Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Way Back Wednesday - How the Grinch Stole Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a 1966 American animated television special directed by Chuck Jones. It is based on the popular children's book of the same title by Dr. Seuss, the story of The Grinch trying to take away Christmas from the townsfolk of Whoville. Horror film icon Boris Karloff narrates the film and also provides the speaking voice of The Grinch (the opening credits state, "The sounds of the Grinch are by Boris Karloff. And read by Boris Karloff, too!").

The plot is faithful to that of the original book, with almost all narrations made verbatim from the book, and the only notable additions being the adding of color (the original book was in dichromatic red and black, with the occasional pink), the early appearance of the Grinch's dog Max, and the insertion of three songs, the Christmas carol "Fah Hoo Forres" (an apparent reference to June Foray, who also sang the song), the polka-styled "Trim Up the Tree" and the now famous "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," this last performed by an uncredited Thurl Ravenscroft. One major addition to the narration is a description of the noise-making Whos on Christmas morning; another is the substitution of mundane gifts such as bicycles and bubble gum as written with the book with nonsensical Seuss-like gifts such as "bizzle-binks." A protracted animation sequence, with no spoken parts, in which the Grinch and Max comically advance from the mountain to Whoville on Christmas Eve was also added, to extend the time length of the special.
And who doesn't love Cindy Loo Who, who was no more than two??!! This wonderful Christmas classic will be around for many more months to come.
You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel
You're as cuddly as a cactus
You're as charming as an eel
Mr. Grinch

You're a bad banana
With a greasy black peel

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch
Your heart's an empty hole
Your brain is full of spiders
You've got garlic in your soul
Mr. Grinch

I wouldn't touch you, with a
thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole

You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch
You have termites in your smile
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile
Mr. Grinch

Given the choice between the two of you
I'd take the seasick crockodile

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch
You're a nasty, wasty skunk
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk
Mr. Grinch

The three words that best describe you,
are, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk."

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch
You're the king of sinful sots
Your heart's a dead tomato splot
With moldy purple spots
Mr. Grinch

Your soul is an apalling dump heap overflowing
with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable
Mangled up in tangled up knots

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch
With a nauseaus super-naus
You're a crooked jerky jockey
And you drive a crooked horse
Mr. Grinch.

You're a three decker saurkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce.

Copyright © 1957, Dr. Seuss

1 comment:

Lisa Brawner said...

I love the grinch. When my daughter was little it was the first xmas book she would have me read. Even when she was older she always wanted me to read it to her :) She got me the cd of it one year. I still listen to it and watch the show.