,” a large cart containing an alternative dimension inhabited by a variety of nightmarish and monstrous creatures which he intends to release to terrify the Whos.
The Grinch has demonstrated above-average (even superhuman) strength on at least two occasions, being much stronger than what his lanky frame suggests, as he was able to lift the sleigh filled with hundreds of presents with ease. Furthermore, he is also very durable as he survives falling from heights that ordinarily would have killed most humans easily. Though this feat of strength may be akin to that of an adrenaline rush, he does not appear to exhibit ability under normal circumstances.
Appearances[]
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas![]
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The Grinch as he appears in the original 1966 television special.
The Grinch made his first appearance in the classic 1966 Christmas television special. In this special, he was voiced by the late Boris Karloff, who also narrated the special, and voiced the Rat from the 1966 Rankin/Bass theatrical film The Daydreamer, and Baron Boris von Frankenstein from the following 1967 theatrical film Mad Monster Party.
The Grinch is depicted as a furry recluse living in seclusion on a cliff overlooking the cheerful, optimistic community of Whoville. In contrast to the Whos, he is misanthropic, ill-tempered and mean-spirited. 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 is “two sizes too small.” Though always hateful, he especially hates the Christmas season in particular, scorning the holiday for the various disturbing (to him) elements of Christmastime, including the earsplitting noises of strangely-designed musical instruments, the Whos sitting down to Christmas dinner, and singing Christmas carols. After putting up with Christmas for fifty-three years, he is finally unable to stand the holiday any longer. Putting his foot down, the Grinch decides to destroy it once and for all.
Aided by his long-suffering pet dog Max, he meticulously designs a red suit to disguise himself as Santa Claus and makes his way to Whoville aboard a ramshackle sleigh. When he is robbing the first house, the Grinch is spotted by Cindy Lou Who, who got out of bed and asks him, “Why are you taking our Christmas tree?” So, the Grinch lies to her that one of the lights on Cindy’s tree is not working right and is taking it back to his “workshop” to fix it. Cindy believes this and goes back to bed. Once Cindy is asleep, the Grinch continues with the heist, breaking into the Whos’ homes and stealing their holiday decorations and gifts while they sleep. After successfully stealing every Christmas-y thing in Whoville, the Grinch then heads back to Mt. Crumpit to dump everything over the edge at the very top of the mountain.
Although his plan works and he pulled off the theft successfully, he is infuriated and shocked to hear the Whos on Christmas morning still singing cheerfully despite his actions, happy to simply have each other. Convinced that the holiday must carry a meaning distinct from its decorations and gifts that he never considered, the Grinch sees the error of his ways after realizing that Christmas is more than the associated presents. At that moment, the sleigh loaded with presents begins to dangerously teeter over the edge. He and Max try in vain to save it from going over the cliff, and in the process, the former’s heart grows “three sizes,” resulting in him “finding the strength of ten Grinches, plus two” and lifting the entire sleigh over his head.
In the end, The Grinch and Max then return to Whoville and return all the gifts they stole and gladly partake in the Whos’ Christmas celebration.
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who (1970)[]
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The Grinch’s cameo in the 1970 Horton television special.
The Grinch makes a brief cameo in the first of two adaptations of the 1954 book of the same name, the other being the 2008 film (see below). He can be seen twice during the song “Dr. Hoovey, You Were Right.”
Dr. Seuss' Halloween is Grinch Night[]
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The Grinch as he appears in the 1977 Halloween special.
In the Grinch’s third television special appearance which serves as a prequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, he is depicted as eviler than in the original Christmas special, acting as the full-blown main antagonist with no redemption at the end unlike the former special. In this appearance, he was voiced by the late Hans Conried, who also narrated the special and had voiced Captain Hook and George Darling in the 1953 Disney feature film Peter Pan, narrated the 1953 Tom & Jerry short Johann Mouse, Snidely Whiplash from the Dudley Do-Right shorts, Mr. Tackleton from the 1967 Rankin/Bass Christmas special Cricket on the Hearth, narrated and voiced Horton and Dr. H. Hoovey from the 1970 television special Horton Hears a Who, narrated the Sneetches and Zax segments and voiced the North-going, the South-going Zax and the Fox from the 1973 television special Dr. Seuss on the Loose, and portrayed Professor Whatley from the 1976 live-action Disney feature film The Shaggy D.A.
The Grinch is first seen being irritated by the various noises perpetrated by the infamous “sour-sweet” wind, which he then takes as sign that it’s “Grinch Night” once again. Because of this, he plans to go down to Whoville aboard the Paraphernalia Wagon, a wagon filled with monster called the “Un-Human Race,” cruelly forcing Max to pull it all the way down the mountain. From there, he will unleash the monsters to terrorize the citizens of Whoville. However, his plan is ultimately foiled by a brave young Who named Euchariah, who tries to stall the Grinch by getting him to scare him more, eventually causing the Grinch to unleash his entire “paraphernalia” upon him. Afterwards, the sour-sweet wind dies down, ending Grinch Night. After Max, finally fed up with his master’s abuse, leaves him and returns to Whoville with Euchariah, the Grinch is forced to pull the wagon back up the mountain alone, but not before promising to return on another Grinch Night, knowing that the wind will return someday.
Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat[]
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The Grinch as he appears in the 1982 crossover special.
This marks the Grinch’s final television special appearance, in which he is depicted as the main antagonist once again. In this appearance, he is voiced by the late Bob Holt, who also voiced the Grinch’s mother and the waiter in the special above, as well as Mr. Codfish in the 1971 Disney live-action feature film Bedknobs and Broomsticks, both the Lorax and the Once-Ler in the 1972 Dr. Seuss television special The Lorax, Homer Zuckerman in the 1973 animated feature film Charlotte’s Web, Sylvester McMonkey McBean the Sneetches from the 1973 television special Dr. Seuss on the Loose, and Mr. Hoober-Bloob and the snail race announcer in the 1975 Dr. Seuss television special The Hoober-Bloob Highway.
The Grinch starts out initially happy, until he stops to talk to his reflection (mirroring his old nasty self), which reminds him of his reputation as a Grinch and encourages him to return to his evil ways. As he heads out in his car to spread misery, he happens upon the Cat in the Hat, who (not knowing his name) makes the mistake of referring to him as “Mr. Green-face.” This truly angers the Grinch, who then chases the Cat in his car, until the latter manages to evade him by returning home. There, he presents to the Cat his “vacu-sound sweeper,” a device which allows him to make anyone make any sound he wants. He demonstrates it by testing in on various animals before using it on the Cat. After returning his home, the Grinch then uses his most complex invention on the Cat, a “dark house,” which makes things so dark that you cannot see your glove in front of your face. Near the end of the special, the Cat goes into a café to get away from the Grinch, but the Grinch makes trouble for him there by using his machinery to cause the entire building and everything in it to turn psychedelic and crazy. Having had enough of this, the Cat rallies the townsfolk together and they all make their way to the Grinch’s house. There, they sing a song reminding him of his mother, which makes the Grinch’s heart melt and him turn nice again. After dismantling his evil machinery, the Grinch talks to his reflection again. This time, however, before the reflection can revert him back to villainy again, Max uses the vacu-sound sweeper on the reflection to shut him up.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)[]
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Jim Carrey’s portrayal of the character from the 2000 live-action remake.
This marks the Grinch’s first ever live-action appearance. In this film, he was portrayed by Jim Carrey, who voiced Horton in the 2008 feature film adaptation of the 1954 Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who!, and portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future from the 2009 film Disney’s A Christmas Carol, and Thomas “Tom” Popper, Jr. from the 2011 20th Century Fox live-action film Mr. Popper’s Penguins. As an eight-year-old child, he was portrayed by the late Josh Ryan Evans.
The Grinch arrived in Whoville by mistake when he was a baby and was adopted by two elderly sisters. Although he showed some sadistic tendencies as a child, the Grinch was raised in a nice childhood by the sisters. Despite having a good childhood, the Grinch was an outcast at school as he was bullied by his classmates because of his hairy and green appearance (especially Augustus MayWho, who bullied him not only for his appearance, but also because he was jealous that the Grinch had a crush on Martha May Whovier, of whom Augustus harbored romantic feelings for as well.
One Christmas season when he was eight-years-old, the Grinch made an angel tree topper as a gift for Martha, but attempted to shave his face after remembering what all the kids said. Unfortunately, he cut himself in the process, which the other students all laughed at when they saw his face covered with shaving tape, with the exception of Martha, who furiously glares at them for this. Fed up with this mockery, the Grinch furiously went on a rampage by destroying the classroom’s tree and presents and scaring everyone out of his way as he ran away from home to live on Mt. Crumpit.
Over the years, the Grinch remained in hiding in a huge cave, eventually finding a lost dog, naming him Max and taking him under his wing. To the present day, all the Whos down in Whoville enjoy celebrating Christmas with much happiness and joy, all except the Grinch who resents Christmas and the Whos with great wrath, so much so that he even occasionally pulls dangerous and harmful practical jokes on them. As a result, no one likes him or cares for him. Meanwhile, an eight-year-old girl named Cindy Lou Who believes that everyone is missing the point about Christmas by being more concerned about the gifts and festivities. It isn’t until she has a face-to-face encounter with the Grinch at the post office, in which he saves her from being crushed by the post office’s stamping machine at Max’s insistence, that she becomes interested in his history. The next day, she asks everyone what they know about him and learns about his tragic past.
Touched by this story, Cindy decides to make the Grinch the main participant of the Whobilation, to the great displeasure of Augustus (who is now the new Mayor of Whoville), who reluctantly agrees after pressure from the townspeople who are warmed by Cindy Lou’s generous spirit. When she goes to Mt. Crumpit to offer an invitation to the Grinch, he initially turns her down. However, he gradually changes his mind, due to the promise of an award, the presence of Martha at the celebration, and the chance to upset Augustus.
Unfortunately, just as the Grinch is truly beginning to enjoy himself and is almost won over by attending all of the Whobilation’s contests and games, Augustus reunites him with his guardians (which shocks the Grinch that they are still alive) and gives him an electric shaver as a present, reminding him of his awful humiliation at school, prompting everyone to laugh. He even tops it off by asking Martha to marry him, promising her a new car in return. This makes the Grinch angry and jealous. He then berates and snaps at the Whos for thinking that Christmas is about gifts that they’ll just dispose of later in the hopes of making them too ashamed to celebrate the holiday. The Grinch then goes on to ruin the party by burning the Christmas tree with a makeshift flamethrower (although his actions prove fruitless as the Whos have a spare tree, which the Grinch sees them erect before he heads back home).
Returning to Mt. Crumpit, after realizing that his attack failed to remove the Whos’ Christmas spirit, the Grinch concocts a plan to steal all their presents while they are sleeping. Creating a Santa suit and sleigh, with Max masquerading as a “reindeer,” the Grinch flies around Whoville, stealing all of the Whos’ Christmas gifts and decorations. He is almost caught by Cindy Lou at one point, but lies to her to escape her house. The next day, as dawn approaches, the Grinch manages to get Max to ride the sleigh up to the very top of Mount Crumpit, happily declaring the success of his plan. At that time, the Whos discover the Grinch’s scheme and Augustus denounces Cindy as the cause of the disaster, prompting her father, Lou Lou Who (the Whoville postmaster) to stand up to the mayor. He tells him that he doesn’t care if the Grinch took away all their presents. Having finally understood what both Cindy and the Grinch are trying to convey about the avarice that the Whos brought for the holiday, Lou reminds everyone that they still have the Christmas spirit and that the true meaning of Christmas is spend time with loved ones, and that the Grinch wouldn’t have hated Christmas if the mayor hadn’t bullied him in the first place. With this revelation, all the Whos agree with Lou and decide to enjoy the holiday without their gifts by singing together. Hoping that the change of mood will inspire the Grinch, Condy Lou goes to Mt. Crumpit to find him.
Meanwhile, upon hearing the Whos joyfully singing, the Grinch is initially furious over the failure of his plan, but then has an epiphany about the true meaning of Christmas, an insight that profoundly touches him and causes his heart to triple in size. When Max sees that the sleigh is about to go over the edge of the cliff, he informs the Grinch, who desperately tries to save them but to no avail. However, he spots Cindy Lou wanting to wish him a Merry Christmas and is in danger of falling off the cliff with the sleigh. Gathering every once of strength he has, the Grinch manages to lift the sleigh, the gifts and Cindy Lou to safety. After a long descent down Mt. Crumpit, the Grinch drives the sleigh down to Whoville with Cindy Lou and Max.
There, he confesses to the burglary and apologizes for his actions before surrendering to the police, willing to accept punishment for his crimes. However, everyone all reconciles with him, having learned a lesson about the holiday, much to MayWho’s dismay. In addition, Martha turns down his proposal, telling him that her heart belongs to the Grinch, who is overcome with joy. Realizing that all of the Whos have turned against him for his selfish actions against the Grinch, Augustus reluctantly shakes his hand to assure him that there are no hard feelings, only for the Grinch to laugh at him and cheer up since it’s Christmas. He turns a light bulb on the town’s Christmas tree, which somehow turns all the Christmas lights in town back on as well. Condy Lou gives the Grinch a kiss on the cheek and wishes him a Merry Christmas before they joing the rest of Whoville in singing together around the Christmas tree.
The redeemed Grinch starts a new life with the Whos as he commemorates the Christmas feast with them in his cave; even allowing Max to get the first slice of the roast beast, much to the dog’s delight. Martha goes on to start a romantic relationship with the Grinch, whose arm she holds as he cuts the roast beast and gets the gizzard for himself.
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who[]
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The Grinch’s possible cameo in the 2008 film Horton Hears a Who.
The Grinch, or at least a Who that bears a slightly similar appearance to him, makes a very brief cameo in the 2008 feature-film adaptation of Horton Hears a Who! He can be seen playing a tiny set of panpipes to add to the overall racket the Whos make to prove their existence before they are boiled alive by the Sour Kangaroo.
Dr. Seuss' The Grinch[]
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The Grinch as he appears in the 2018 film from Illumination.
This marks the Grinch’s final, to date, feature film appearance. In this film, he is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, who also voiced Classified from the 2014 DreamWorks’ feature film The Penguins of Madagascar.
When he was a small kid, the Grinch spent most of his childhood life at the Whoville orphanage with no one to celebrate Christmas with while the other Whos celebrated Christmas without him and never adopted him either. Seeing the sights made him so sad that he decided to leave since it was too much pain for him. Since then, he has lived on Mt. Crumpit, questioning the meaning of Christmas for 53 years.
In present times, the Whos are filled with excitement about celebrating Christmas. But the only one who isn’t excited at all is the Grinch, whose heart is described as “two sizes too small,” and only comes down to Whoville to buy food and to do bad things. His only companion is his loyal dog, Max. Meanwhile, a 6-year-old girl named Cindy Lou Who notices that her single mother, Donna Lou Who, is overworked, trying to take care of herself and her baby twin brothers, Buster and Bean. She decides to send a letter to Santa Claus to help her mother at first, but after encountering the Grinch, who sarcastically tells her that she’ll have to talk to Santa face-to-face about it, she eventually decides to try and trap Santa with the help of her friends and asks him for his help since she thinks that it’s too important.
The next night, after the Grinch is annoyed that the Whos brought a gigantic Christmas tree to town, he attempts to destroy it by catapulting a giant snowball at it, only for his attack to backfire and he himself to get catapulted, accidentally lighting the tree himself in the process. All the festivities give him a flashback, recalling his sad, disjointed childhood spent mostly alone and unwanted in the orphanage. Unnoticed by any of the Whos, he returns to his cave, where he decides to steal Christmas from Whoville to assuage his distress. First, he acquires a fat reindeer whom he names Fred to help him pull a sleigh that he stole from his neighbor, Bricklebaum, the happiest Who in Whoville. After a test run, the Grinch sees that Fred has a wife and child, so with a heavy heart, he lets Fred go back to them.
On Christmas Eve, after making a Santa Claus disguise and various gadgets to aid him in his theft, the Grinch and Max, the latter of whom pulls the sleigh in Fred’s place, go down to Whoville and proceed to steal the decorations and presents. Arriving at the very last house, the Grinch ends up caught in a trap set by Cindy, whose request to lighten her mother’s workload and kind advice about listening to the Whos’ singing to alleviate sadness, touches his bitter heart. Nevertheless, he carries on with his mission.
After stealing every Christmas present and decoration, the Grinch and Max head back to Mt. Crumpit to dispose of them as dawn approaches. The Whos soon awaken, shocked to see that the presents and decorations are gone. At first, Cindy Lou realizes that it was her fault, because she caught “Santa” and thinks that she made him so mad that he stole their Christmas. But Donna tells her that Christmas is more than just gifts and that Cindy Lou is the best thing that ever happened to her before they join the other Whos in singing “Welcome Christmas” together. At that moment, the Grinch and Max hear the singing before the Grinch can dump the sleigh, which puzzles him. At first, he doesn’t understand why they are celebrating Christmas without presents, despite his theft. But then he remembers Cindy’s advice and listens to their song, which causes his heart to triple in size, causing him to double over with breathless joy and wonder. Then, the sleigh starts to fall off Mt. Crumpit and the Grinch tries to save it. Fortunately, Fred and his family come to his aid just in the nick of time. After securing the sleigh, the Grinch and Max return to Whoville to give back the stolen items. He admits his theft to the Whos and apologizes before returning to his cave.
Feeling sorry for the Grinch, Cindy Lou comes to his house and invites him to celebrate Christmas at her house, which surprises the Grinch. When he asks why, she tells him that he has been forgiven and that no one should be alone on Christmas. That night, the Grinch awkwardly attends, since he had never been invited to a party before, and Cindy Lou, who wants him to feel welcome, is delighted that he came. When seated down for dinner, the Grinch confesses that it wasn’t really Christmas he hated, but being lonely and his bitterness over being neglected. He also thanks Cindy Lou for her changing his life because of her kindness, and her mother hugs her saying “That’s my girl.” Cindy Lou and the Grinch wish each other a Merry Christmas, then, before carving the roast beast, the Grinch offers a toast, “To kindness and love, the things we need most.”
Over the end titles, we see that the Grinch has created a number of labor-saving devices which do indeed make Donna happier and her life easier, just as Cindy Lou wanted.
The Dog Days of Winter[]
The 2018 version of the character is seen again in this mini-movie that takes place before the events of the film. The Grinch is very sick and needs some tea to get better. So he sends his dog Max to bring some back. Max braves the harsh winter weather before reaching the store. However, an uncooperative Who refuses to let him in, since dogs are not allowed in there. Because of this, Max quietly sneaks in, gets the tea, pays for it, and leaves the store. Making it home, he makes the tea and gives it to his master, to which the Grinch kindly rewards him by letting him sleep in bed with him, resulting in Max getting a cold himself at the end.
Other appearances[]
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The Grinch’s cameo of sorts in Tiny Toon Adventures.
In the Tiny Toon Adventures finale episode “It’s a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special,” parody versions of the Grinch and Max appear at the beginning of the episode. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, who made a cameo in the 1996 film Space Jam, and voiced Dracula from the Animaniacs episode “Draculee, Draculaa,” Genie in the 1994 Disney direct-to-video film The Return of Jafar, the Postman from the 2000 Christmas special Olive, the Other Reindeer, Thing One and Thing Two from the 2003 live-action remake of The Cat in the Hat, Stretch from the 2006 film Casper’s Scare School, and the Wickersham Brothers from the 2008 Horton film (see above).
The Grinch makes brief cameos in both Home Alone and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, appearing on a television screen playing the original special from 1966.
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The Grinch’s cameo of sorts in The Fairly Oddparents.
In the Fairly Oddparents episode “Merry Wishmas,” Timmy Turner, Santa Claus and his elves watch on television “How the Grump Stole Wishmas,” a parody of the Grinch.
Relationships[]
Romance[]
Martha May Whovier[]
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The Grinch and Martha May when they were classmates in school.
The Grinch fell in love with Martha since she first looked at him while licking her lollipop at school when he was eight-years-old. Since then, he has always had a crush on Martha ever since childhood and would do anything to win her heart, even making a Christmas gift for her. However, he attempted to shave his face after being teased for having a “beard,” accidentally cutting himself in the process. When his classmates and teacher saw his face covered in shaving tape the next morning, they all laughed at him, except for Martha. Because of this, he lost his temper, went on a rampage and ran away to live on Mt. Crumpit, a forboding mountain north of Whoville.
As the years passed, Martha still held some romantic feelings for him, and the two later meet again when they are adults, in which the Grinch flirts with her during the Whobilation, until Augustus reminds him of his tragic past and proposes to Martha, infuriating the Grinch and making him jealous too. In the end, after the Grinch reformed, Martha rejected Augustus’ engagement, deciding to stay with the Grinch since she always loved him, which makes the Grinch very happy. Later, they start to have a relationship together after they sing and celebrate Christmas at the Grinch’s home.
Friends[]
Cindy Lou Who[]
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The Grinch talking with Cindy Lou when she enters his cave in the 2000 film.
In all three Christmas adaptations, the Grinch shares one of two very close friendships despite his incredibly cranky nature. The first is Cindy Lou Who, one of the very few Whos to show genuine kindness to him.
In the 1966 special, the two share a brief interaction when Cindy catches him stealing their Christmas tree. Being a two-year-old girl, she believes that the person she is currently talking to is the real Santa Claus. In spite of his overall nasty disposition, the Grinch clearly is not above lying to children, and tricks her into believing that he is taking the tree to fix a broken lightbulb. Cindy believes this and returns to bed. The Grinch doesn’t interact with Cindy much after this. The last we see of these two together is at the end of the special when the redeemed Grinch sits at the head of the table and carves the roast beast He slices a piece for Cindy, which she then gives to Max sitting beside her on the floor, then slices a second piece for Cindy.
In the 2000 film, Cindy first meets him in the post office, where he saves her from being crushed by the stamping machine. However, he refuses to admit that he did it because actually cared, and they don’t really get along as the Grinch at this point is bad and thinks she is just like the other Whos that only care about presents. Later, when Cindy goes to invite him to the celebration, after discovering the real reason he hates Christmas is due to his tragic past, she is not afraid of him and thinks he’s funny, which upsets him. However, he decides to attend the Whobilation for her, especially after hearing the promise of an award, and a chance to see Martha again while humiliating the mayor.
When the Grinch carries out his Christmas heist, while he does lie to her about why he’s taking the tree, before Cindy returns to bed, she admits that she thinks the Grinch is rather sweet. While he initially hates this compliment, he does come to realize that Cindy, unlike the other Whos, is actually a very nice child. When she comes to wish him a Merry Christmas and rides down the mountain with him during the climax, he comes to accept Cindy as his closest friend in Whoville.
In the 2018 film, during his first meeting with Cindy, he is quite rude, dismissive and sarcastic towards her, especially after being accidentally knocked down in the snow by her. But when he talks to her during his Christmas heist, after hearing of her wish to make her mother’s life better and receiving a hug from her, the Grinch becomes genuinely touched by her kindness. He is truly surprised when she invites him to Christmas dinner, and thanks her for her kindness towards him.
Max[]
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The Grinch and Max in the 2000 film.
The Grinch’s other closest friendship, and his only one he had prior to his redemption, was his loyal dog Max, who was the only creature of whom he could tolerate.
In the 1966, 1977 and 1982 specials, along with the 2000 film, for the most part, he is shown to be rather cruel and abusive to Max, often treating him like a slave or getting rather annoyed with him at times. Yet despite this harsh mistreatment, Max remains fiercely loyal to the Grinch and does anything he can to please his master, from aiding him in his Christmas-stealing scheme to scaring intruders away from his cave. However, in the Halloween special, Max becomes fed up with the Grinch’s abuse and abandons him to live with Euchariah, who at the time was possibly the only one to show him any shred of kindness, thus breaking the continuity between the various Grinch-related media. As to how and/or why he returned to the Grinch after this remains unknown.
However, in the 2018 film, the Grinch is shown to be much kinder to Max than previous versions. He genuinely cares for the dog, and even apologizes to him the one time he actually hurts Max’s feelings, telling him he’s a good dog. By the end of the story, he even buys him a squeaky toy to play with and wishes Max a Merry Christmas.
Fred[]
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The Grinch setting Fred free to return to his family in the 2018 film.
In the 2018 film, two new characters are added to round out the Grinch’s initially small then extensive circle of friends. The first is particularly chubby reindeer named Fred. Like Max, the Grinch is genuinely nice to him, and even lets him return to his family. Touched by his kindness, Fred returns the favor near the end of the film when saves the Grinch falling over the cliff. The Grinch is grateful for his rescue and is quite happy to see him again.
Bricklebaum[]
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Bricklebaum, intentionally and unknowingly, annoying the Grinch in the 2018 film.
The other new friend of the Grinch in the 2018 film is Bricklebaum, who he claims “actually thinks they’re friends.” At first, given the Grinch’s annoyance and resentment towards the Whos, Bricklebaum is the one Who that truly gets on his nerves, due to his excessively cheerful disposition, especially when compared to everyone else. In the end, the Grinch eventually comes to accept him as a good friend.
Enemies[]
Mayor Augustus MayWho[]
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An angry Grinch with his arch-rival Augustus, smiling smugly in the 2000 film.
The Grinch and Augustus have known each other since childhood, but have always had a deep resentment for each other due to both of them harboring romantic feelings for Martha, as well as the latter and the classmates all laughed at the Grinch for being a freak, upsetting him and causing him to hate Christmas ever since.
Years later, the two still had crushes on Martha and held on to their resentment towards one another. Augustus, clearly upset by the Grinch’s presence at the Whobilation and seeing his old arch-rival actually having fun, decided to spoil his good mood by giving him an electric shaver as a present and proposing to Martha, which made the Grinch jealous and hurt. Angered by this, he destroys the celebration out of spite. At the end of the film, Augustus is still upset that the Grinch ruined Christmas and wants him arrested, despite the fact that he reformed, returned the gifts and apologized for his actions. But the townsfolk, having come to realize what a selfish and mean-spirited person their mayor truly is, turn him down, much to his dismay. To make matters worse, Martha rejects his proposal and declares her love for the Grinch, which delights him greatly. He offers his hand for Augustus to shake, ensuring that there are no hard feelings between them, to which Augustus agrees, only for the Grinch to smugly laugh in his face.
Euchariah Who[]
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The Grinch introducing Euchariah to the “Un-Human Race” in the Halloween special.
Unlike Cindy Lou, the only Who child, besides Augustus, that the Grinch saw as a potential enemy was Euchariah in the 1977 Halloween special. At first, he looks upon the child as a mere nuisance and dismisses him twice. But when Euchariah stalls him a second time from reaching Whoville, the Grinch then realizes that the boy intends to cause him no end of trouble. He then invites Euchariah to step aboard his paraphernalia wagon, where he bravely defies the Grinch and dares him to unleash his horde of spooks upon him, claiming that he won’t flinch in fear even once. The Grinch accepts this dare and opens the wagon, unleashing its contents upon Euchariah, who finds himself in a surreal nightmare. Afterwards, this proves to have stalled the Grinch long enough for the sour-sweet wind to die down, thus ending Grinch Night and foiling the Grinch’s plan. Despite being quite annoyed by this, the Grinch allows the boy to return home. It remains unknown as to whether to not Euchariah became a friend of the Grinch, along with the rest of the Whos, after this in the Christmas story, as he is not seen or heard in any other Grinch-related media.
The Cat in the Hat[]
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The Grinch and the Cat in the Hat in their only known appearance together.
While they were only seen together once in the 1982 crossover special, clearly the Grinch and the Cat got off on the wrong foot. From the moment they met, and the Cat made the unfortunate mistake of calling the Grinch “Green-face,” he became the Grinch’s new archenemy. Throughout most of the special, the Grinch uses his technology to make the Cat’s life as miserable as possible. However, by the end, when the Cat rallies the townsfolk together to sing to him, hearing their song about his mother changes his sour disposition and he becomes a nicer person once more.
The Whos[]
For a majority of the three Christmas adaptations, along with the Halloween special, the Grinch absolutely despises the Whos of Whoville, though his reasons for doing so vary between the four motion pictures.
In the 1966 special, the main reason for his dislike of the Whos and their celebration of Christmas was due to the loud noise and extreme gluttony. In the 2000 film, while he hates them and the holiday for the previous reasons, he also hates them because his cruel mistreatment in school, and for them commercializing the holiday to the point that they eventually tire of their gifts and dispose of them in the dump on Mt. Crumpit. In the 2018 film, while he appears less hateful than his previous incarnations, he still resents the Whos, though this time it is due to the fact that he was neglected as a child and no one wanted him or celebrated Christmas with him. In the Halloween special, his reasons as to why he hates the Whos are never truly specified. Though considering it is meant to a serve as a prequel of sorts to the Christmas story, it can be assumed that he hates them for the same reasons as the former. Only this time, he hates them enough that he is willing to unleash a horde of otherworldly monsters to scare the townsfolk.
Nevertheless, in the end, he comes to look upon the Whos as friends and presumably becomes a frequent visitor to Whoville.
Gallery[]
Media Universe Wiki has a collection of images related to The Grinch.
Trivia[]
- Dr. Seuss disputed casting Boris Karloff as the Grinch for fear that he would make the character too scary for children.
- The Grinch is second only to the Cat in the Hat in terms of popularity of Dr. Seuss’ characters.
- With the character’s anti-holiday attitude followed by his redemption on Christmas morning, the Grinch is very similar to the Beast from Beauty and the Beast and Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol: all three hate Christmas at the beginning because of the past, all three are in love with their love interest (though in the Grinch’s case, this only applies to the 2000 live-action film), and all three are even adults that are all redeemed after realizing the true meaning of Christmas.
- The Grinch makes a cameo on Margo’s shirt in Despicable Me 3.
- In the trailer for the 2018 film, the Grinch is attacked by a cat while he’s stealing the presents, similar to how his live-action counterpart was.
- The Grinch is the second Illumination protagonist to be a villain also, the first being Gru from the first Despicable Me film.
- In It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, Fozzie Bear ends up getting green paint all over him. When he comes out, he now resembles the Grinch, which gets him into hot water with a gang of Whos that mistake him for the Grinch and blame him for stealing their Christmas.
- Though he’s almost always depicted as green, it’s only in the original 1966 special that he became that color, on the suggestion of the late director Chuck Jones. The original Grinch was not green, but instead was black-and-white with reddish pink eyes. Jim Carrey’s portrayal was originally meant to look this way, but director Ron Howard wanted the film to be an adaptation of the Chuck Jones special as well.
- The song the Grinch plays on his pipe organ in the 2018 film is “All By Myself” by Eric Carmen.
- Dr. Seuss first used the word “Grinch” in 1953 to describe a bird called the Beagle-Beaked, Bald-Headed Grinch, who shares the later Grinch’s cantankerous attitude, in his book, Scrambled Eggs Super!
- Jim Carrey’s Grinch suit was covered in yak hair, which was dyed green, and sewn into a spandex suit.
- The producers wanted Cumberbatch to use his natural accent for the Grinch, but he instead decided that since the rest of the cast is American, then he should voice the Grinch was an American accent. While he does a fairly good job, sometimes you can hear his natural British accent showing. The 2018 film marks the second time a British actor has voiced the Grinch, the first being Boris Karloff in the 1966 TV special.
- Both the 2000 and 2018 films are the only adaptations of How the Grinch Stole Christmas that show the Grinch as a child.
- In the 2018 film, there is a given concept for this adaptation. Like in the previous Grinch media, the Grinch appears undressed, but here, he turns out to be wearing extra green fur over his briefs. This cuts out the misinterpretation to children of seeing the Grinch “nude.”
- The Grinch was only 8-years-old when he went to Mt. Crumpit and spent 53 years there. Therefore, at the time of the Christmas story, he was born in 1896 in the original book, 1905 in the 1966 TV special, 1939 in the 2000 live-action film, and 1957 in the 2018 film.
- The scene when the Grinch pulls the tablecloth off the table during his tantrum, the silverware was scripted to fall off with it. However, Jim Carrey nailed it so flawlessly that everything stayed on, resulting in him going back to knock it all over himself.
- The 2018 version of the Grinch seems to dye his hair to hide the gray hairs at his age, although he claims the opposite when interacting with Bricklebaum.
- Jim Carrey’s yellow contact lenses were so uncomfortable that he was unable to wear them during filming at times. Because of this, some shots of his eyes had to be recolored in post-production.
- In the 2000 film, the Grinch’s younger self was Josh Ryan Evans final film role before his death in 2002.
- Benedict Cumberbatch stated that he believes that his version of the Grinch to be in his fifties.
- In the 2000 film, his full name could be Ethan Grinch, or Ethan Who due to his adoption by Carnella and Rose Who, but he is often referred to as Mr. Grinch.
- When the Grinch drives the little car during his rampage, Jim Carrey said that it was very difficult to drive, and it took him forever to get the feel of the car.
- In the 2018 film, the only one to refer to the title character as the Grinch is the narrator. Everyone else refers to him as “Mr. Grinch,” while Bricklebaum occasionally calls him “Grinchy.” However, during his proper introduction to Cindy Lou at the end of the film, he says that his name is just Grinch.
- In the 1966 special, Boris Karloff’s voice changes when he provides the voice of the Grinch. Originally, he spoke in his narrator voice throughout the special. However, after the recording was completed, the highs in his voice were mechanically removed for the Grinch, giving him a gravellier voice in the final version.
- The 2018 film provides a new reason for why the Grinch goes down to Whoville during the Christmas season: instead of simply playing pranks on the Whos incognito, he goes into town as himself and stockpiles food to last him until the start of January, which he manages to finish off due to excessive “emotional” eating, leaving him with a mere bean just five days shy of Christmas.
- While the Grinch is meant to be the main villain as per the original story, in the 2000 film however, it is shown that the mayor is the real villain while the Grinch is depicted as more of a tragic good guy. It is because of Augustus’ bullying that the Grinch became cold-hearted, anti-social, unforgiving and diabolical, thus explain why he hates Christmas and the Whos.
- Near the end of the 2018 film, the Grinch wears a red and white striped necktie when he’s invited over to Cindy Lou’s house for Christmas dinner, as well as a like-colored scarf in some scenes, both of which are references to the Cat in the Hat (another Dr. Seuss character), who has a hat with the same color pattern.
- Jim Carrey admitted that he felt ashamed for not trying to prevent some of the adult humor in the 2000 film and repeatedly stated that all of his ad-libbed jokes were age appropriate. He later discovered that director Ron Howard had removed many other raunchier jokes, but had to keep some of them due to what they both claim as “studio interference.”
- When casting Benedict Cumberbatch as the Grinch in the 2018 film, he was already fan of both the original book and the 1966 television special.
- In the 1955 story The Hoobub and the Grinch, featured in Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories, this version bears virtually no resemblance to the later character. However, this implies that there’s more than one Grinch, suggesting that the Grinch might actually be a species.
- In the Latin American Spanish dub of the 2018 film, Ruben Cerda, who voiced the Grinch’s singing voice in the 2000 film, reprised the character in this dub, though the speaking voice was provided by Eugenio Derbez instead of Mario Castañeda.
- In the original book, the climatic moment where the sleigh loaded with gifts starts to slide over the edge of the cliff and the Grinch tries to save it wasn’t featured. This was a scene created exclusively for the 1966 television special. It should be noted that in the 1966 and 2000 versions of this scene, the sleigh was simply leaning on the edge of the cliff, whereas in the 2018 film, it does actually fall off Mt. Crumpit, especially when the Grinch tries grappling the edge, causing it to crumble and break off.
- Unlike the book or 1966 and 2018 version, in the 2000 film, he never mentions 53 years, instead says “year after year,” thus making the number of years he has had to put up with Christmas ambiguous.
- On a similar note, Dr. Seuss admitted in interviews that he based the character of the Grinch on himself when he too felt ambivalence towards Christmas. As a subtle hint, the Grinch mentions that he has had to endure Christmas for “53 years,” which was how old Seuss was at the time of the book’s publication.
- By virtue of a sad backstory, both feature films make the Grinch more of a sympathetic character than he was both the original book and the Chuck Jones special.
- The 2018 interpretation of the character appears to be more hygienic, tidy and healthy than his 1966 and 2000 counterparts as he does take a shower, lives in a nice cave and exercises, unlike the previous two versions who like to be stinky, fat and live in dark, messier caves.
- Jim Carrey accepted the role of the Grinch after hearing a children’s choir singing “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” on tape.
- The 2018 version of the character seems to have far more patience for animals than the Whos compared the previous versions, with the notable exception of the goat. Aside from caring deeply for Max and treating him fairly well, this is also shown when the Grinch kindly allows Fred to return to his family.
- Many of the Grinch’s lines in the 2000 film were ad-libbed by Jim Carrey. In addition, Carrey’s voice for the character was styled after Sean Connery.
- The Grinch is the only character in the 2000 film who breaks the fourth wall, as shown when he actively tries to avoid speaking in rhyme and even interacts with the narrator at one point.
- Curiously, the Grinch doesn’t have a love interest in the 2018 film. Why this is remains unknown, though it can be assumed that they tried to base it more on the Chuck Jones special than the 2000 film did, in which the Grinch didn’t have a love interest.
- In the original book as well as the 2000 film, the Grinch cannot find an actual reindeer to assist him in his Christmas heist, thus he uses Max instead. However, in the Illumination version, he does actually find a reindeer, whom he names Fred, to aid him in his scheme.
- The 2000 Grinch film is, to date, the most successful movie of Jim Carrey’s career.
- In both feature films, since the town’s Christmas tree is hundreds of feet high with proportionate-sized ornaments, the Grinch doesn’t even bother stealing it, only taking the stuff he can actually fit in the sleigh. In the Chuck Jones special, he does actually steal the town’s Christmas tree, which is the last thing he steals before returning to Mt. Crumpit.
- Unlike the 1966 special or 2000 film, in the Illumination film, the Grinch’s epiphany to steal Christmas happens on December 21st rather than Christmas Eve, which gives him more time to plan his scheme, develop his gadgets and find a reindeer to rob all of Whoville in one fell swoop. Also, he comes up with the idea himself rather than getting the idea when he sees Max’s face being covered in snow that vaguely resembles Santa Claus. Also, in the 2000 film, he doesn’t conjure up the idea until one hour into the film.
- The Grinch’s only real victim during his heist in all versions of the Christmas story is a fluffy white cat in the 2000 film, which he accidentally sucked up with a vacuum while stealing presents from a house.
- The scene in the live-action film where the Grinch is directing Max before stealing Christmas is Jim Carrey making fun of director Ron Howard, imitating his style of directing. Howard actually found this scene hilarious and decided to include in the film.
- After the Grinch leaves Whoville for the second time in the 2000 film, the camera pans up, revealing a statue of an elephant that bears a striking resemblance to Horton from Horton Hears a Who, whom Carrey would later go on to voice in the animated film of the same name.
- The Grinch’s motivation in the 2018 is the closest to the original book compared to his 1966 and 2000 counterparts, since his grudge is specifically with the celebration of Christmas rather than the Whos, of whom he has no personal grudge with and recognizes as very nice people.
- Unlike his 1966 and 2000 counterparts, there scene that imply that the 2018 version of the Grinch may secretly like Christmas but refuses to admit it, even before he redeemed himself. In one particular scene, while looking through the Christmas almanac, he admires a gingerbread house and seems to find its family made of gumdrops cute, only to cover it up by calling it “So, so stupidly dumb.” Another example is when he talks to Max and Fred about how tempting opening the presents may be, basically looking hypnotized by the wrapped present and comes very close to opening it, only to throw it away and tell the animals that they shouldn’t do that.