Get ready to have your heart grow three sizes with these surprising facts about the Grinch! From sad inspirations to alternative casting choices, we're unwrapping the secrets behind this beloved holiday character. Discover the Grinch's early appearances, behind-the-scenes movie trivia, and the unexpected origins of his iconic green color.
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00:00You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. You really are a heel.
00:09Welcome to MissMojo, and today we're looking at the Grinchiest Facts about this holiday
00:13staple, from the original book, to the TV specials, to film adaptations.
00:17You see? Even now, the terror is welling up inside you.
00:23Number 10. Sad Inspirations for the Grinch
00:26The Grinch and the Cat in the Hat marked a high point in Dr. Seuss' literary career.
00:31Amid this success, Seuss' first marriage entered a painful final stretch.
00:35In May of 1954, Ted would become incapable of working when his wife contracted Guillain-Barré
00:41Syndrome, a rare disease similar to polio.
00:45Helen Palmer, Seuss' wife and an unofficial editor of his work, saw a significant decline
00:50in her health, at one point requiring an iron lung.
00:53Between his wife's illness and the commercialism of Christmas, Seuss wasn't feeling especially
00:57jolly as the holidays rolled around.
00:59Looking into the mirror on December 26th, Seuss saw a look on his face that he described
01:04as Grinch-ish.
01:15Seuss found that something had gone wrong with either Christmas or himself.
01:19The Grinch served as a surrogate for Seuss, who sought to discover something about
01:23Christmas that, obviously, he'd lost.
01:34Number 9. Early Traces of the Grinch
01:36While the 1957 picture book introduced the Grinch as we know him, the character's name
01:40can be found in Seuss' earlier work.
01:43In the discontinued 1953 book Scrambled Eggs Super, protagonist Peter T. Hooper encounters
01:49an assortment of eccentric birds, including the beagle-beaked bald-headed Grinch.
01:56In the 1955 poem The Hoobub and the Grinch, the latter character looks more like a cat.
02:14This Grinch is also more of a salesman than a curmudgeon.
02:26Predecessors to the Grinch can be seen in Seuss' advertising work as well.
02:31A creature in a 1949 Flitz ad looks like a cross between the Grinch and a mosquito.
02:36A green character in a 1955 Holly Sugar ad shares an especially striking resemblance
02:41to the Grinch, two years before his debut.
02:44Number 8. The book almost ended on a religious note
02:48Seuss described How the Grinch Stole Christmas as the easiest book of his career to write,
02:52knocking it out in a few months.
02:54By contrast, Seuss spent almost a year finishing Cat in the Hat.
02:58There was just one element of The Grinch that Seuss struggled to crack.
03:02After The Grinch Stole Christmas, Seuss wasn't sure how to resolve the story.
03:10Stuck on the last page, Seuss considered drawing inspiration from the Old and New Testaments.
03:15However, Seuss thought it was appalling how gooey he was getting.
03:28Seuss claims he went through thousands of religious choices, foresetting on The Grinch
03:32carving the Roast Beast with the Who's.
03:46Although Seuss felt he hadn't made any religious statements, that didn't stop some from drawing
03:50biblical parallels.
03:52Number 7. Alternative live-action casting choices
03:55Following his experience co-writing the 1953 flop The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Seuss had
04:01little interest in working on another feature film.
04:09He also regularly rejected offers to adapt his books into features.
04:13Following Seuss' death in 1991, his widow, Audrey Geisel, oversaw several pitches for
04:18a Grinch movie.
04:19Tom Shadyac, Gary Ross, the Farrelly brothers, and John Hughes expressed interest, but Geisel
04:25was ultimately drawn to Ron Howard.
04:32To play the Grinch, Geisel said the actor needed to be of comparable stature to Jack
04:37Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, and Dustin Hoffman.
04:41Carrey naturally got the role, although Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy were also supposedly
04:45considered.
05:01Wearing his Nutty Professor makeup, Murphy ironically crossed paths with Carrey in his
05:06Grinch get-up.
05:07Number 6. The 2000 movie could have been even more adult
05:11The 2000 adaptation earned the P in PG, getting away with jokes about key parties and people
05:17of color struggling to get a cab.
05:23If not for Audrey Geisel's involvement, the film likely would have contained even more
05:27adult-orientated humor.
05:29Reviewing the script, Geisel said,
05:30"...there were too many bathroom jokes. That's not the Seuss world. Not at all."
05:40Geisel toned down the potty humor and vetoed a subplot involving a teenage Grinch being
05:45a Houvenal delinquent.
05:47She rejected two particular jokes as well.
05:49Houvel almost had a family with a menorah instead of a Christmas tree, being named the
05:54Housteins.
05:55The Grinch was also going to have a stuffed trophy modeled after the cat in the hat. Imagine
06:00if they had gotten Mike Myers to cameo.
06:05Number 5. How Dr. Seuss Met Chuck Jones
06:08During World War II, Seuss played a key role in the 1st Motion Picture Unit's animation
06:13department, among other wartime projects.
06:15Seuss wrote for the private Snafu series, working alongside Looney Tunes director Chuck
06:20Jones.
06:21In the matter of rolling a pack, Snafu has improved somewhat on the regulation army method,
06:27resulting in a more compact kid.
06:30After the war, Seuss and Jones went their separate ways before collaborating again years
06:34later.
06:35After working at MGM, Jones was interested in adapting one of Seuss' books to television.
06:39Feeling Hollywood had done him dirty in the past, Seuss wanted nothing to do with the
06:43movies.
06:44But Jones convinced him that television was different.
06:53They ultimately agreed on The Grinch.
06:55While Seuss was generally happy with the results, he couldn't help but notice that the animated
06:59Grinch's design looked more Jones than his illustrations.
07:03Jones doesn't deny this.
07:14Number 4. The Other Grinch Specials
07:17Seuss himself never wrote an official sequel to The Grinch in literary form.
07:21With the 1966 TV special becoming a holiday staple, though, Seuss was compelled to write
07:26two more featuring the green antihero.
07:281977 saw the release of Halloween Is Grinch Night, which some consider a prequel to The
07:33Christmas Tale.
07:41Since MGM Animation Slash Visual Arts had closed its doors, Teipati Freeling Enterprises
07:46oversaw the production of Grinch Night.
07:49Teipati Freeling also collaborated with Marvel Productions on the crossover special The Grinch
07:54Grinch's The Cat in the Hat, five years later.
08:06Although both of these specials won Emmy Awards, neither had the budget or staying power of
08:11the original classic.
08:12Despite being involved in all three, Seuss seemed to hold the first special in higher
08:16regard.
08:21Number 3. The Grinch Get-Up Was an Endurance Test for Jim Carrey
08:25With a spandex costume comprised of yak hair, yellow contact lenses, and makeup that took
08:30nearly two hours to apply every day, it's not surprising Carrey felt buried alive as
08:35the Grinch.
08:38The roughly eight-hour process turned Carrey into the Grinch in more ways than one, driving
08:43him to kick a hole in his trailer.
08:45After a day, Carrey was tempted to quit.
08:48So Brian Grazer found a solution, teaming Carrey with a specialist who trained CIA operatives
08:53to withstand torture.
08:55Carrey sat in the makeup chair another hundred or so times.
09:10While he brought his signature energy to the shoot, it tested Carrey's patience.
09:17The experience wasn't much easier for the makeup team, although Rick Baker and Gail
09:21Rowell Ryan received Oscars for their work.
09:25Number 2. Franken-Grinch Jones thought Boris Karloff would be an inspired
09:29choice to voice the Grinch and deliver narration.
09:42Karloff made a name for himself in Universal Horror Movies, playing Frankenstein's monster
09:47and Imhotep in the original Mummy.
09:56While Karloff is the sole actor credited, three other key talents lent their voices.
10:01Dallas McKennan, best known for voicing Gumby, provided the sounds of Max.
10:05Cindy Lou Who was voiced by June Foray, whose resume ranges from Rocky the Flying Squirrel
10:11to Granny of Looney Tunes.
10:13Some assume Karloff sang You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, but it was actually Tony the Tiger
10:19himself, Thurl Ravenscroft.
10:25Although he won a Grammy for his work on the Grinch soundtrack, Karloff died before he
10:29could reprise the role in subsequent specials.
10:33Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.
10:37The tablecloth gag was a happy accident.
10:39Jim Carrey improvised a perfect sweep before swiping everything off the table.
10:49Benedict Cumberbatch almost used his natural British accent in the 2018 animated film.
10:54Since everyone else had an American accent, Cumberbatch felt the Grinch should too.
11:02The 1966 special had a high price tag.
11:05It was budgeted at a then-steep $315,000, about $3 million today.
11:24When Carrey met Audrey Geisel, he was channeling Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon.
11:28According to Carrey, that's how he got the Grinch part.
11:44The live-action movie set was next to the Bates Motel.
11:47The Grinch meets Norman Bates is the crossover we all need.
12:10Number 1.
12:11The Grinch wasn't always green.
12:13If you ask anyone what colour the Grinch is, they'd say green in a pinch.
12:17They'd be right and wrong.
12:24The Grinch has been green for most of his existence across virtually all media.
12:29The 1957 book is an exception, however.
12:32While the Grinch has a red Santa suit and pink eyes, he's otherwise drawn in black
12:36and white.
12:37When the book was adapted to animation, Jones felt the main character needed a more distinct
12:42colour.
12:43It's been rumoured that Jones got the idea to make the Grinch green because his rental
12:48car was the same colour.
12:49In any case, Seuss agreed that green was the only colour that made sense.
12:59The green look carried over to future appearances, including full-colour reprints of Seuss's
13:03book.
13:04Are there any Grinchy facts we neglected to say?
13:06Let us know in time for Christmas Day.
13:12Do you agree with our picks?
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