How the Grinch Stole Christmas
In 1957, Random House published How the Grinch Stole Christmas,
by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. Many Dr.
Seuss books were social commentaries, this one on the
over-commercialization of Christmas.
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| Dr. Seuss with Grinch drawings |
In 1966, the book was adapted into an animated television special [click this link for some nostalgia], which was almost 100% simply a reading of the book, along with some well-placed songs. The Grinch was voiced by Boris Karloff [which allows me to put this under the letter K]. I remember as a young child watching this TV special every year in December. For all of you young whipper-snappers reading this blog, this was back in the days where if you missed a television program, you missed it. The Grinch was on TV once per year, and that's it. My brother and I would rearrange our entire lives so we were sitting uninterrupted in the living room for the Grinch, and Charlie Brown's Christmas, and Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and all the other specials.
But the Grinch was always my favorite. I even remember, to this day, exactly where the commercial breaks were placed.
In 2000, the Grinch was adapted into a feature film starring Jim Carrey and directed by Ron Howard. The Whos celebrate a VERY commercialized Christmas, and Cindy Lou [who was probably 7, quite a bit older than 2] invites the Grinch to the celebration to receive an award. This movie includes the Grinch's origin story of why he hates Christmas. It's Jim Carrey, so there were a few funny parts. The movie did integrate actual lines from the book, which I liked. The end was kinda cheesy but did follow the basic story line.
I will still watch the 1966 TV special every year. I have several copies on DVD so I can pop it in whenever I want. This is not necessarily limited to December only!
I saw the Jim Carrey movie once. That's enough for me.
What about you? Do you have happy childhood memories of the Grinch? Tell us in the comments!
I was wondering how you spelled Christmas with a k. Karloff is acceptable. I missed a lot about the Grinch when I was a kid. I got the grinch, and the dog and The Whos and the heart 3 sizes too small. What I missed as a kid was they carved the roast beast. it wasn’t until I was an adult and somebody called the roast beef roast beast that I was told it was from the grinch. I also didn’t realize until I was an adult that the animators are the same as did Tom and jerry cartoons. Never have seen the movie and do not care to. http://dave-homeschooldad.blogspot.com/2022/04/j-is-for-january.html
ReplyDeleteHow funny that you chose this movie for today: In my facebook memories just yesterday (when you were writing this) I was reminded of a time I baby-sat my young nieces and given a choice of movie before bed, the little one asked for The Grinch. (1966) What adult would choose that movie for an April evening's entertainment?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, prefer the original animated one.
Visiting from AtoZ: Doesn't Speak Klingon
"I saw the Jim Carrey movie once. That's enough for me" - this could be said of many of his films. LOL
ReplyDeleteI've read the book but skipped the movie :-)
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for the A-Z Challenge My Languishing TBR: K
I ended up going to see this film with my young daughter, my husband went with the older ones to see something else. Hated it. Love the tv animations, which as you say is just a telling of the book. Why can they not just leave some stories alone!!
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of the book and the animated version, but didn't even bother to watch the Jim Carrey movie. The previews annoyed me way too much!
ReplyDeleteK is for Knowledge