The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat

The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat
Original VHS cover
Genre	Animation Children
Written by	Dr. Seuss
Directed by	Bill Perez
Voices of	Bob Holt Mason Adams Frank Welker Joe Eich
Narrated by	Mason Adams as the Cat
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	David H. DePatie
Producer(s)	Friz Freleng Dr. Seuss
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Marvel Productions DePatie-Freleng (In name only)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Audio format	Mono
Original airing	May 20, 1982 (1982-05-20)

The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat is an animated musical television film and crossover starring Dr. Seuss' famous character,The Cat in the Hat and antagonized by The Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. It premiered on May 20, 1982 on ABC and won two Emmys.

Plot

The film opens on a morning so beautiful, even the Grinch wakes up in a good mood. But his cheerfulness is soon revoked when his reflection in the mirror reminds him that he 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'm a Grinch! I'm a Grinch!

Meanwhile, the Cat in the Hat goes on a picnic and soon crosses paths with the Grinch when he crashes into his car. The Cat willingly and cheerfully agrees to his demands, but 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, safe and sound, but the Grinch tracks him there and messes with his voice using a device he has invented. The Acoustical Anti-Audio Bleeper, otherwise known as my Vacusound Sweeper", to garble the sounds of anything that gets caught in its waves and asserts that it has an effective radius of 50 miles. 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", a lighthouse that spreads darkness with which to mess with the Cat's sight.

The Cat becomes upset with the Grinch's hijinks, and has a psychiatric session with him in a thought bubble. Predictably he gets nowhere with the imaginary 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 when he passes a "Dead End" sign.

The Cat attempts to hide from the Grinch in a nearby restaurant, but the Grinch's machine continues to mess with reality, making the restaurant and everything with it literally come crazily to life, and his hijinks result in confusion 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. He soon figures it out and rallies everybody in the restaurant to follow him to the Grinch's house.

There, he leads everyone in a song about the love the Grinch received from his mother. The Grinch cries when he hears this, and disassembles his machines and goes through his change of heart again the next morning. But when his reflection tries to convert him back to his old self, Max drains out his voice with the Vacusound Sweeper.

Voice cast

• Mason Adams as The Cat in the Hat / Narrator
• Bob Holt as The Grinch
• Frank Welker as Max / Waiter / Additional voices
• Joe Eich as Chef

Musical numbers

1. "A Beelzeberry Day" - The Cat
2. "Relax-ification" - The Cat
3. "Master of Everyone's Ears" - The Grinch
4. "Most Horrible Things" - The Grinch
5. "Psychiatry Song" - The Cat
6. "The Mother Song" - The Cat, Chef, Musicians and Waiters

Awards

1982 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.^[1]

Production notes

• Both the Grinch and the Cat in the Hat were recast with different voice actors than the ones used in previous specials, all of whom had died. Bob Holt voiced the Grinch (Hans Conreid, who voiced the Grinch in Halloween Is Grinch Night, died a few months before the special aired; Boris Karloff, the original voice of the Grinch, had died in 1969), while Mason Adams took over voicing the Cat in the Hat from the late Allan Sherman, who died in 1973.

Home media

The special was first released on VHS in the mid-80s via CBS/Fox Video's Playhouse Video division, and reissued later in the decade. This release used its working title The Cat in the Hat Gets Grinched. The special retained its normal name on VHS re-releases (including Dr. Seuss Sing-Along Classics by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with CBS Video and Fox Kids Video). It was also re-released on VHS in 2000 by Paramount Home Entertainment. It was later released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The DVD cuts out half of the car chase sequence, ending the chase after the Grinch drives into a mud pit.

The special was released again on DVD by Warner Home Video on October 18, 2011 as part of the Dr. Seuss's Holidays on the Loose! DVD set, along with How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and Halloween Is Grinch Night.

References

External links

• The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat at the Internet Movie Database