How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (film)
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This article is about the feature film. For the animated version, see How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
| Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas | |
|---|---|
 Jim Carrey as The Grinch. |
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| Directed by | Ron Howard |
| Produced by | Linda Fields Brian Grazer Todd Hallowell Ron Howard Aldric La'Auli Porter Louisa Velis |
| Written by | Dr. Seuss (book) Jeffrey Price Peter S. Seaman |
| Starring | Jim Carrey Josh Ryan Evans Taylor Momsen Jeffrey Tambor Christine Baranski Bill Irwin Molly Shannon Clint Howard Mindy Sterling Rance Howard |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
| Release date(s) | November 8, 2000 |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 2000 live-action film, based on the 1957 book by Dr. Seuss. Due to additions made to the storyline so that it could be brought up to feature-length, it was considerably less faithful to the original book, creating a new back-story to explain the Grinch's motivations—he was bullied and picked on when he was a child. The film was directed by Ron Howard, produced by Brian Grazer, and starred Jim Carrey in the title role of the Grinch. Taylor Momsen starred as Cindy Lou Who, who in this version seems to be about eight years old, where the character in the book was "no more than two". While this version is often referred to as simply The Grinch, the on-screen title is How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, with the word "Grinch" written in much larger letters than the rest of the title. The movie received mixed critical reaction but became the highest-grossing film released in North America in the year 2000, earning $260 million at the box office.
Other cast members include the late Josh Ryan Evans as the young Grinch, Bill Irwin as Lou Lou Who and Jeffrey Tambor as Mayor Augustus May Who.
[edit] Summary
Christmas is coming, and all of Whoville is rushing to get ready. In the middle of it all is Cindy Lou Who, a young Who who thinks that due to the Christmas rush and the hubbub, the true meaning of Christmas may have gotten lost. When she goes to the post office with her dad, she runs into the Grinch, who's come down from his cave on Mount Crumpet to stir up some trouble. Spooked by his appearance, Cindy Lou falls into the mail-sorting machine. To her surprise, the Grinch rescues her, but he won't admit that he wanted to help her, instead electing to wrap her up as if she is a giant present. He then leaves.
Cindy Lou begins to doubt the frightening rumors that she's heard about the Grinch. She does some research and discovers that the Grinch is an outcast, who was adopted by two old lady Whos. Growing up, Grinch was known for his bizarre behavior and devilish personality, but he was never evil. However, he was constantly bullied by Augustus May-Who, the future mayor of Whoville. One Christmas, to impress his crush, Martha May Whovier (Christine Baranski), Grinch made her an angel ornament out of trash, which was very well made. In addition, he tried shaving and created a mess. When he came to school the next day, the whole class (except for Martha) laughed at his gift and his shave. the Grinch got mad and smashed the gift, then he began destroying all the Christmas decorations in the room. As he lifted the tree over his head, he declared, "I hate Christmas." After that, he left town, made his way up Mount Crumpet and has lived there ever since. His amazing engineering skills helped him turn a small cave in the side of the mountain into a comfortable home; however, the Grinch falls into a depression due to the events of his school days, thus he starts hating the Whos.
Feeling sorry for the Grinch, and realizing that she may be the only one who understands her problem, Cindy Lou invites the Grinch to the town Christmas Party. Grinch grudgingly agrees to come, and even has fun, but when Mayor May-Who provokes him, the Grinch goes crazy and wreaks havoc. Once he returns to Mount Crumpet, Grinch plots to steal Christmas. He makes himself a Santa suit and builds a rocket sled. He flies over Whoville, stealing anything that has to do with Christmas. Once he's finished, he takes it back up the mountain and attempts to dump it off the side of the mountain.
Back in Whoville, the Who's are just waking up and seeing what the Grinch has been doing all night. The Mayor leads a large group of people in stating that the Grinch has destroyed Christmas, but Cindy Lou's family speaks up and says they've realized that the Grinch hasn't stolen the most important part of Christmas; the Christmas Spirit, the one thing that doesn't come from a store. The whole town begins to sing. Meanwhile, Cindy Lou sneaks away to see the Grinch.
Up on Mount Crumpet, the Grinch hears the Whos singing and realizes the true meaning of Christmas. After having a change of heart, he sees the sleigh full of "Christmas stuff" about go off the cliff and tries to save it. At one point, he thinks about just letting it all go, but then he sees Cindy Lou hiding on the back of the sleigh, he uses his vast strength to save her and the presents. They sled back to Whoville, where the Grinch returns all the Christmas items to the Whos and both get a warm reception from everyone, except the mayor. The whole town goes back to Grinch's cave on Mount Crumpet for Christmas dinner.
