You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch - An Iconic Song

The music of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of the most distinguishable features of the 1966 movie.  In fact, the film won a Grammy award for Best Recording for Children. And, seemingly everyone has heard “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”  That song is virtually iconic.

Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) actually wrote the lyrics to the song and was composed by Albert Hague. Thurl Ravenscroft performed the song itself. The song is creative, and has a distinct rhyming pattern. Creative lyrics include: “Your hearts an empty hole/ your brain is full of spiders/ you’ve got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch,” and “You’re a vile one, Mr. Grinch/ you have termites in your smile/ You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile/ Mr. Grinch!”

Although the song is a classic doesn’t mean it hasn’t been touched by other artists. Notable musicians including Cee Lo Green, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Glee, and the Crash Test Dummies have all performed their own renditions. Nothing, however, will top the original. 

Cee Lo Green's version is actually quite harmonious (possibly because it's done with Straight No Chaser). It is certainly a unique version, see for yourself:

Austin Cox's Review of The NEW Grinch Film

Everyone's familiar with the story, and nothing has been changed, though a few elements have been added. The monster-like Grinch lives high atop Mt. Crumpit, overlooking the town of Whoville and despising the Whos and their exuberant Christmas celebrations. Finally having had enough of it, he plots to steal all of the Christmas accessories, only to discover that yuletide cheer doesn't come from store-bought things anyway, and that it's impossible to steal the Christmas spirit.

What's been added is a backstory for the Grinch. Seems he appeared mysteriously in Whoville as a baby, and was raised by two spinsters. As a child, he was mistreated because of his odd appearance, and subsequently left town to live as a hermit up on the mountain.

This makes the Grinch quite sympathetic, and puts the blame back on the Whos. Little Cindy Lou Who, the cutest little puddin'-head ever photographed, seems to realize this and seeks to bring the Grinch back into polite society. It is after this effort goes awry that he seeks his Christmas Eve revenge.

Jim Carrey is extraordinary as the Grinch. Despite the elaborate costume and makeup, it's still Carrey under there, cracking jokes and making the role as funny as anything he's ever done. (Checking his schedule for the day: "Four o'clock, wallow in self-pity. Four-thirty, stare into the abyss. Five-thirty, jazzercise.") I don't know how much ad-libbing was done, but a lot of the Grinch's lines sound like Jim Carrey having fun. The Grinch isn't just an old grump; he's a powerfully entertaining figure. Jim Carrey carries this movie.

                                                     Jim Carrey as the Grinch

The said middle-of-the-road sensibilities of Ron Howard do the film a few disservices, too. The story is drawn out too much, with so much resolution after the Grinch's change-of-heart climax that it's hard to feel much emotion when things finally do end. There's also a show-stopping, out-of-the-blue song by the adorable little girl, and a couple ill-conceived crude jokes that stick out like sore thumbs.

Here is how the film did at the box office (according to Box Office Mojo):

Where does the Grinch Rank Against Other Christmas Movies? Or Against Itself?

Where exactly does How the Grinch Stole Christmas rank with other Christmas movies (or movies that came out on Christmas)? On my personal list, I rank it in the Top Ten because it is a classic. It definitely does not come before Elf, A Christmas Story, Home Alone, or Scrooged. Airing in 1966, the film has become an annual tradition on TV.

Where does it rank on more official lists? IMDB.com ranks it 26^th on its list of 50 Best Christmas Movies.

It doesn’t crack the Top 25 on Rotten Tomatoes website either.

The website, TV by the Numbers, conducted a poll to determine what viewers’ favorite Christmas special was. The Grinch was third behind Charlie Brown and Rudolph, scoring 15.65% of those surveyed.

How does the 2000 big budget remake compare to the 1966 animated classic? Many find the 1966 version better. IMDB users rated the animated version an 8.4 out of ten. The 2000 remake, starring Jim Carey, only notched a 5.8. Expectations were high for the remake. It had notable star power with director Ron Howard, actors Jim Carey, and Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development). Despite scoring an Oscar award (Best Makeup), the film was ultimately considered a dud. I would have to agree. It didn’t captivate me like the 1966 version does. It almost seemed unnatural to show the movie with actors instead of animation.

Here are trailers for both versions:

The Grinch Comes to the Aronoff!

Between November 27 and December 1 at the Aronoff Center in downtown Cincinnati, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical was the highlight attraction for theatergoers. I was fortunate enough to be able to see the show with a group of friends. Personally, I thought it was quite good.

           

 In relation to the animated film, it followed the same story line. Nearly everything was included. Classic songs like “Welcome, Christmas” and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” were performed in a very lively fashion. The play also featured original songs like “One of a Kind,” “Santa for a Day,” and “I Hate Christmas Eve.” Of the original songs, “One of A Kind” was perhaps the most theatric and energetic song and featured radiant colors and lights. This link takes you to one of a kind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6pVeCgPfvQ (video could not be embedded).

            

The play wasn’t long enough to have an intermission, but it lasted about 90 minutes total. In my opinion, the set was designed as best as it could be. It’s difficult to match the scenery put forth by Dr. Seuss. The Whoville set had houses, buildings, and rooms shaped similar to those in the book.

         

Perhaps the most disappointing part of the play was they didn’t really act out the scene of saving the sleigh. Instead, they implied that it was saved. I can understand why they did this; it would be a difficult scene to reenact.

 Overall, I was satisfied with the play. I was concerned that it would tailor more to children, but it did a good job of appealing to all ages. The songs were fun and melodic. The lead actor, Stefan Karl, played a great Grinch. He was funny and acted narcissistic, with made him portray the Grinch very well. The play even featured modern day pop culture references that added to the humor of the show. For example, at one instance 

Who is 'Dr. Seuss' - Lindsay Crook

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2nd, 1904 in the town of Springfield, Massachusetts. Throughout his life, Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote over 60 children's books , with the likes of Green Eggs and Ham , The Cat in The Hat and the recently popular movie, The Lorax, just to name a few. These books were and still are a huge part of children's learning in the early years of school. He began writing cartoons at a very young age and his drawing was outstanding. As he graduated from Dartmouth College, he attend Lincoln College for a brief time, before returning to Springfield. After years of drawing and writing, he finally had one of his cartoons posted in The Saturday Evening Post. From this cartoon, he earned $25, which he then used to make a move to New York to pursue his love of cartoon drawing and writing. After bouncing around at various jobs over the next decade, Geisel found himself writing cartoons during World War II for the Popular Front Newspaper. As he was not an advocate for war and was too old to be enlisted, he still wanted to find a way to help out any way he could. This then led him to talking a job in the Army making educational movies for the war effort. These cartoon style movies were designed for training purposes for U.S. soldiers, which many disagreed to. Many of his books that he wrote after the war contained hidden messages on his personal views on everything from war to the government but at the end of the day, Geisel simply wrote books for children to help them learn how to read and understand writing. Sadly in 1991, Geisel passed away from throat cancer, but still to this day, his books have a large and profound impact on children and hopefully this will continue.

The True Meaning Behind "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" - Lindsay Crook

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a very feel good movie, but many people fail to look beyond its simple messages. There are plenty of messages within this movie that many people skip over. On a very basic level, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a story of redemption and valuing those closest to you. In saying that, if you have seen the Grinch, you would know that at the end, the Grinch is accepted to spend Christmas with the Who's. This portrays a strong message, that Christmas isn't about gifts, but it is about the people. It is about accepting those that are different and by doing this, we can all make the world a better place. The world could all take a lesson from this movie in realising that you can have all the items and gifts in the world, but at the end of the day, nothing really matters besides your family and friends being together.

A Symbolic View of How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Austin Cox

I think we all know the story of the Grinch quite well, and for those who don't, here it is in a nutshell. The Grinch in the beginning is an evil man who lives on a mountain outside of Whoville. His master plan is to steal all of the Christmas gifts from under the trees of each household in Whoville the night before Christmas, so the Whos down in Whoville wake up to a presentless Christmas. The Grinch does this successfully with his pet dog then realizes it was wrong. Thus, he returns all of the gifts to their rightful owners and has a feast with the Whos.

Now, if we compare this to the modern political sphere, I think we can draw some surprising comparisons. The Grinch can be viewed as the Federal Reserve, and the Whos down in Whoville represent the American people in America. The gifts under the Christmas trees represent the fruits of the labor of the American people. Lastly, the acquaintance to the Grinch (the dog) is somewhat like the federal government. The Grinch is taking away from the citizens of Whoville similar to how the Federal Reserve steals from the American people through inflation meaning they devalue the earnings, savings, and investments of the American people. The federal government abets the Federal Reserve through not abolishing its very existence. Once the Federal Reserve is abolished, the fruits of the labor of the American people may be rightfully returned to them because there will no longer be a central banking system that artificially alters interest rates and prints money out of thin air. The American people will then flourish once the fruits of their labor are returned to them just like the presents of the Whos in Whoville.

-Austin Cox