The mean green people-and-festivity-hating lonesome Grinch is back on the silverscreen for this year’s Christmas, this time in an animated cinematic feature narrated by Pharrel Williams and the Grinch voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Based on the book How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Theodor Seuss Geisel (more commonly known as Dr Seuss), the holiday tale is a fresh take on the previous adaptations by animation studios Illumination for Universal Pictures, also credited with animating and producing the Despicable Me series.

A moving story of how a sour and sadistic character traumatised by his past undergoes a psychological transformation – his heart grows to its intended size from being two sizes too small – due to the kindness of a young Sandy Lou (voiced by Cameron Seely) who wants Santa to help her overworked mother (voiced by Rashida Jones) and the realisation that Christmas is not just about gifts and commercialism, but about togetherness and the spirit of caring for each other.

The story this time is more relatable for those of us especially used to American animated features with Cumberbatch speaking in a quick but slightly confused and nosy manner. The Grinch’s character is also less dark than his earlier portrayals, even in his maliciousness, he extends affection towards Max (voiced by Frank Welker), his loyal sidekick-cum-butler-cum-pet dog, and there is this encounter with Fred, the obese reindeer, whom he lets go off even though he has houses to steal from.

Doses of amusing slapstick are there for good effect revolving around Grinch’s faulty experiments at inventing the perfect gadgets for stealing Christmas presents and his interactions with Max and Fred.

Some Grinch facts that were too interesting to be left out

Fact #1: When Dr Seuss created the character, he was 53 years of age, which was the same age as the Grinch is in the story as well as its adaptations.

Fact #2: The Grinch was originally white and black in colour with some red and pink here and there when he was originally drawn by the author in the book in 1957. He was given the iconic green by Chuck Jones, the legendary ace animator (he was also the animator, cartoonist, writer, director and producer for Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies) who turned the book into a children’s special animation classic in 1966. According to Chuck, it were the rental cars in Washington coloured in ‘an ugly shade of green’ that gave him the idea, and he gave the character the seasick green hue. The people of Whoville on the other hand were furry creatures who did not wear any clothes or shoes, but the female Whos had high-heeled feet.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 15th, 2018