How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Em: 00:01:23

Hi everyone, I'm Em and welcome to verbal diorama. Episode 280, how the Grinch Stole Christmas. This is the podcast that's all about the history and legacy of movies you know and movies you don't.

That's inside a snowflake like the one on your sleeve, there happened a story you must hear to believe. And as always, a huge hi and welcome to Verbal Diorama.

Whether you are a brand new listener, whether you are a regular returning listener, thank you for being here. Thank you for choosing to listen to this podcast. I'm so happy to have you here for the history and legacy of how the Grinch Stole Christmas.

But mostly I'm happy because it is Christmas. I hope that you are enjoying the Christmas festivities whether you celebrate Christmas or not.

But if you do, it looks like you might have been a bit naughty this year. And that's why you've got this episode on how the Grinch Stole Christmas. Because this episode is only being sent to the people on the Naughty List.

But it's okay, because even being on the Naughty List can be redeemed. And you can start by basically listening to this episode.

Now, I'm not suggesting your heart is two sizes too small, but we can all appreciate the little things and the true meaning of Christmas. So obviously this month is kind of a Christmassy themed season.

So far we've had the very festive Dungeons and Dragons, Honor Among Thieves and the slightly more festive Lethal Weapon. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a movie that my mum absolutely owns. She hates this movie.

And it wasn't the first choice for the Naughty List either. But it turns out it pairs really well with the Nice List episode.

And while no one wants to annoy their mum at Christmas, or indeed at any time of the year. I couldn't really help but look into the history and legacy of a movie that may not be on my mum's Christmas list that stems from a beloved Dr.

Seuss classic and ended up being nominated for three Oscars. Here's the crescendo of my odious opus, aka the trailer for how the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Em: 00:04:23

On the outskirts of Whoville, a green hermit known as the Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small, has been living in Mount Crumpit with his only friend and pet dog, Max.

The Grinch put himself in exile due to his hatred for Christmas, and after he was bullied at school trying to impress his childhood crush, Martha May Hoovier, he ran away in humiliation.

Years later, young Cindy Lou, who believes there is good in the Grinch, and because Christmas is a time for being with loved ones, she extends an invitation to the Grinch to join the town's festivities. But he's ridiculed again and vows to take revenge.

The Grinch devises a plot to ruin Christmas by dressing up as Santa and stealing all the presents to ruin Whoville's Christmas once and for all. Let's run through the cast.

We have Jim Carrey as the Grinch, Taylor Mumpson as Cindy Lou who, Jeffrey Tambor as Mayor Augustus May who, Christine Baranski as Martha May who? Via Bill Irwin as Lou Lou who, Molly Shannon as Betty Lou who and Anthony Hopkins as the narrator.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas have A screenplay by Geoffrey Price and Peter S. Demon was based on how the Grinch stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss and was directed by Ron Howard. Our story starts soon. Here it is. It's the Hook.

A story of Christmas of a loved children's book. How the Grinch Stole Christmas A creature so sour, let's have it on a podcast for just under an hour. Theodor Geisel was his name.

He wrote under a pseudonym. Dr. Seuss was the author or writer. That's a synonym. He published over 60 books during his long literary career.

Let's hope he occasionally rested and drank a cold beer. His most famous the Grinch and the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax and Horton. Here's a who. Don't forget about that.

He passed in: 1991

Soiss, his own pronunciation of the pen name he chose. Based on his mother's maiden name, he actually switched to the Anglicized pronunciation of Seuss.

So that's what I'm going to continue to use for the episode. I'm also going to continue to use his pen name Dr. Seuss instead of his actual legal name, Theodore Geisel. But Dr.

Seuss was never something we grew up with here in the uk. In fact, I didn't even know the Grinch was a thing.

Kevin McAllister watches the: 1966

ith Horton Hatches the egg in: 1942

And in: 1966

iginally published in the May: 1955

The: 1966

Seuss and Chuck Jones rather than the original black and white sketches in the books. The character has been green ever since. While Boris Karloff narrated and provided the voice for the Grinch, he didn't sing the song.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. Phil Ravenscroft was mistakenly uncredited for providing the song's vocals.

Seuss called Ravenscroft personally to apologize for the oversight and later wrote letters to colonists nationwide telling them it was Ravenscroft who provided vocals for the musical number. Despite the animated specials of his work, Dr.

his death. After his death in: 1991

Seuss and his characters was going to continue with or without her late husband. Oh, the places this merchandising could go. And Dr. Seuss Enterprises was born.

And the places this merchandising has gone from the 100 acre theme park Seuss Landing at Universal Islands of adventure in Orlando, Florida to Seussical the Musical, a $10 million musical pastiche of several of Dr. Seuss's stories.

Audrey Geisel might be seen as some by selling out her late husband's work, but she's incredibly particular how and to whom the characters are licensed, and much of the profits are donated to the Dr. Seuss foundation, which supports the arts, education and social services in California, as well as the Dr.

Seuss fund, which supports charitable organizations in San Diego. And she was also a staunch supporter of a woman's right to choose.

In response to an anti abortion movement using the line a person's a person no matter how small from Horton Hears a Whom, Geisel not only threatened legal action, she also donated to Planned Parenthood. She was aided in her merchandising decisions by Carl Zobel, Vice President of Dr.

l would pass away in December: 2018

It was Audrey Geisel who gave the go ahead for studios to bid for the rights for how the Grinch Stole Christmas. But as always, she was incredibly specific about what she wanted.

You won't be surprised to hear she also had significant control over what ended up in the finished movie. Except for keys in a bowl. She was fine with that.

a letter to producers in July: 1998

Prospective studio suitors had to be prepared to pay $5 million for the content and provide diesel 70% of the money from book tie ins, 50% of the merchandise and music related revenue and 4% of the box office gain. In order to present their proposals. Any actors submitted for the Grinch must be of comparable stature too.

Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, the letter added. Furthermore, no writer or director who had not made at least $1 million on a prior movie would even be given consideration by the estate of Dr. Seuss.

Half a dozen studios pursued the rights when they went to auction, including 20th Century Fox, who had been after the rights for years at this point, Universal, which had already made a major investment with their Seuss landing at Universal Studios Orlando, came out on top. Despite having to agree to Geisel's demands for shared revenue.

Universal would part with $9 million for the rights to how the Grinch Stole Christmas and Over Places you'll Go. Producer Brian Grazer and potential director Gary Ross pitch didn't meet Geisel's requirements, so.

And Ron Howard was then brought on board to join negotiations. He was convinced by Grazer to pitch to Geisel.

His idea is to develop the character of Cindy Lou, give her an expanded role, flesh out the who's of Whoville and give the Grinch a backstory as to how he'd come to hate the who's so much. Geisel was happy and Ron Howard became the director after giving her his pitch.

As for the casting of Jim Carrey, Geisel obviously wanted a big name actor and Carrey had been on her list.

They met after the rights went up for auction and instead of shaking her hand, Carrey spun her around, held her close and made a Grinch face the only way Jim Carrey could. She knew she'd found her Grinch.

At this point, Carrey wouldn't know the sacrifices he would have to make to bring the character to life, but it was a character he loved, that he grew up with and ultimately a character that told you a lot about human behavior and how a person forms prejudice. Actors like Eddie Murphy and Jack Nicholson were considered, but Carrey was the ideal choice.

He was filming man on the Moon at the time auditions were taking place and he was method acting as Andy Kaufman during that production, insisting on everyone calling him Andy even when reading for the Grinch. It wasn't Jim Carrey auditioning, it was Andy Kaufman.

And apparently this is what convinced Audrey Geisel that he was right for the role because he could clearly lose himself in the characters he played. The screenplay was written by Geoffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, most well known for writing who Framed Roger Rabbit and Doc Hollywood.

They would write eight drafts with Geisel insisting on the removal of sexual humor, but again, not keys in a bowl. She was specific and there was a lot she didn't approve of. But in her mind she wanted to make a movie her late husband would have wanted to see.

And hey, who are we to judge if they like those kind of parties? The team of Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer did uncredited rewrites on the script.

And while the original animation is fairly straightforward, a simple story of the Grinch attempting to ruin Christmas for the who's at Whoville before realizing Christmas isn't about capitalism.

This version would indeed go into the backstory of how the Grinch became the Grinch, including his adoption by two who women being bullied at school by the future mayor Augustus May, who finding young love with the impeccably put together Martha May Whovier, and then meeting young Cindy Lou, who now a precocious six year old rather than the two year old in the book and animation. And it's Cindy Liu who puts all of this together.

The cast was rounded out by known names like Jeffrey Tambour, Christine Baranski, Molly Shannon and Bill Irwin. Weird Anthony Hopkins spending a day recording his narration.

Taylor Molson stars as Cindy Lou in her breakout role, and the reason she's not in the traditional who prosthetics is simply that because she was a child, she wasn't permitted to use prosthetics by law. So it was added into the story that WHO children grew into their who faces. But making Whoville and its citizens come to life was one thing.

It was another to turn Jim Carrey into the Grinch and the three things that this movie excels in it got Academy Award nominations for, and what it eventually won an Oscar for was the excellent makeup by Rick Baker and Gail Roel Ryan. Renowned makeup artist Rick Baker designed and created the prosthetic makeup for Jim Carrey as well as for each and every who.

Baker's initial design was used and the entire Grinch costume was a spandex suit with individually dyed green yak hair sewn into the suit. Cary would be in the suit for a total of 92 days, and it was hardly a comfortable experience.

The experience also included the full facial prosthetic, which took eight and a half hours initially to put on, although they eventually got it down to two and a half hours and additionally yellow contact lenses which irritated his eyes. Carey described the process as being buried alive every day, and he would take out his frustrations on the makeup artist assigned to him.

Kazuhiro Carrey would often shout at Hero and it ended up with the makeup artist leaving the set due to mental exhaustion.

This would lead to Carrey changing his attitude, realizing how valuable Hero was to the production, and Hero ultimately returned to a changed atmosphere on set. It also led to Hero getting letters of recommendation from the filmmakers for his green card application, which was ultimately successful.

After the Grinch makeup won an Oscar and a bafta, even Josh Ryan Evans, who played the green shit at 8 years old, also had to go through the same makeup and bodysuit as Carey. Evans was actually 18 at the time. He had a form of dwarfism, leading him to look and sound like a small child.

He passed away from complications during surgery for a congenital heart condition two years later.

Jim Carrey's horrifying experience in the costume and makeup would lead to producer Brian Grazer hiring trained CIA operatives to train Carrey on how to cope with torture, which led to Carrey starting a smoking habit.

A lot of Carrey's issues seem to stem from his previous work on man on the Moon, and Carrey had even admitted as much in the documentary Jim and the Great Beyond. Even Ron Howard donned the suit of makeup for a day and directed scenes dressed as the Grinch.

Carrey's mimicking of Howard's directing style was improvised by Carrey on set, and Howard loved the impression so much of the Grinch directing his dog Max that he kept it in the final cut of the movie. This movie was also nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

The costuming here is by Rita Riak, who also worked on Casino Apollo 13, also with Ron Howard, and would go on to work on the other live action Dr. Seuss adaptation, the Cat in the Hat, as well as the film version of the musicals Hairspray and Rock of Ages.

s clothing was kept basic the: 1957

The base layer to each costume was a padded bodysuit, giving each who a distinct pie shape.

The only difference would be Martha May, played by Christine Baranski, who was all 50s elegance and rak, took inspiration from Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and the fashion of her sister Princess Margaret, with tight bodices, flowing skirts and highlighting femininity. Another inspiration for Martha May's clothing was Lucille Ball with the trouser and dress combination the hostess outfit as featured in I Love Lucy.

So popular are Rayak's costumes for Martha May that she has somewhat of a following online with YouTube tutorials on how to make the costumes at home, as well as Etsy's marketplace selling replicas of the powder blue and white ostrich feather robe as well as her Christmas gown with its sweetheart neckline and forest green tulle skirt.

Luckily for Ayak, Boranski was up for wearing anything, even a red and white fur trimmed Santa mini dress while shooting Christmas light out of a cannon. Listen, we all know the pain of putting up Christmas lights. We all want Martha May's ingenuity as well as her killer fashion sense.

Even other characters like Betty Lou who had a teacup fascinator paired with a plaid corset dress which was emulated by the fashion house Versace with store mannequins adorned in teacup hats.

Cindy Lou, who wore Peter Pan collar dresses and coats the fashion in how the Grinch Stole Christmas might not be the first thing you think of, but the Oscar nominated costume work has endured for over 20 years. The Universal Studios backlot was used to construct the Whoville set which was located behind the famous Bates Motel from Psychop.

The majority of the sets were constructed entirely on sound stages. Stage 12, for example, contained the town set.

The production used 10 soundstages in total and it remains one of the most space intensive productions ever shot at Universal. 1,938 candy canes were used in the decoration of the sets and enough fake paper snow was used to cover nine football pitches.

were eventually torn down in: 2020

mas took place from September: 1999

Virtually everyone involved in the movie had grown up reading or watching adaptations of Dr. Seuss's stories.

Digital domain created a CGI sleigh for the shot where it teeters over the edge of the mountain and the Grinch's sleigh ride down Mount Crumpit and into Whoville was filmed on a blue screen with Taylor Momsen and Jim Carrey. The actors and the sleigh were to be composited into the second unit's background plates which showed a snowy Utah hill.

However, the weather in Hoonville differed from that in the Utah background plates. The mythical trees in Seuss's tale didn't exactly resemble Utah's natural vegetation.

So these were all added digitally, tens of thousands of them, using 10 proxy tree models which were tweaked with various branch styles, shapes and sizes. Animators also added 3D snow which fell intelligently onto surfaces, sticking to certain areas and not others, mimicking real life Snowfall.

Even the 2D painted clouds were rendered in 3D and moved in proximity to the horizon.

And given form and motion, practical snow and wind couldn't be used on the set due to Kerry's eye irritation problems, which also led to some scenes with him having digitally enhanced yellow eyes. While Max the dog was mostly played by a rescue called Kelly for the main stunts, Max was also rendered in CG for some scenes.

Even the who's of Whoville were comprised of mostly human actors, but also there was a cast of digital who's to fill out crowd scenes such as the Hoover Nation. Up to 200 animated characters were shown in some shots. 25% of Whoville was practical sets and the other 75% was created digitally.

Ron Howard had a firm plan that the film would contain 260 visual effects shots altogether. In the end, however, there were more than 300 major effect shots. Digital Domain did 356 shots.

They count as 40 minutes of visual effects in the film, including 35 shots that are completely CG.

All in all, including minor shots, the grinch contains about 600 vision effect shots, but the majority is done so well that you simply can't tell back to Max though, because Max was actually played by six different dogs and they were all mixed breed shelter rescues that had their fur cut and dyed to match each other. The two lead dogs were Kelly and Chip, with Kelly doing most of the stunts and the other four were Topsy, Stella, Zelda and Bo.

Animal trainer Roger Schumacher spent three and a half months practicing with the dogs prior to filming to perfect their stunts and acclimate them to the set environment. All of the dogs were adopted by various crew members or studio staff and no dogs were returned to shelters after filming.

Topsy, Stella, Zelda and Beau retired from show business shortly after. And speaking of show business, it's really the only way I can segue here.

Let's go into the obligatory Keanu reference for this episode, which is where I try and link the movie that I'm featuring with Keanu Reeves for no reason other than he is the best of men. And unless you're the Grinch, all men should aspire to be a bit more like Keanu Reeves.

Now Keanu Reeves as Google's AI Search Bot helpfully told me is not associated with the Grinch. That is the power of AI folks right there.

However, he will be working with Jim Carrey in the upcoming sonic the Hedgehog 3 which I will be going to the cinema to see with my nephew because he is a huge fan. Carrie obviously plays Dr.

Robotnik and Keanu Reeves voices Shadow and the original Sonic the Hedgehog would actually be a great movie for the podcast, I think, because you remember that Sonic redesign, right? How awesome would it be to go into the history and legacy of that? Maybe that's one for next year.

So Jim Carrey performs the song you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch in character as the Grinch singing about himself. Taylor Momsen also sings Where Are youe Christmas?

Which was written by the one and only Mariah Carey, James Horner and Will Jennings. Mariah Carey also wrote a full length pop version of the song with additional lyrics for the film's soundtrack.

The song was originally recorded by Carey, but because of a legal case and an acrimonious divorce from her ex husband Tommy Mottola, it couldn't be released. So it was re recorded and released by Faith Hill.

The score for the movie was composed by James Horner and the soundtrack also features songs by Smash Mouth, Busta Rhymes and Barenaked Ladies.

To coincide with the film's release, Universal used their previous collaborations with the Seuss name to promote the holiday movie, with Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal's Islands of Adventure introducing Grinchmas, a holiday event that has since become an annual tradition at the theme parks. Toys R Us also turned their stores into Hoobalation Headquarters with floor to ceiling graphics and 8 foot grinch characters.

th November: 2000

Even the: 2000

o for a little bit about that: 2000

st grossing film worldwide of: 2000

million until the: 2018

ust in time for the Christmas: 2001

By December: 2001

Rotten Tomatoes has a rating of 49%, with the site's critical consensus reading Jim Carrey Shines as the Grinch unfortunately, it's not enough to save this movie. You'd be better off watching the TV cartoon.

Critics were agreed that Carrey was perfectly cast, but the overall tone of the movie skewed too dark when it came to awards season, though, as I mentioned, how the Grinch Stole Christmas ended up with three Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup, winning for makeup for Rick Baker and Gail Roel Ryan.

It was also nominated for a Best Actor and Musical or Comedy Golden Globe for Jim Carrey, who would lose to George Clooney for O Brother, Where Art Thou?

But it was also nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards, Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Screenplay, as well as three Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Song or Song Performance, and Worst Screenplay. So it kind of balances each other out really.

cally a couple of remakes. In: 2018

In: 2022

The character is green, but not referred to as the Grinch, presumably because copyright just the mean one, but here in the UK the mean one is available on Amazon Prime Video if you're interested in watching it. I have not watched it. However I did notice it was on Amazon Prime Video as is how the Grinch Stole Christmas, which is where I watched it.

So maybe you could do a back to back of both of those, but just going back to illumination because the animated version of the Grinch is a perfectly fine movie. I enjoyed it very much actually it beautifully animated, bright, colorful and very very flawless.

And I mean that in a good way because CG animation is technically flawless, but also in a bad way. CG animation is technically flawless. Every pixel is perfect, every shot crystal clear, and every joke is sanitized.

mpare that if you will to the: 1966

A movie with a gifted director, a big name star, state of the art technology and practical effects and makeup that isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. And yet somehow it also is.

could never be present in the: 2018

As beautiful as it is, it was always going to be tough to adapt a story that contains more spirit than actual plot. Making a feature length film out of a 26 minute animated short was going to be a challenge.

And I know live action remakes are never my thing, but credit where credit's due, when a live action remake has this sort of incredible production design and it casts the right person for the role. Jim Carrey really is great.

The only thing I think about this movie is I agree with the critics that it does skew a little dark at times and tonally feels a little bit all over the place. Still, if it got the okay from Audrey Geisel then it must have satisfied her. Christmas could be a tough time for some people.

It has become highly commercialized, focusing on capitalism and buying as much as possible.

It's a real struggle sometimes to be able to afford it all, especially during a cost of living crisis when inflation is high and even tougher if you don't have family or friends close by to be with at Christmas Christmas can be a lonely time and sometimes that loneliness is self imposed because of mental health issues or maybe just because Christmas is traumatic. Just because you love Christmas or celebrate it, it doesn't mean someone else will. The Grinch may be heartless and selfish, but he has his reasons.

And all Cindy Liu saw was someone who'd been ostracized and offered him a chance to be accepted. But he needed to want that acceptance.

And when he learns Christmas is about more than presents, he finally has that will to change and give the who's a chance to give him a chance. And sometimes we all need to look at things as if we were a small child like Cindy Louis.

Without prejudice, without grievance, without trauma, without everything that can maybe hold us back from accepting things into our lives. You may or may not believe in Santa. I personally like to track him via NORAD every year.

to remember the Mega Blaster: 3000

That's the ultimate message of this movie. Let's not be mean ones. It's okay if your heart grows three sizes. And even if you are on the naughty list, you might also end up on the Nice list.

What if Christmas, she thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas perhaps means a little bit more? Welcome Christmas.

Bring your cheerleader cheer to all who's far and near Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we welcome Christmas while we stand heart to heart and hand in hand. Thank you for listening. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on how the Grinch Stole Christmas.

And thank you for your continued support of this podcast this year and throughout all of the years. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

If you have enjoyed this episode and you want to help it grow, you could tell your friends and family you could leave a rating or review wherever you found it. Or you can find me on social media. I am herbaldiorama on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Blue sky and Letterboxd.

Tomorrow, the Nice List and the Nice List only get an episode on the modern classic Feel Good Christmas Movie. Let's go through the rules. Number one, Treat every day like Christmas. Number two, there's room for everyone on the Nice List. Yep, even you.

And number three, the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear it's the code of the elves for a reason. Because the next Christmas episode is on the history and legacy of Elf.

And if you're listening to this episode on release day and you think you're on the nice list, you'll get that episode tomorrow. And I always say this podcast is free and it always will be free. However, it is unfortunately not free to make a podcast.

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And finally,

Em: 00:39:57

Bye and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.