The Grinch

NOTE: This page is dedicated to the author, Dr. Suess, who had a jaw infection that doctors were unable to cure before his death September 24th, 1991 at the age of 87. May he rest in peace and he will always be remembered for his work and for making tons of memorable characters in each book.

Mr. Grinch

"And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas (he thought) doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more."

Gender:	Male
Type:	Redeemed Trickster
Species:	Who
Portrayed by:	Boris Karloff (1966) Hans Conried (1977) Bob Holt (1982) Josh Gerhardt (2000 video game) Jim Carrey (2000) Josh Ryan Evans (eight year old Grinch in 2000 live-action film) Benedict Cumberbatch (2018) David Howard Thornton (The Mean One)
Status:	Alive
Media of origin:	Dr. Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Grinch is the titular villain protagonist of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Grinch lives in a snowy mountain, is exiled from Whoville, and has a loyal pet on his side named Max.

As his name implies, he's unfriendly, mean-spirited and a killjoy; as he resents the Whos' holiday cheer that was getting on his nerves and plans to sabotage the holiday cheer by stealing their presents, all before realizing how the Whos actually respond to The Grinch's malicious plan.

Why He Is OUR Mean One (in a good way)

In both the original book and animated special, he's a calm, calculating, selfish, manipulative, cunning, cruel, hateful, uncaring, heartless, abusive, emotionless, soulless, terrifying, and foreboding creep who mistreats his dog Max and what makes him eviler is that he has no sense of humor whatsoever (but despite having these qualities, he makes up for it by having certain humorous and cartoonish qualities that makes him comedic like his dramatic postures and expressive facial expressions such as his iconic angry frown; which AVGN even took some inspiration from, which adds plenty of some charm and entertainment value to how nasty and descpicable he once was), and still making him one of the darkest villains in any Dr. Seuss book. He has even been compared to the likes of the Joker from the DC universe.
- He starts off as a threatening recluse who seeks to end Christmas because of his obsessive hatred against holiday noise and gluttony that haunted him and made him go insane, as well as being described how rotten and evil he is in his plans to sabotage Christmas, until he understands that stealing Christmas won't remove the holiday spirit the Whos already had and realizes what spending time with the Whos is really like.
All of his designs, besides his appearance in the 2000 video game, are great.
He's the embodiment of a character you "Love To Hate". His own song implies this in an ever-so-timeless way by comparing him to anything gross or rotten to make him enjoyably wicked and vile.
Despite all of his inexusable actions, he has a caring side to Max, in spite of hating everyone else. Which shows when he first thought to save Max from being yanked by the heavy snow sleigh of presents that he kept on the mountain.
He turned out to be one of the most iconic characters to define Christmas. Especially since he was able to appeal in hundred of territories worldwide.
Boris Karloff, Rowan Atkinson, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, Jim Carrey, and David Howard Thornton all did a brilliant job portraying/voicing him, and even Benedict Cumberbatch does a good job voicing him in the 2018 film.
He also has many great quotes:
- “And they're hanging their stockings (he snarled with a sneer) Tomorrow is Christmas, it's practically here! (Then he growled with his grinch fingers, nervously drumming) I must find some way to keep Christmas from COMING! For tomorrow I know, all those Who girls and boys will wake bright and early, they'll rush for their toys and then, all that noise, noise, noise, noise! There's one thing I HATE! All the noise, noise, noise, noise! ... Then they'll shriek squeaks and squeal racing around on their wheels, they'll dance with jing tinglers tied onto their heels, they'll blow their flute flubers saling their tare tinkers, they'll blow their Who Who blair, they'll bang their garg tinkers!! Beat their tong tinker slumpers, slam their soo tonkers, they'll bang their blum bloopers, they'll whack their Who humpers, and they play noisy games like ZooZita KaZay, a roller skate typlim of la crass la cray. And then they'll make years, spending years the looks on their great big electro cardio looks! Then the Whos ya you know, sit down to a feast, they'll feast, and they'll feast and they'll feast, and they'll feast feast feast feast!! They'll feast on Who pudding, rare Who roast beast, RAW roast beast is a feast I can't STAND in the least!”
- “And then, they'll do something I HATE most of all! Every Who down in Whoville the tall and the small, will stand close together, with Christmas bells Who they'll stand hand in hand, those Whos, will start SINGING! ... And they'll sing and they'll sing and they'll sing sing sing sing!!”
- “(And the more the Grinch thought of this Who Christmas thing the more the Grinch thought:) I must stop this whole thing! Why, for 53 years I've put up with it now. I must stop Christmas from coming... But how?! (Then he got an idea, an awful idea, the Grinch got a wonderful awful idea.)”
- “I know just WHAT to do (The Grinch laughed in his throat) I'll make a quick Santa Claus hat and a coat! (He chuckled and clucked) What a great grinchy trick! With this coat and this hat, I'll look JUST like Saint Knick!”
- "All I need is a reindeer (The Grinch looked around but since reindeer was cast, there was not to be found did that stop the Grinch? HA! The Grinch simply said:) If I can't find a reindeer, I'll MAKE one instead. (So he took his dog Max and took some black thread and he tied a big horn on the top of his head... Then he loaded some bags and some old empty sacks on the ramshackle sleigh and he whistle for Max... Then the grinch said:) Giddyup! *Whips Max and Max yelps and jumps down to the snow* (And the sleigh's started down towards the homes of the Whos where the hooves lay a snooze in their town)"
- “These stockings (He grinched) Are the first things to go... (Then he slithered and slunk with a smile most unpleasant around the whole room and then he took every present: Pop Guns! Pamphelets! Pantokas! And drums! Checkerboards! Bissell baits! Popcorn! And plums! And then he stuffed them in bags then the Grinch very nimbly, stuffed all the bags one by one up the chimney.)”
- “Now. (Grinned the Grinch) I will STUFF the tree! ... (As the Grinch took the tree as he started to shove it he heard a small sound like the call of a dove, he turned around fast and he saw a small Who, Little Cindy Lou Who who was no more than two, she stared at the Grinch and said: "Santy Claus, why? Why are taking our Christmas tree? Why??" But you know, that ol' Grinch was SO smart and so slick, he thought up a lie and he thought it quick.) My my sweet little tot (The fake Santa Claus lied) There's a light on this tree that, that won't light on one side. So I'm taking it home to my workshop my dear, I'll fix it up there then I'll bring it back here. (And his fib fooled the child, then he patted her head and he got her a drink and he sent her to bed, and when Cindy Lou Who was in bed with her cup, he crumped to the chimney and stuffed the tree up. Then he went up the chimney himself, the old liar and the last thing he took, was the log for their fire, on their walls he left nothing but hooks and some wire, and the one speck of food he left in the house, was a crumb that even too small for a mouse) *Takes the crumb away from the mouse (Then he did the same thing to the other Whos houses, leaving crumbs much too small for the other mouses.)”
- “Po Bo the Whos! (He was grinchly humming) They're finding out now that NO Christmas is coming they're just waking up I know JUST what they'll do, their mouths will HANG within open a minute or two then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry: "Bo Ho!", that's a noise (Grinned the Grinch) that I simply MUST hear! (He paused and he putted a hand to his ear, and he did hear a sound rising over the snow, it started low, then it started to grow)”
- "(But this, this sound wasn't sad, why... the sound sounded GLAD! Every Who down in Whoville the tall and the small, was singing without any presents at all. He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming, it came! Somehow rather, it came just the same, and the Grinch with his grinch feet, ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling) How could it be so? It came without ribbons, it came without tags, it came without packages, boxes or bags!"

Intentional Grinched Qualities

Compared to the live-action film and the TV special, the original book didn't mention why the Grinch hated Christmas in the first place (with the Narrator speculating that maybe it was because his heart was two sizes too small) and just opted to steal Christmas out of spite towards the innocent Whos.
His 2018 counterpart, while likable, is a Felonius Gru wannabe, especially since he's not really evil but much more of a petty tsundere who's just a misunderstood loner and a grump who needs someone to talk to than how the book, the short and the film portrayed him (his tsundere qualities weren't as exaggerated as the 2018 movie made it). Coincidentally, both movies are Illumination movies.
- His backstory is confusing and this Grinch feeling easily sad for the reindeer goes against the book, the short, and his live-action version being iconic for how ruthless he started off as (which made him iconic for being a y'know "Grinch"!).
In season 2 of the show The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, he became less evil and threatening than his book counterpart and his plans became much more childish.
While most of the Grinch's actors did a good job portraying him, Josh Gerhardt's voice from the Grinch in the 2000 video game is considered not so great and rather cringeworthy.
In The Mean One, he was flanderized into a scary bloodthirsty creepy villain "parody" who likes to ruin people's Christmas in a ultraviolent way and gleefully murders Cindy Lou Who's parents.

Videos

Gallery

The Grinch's iconic evil smile.

Trivia

The original Grinch was not green. Like everything else in the book, he was black and white with some red and pink splotches. Jim Carrey's Grinch was originally meant to look like this, but Ron Howard wanted the film to also be an adaptation of the Chuck Jones cartoon.
Hans Conried was going to reprise his role as the Grinch for the crossover with the Cat in the Hat called Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat; but unfortunately, he was in poor health to reprise this role and would eventually pass away from a heart attack on January 5, 1982, just before he was scheduled to record his lines and only four months before this special aired. Because of his failing health, he would then be replaced by Bob Holt for this role.
When the Grinch's heart begins to grow, it hurts his chest and he falls to the ground and wounds his hand. He turns back and forth between his two injuries, mimicking a similar gag from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) in which Ace takes a spear to each leg.
In the original TV adaptation of the Grinch, his main dislike of Christmas is due to the loud noise and extreme gluttony. However, for this movie, an extensive backstory was created to explain why he hates Christmas.
The Grinch appears in a non-speaking cameo role in both Horton Hears a Who! adaptations.

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