Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) Review

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Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) Review

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is easily one of the best books written by Dr. Seuss. It’s also certainly one of the greatest Christmas TV specials of all-time—personally my all-time favourite—so when I found out there was going to be a full length movie made, I was pretty excited. It got a mixed reception when released, and I can definitely say I wasn’t among those who enjoyed it.

The story is the same as the cartoon overall, but was expanded to sustain the 100 minute runtime. The Grinch is depicted as an orphan creature that ends up in Whoville and his raised in as regular of a home as can be considered regular in Whoville. As The Grinch matures and discovers he’s in love with a fellow classmate, he tries shaving, to miserable results. His classmates make fun of him, and this becomes the root of his Christmas hatred. He climbs up Mount Crumpit in anger, and lives out the rest of his days up there. Until one day, Cindy Lou Who discovers him messing with the mail down in Whoville as a prank, and starts researching his history. She invites the Grinch to join in on the Whoville festivities, and when he tries to be accepted by the un-accepting people, it goes bad and he returns to Mount Crumpit once more. Finally, he decides to remove the Christmas joy from Whoville once and for all by dressing up as Santa, stealing all the “stuff”, and taking it up Mount Crumpit in a sled and dumping it over a cliff. Cindy Lou Who discovers his plan and tries to stop him, but can she stop him before it’s too late?

This movie simply did not need to be made. Although it was directed by Ron Howard, it almost feels like a Tim Burton-ified Grinch film. The set designs are wonky and weird, both in Whoville and the Grinch’s lair, which is basically a garbage heap. Even though the idea of the Grinch’s home being, and I quote, “an appalling dump heap, overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginiable”, makes sense, it’s too over the top. That’s my main issue here; everything is so over the top. Jim Carrey is great as the Grinch, let that be clear. He gives a great performance and Rick Baker’s makeup effects were and are Oscar worthy, but the Grinch himself is so extreme he’s no longer funny and endearing despite being an anti-hero like in the cartoon and book. At times this film is actually quite frightening and disturbing, for a Christmas film aimed at family audiences, that is. I didn’t enjoy the story expansions—I liked it a lot better when no one quite knew the reason the Grinch hated Christmas, and the explanation given here comes across as the first idea that came to the screenwriters’ minds and they went with it—and as a whole, I didn’t think this film adaptation added anything new worth much praise.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas isn’t all bad, but it’s nowhere near a great Christmas film and fails to capture the magic of the source material. Jim Carrey does all he can in the role, but director Ron Howard presents an uneven tale set in an unappealing Whoville, with a tone too downbeat to be truly enjoyable.