How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) (TV)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Directors:

Chuck Jones
Ben Washam (co-director)

Writers:

Dr. Seuss (book)
Irv Spector (additional story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

18 December 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Plot:

A grumpy hermit hatches a plan to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | The Grinch | Hermit | Dog | Santa Claus

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Narrator / The Grinch (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
June Foray	...	Cindy Lou Who (voice) (uncredited)
Thurl Ravenscroft	...	Singer (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Chuck Jones
Ben Washam		(co-director)

Writing credits
Dr. Seuss		(book)
Irv Spector		(additional story) and
Bob Ogle		(additional story)

Produced by
Chuck Jones	....	producer
Dr. Seuss	....	producer (as Ted Geisel)

Cinematography by
Nick Vasu		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Lovell Norman
John O. Young		(as John Young)

Production Design by
Maurice Noble

Production Management
Earl Jonas	....	production manager

Art Department
Don Foster	....	graphics

Animation Department
Hal Ashmead	....	background artist
Philip DeGuard	....	background artist
Oscar Dufau	....	layout artist
Ken Harris	....	animator
Robert Inman	....	background artist (as Bob Inman)
Don Morgan	....	layout artist
Tom Ray	....	animator
Phil Roman	....	animator (as Philip Roman)
Richard Thompson	....	animator
Don Towsley	....	animator
Lloyd Vaughan	....	animator

Music Department
Albert Hague	....	composer: songs
Eugene Poddany	....	composer: additional music
Eugene Poddany	....	conductor
Dr. Seuss	....	lyricist

Other crew
Les Goldman	....	production executive

Production Companies

• The Cat in the Hat Productions
• MGM Television

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (DVD) (as MGM/UA Home Video)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

26 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | USA:TV-G | UK:U | Germany:o.Al. | USA:Unrated

Company:

The Cat in the Hat Productions

Trivia:

Dr. Seuss was initially uninterested in animating this or any of his books, but Chuck Jones managed to persuade him.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the last scene of the Grinch carving Roast Beast, as he passes the plate to Cindy-Lou Who, and she hands the plate to Max the dog, the Grinch's eyes turn from blue to red (for a split second) and then return the blue.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville - did not. The Grinch hated Christmas - the whole Christmas season. Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! (#2.16)" (1998)

You're a great one, Dr. Seuss/You're the king of children's books/They always are the best/In the east and in the west, Dr. Seuss!

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" is a wonderful flick/with some truly great lines, it isn't a trick/It could only have come from the great Dr. Seuss/otherwise, the whole thing would've been loose/Narrated by Karloff and directed by Jones/this Grinch is one who elicits no groans/It's the story of one weird Christmas-hating man/who one Christmas Eve, came up with a plan/He'd steal the presents and everything else/where does this plan go? I cannot tell/You must watch the movie, and then you will know/why this cartoon's still a tradition in the two-zero-Os/And one more thing that I should remind/avoid the live action, which I heard was unkind/They fouled it up, they fouled it down/every part of the story just came unwound/But this classic is always something to love/whether you're down below, or way up above!