The holiday classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss has been given an animated makeover
by the team behind the Despicable Me movies.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here and today I'm explaining the biggest differences
between Illumination's new Grinch movie, the 60s animated TV special, and the live-action
film with Jim Carrey!
Keep watching to the end for a bonus Grinch easter egg!
And subscribe and leave a comment about the movie for a chance to win some awesome Grinch
merchandise.
The first big difference that you'll notice between this particular Grinch and previous
versions is that the filmmakers have deliberately made him a little more likeable and relatable.
That's because they felt that a very nasty Grinch would be too off-putting in a feature-length
festive film, so they sanded down his spiky edges somewhat.
Another big change in this version is that the filmmakers delve into why the Grinch became
the way he is.
In the original book and made-for-TV animation, the Grinch didn't have any real backstory.
We just knew he'd hated Christmas for 53 years, likely because his "heart was two sizes too
small."
The live-action film, however, did add some background information with baby Grinch arriving
by accident in Whoville, getting adopted by elderly women, falling for a girl at school,
and being bullied by his classmates, which made the young Grinch leave town for Mount
Crumpit.
Like that movie, the new animation returns to the Grinch's youth for answers, though
this time, his emotional pain stems from a childhood spent in an orphanage where he was
basically abandoned during Christmas.
By bringing up the Grinch's backstory, the filmmakers wanted to soften our feelings towards
him and open up a path for him to heal over the course of the story.
Indeed, according to Benedict Cumberbatch, 'once you understand why Christmas is painful
for him, you kind of root for him a little.'
But what about the new Grinch's appearance?
Well, although, in his 1957 book, he started out black and white with pinky-coloured eyes,
thanks to the 1966 animation, green is very much the colour associated with the holiday-hating
character.
And, as you'd expect, just like the live-action movie in 2000, Illumination's animated feature
sticks with green, though it does make some changes, giving his teeth a cosmetic makeover
and adding pinker lips and green on white eyes, in a change from the pinky-red on yellow
eyes of the 60s animation and the green on yellow eyes of the live-action.
This Grinch also looks brighter, softer, better groomed and less creepy than previous versions,
which I imagine was done to make him look more generally appealing.
The amazing progress in animation tools and techniques since the early cartoon means that
there's a real sense of texture to the Grinch's hair in this new film, and the wavy effect
in his fur feels like a nod to the character's drawings in the book.
As far as the other characters go, the filmmakers have gone for a less zany look that's more
human and largely cuter than in previous adaptations as they wanted the movie to appeal to a broad
audience including people who'd never seen the original Dr Seuss and Chuck Jones artwork.
The Grinch's dog Max has been part of his story since the original book.
But in this new version, the relationship between Max and the Grinch is much more developed.
Max isn't just a pet or substitute reindeer; he's everything to the Grinch including his
best friend, his pretty much constant companion, and his devoted right-hand dog.
In fact, Max's incredible loyalty to his green friend is designed to help us to see the goodness
in the Grinch.
Someone else who's been part of the grouchy green character's story from the very beginning
is Cindy-Lou Who.
In the book and TV special, she's just 2 years old and her only real interaction with the
Grinch is when she chances upon him while he's disguised as Santa and asks why he's
taking her family's Christmas tree.
The new movie, like the Jim Carrey film, ages Cindy-Lou up several years and greatly expands
her storyline.
In the live-action, Cindy-Lou has more interaction with the Grinch than this film, though Illumination's
movie still gives her an active role which involves her trying to trap Santa as she wants
him to help out her tired, over-worked mother.
There's also a whole host of new characters introduced in this film.
Not content with just having one adorable creature on screen, the new movie adds a reindeer
called Fred who I can absolutely see being a favourite with kids and selling a ton of
toys, much like Max.
Fred appears when the Grinch starts to put together his plot to steal Christmas and he's
not only a nice comic foil to the Grinch's grumpiness but, as with Max, he also lets
us see a different side to the green Christmas thief.
Another new animal addition to the story is a wild goat, and although he's not on screen
very long, he definitely leaves an impression thanks to his rather distinctive voice, which
adds to the film's comedy!
Another new face in Whoville is the Grinch's nearest neighbour, Mr Bricklebaum.
He's the "happiest Who alive" and considers himself to be the Grinch's best friend, though
the Grinch, of course, has an entirely different view of the situation!
Bricklebaum, who's voiced by Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson, is full of Christmas
spirit and just adores covering his house in lights and breaking out his huge selection
of Santa and Snowman inflatables to celebrate the holidays.
Basically, he's another obstacle in the way of the Grinch's isolation and the Grinch doesn't
like it one bit!
Also not in the original book or TV special is the Mayor of Whoville.
Now, if you know the live-action version, you'll remember there was a mayor in that
film and he was an entirely nasty piece of work.
In fact, he was the reason why the Grinch cut himself off from society.
However, in Illumination's film, the mayor isn't a baddie, she's a completely different
character, and it's a real treat to hear her played by Angela Lansbury.
While Cindy-Lou's parents aren't mentioned in the book or TV animation, they do make
an appearance in the live-action movie, where her father is the town's postmaster and her
mother competes to have the best Christmas lights in Whoville.
In a complete change, in the new animation, Cindy-Lou's mother, Donna, is a frazzled,
hard-working single parent with three children and she's voiced by Parks & Rec star Rashida
Jones.
Similar to the live-action father, though, this new animated mother realises that Christmas
is about much more than things.
Cindy-Lou needs some help to carry out her plan to trap Santa, so she turns to her friends,
who are all new additions to the popular story.
There's her best friend Groopert as well as the brains of the outfit, Izzy, the laid-back
Axl, and the wisecracking Ozzy.
In the book, there's only a handful of houses shown in Whoville, and although the number
of colourful Who homes more or less triples in the TV special, it's still a tiny town.
In the live-action movie, Whoville got much bigger and more detailed with a post office,
stores, and a school, and there was also an excess of festive lights, ornaments, and presents
as the Whos were more materialistic.
Illumination's new film takes things in a different direction, making Whoville's houses,
stores, businesses, and vehicles reflect the warm and welcoming nature of the Whos.
The new Whoville is a vibrant town full of vivid colours.
In fact, it appears so sweet and inviting that it looks like it could be made out of
gingerbread!
By the way, when creating Whoville, the filmmakers made sure they avoided straight lines where
possible to keep a similar vibe to Dr Seuss's work.
Story-wise, there are some interesting differences between all the versions of the Grinch's tale.
The only time the Grinch visits Whoville in both the book and the 60s animation is to
carry out his plan to steal Christmas.
In the live-action film, however, the Grinch visited Whoville several times before trying
to steal their big day.
First, he went to cause trouble after some Whos disturbed him on Mount Crumpit; and later,
he returned as holiday Cheer-Meister for the Who's seasonal celebration.
The new animated movie also shows the Grinch descending from his mountain home before his
big robbery, but this time it's because he's run out of groceries after stress-eating his
way through all the food in his house ahead of Christmas.
He later ends up in Whoville again after his plan to launch a huge snowball at the town
goes wrong.
While all the versions of the story show how much the Grinch hates all the noise of Christmas,
the new animated movie ups the stakes as the Grinch is faced with the prospect of the noisiest
holiday season ever as, this year, Whoville's mayor wants the festivities to be three times
bigger than usual.
Of course, the Grinch really can't stand the idea of that, which leads him to steal Christmas
to stop the noisy madness of it all!
I mentioned earlier that Whoville's much bigger in this film, and that means that the Grinch's
plan to rob the Whos turns out to be much more challenging than previous adaptations.
In fact, this time, it's a whole big production, more akin to a huge heist!
So, expect to see the Grinch get really creative, using a massive range of crazy Rube Goldberg-style
contraptions that reminded me a lot of the kind of stuff you see in Aardman's Wallace
and Gromit films.
Oh, and the Grinch's cave is also full of ridiculous, hi-tech gadgets and gizmos too.
If you're a fan of the songs from the original animation, you'll be pleased to hear the new
movie features both 'Welcome Christmas', which gets a pretty familiar interpretation, and
'You're A Mean One, Mr Grinch', which is given a totally different spin.
There's also a new song, 'I Am The Grinch', which plays over the closing credits.
Singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams, who provides a lovely and suitably warm narration for the
new film, certainly had big shoes to fill as generations have grown up hearing Boris
Karloff lend his inimitable voice to the TV special.
As for the new script, it mixes Dr Seuss's original language with new dialogue and narration,
so in addition to many classic lines, you'll also hear new material that aims to reflect
the style and spirit of the original.
Pharrell's vocal performance in the Grinch is also an Illumination easter egg as the
singer-songwriter has composed themes and songs, including the Oscar-nominated Happy,
for the Despicable Me movies.
And I'll be talking about lots more Illumination easter eggs in my Things You Missed in The
Grinch video which you can tap here to watch or click the link at the end or in the video
description.
Now, which is your favourite version of the Grinch?
And what do you like best about the new movie?
Let me know in the comments below and remember to subscribe for a chance to win one of these
cool Grinch merch packs.
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Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!