The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat

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The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat is an Emmy Award-winning animated television crossover starring two of Dr. Seuss' famous characters, The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat. The special premiered on May 20th, 1982 on ABC and won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Individual Achievement (Animated Programming).

Contents

[edit] Plot

The telefilm opens on a morning so beautiful that even the Grinch wakes up in a good mood. But his cheerfulness is soon revoked when his reflection in the mirror (possibly an envisionment of his father) talks back to him and reminds him that he's a Grinch and therefore shouldn't be cheerful, by repeating 'the Grinch's Oath' with him:

“ A Grinch is unhelpful, unfriendly, unkind, with ungracious thoughts, in an unhealthy mind. A Grinch is uncheerful, uncouth, and unclean. Now say this together: I'M FRIGHTFULLY MEAN! My eyes are both shifty, my fingers are thrifty. My mouth will not smile, not half of an inch! I'm a Grinch! I am a Grinch. I'M A GRINCH! ”

Out to prove himself to his reflection, the Grinch goes out to cause misfortune. Meanwhile, the Cat in the Hat goes on a picnic and soon crosses paths with the Grinch when the Grinch crashes into his car. The Grinch demands that the Cat "get this crate out of my way", but when the Cat willingly and cheerfully agrees to his demands, the Grinch pursues him in a car chase for mistakenly calling him 'Mr Green-Face'. Realizing he's upset this person, the Cat returns to his house, but the Grinch tracks him there and messes with his voice using a device he has invented, "my Acoustical Anti-Audio Bleeper, otherwise known as my Vacusound Sweeper", to garble the sounds of anything that gets caught in its waves. He is undeniably proud of his invention as he sabotages all other nearby sounds, proclaiming himself the 'Master of Everyone's Ears'. Then the Grinch goes back to his house and builds a "Darkhouse" with which to mess with the Cat's sight, proclaiming, "That Cat's gonna suffer like never before!"

The Cat becomes upset with the Grinch's hijinks and has a psychiatry session with him in a thought bubble. Predictably he gets nowhere with the virtual Grinch, so he then decides to go over and have a talk with him, but in the process, the Grinch makes it so dark he can't see where he's going, and he crashes his car. The Cat attempts to hide from the Grinch in a nearby restaurant, but the Grinch's machine continues to mess with reality, and his hijinks cause michief all over the restaurant. The Cat is now furious with the Grinch and ponders to himself how he can change the Grinch, eventually racing through a door and sending himself hurtling into the Grinch's Dimension. There, as he ponders, he has to endure visions of a floating Grinch head of laser lights, a spinning spiral, and getting split into four different-colored outlines - blue, green, red, and yellow, which join together to become a white outline, and he turns back into himself. He soon figures it out and rallies everybody in the restaurant to follow him to the Grinch's house. There, he sings a song about the love the Grinch received from his mother; the Grinch, having a soft spot for his mom, weeps when he hears this, and is afterward told by the spirit of his mom that "everything's going to be all right." Touched, the Grinch disassembles his machines and goes through his change of heart again the next morning. But when his reflection tries to revert him back to a grouch, his dog Max shuts the mirror up with the Vacusound Sweeper.

[edit] DVD release

It is currently on DVD alongside The Hoober-Bloob Highway and also on the Seuss Celebration collection with other Dr. Seuss specials.

[edit] Credits

[edit] Cast

[edit] Crew

  • Produced by: Ted Geisel and Friz Freleng
  • Directed by: Bill Perez
  • Executive Producer: David H. DePatie
  • Based on the Dr. Seuss animated characters
  • Written by: Ted Geisel
  • Music by: Joe Raposo
  • Special Music/Music Editor: Joe Siracusa
  • Teleplay and Lyrics by: Ted Geisel
  • Production Manager: Kathy Condon
  • In Charge Of Production: Lee Gunther

[edit] Trivia

  • Production began at DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and then was completed at Marvel Productions Ltd.
  • The Cat in the Hat Gets Grinched was the working title for the special from Random House Home Video, and was the title used for the VHS version.
  • Some VHS releases cut out half of the car chase sequence, ending the chase after the Grinch drives into a mud pit. Since this is before the Cat realizes the Grinch is chasing him, his exclamation "Phew!" (which he utters after making it home) is out of place in the edited version. The sequence is fully intact on the DVD release (and on old CBS-Fox Video/Playhouse Video releases).
  • This was the last DePatie-Freleng/Dr.Seuss special for television, the ABC network and the final DePatie-Freleng cartoon.
  • This was not only Marvel's Dr. Seuss special, this was also the only time Marvel Productions project that Friz Freleng was involved in.
  • This was released as a 2008 animated film, starring Michael Brandon as The Cat in the Hat and Edward Norton as The Grinch. Other voices are Kathryn Beaumont as the Cat Girl and the Grinch's Mother, Frank Welker as Max and the Waiter, Cathy Cavadini as the Bird Girls, Danielle Ryan Chuchran as The Cat in the Hat's Girlfriend and Roger L. Jackson as the Cows, Cats and Birds.