Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas was first published in 1957 by Random House. The pen and ink illustrations that accompany the work’s poetic narration helped to solidify it as a Christmas hit, but it wasn’t until it was adapted to film that it became synonymous with the holiday for many.
The original film version was produced by a very small team which consisted almost entirely of power hitters from top to bottom. Director Chuck Jones, whose resume contains some of the funniest animated films ever made, kept the production lean and stacked the deck with many of his cohorts from his Looney Tunes days. The end result is a short film that amplifies and in many ways improves upon Ted Geisel’s source material.
The entire text of the original book makes up the “screenplay” with songs and additional visual business added to pad out the 26 minute run time. It was Jones’ idea to turn the book into a TV special and it was only his prior working relationship with Geisel that convinced the author to sell the rights.
It’s clear that Jones had a vision for the short film from the word go. The design work clarifies and simplifies Geisel’s art and energizes it with a bold color palette. The film is an exercise in minimalism, where every single movement in frame is made important.
The decision to cast Boris Karloff as the narrator and the voice of the Grinch seems obvious now, but Karloff was considered to be a has-been at the time. His inspired performance raises the animated fare to the state of art. Apparently his casting was entirely Jones’ idea since he was a huge fan of the horror actor. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “It was a difficult time for Karloff — the horror star was 79 and wracked by emphysema. He would die three years later. However, Grinch earned him a children's recording Grammy, his only major award.”
Jones also cast Thurl Ravenscroft to sing the title track. Ravenscroft is best known by many as the voice of Kellogg’s cereals’ Tony the Tiger, but horror fans will know him for his work as one of the singing busts in the graveyard at Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
The lone remaining voice artist was June Foray, who voiced Cindy Lou Who. June was one of the very few voice actors to hold her own alongside Mel Blanc in Looney Tunes cartoons and is best known as the voice of Rocky the Squirrel.
Equally important to the success of the special was the music by Albert Hague that runs almost continuously for the entire 26 minutes. His other scoring work may not be as memorable, but many would recognize him onscreen as the teacher Shorofsky in the film Fame and it’s subsequent TV series. I defy you to think of the Grinch and not have “You’re a Mean one, Mr. Grinch” immediately begin playing in your head. You’ve probably been humming it while you read this.
Studios continue to bank on the Grinch property every few years but the newer films all feel like roast beasts - overstuffed and overcooked. The Jim Carrey version was absolutely stomach churning. No, there’s only ever going to be one true Grinch on film - the one created by Chuck jones.