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How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000 film)
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Wikipedia article
'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' (also known as 'Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas' or simply 'The Grinch') is a 2000 American Christmas fantasy comedy drama film directed by Ron Howard, who also produced with Brian Grazer, written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. The film is based on Dr. Seuss's 1957 children's book of the same name and is the first Dr. Seuss book to be adapted into a full-length feature film. The film is narrated by Anthony Hopkins and stars Jim Carrey as the eponymous character, with Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin and Molly Shannon in supporting roles.
Produced by Imagine Entertainment, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' was released by Universal Pictures in the United States on November 17, 2000. The film earned mixed reviews from critics, who praised Jim Carrey's performance, but criticized its dark theme and somewhat scary moments. It spent four weeks as the #1 film in the United States. 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' grossed $345 million worldwide, making it the sixth-highest grossing film of 2000 and originally becoming the second highest-grossing holiday film of all-time behind 'Home Alone' (1990), until both films were surpassed in 2018 by the third film adaptation of the story. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup as well as getting nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
Plot
Every Who down in Whoville really likes Christmas. However, the Whos dislike the Grinch, a misanthropic green creature who lives in a cave on nearby Mount Crumpit, north of Whoville, because of his mean-spiritedness, especially during the holiday season. Six-year-old Cindy Lou Who believes that everyone is focusing more on gifts and festivities rather than personal relationships. She encounters the Grinch at the post office (while he plays with the mail by switching everything around as well as throwing unpleasant jury duty notices into random mailboxes), where he saves her life after getting stuck in the mail shaft. Cindy starts researching the Grinch and later discovers more of his past.
The Grinch arrived in Whoville as a baby and was adopted by two elderly sisters. In school, the then-timid Grinch was attracted to Martha May Whovier, a girl in his class who reciprocated his feelings. Classmate Augustus MayWho, however, started bullying him, jealous that Martha favored the Grinch over him. That Christmas, he made an angel as a gift for Martha, but accidentally cut his face while trying to shave due to MayWho claiming he had a beard. When MayWho and their other classmates saw his cut face the next day, they (except Martha) teased him, causing him to lose his temper, declare his hatred for Christmas, and flee to Mount Crumpit, where he has resided since.
Cindy nominates the Grinch as the town's "Holiday Cheermeister", outraging MayWho, now mayor. Cindy climbs to Mount Crumpit to invite the Grinch to the celebration and he eventually accepts, realizing he could potentially encounter Martha there and finally upset MayWho. As Cheermeister, the Grinch participates in several events and begins enjoying himself until MayWho presents him with an electric razor, reminding him of his childhood humiliation. MayWho then publicly proposes to Martha, giving her a gaudy engagement ring and a new car. Enraged, the Grinch berates the Whos' materialism, mocking their belief that Christmas is only about gifts that will ultimately be discarded. He shaves MayWho's head, burns down the tree with a makeshift flamethrower (the Whos, however, have a spare) and goes on a rampage before returning home.
Finally disgusted with the Whos' Christmas, the Grinch vows to crush their spirit by stealing all of their presents, decorations and food while they are asleep. He disguises himself as Santa Claus and his pet dog Max as a reindeer, then descends into Whoville. The first house he enters is Cindy's, and when she catches him stealing their tree, he lies to her to facilitate his escape. The Grinch continues stealing all of the gifts, decorations and food and stuffing them all in a large sack, before climbing back atop Mount Crumpit to destroy it all by pushing the sack off the side. Upon awakening on Christmas morning, the Whos horrifyingly discover the theft and Mayor MayWho blames Cindy for enabling the Grinch to ruin the town's spirit. However, her cheerful father, town postmaster Lou Lou Who, defends her by informing MayWho and the others that Cindy has been trying to tell them that Christmas mainly involves time with family and friends, not just gifts and fancy decorations. The Whos agree with Lou and start singing Whoville's Christmas carol.
Before the Grinch can push the sack off the top of Mount Crumpit, he hears the Whos singing and realizes that he has failed to prevent Christmas, but then figures out the true meaning of Christmas, causing his heart to grow three sizes, and breaks down in tears. The sleigh full of gifts then begins to slide over the edge of the cliff along with Cindy, who had come to spend Christmas with him. The Grinch gets the strength to lift the loaded sleigh and carry Cindy to safety, and they ride down the mountain to return everything. The Grinch apologizes for his pranks and the burglary before surrendering himself to the police, who accept his apology and deny MayWho's request to arrest and pepper spray him. Martha even rejects MayWho's proposal and returns his engagement ring to him, declaring that she loves the Grinch. Afterwards, the reformed Grinch joins in the Whos' celebration feast and carves the roast beast himself in his cave.
Cast
* Anthony Hopkins as the narrator.
* Jim Carrey as the Grinch, a bad-tempered, devious and misanthropic green-furred creature who despises Christmas and the Whos of Whoville. It is revealed in his origin story that he started to hate Christmas after his school classmates mocked him for trying to shave his face. Before Carrey was cast to play the Grinch, Jack Nicholson, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, Tim Curry and Eddie Murphy were all considered.
** Josh Ryan Evans as the 8-year-old Grinch; his humiliation at school by Augustus MayWho is what drives him into a hatred of Christmas. This was Evans' final film role before his death in 2002.
* Kelley as Max, the Grinch's pet dog and only companion on Mt. Crumpit.
** Frank Welker performs the vocal effects for Max.
* Christine Baranski as Martha May Whovier, the Grinch's love interest, as well as the romantic interest of Mayor Augustus MayWho.
** Landry Allbright as 8-year-old Martha May Whovier who shows compassion towards the young Grinch.
* Jeffrey Tambor as Mayor Augustus MayWho, Whoville's arrogant and judgmental mayor. He is revealed to be a school bully who picked on the young Grinch over his shaved face, which is what motivated the Grinch to hate Christmas in the first place.
** Ben Bookbinder as 8-year-old Augustus MayWho; he tormented the young Grinch, which motivated the Grinch to hate Christmas.
* Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who, a kind young Who girl who believes that the Christmas spirit in Whoville is lost and is one of the only people to see past the Grinch's nasty behavior. In the film, she is 6 years old whereas in the 1957 book and the 1966 TV special she is "no more than 2".
* Bill Irwin as Louie Lou Who, the cheerful and slightly dimwitted postmaster of Whoville, as well as Cindy's father.
* Molly Shannon as Betty Lou Who, Cindy's mother and Martha's rival in a house-lighting contest.
* Clint Howard as Whobris, the mayor's sycophantic aide and servant.
** Reid Kirchenbauer as 8-year-old Whobris.
* Mindy Sterling as Clarnella Who, one of the Grinch's adoptive mothers in his childhood.
* Rachel Winfree as Rose Who, one of the Grinch's adoptive mothers in his childhood.
* Jeremy Howard as Drew Lou Who, one of the troublesome sons of Lou and Betty and brother of Cindy.
* T. J. Thyne as Stu Lou Who, one of the troublesome sons of Lou and Betty and brother of Cindy.
* Jim Meskimen as Officer Wholihan, the chief of police.
* Mary Stein as Miss Rue Who, the Grinch's school teacher who later becomes Cindy's teacher.
* Deep Roy as Post Office Clerk
* Rance Howard as Elderly Timekeeper
* Verne Troyer as Band Member
* Bryce Howard as Surprised Who
Production
is the film's director and producer.
Before his death in 1991, Dr. Seuss had refused offers to sell the film rights to his books. After his death, however, his widow Audrey Geisel agreed to several merchandising deals, including clothing lines, accessories and CDs. In July 1998, Geisel's agents announced via letter she would auction the film rights of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. In order to pitch their ideas to Geisel, the suitors ultimately had to be willing to pay $5 million for the material and hand over 4 percent of the box-office gross, 50 percent of the merchandising revenue and music-related material, and 70 percent of the income from book tie-ins. The letter also stated that "any actor submitted for the Grinch must be of comparable stature to Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman." Additionally, it was stipulated that the estate would not consider a director or writer who had not earned at least $1 million on a previous picture.
20th Century Fox pitched its version with director Tom Shadyac and producers Dave Phillips and John Davis in attendance, in which Nicholson was in mind to play the Grinch. Additionally, the Farrelly brothers and John Hughes pitched their own separate versions. Universal Pictures held its pitch presentation with Brian Grazer and Gary Ross in attendance, but Geisel refused each offer. Grazer then enlisted his producing partner Ron Howard to help with the negotiations. At the time, Howard was developing a film adaptation of 'The Sea-Wolf', and, despite being an avid fan of the animated special, did not express interest in 'Grinch' but Grazer talked Howard into traveling to Geisel's residence for the pitch meeting. While studying the book, Howard became interested in the character Cindy Lou Who and pitched a film in which she would have a larger role as well as a materialistic representation of the Whos and an expanded backstory of the Grinch.
On September 16, 1998, it was announced that Howard would direct and co-produce a live-action adaptation of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' with Jim Carrey attached to star. It was also reported that Universal Pictures, who had acquired the distribution rights, paid $9 million for the film rights for an adaptation of 'Grinch' and 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!' to Geisel. Before Howard signed on, Tim Burton was considered to direct but he turned it down due to a scheduling conflict with 'Sleepy Hollow'. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman (of both 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' and 'Doc Hollywood' fame) wrote the final screenplay following eight drafts, but Geisel also had veto power over the script. She objected to several jokes and sexual innuendos in the screenplay, including one about a family who did not have a Christmas tree or presents jokingly called the "Who-steins" and the placement of a stuffed trophy of the Cat in the Hat on the Grinch's wall. Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer (who were also writers on the television series 'Seinfeld') did an uncredited rewrite of the script.
The film was shot between September 1999 and January 2000. Geisel visited the set in October 1999. Much of the Whoville set was constructed on the backlot of Universal Studios behind the Bates Motel set from 'Psycho'. Rick Baker was hired to design and create the film's prosthetic makeup for Carrey and the rest of the cast. It took a number of tests, and ultimately Carrey admiring a photo of Baker in his first test makeup, for the decision to use Baker's original makeup design. The Grinch suit was covered in yak hair, dyed green and sewed onto a spandex suit. The application of the makeup took up to 2 and a half hours, after which a frustrated Carrey kicked a hole in the wall of his trailer. Carrey's makeup artist Kazu Hiro recounted, "On set, [Carrey] was really mean to everybody and at the beginning of the production they couldn't finish. After two weeks we only could finish three days' worth of shooting schedule, because suddenly he would just disappear and when he came back, everything was ripped apart. We couldn't shoot anything." Kazu Hiro left production until Baker and Howard had a discussion with Carrey on how important Kazu Hiro was to the production. Carrey agreed to keep his anger in check and Kazu Hiro returned to his role. Meanwhile, Josh Ryan Evans, who played the 8-year old Grinch, wore the same style of makeup and bodysuit that Carrey wore. In total, Carrey spent 92 days in the Grinch makeup and became adept at remaining calm while sitting in the make-up chair. Most of the appliances the actors wore were noses that connected to an upper lip along with a few dentures, ears and wigs.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for the album was released on November 7, 2000. It features a collection of music performed by several artists, including Busta Rhymes, Faith Hill, Eels, Smash Mouth, and NSYNC.
All song lengths via Apple Music.
Release
'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' was released by Universal Pictures in the United States on November 17, 2000.
Marketing
In the summer of 2000, a trailer for 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' premiered in theaters. It was hooked up to the screenings of 'Mission: Impossible 2', 'The Perfect Storm' and 'Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'. The next trailer debuted on October 6, 2000 with the release of 'Meet the Parents'. Meanwhile, Toys "R" Us began promoting the film, transforming their locations into Whobilation Headquarters with the most aggressive visual merchandising display in the company's history. Shoppers would be wowed from the moment they entered the store by the unbelievable displays and visual elements featuring the Grinch. The Herald Square location in New York City featured floor-to-ceiling themed window graphics of the film's main characters. Moreover, the entrances featured 3D film characters at numerous stores. Wendy's would even begin selling kids meal toys at their restaurants.Home media
The film was released on VHS and DVD on November 20, 2001. Within its first week of release, the film sold a combined total of 8.5 million home video units, selling 3 million DVD copies and 4 million VHS copies, making it the best-selling holiday home video title at the time. It would go on to join 'Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace', 'Shrek' and 'The Mummy Returns' as one of the only four films to sell more than 2 million DVD copies during their opening weeks. Overall, it was ranked as the second-highest opening week home video sales for any live-action film, after 'Titanic'. In December 2001, 'Variety' reported that it was the second biggest selling home video release of 2001, selling 16.9 million copies and earning $296 million in sales revenue. A Blu-ray/DVD combo pack was released on October 13, 2009, then later given a separate Blu-ray release on October 13, 2015. It was also remastered in 4K and released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 17, 2017.Television
It premiered on television on ABC on November 25, 2004 and aired for a few years. 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' currently annually airs on Freeform's (formerly ABC Family) 25 Days of Christmas. The American television airings include deleted footage which was not included on the original, theatrical, and VHS/DVD releases such as Cindy's dad maxing out his credit card buying Christmas gifts, Cindy asking her dad who the Grinch was before heading off to school, Lou visiting Cindy staying after school after mentioning the Grinch, a few extended scenes of the post office, the Grinch in his cave and Cindy inviting the Grinch to the Christmas party, Martha May and Betty Lou competing in the Christmas Lights Contest, the Grinch trying out different outfits to wear at the Christmas party, the Grinch drinking eggnog, the Whos passing out gifts to each other, and Cindy's family getting ready for Christmas morning at night. It also airs on NBC during Christmas night after the animated television special. It aired on FX to promote the television broadcast premiere of the 2018 animated film in 2020.Reception
Box office
'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' grossed $260 million domestically and $85.1 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $345.1 million, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of 2000.In the United States, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' opened at number-one on its opening day, making $15.6 million, with a weekend gross of $55.1 million, for an average of $17,615 from 3,127 theaters. Upon its opening, the film had the sixth-highest three-day opening weekend of any film, behind 'Toy Story 2', 'X-Men', 'Mission: Impossible 2', 'Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace' and 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park'. Moreover, the film surpassed 'Batman Forever' to have the largest opening weekend for a Jim Carrey film. 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' even had the biggest opening weekend for a Ron Howard film, smashing the previous record held by 'Ransom'. It was the first non-Disney film to win the Thanksgiving weekend box office since 'Mrs. Doubtfire' in 1993. The film held the record for the highest opening weekend for a Christmas-themed film for 18 years until the 2018 film version of 'The Grinch' surpassed it with $67.6 million. In its second weekend, the film grossed $52.1 million, dropping only 5.1%, settling a new record for highest-grossing second weekend for any film at the time, beating 'The Phantom Menace'. The film stayed at the top of the box office for four weekends until it was overtaken by 'What Women Want' and 'Dude, Where's My Car?' in mid-December. 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' continued to draw in holiday crowds while defeating another family-oriented film, 'The Emperor's New Groove'. By this point, it surpassed 'Mission: Impossible 2' to become the top-grossing film of the year. The film closed on March 1, 2001, with a final domestic gross of $260,044,825. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 48.1 million tickets in North America.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' holds an approval rating of based on reviews and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Jim Carrey shines as the Grinch. Unfortunately, it's not enough to save this movie. You'd be better off watching the TV cartoon." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars, referring to it as "a dank, eerie, weird movie about a sour creature" and said, "There should be ... a jollier production design and a brighter look overall ... It's just not much fun." Ebert observed that Carrey "works as hard as an actor has ever worked in a movie, to small avail". Nevertheless, he decided that "adults may appreciate Carrey's remarkable performance in an intellectual sort of way and give him points for what was obviously a supreme effort".
Paul Clinton of CNN declared that Carrey "was born to play this role" and noted that "Carrey carries nearly every scene. In fact, if he's not in the scene, there is no scene." Owen Gleiberman of 'Entertainment Weekly' began his review of the film analyzing the Grinch's "mischievously divided, now-I'm-calm/ now-I'm-a-raving-sarcastic-PSYCH-o! personality" and summed up Carrey's Grinch as "a slobby, self-loathing elitist ruled by the secret fear that he's always being left out of things." Gleiberman expressed surprise at "how affecting Carrey makes the Grinch's ultimate big-hearted turnaround, as Carrey the actor sneaks up on Carrey the wild-man dervish. In whichever mode, he carreys the movie."
Peter Stack of the 'San Francisco Chronicle' said, "Nobody could play the Grinch better than Jim Carrey, whose rubbery antics and maniacal sense of mischief are so well suited to 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. Dr. Seuss himself might have turned to Carrey as a model for the classic curmudgeon had the actor been around in 1957." However, he wondered why Carrey "made himself sound like Sean Connery" and warned that the character's intensity may frighten small children. James Berardinelli of ReelViews wrote that Carrey's "off-the-wall performance is reminiscent of what he accomplished in 'The Mask', except that here he never allows the special effects to upstage him. Carrey's Grinch is a combination of Seuss' creation and Carrey's personality, with a voice that sounds far more like a weird amalgamation of Sean Connery and Jim Backus (Bond meets Magoo!) than it does Karloff." He concluded that Carrey "brings animation to the live action, and, surrounded by glittering, fantastical sets and computer-spun special effects, Carrey enables Ron Howard's version of the classic story to come across as more of a welcome endeavor than a pointless re-tread."
Some reviews were more polarized. Stephanie Zacharek of 'Salon' in a generally negative review of the film, wrote that "Carrey pulls off an admirable impersonation of an animated figure ... It's fine as mimicry goes but mimicry isn't the best playground for comic genius. Shouldn't we be asking more of a man who's very likely the most gifted comic actor of his generation?" She concluded that in spite of "a few terrific ad-libs ... his jokes come off as nothing more than a desperate effort to inject some offbeat humor into an otherwise numbingly unhip, nonsensical and just plain dull story".
Todd McCarthy of 'Variety' wrote, "Carrey tries out all sorts of intonations, vocal pitches and delivery styles, his tough guy posturing reminding at times of Cagney and his sibilant S's recalling Bogart. His antic gesturing and face-making hit the mark at times, but at other moments seem arbitrary and scattershot. Furthermore, his free-flowing tirades, full of catch-all allusions and references, are pitched for adult appreciation and look destined to sail right over the heads of pre-teens."
Accolades
See also
* Grinch
* 'The Grinch' (film)
* 'The Grinch' (video game)
* List of Christmas films
References
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