How The Grinch Stole Christmas (DVD) Review

One of a handful of essential, "must-see" animated Christmas classics, How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a Dr. Seuss holiday masterpiece. Created in 1966 on the heels of the phenomenal success surrounding such TV specials as A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), the Grinch has morphed into a sacred annual Christmas rite perfect for any child from one to ninety-two. The narration and singing voice of Boris Karloff breathes life into the 1955 Dr. Seuss tale of a dark and miserly heart?s redemption, thus revealing the true meaning of Christmas. Based on Charles Dickens? literary classic A Christmas Carol, it creates a uniquely memorable caricature of the Scrooge personality we?ve come to know so well?

How The Grinch Stole Christmas follows the life of a lumbering green cave monster with a heart seven-sizes-too-small. Living with his dog in a mountaintop retreat high above the town of Whoville, the Grinch (voiced by Karloff) hates all the Whos, but what he hates worst of all is their incessant happiness and celebration come Christmas. So the Grinch, smiling his evil Grinch grin, hatches a plan to steal Christmas. Fashioning crude reindeer horns for his dog and a Santa suit for himself, the Grinch drives a makeshift sleigh down into Whoville while the Whos lie sleeping on Christmas Eve. He steals their lights, their ribbons, and their bows. He steals their boxes, packages, and bags. He steals wreathes and Christmas trees and even their Roast Beast ? why that evil Grinch even stole the Who hash! And the only thing he left behind was a crumb far too small for even a mouse... But when the Grinch is caught by the most innocent of Whos, his master plan begins to unravel. He discovers that Christmas isn?t quite what he thought it was. In fact, Christmas might be a whole lot more. But with the trimmings of Christmas hanging in the lurch, what the Grinch finds out about himself just might be the key to saving all of Christmas for the Whos?

Created under the direction of Chuck Jones, the famed creator of such Warner Brothers characters as the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, and Pepe Le Pew, How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a masterful production with stellar voice-overs, imaginatively drawn characters, and Boris Karloff?s impressive narration. In fact, the facial expressions and movements of the Grinch mimic Wile E. Coyote in numerous ways. Several songs interspersed throughout the story, such as the song ?You?re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch,? have become holiday classics in-and-of themselves. In a nutshell, no celebration of the Christmas holiday is truly complete without at least one viewing of this brilliant cartoon?

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the How The Grinch Stole Christmas (DVD).