How The Grinch Stole Christmas

You’re a mean one…Mr. Grinch. I first posted this in 2018…It’s not Christmas without the Grinch…

The cartoon was released in 1966 and has been shown every year since. This one along with Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and a few more were a part of Christmas. These specials would prime you for the big day.

One cool thing about the cartoon was that Boris Karloff was the narrator. Thurl Ravenscroft (voice of Tony the Tiger) sang the great song “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch. ”

The citizens of Whoville looked and acted like the others of Dr. Suess’s universe. They were all getting ready for Christmas while a certain someone…or thing looked down from Mt. Crumpit. The Grinch has hated Christmas for years and sees the Whovillians getting ready for Christmas and is determined once and for all to put an end to it.

He dresses up as Santa Clause and makes his poor dog Max act as a reindeer to swoop down and steal Christmas. The Grinch sleds down the hill almost killing Max and they soon reach Whoville. He is busted by one kid…Cindy Lou Who, who asks him questions as the Grinch took her family tree. He lies to her and sends her to bed.

In the morning after he has everything including “The Roast Beast,” he listens for the sorrow to begin.

You need to watch the rest or rewatch…

A live-action remake came out in 2000 but I still like this one the best. You cannot replicate Boris Karloff.

The Budget – Coming in at over $300,000, or $2.2 million in today’s dollars, the special’s budget was unheard of at the time for a 26-minute cartoon adaptation. For comparison’s sake, A Charlie Brown Christmas’s budget was reported as $96,000, or roughly $722,000 today (and this was after production had gone $20,000 over the original budget).

You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch The famous voice actor and singer, best known for providing the voice of Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger, wasn’t recognized for his work in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Because of this, most viewers wrongly assumed that the narrator of the special, Boris Karloff, also sang the piece in question. Upset by this oversight, Geisel personally apologized to Ravenscroft and vowed to make amends. Geisel went on to pen a letter, urging all the major columnists that he knew to help him rectify the mistake by issuing a notice of correction in their publications.

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 crocodile

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 best words that best describe you
Are as follows, 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 splotched with moldy purple spots
Mr Grinch

Your soul is an appalling 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 nauseous super nos
You’re a crooked jerky jockey and
You drive a crooked horse
Mr Grinch

You’re a three-decker sauerkraut
And toadstool sandwich
With arsenic sauce

http://mentalfloss.com/article/72593/13-spirited-facts-about-how-grinch-stole-christmas

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

58 thoughts on “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”

  2. Another classic, which btw I never recall seeing on TV in Germany. Perhaps they thought the Grinch was too bad to see for German children.

    Also, I guess you could call it cruel irony that somebody stole the credit for poor Tony the Tiger. At least Ted Geisel did something about it to rectify the situation!

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    1. As a kid…it was all about 4 different shows. Charlie Brown, Rudolph, The Grinch, and Frosty the Snowman…I would await all 4 and never miss them…because you only got one chance a year to see them period.

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      1. Thinking back to my days as a kid, I don’t recall any TV programs I would watch each Christmas.

        My biggest memory of a recurring event is decorating the Christmas tree together with my sister at my one of my grandma’s house in Heidelberg, where we gathered each year for the holiday. The decorating always happened in the afternoon on Dec 24th, so the tree would be ready for the early evening when festivities would start with singing Christmas carols, followed by exchanging presents.

        While decorating the tree, we always listened to a mainstream radio station that had a Christmas program where listeners could submit song wishes. Not surprisingly, much of the music they played were modern/pop Christmas songs.

        For the most part, the TV stayed off on the 24th. Only later in the evening after the festivities were over and my dad had given his parents a ride back to their home would the TV be on for some time.

        I also recall watching some TV on both December 25 and December 26, which are part of the Christmas holiday in Germany. But never in the morning. Only in the afternoon and in the evening. It was mostly old movies.

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      2. Thanks Christian…I always like hearing other countries traditions. We would not watch TV at Christmas…this was in the weeks leading up to it. We would also decorate the tree weeks in advance.
        America was/is about consummerism. Now I think the rest of the world has picked it up.
        My parents were divorced when I was 5. My dad would come down though (they got along on Christmas Eve and Christmas) and mom would take my sister and me to her parents while dad stayed at our home…when we got back at Christmas Eve… Santa had come! I never put 2 and 2 together lol. So at our house Christmas Eve WAS Christmas…but most of my friends had it Christmas morning.
        When I did fiind out about Santa…it didn’t hurt my feelings or anything…I realized I just loved Christmas.

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      3. Yep, I think Christmas has also become big business in Germany!

        It sounds like your parents under complicated circumstances tried their best not to deprive you and your sister of Christmas – kudos to them!

        Nowadays, with so many people thinking about their own “self-actualization” first and foremost, sadly, it’s by no means a given!

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      4. It’s all about “me me me” now. My parents got it…and made a bad thing positive at Christmas anyway.
        It is big business now…heck they start in October advertising now.

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      5. I’m really glad they did, Max.

        My wife’s parents divorced as well when she was a child. Let’s just say there was lots of ugliness going on there.

        I guess when you’re a kid and things are smooth, you don’t recognize how fortunate you are. I certainly didn’t think much about it when I was young.

        All my friends had married parents who like mine took good care of their kids. It just seemed normal to me. I took it for granted but you really can’t, nowadays even less so than back then!

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      6. I do remember being a kid and them fighting constantly…so really…it wasn’t a bad thing to me back then when I was 5. I was tired of it…but it was extremely sad. If I was older and understood more…it would have hit me MUCH harder.
        The bad thing it did leave me with was a commitment issue. I got past that though later on in life.
        Bailey will be able to say the same thing as you did…

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      7. It’s heartbreaking to hear such stories, Max. I’m glad you got through it!

        I think Bailey is fortunate to have you as a dad. With divorce having become such a common thing nowadays, I’m also pretty sure he knows and appreciates it!

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    1. I totally agree with you. I was just telling someone the 4 major shows I would wait for…Charlie Brown, Grinch, Rudolph, and Frosty….as you know…we had ONE time to see them and you better not miss it or you had to wait.

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      2. Hard to think about today isn’t it? You miss something now you can watch it on youtube or stream it again. I bought the DVDS years ago and ripped them to video files.

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      4. Yes!!! it does Dana. It does take away some of the magic. I would not EVER trade when I grew up to now….now I would gladly trade when I grew up to when you did. It’s just a few years but yea…we were more free back then and did things out of the home.

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    1. Is this you???? If it is….that is cool!
      A few months ago, a young woman and her job coach reached out to me and a handful of other writers who cover the Phillies, including Allie Foster, Alex Coffey, and Todd Zolecki. This young woman writes her own Phillies’ blog with the goal of someday covering the Phillies for a major publication.

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      2. That is really cool. At first I thought you were his daughter…but what made you a baseball fan? It’s not common now days at all…I have hope for the future now!
        I’m not a good writer but…if I had any advice…it would be to read baseball writers not only modern but back in the twenties…always…like music…go back into the roots…you will take away different styles…
        I agree with this author by the way….Mike Piazza should have been a Phillie.

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      3. My family has been a big fan of baseball and then that’s how I got into it. If you ever start writing baseball and need advice go to Brian and email him. He will help you. He is a super nice guy. So are all the other sportswriters! I have emailed Brian and he has been reading my blog articles and then he included me in an article by someone else.

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      4. Even though I’m a Dodger fan? LOL…I’m just joking.
        That is wonderful about your family and you have gone against the grain. I would love to see more female writers in baseball. If there is anything I can do…although you have it covered! Just let me know…any blog related question that you may need help with.
        I grew up and live in Tennessee…but my dad was a Dodger fan and he passed it down…so I’m not a bandwagon jumper…

        Thank you…I need all the help I can get! That is so cool that Brian is so accessible.

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      5. Do you want me to help you write baseball? If so, can you send me an invite to be a contributor where I can also publish so I can help you? I have lots of advice from Brian I can share with you.

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      6. I would love it. I can’t write much on my baseball blog because, as you see, the music one is every day. But yes…I would be honored with that. I don’t want to take time from your blog though…but after Christmas yea that would be awesome. My email is max.gower@
        outlook.com
        I separated it because of bots….

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      10. If you want to read about the Dodgers you can read work from Fabian Ardaya (sports writer for the Dodgers) (Also writes on the Athletic). Did you figure out the invite yet? Can you send it?

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      13. Thank you!…. I am a Dodger fan don’t get me wrong….but I’m a baseball fan in general…I’ll look him up. Right now I go to Dodgersdigest and truebluela and a few others.

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      19. Oh ok cool! You have these contacts down! That is cool. Sophia I am going to reblog one of your articles on my music site after Christmas…that will get you some exposure…I don’t know how many baseball fans see my music site…but that might help you some to get some traffic.

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