The Grinch

Mr. Grinch "Maybe Christmas (he thought) doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more." Gender: Male Type: Redeemed Killjoy (original) Sympathetic Trickster (live-action movie) Species: Who Portrayed by: Boris Karloff (1966) Hans Conried (1977) Bob Holt (1982) Josh Gerhardt (2000 video game) Jim Carrey (2000) Benedict Cumberbatch (2018) 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 and mean-spirited; as he resents the Whos' holiday cheer that was getting on his nerves. In the live-action film adaptation, Mr. Grinch is given a more extravagant lair while going against the commercialism and materialism in Whoville.

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

1. In both the original book and animated special, he's a calm, 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, making him one of the darkest villains in any Dr. Seuss book and has been compared to the Joker from the DC universe.
2. All of his designs, besides his appearance in the 2000 video game, are great.
3. 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.
4. Despite his actions, he has a caring side to Max, in spite of hating everyone else.
   • He starts off as a threatening recluse who seeks to end Christmas because of his hatred against holiday noise and gluttony, as well as being described how rotten and evil he is in doing this, until he understands that stealing Christmas won't remove the holiday spirit and realizes what spending time with the Whos is like.
5. His live-action version is just as iconic as his animated counterpart, as well as being very funny and expressive as a comedic grump that you love to hate. As the film shows him to be an entertaining, whimsical, comical, and insane person with scheming qualities, providing scenes that nobody can forget. Which is at least much better than The Cat from the infamous 2000s Cat in the Hat film
   • Jim Carrey was able to make the Grinch very expressive and full of emotion in his facial expressions, making him lively and animated. His infamous smile toward the camera became a memorable meme on the internet.
   • He may be energetic, immature, and over-the-top hammy, but goes on an absolute rampage with the tirades when Augustus pulls that cruel joke on him. He also isn't afraid to call out the Whos on their selfish behavior in his famous "Why Christmas Sucks" speech.
   • He is mostly childish, goofy, and flamboyant, The Grinch himself is not without an understandable motive for the way he is, as he's a very entertaining character whose sympathetic backstory against the Whos, makes you somewhat root for him, especially with his rivalry against Augustus that made The Grinch become the way he is today.
   • Mr. Grinch comes up with some laughable and absurd yet reasonable solutions to problems that can actually work. Sure they seem quirky and weird at first glance, but it's rather unique in a humorous and relatable way like scheduling, showing hatred towards obnoxious people, and trying on clothes to look good without coming off as tacky or unfashionable.
6. 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.
7. Boris Karloff, Rowan Atkinson, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, and Jim Carrey all did a brilliant job portraying him and voicing him.
8. He also has many great and hilarious quotes:
   • “It's because I'm green, isn't it?”
   • “Am I just eating because I'm bored?”
   • “Tomorrow is Christmas. It’s practically here!”
   • “That is not a chew toy!”
   • “Blast this Christmas music! It's joyful and triumphant..”
   • “Stupid. Ugly. Out of date. This is ridiculous. If I can't find something nice to wear I'm not going.”
   • “What is that stench? It's fantastic.”
   • “Kids today. So desensitized by movies and television.”
   • “I guess I could use a little social interaction.”
   • “Give me that! Don’t you know you’re not supposed to take things that don’t belong to you? What’s the matter with you? You some kind of wild animal?”
   • “Saving you? Is that what you think I was doing? Wrong-o. I merely noticed that you’re improperly packaged, my dear.”
   • “If you utter so much as one syllable, I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH! If you'd like to fax me, press the star key.”
   • “That's what it's all about, isn't it? That's what it's always been about! Gifts, gifts... gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts! You wanna know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me. In your garbage. You see what I'm saying? In your garbage! I could hang myself with all the bad Christmas neckties I found at the dump. And the avarice. The avarice never ends! 'I want golf clubs. I want diamonds. I want a pony so I can ride it twice, get bored and sell it to make glue!' Look, I don't wanna make waves, but this whole Christmas season is stupid stupid stupid!”
   • “Hate, hate, hate. Hate, hate, hate. Double hate. LOATHE entirely!”
   • “I tell you Max, I don't know why I ever leave this place. I've got all the company I need right here.”
   • “Uh-oh! Somebody's fabulous!”
   • “Oh, the Who-manity!”
   • “Nice kid. Bad judge of character.”
   • “Cheer up, dude. It's Christmas.”
   • “Even if I wanted to go, my schedule wouldn't allow it.”
   • “The, the, the... THE GRINCH!”
   • “It's not a dress, it's a kilt!! Sssicko.”
   • “That's it. I'm not going.”
   • “I must stop this Christmas from coming... but how? I mean — in what way?”
   • “Blasted water weight!”
   • (Panting heavily after screaming for his life) “Almost lost my cool there.”

Bad Qualities

1. 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.
2. While he's still entertaining and somewhat likable in the film, he's a loud, flamboyant, obnoxious, sadistic, malevolent, psychotic, maniacal, and destructive sociopath who has a lot of comedic elements added to him, as well as his moments of going insane and sometimes doing masochistic things because of his insecurities; making him very out of place from the original. Though, to be fair, the original Grinch DID have some sense of humor, but it was very few and far in between.
   • Due to Jim Carrey's Grinch being loud and eccentric, he has bad social skills as seen towards Cindy LouWho before Grinch grew a heart, which leads him into some antics and/or awkward moments.
   • While mostly just played for laughs in the film, his quirks and buffoonery can still get on some people's nerves. As some may feel like the Grinch's crazy personality in the film could also potentially startle sensitive audiences, not helping that his design looks extremely weird when compared to other adaptations.
   • Jim Carrey claimed that making facial expressions as the main character felt like pain, mainly due to how much makeup he had to put on.
     • Jim Carrey's yellow contact lenses were so uncomfortable that he couldn't wear them during filming. Some shots of his eyes are colored in post-production.
   • Even though The Grinch's make-up and costume are fantastic, his face looks more like a dog than the original design, especially the nose.
   • Many of the Grinch's facial expressions can range from stupid, ugly, and weird to insanely terrifying, and while it's understandable, they could potentially scare sensible children and pushes the horror elements of the film a lot more.
3. His 2018 counterpart is a Felonious 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).
   • 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 is.
4. 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 more childish.
5. Josh Gerhardt did a very subpar job at voicing the Grinch in the 2000 video game.
   • Benedict Cumberbatch in The Grinch (2018), is polarizing due to how all over the place it can be.

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.
• Before Jim Carrey was cast to play the Grinch, Jack Nicholson, Eddie Murphy, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, Tim Curry, and the late Robin Williams were briefly considered.
• Jim Carrey's Grinch suit was covered in yak hair, which was dyed green, and sewn onto a spandex suit.
• 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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