The Grinch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Grinch is a popular cartoon character created by Dr. Seuss. He first appeared in the 1957 children's book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Due to the immense fan-following of the book, a television special was produced in 1966 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's MGM Animation/Visual Arts studio, and directed by Chuck Jones. Eleven years after this was made, Seuss responded to the fan request for more by writing "Halloween Is Grinch Night", a straight-to-television Halloween special to be aired on CBS. It was also well received, and like its predecessor, was awarded at the Emmy awards. In 1982, five years after the last special, Marvel green-lit "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat", which was also produced by Dr. Seuss, under his real name, Ted Geisel. Again another hit for television, the special garnered two Emmy awards.
The Grinch also has become a cultural icon, mainly due to the massive popularity of his TV specials. Most notably, he is considered a Christmas standard, and parodied/featured outside the Dr. Seuss brand frequently around the holiday season. Also, he 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".
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[edit] Description
[edit] Personality
The Grinch is an unpleasant, "Who-hating" grouch (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. In "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. He is best described by the song You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, sung by Thurl Ravenscroft.
[edit] Appearance
In the TV specials, he features a bulbous stomach, lengthy fingers, and is covered in green hair. He has red pupils and yellow eye balls. 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 - although they are noted to become more round and feature blue irises 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. 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. His only friend is his pet dog, Max, a big eyed pooch who loves his master despite the Grinch treating Max like a nuisance cocksay. Max also is an unwitting accomplice in the Grinch's plots; he is forced into being a "reindeer" and pulling the sleigh with all the Whos' Christmas trappings inside.
[edit] People who portrayed the Grinch
- Boris Karloff - How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)
- Bob Holt -The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat
- Anthony Asbury - The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss
- Jim Carrey - How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Patrick Page - Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: The Musical
- Hans Conreid - Grinch Night
- Walter Matthau - How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Narrator)
- Chuck Jones - Horton Hears a Who! (Singing voice)
[edit] The movie
After Seuss's death, a 2000 live-action feature film adaptation was produced. Directed by Ron Howard, it 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. Despite the poor reviews, the movie fleshes out the entire story while showing the Grinch as a youngster. Also, the Grinch tried to tolerate the Whos who made him the star of their community celebration, which leads to a major breakdown and the Grinch to steal Christmas.
[edit] List of Grinch works in the media
- "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" - Book, TV special, and theatrical film
- "Grinch Night" - TV Special
- "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat" - TV Special
- Series of short books by Random House
- The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss - TV Series
The Grinch is also used in the popular online game Guild Wars, and made a cameo appearance on an episode of Family Guy (He was the person responsible for Joe Swanson's paralysis).
