“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (1957) is a Christmas story by Dr Seuss. The Grinch, an anti-Santa, tries to stop Christmas from coming by taking away all the Christmas presents!
In 1966 Chuck Jones, formerly of Looney Tunes, made it into a half-hour television show, which they show in America every year at Christmas time. Boris Karloff tells the story, the voice of Tony the Tiger sings the songs.
In 2000 Universal Pictures made it into a bad Jim Carrey film. But one good thing came out of it: Who-ville at the Universal amusement park in Florida, where you can sled in the snow in summer!
- Place: Mount Crumpit, Who-ville.
- Time: The 1930s or 1940s. The story is told as if it took place years ago – yet electric Christmas lights, which appear in the story, were not common till the 1930s.
- Dramatis Personae:
- The Grinch, age 53 (same as Seuss), who lives in a cave high up on Mount Crumpit.
- Max, his dog
- Cindy-Lou Who
- Every Who down in Who-ville – the tall and the small.
- Who-ville Christmas traditions:
- Christmas trees
- Hanging mistletoe wreaths
- Hanging stockings
- Santa Claus (Saint Nick)
- Giving children presents, like:
- pop guns
- bicycles
- roller skates
- drums
- checkerboards
- tricycles
- popcorn
- plums
- Christmas feast:
- Who pudding
- rare Who roast-beast
- Joining hands in the town square and singing while Christmas bells ring.
- Length: 1,367 words
- Reading level: 3.6 years of schooling – harder than “Cat in the Hat” (1.2).
- Exclamation marks: 106
- Meter: the main Seussian one, anapestic tetrameter:
- ev’ry WHO / down in WHO / ville liked CHRIST / mas a LOT
Our story:
The Grinch hates Christmas! He gets a wonderful, awful idea to stop it from coming: he will dress up like Santa Claus and instead of delivering presents, he will take them away! His dog Max wears an antler and pulls the sleigh.
The Grinch takes not just Christmas presents, but stockings, Christmas trees, food for the feast. All he leaves on the walls are some hooks and some wire.
He cleans out Who-ville while the Whos are sound asleep. The only person to catch him in the act is Little Cindy Lou Who, who was not more than two. She sees him pushing the Christmas tree up the chimney and asks why. He thinks up a lie and tells her that he is taking the tree to his workshop because of a broken light on one side. She does not notice that the living room is empty.
He loads all of Who-ville’s Christmas stuff into bags, up chimneys and onto his sleigh. Max pulls the sleigh 900m up the side of Mount Crumpit – to dump it.
When they get to the top the Grinch stops so he can hear Who-ville cry boo-hoo! But instead of crying he hears singing! He could take their presents and their food, but not their songs – or their joy.
Moral: Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!
See also:
- Dr Seuss: Welcome Christmas – the song the Whos sing Christmas morning even though the Grinch has taken all their presents.
- Christmas
- St Nicholas
- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
- reading level
- human universals
You didn’t like Jim Carrey’s Grinch movie?! I thought it was hilarious. I like it almost as much as the original cartoon. For some reason when I was small (7 or 8) I thought it was very funny the way the Grinch had his tiny dog hitched up to the sleigh. That made me howl with laughter.
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Ehh, How the Grinch Stole Christmas was not my favorite story around this holiday. It was the Christmas Story or It’s a Wonderful Life, I’m trying to think of my favorite AA Christmas movie. Holiday Heart was nice, although *now that I’m awaken- I must give it a side eye* 😉 Off the top of my head it would have to be The Preacher’s Wife-with Whitney Houston.
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I thought Jim Carrey as the Grinch was hilarious! I watch any time during the year for a good laugh. I definitely liked him over the original (I grew up in the 50s).
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For some, it doesn’t “feel” like Christmas unless they watch certain Christmas specials on TV like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the numerous cartoons, animated and stop-motion, from Rankin-Bass, and different versions of “A Christmas Carol”.
Still, every year, Christmas is becoming more and more hyper-commercial. The only ones who truly enjoy this are not only the youth, but corporations. We always talk about how peace on Earth, goodwill to men, the birth of Baby Jesus, the spirit of giving and blah, blah, blah, but not even during the holidays can or would most people do that.
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On the one hand, I am glad to be in East Asia right now because a lot of the hyper-commercialism I don’t like about Christmas is gone (at least where I am). You might see a few decorations up in stores, but it is not an official holiday and you’re not forced to listen to Christmas music in the shopping centres and supermarkets all day and night. I don’t even think there’s a place you can buy Christmas cards. On the other hand, I do miss spending it with family. I think it has been maybe two or three years since I’ve been able to.
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I preferred a charlie brown Christmas, Dr. suess Grinch is in 2nd place, then Frosty the snow man the cartoon, then Santa Claus is coming to town with the claymation cartoon with the red haired santa claus with the abominable snow man! boy was i scared of him, when i was a little boy! haha! Then the other claymantion the red nosed reindeer.
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i liked the jim carrey grinch and i loved the movie elf with will ferrel as well.
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Yeah, The Jim Carey one was horrible in my opinion. I love the original animated grinch. Also Charlie Brown Christmas. And sweet Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.(sigh) But my favorite Nightmare Before Christmas. Yes i love these films. And The Little Drummer Boy always made me just cry like a baby.
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Yes i love Elf too.
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@Sondis Come to think of it that abomidable snowman from Rudolf the rednosed reindeer was kind of scared me too when i was young. lol.
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I like “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, Rudolph and the Grinch (both the book and the animated version). Reading the Grinch to little children is great.
Never got into Frosty or Charlie Brown.
Jim Carrey’s Grinch I could not bear to watch all the way through even though I like some of his other films. I also found Mike Myer’s “Cat in the Hat” unbearable – even though I like some of his other films too. Maybe I am too much of a Seuss purist or something.
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… Jim Carrey’s movie is the ultimate guilty pleasure for me. I know it’s ugly, padded, and has a bunch of unlikable and superfluous characters, but if it’s on TV, I am guaranteed 100% to end up watching it, beginning to end. I CANNOT EXPLAIN THIS SOMEONE HELP.
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Yes, The Cat In The Hat was painful for me as well. I love Dr. Suess. I didn’t try to do the Lorax. I love the original one. The Sneeches are a fun and i even think it explains about biases.
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@tehnoun It’s ok. Enjoy Jim Carrey in all his grumpy grinchness. If that takes you to your happy place.
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