12 Days of Christmas: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

When deciding to do this review, I had trouble deciding whether to write about the original 1966 short of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Ron Howard’s 2000 version starring Jim Carrey. So I decided I will write about both the 26 minute short that majority of us grew up with and the live action version and somewhat compare the two.

For those who have been living in a cave all their lives, I will give you a quick synopsis of the story. The Grinch is a grumpy hermit of a character who lives in a mountain set way above Whoville where Christmas is the main focus in town. Correction, the only focus in town. The Grinch with his heart too sizes too small decides he can’t stand Christmas at all. With Max, his faithful dog and only companion, decides to thwart any Christmas celebration by taking everything related to it and leave the Whos with nothing to celebrate with.

The 1966 short is just that…short. However it gets straight to the meaning of the story quickly and to me does more for me than what the 1 hr 44 min live action does. There’s no beating around the bush and hits you with that holiday cheer theme like no other. The moment you hear Boris Karloff do the narration you are hooked. He does such a great job with emotion and really pulls you in with his range for whatever part of the story. Not that Anthony Hopkins doesn’t do good for the 2000 version but it’s 99% the Boris Karloff show while Hopkins narration takes a back seat to Carrey.

The character that I love the most is Max. I think he is used really good in the live action version but great in the animated version. Granted it is a dog we are talking about and they are a bit harder to direct in real life. His character brings a certain light to the Grinch that we wouldn’t see without him. Even though the Grinch has a small heart and loathes almost everything, deep down he loves Max and would be lost without him.

Overall when it comes to the live action movie, I like it. Granted Carrey goes over the top at times but that’s what you expect from the Grinch. In this version you get more background on him and the town itself. The childhood Grinch was fun to watch as well.

When it comes to the animated version, I love it. It may be short and sweet but what’s not to love here. It’s the perfect adaption of the 1957 book. It’s also a heartwarming story that is a must watch in my household in December.