What A Cartoon! - Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas

I also suspect that the storyboard jam sessions held with the different units at the WB cartoon studio helped reign in Chuck Jones' worst instincts. Friz Freleng remarked that he would often have to remind Jones that Bugs Bunny was a trickster and not a world weary sophisticate. The difference in portrayal of the rabbit in a cartoon like Long Haired Hare and the wrap around segments of the Bugs Bunny Roadrunner Movie are almost like another character.

Nick Mould

Chuck Jones' post WB work really does demonstrate how much of an asset Mike Maltese (and Tedd Pierce, to a lesser extent) was to him throughout the 40s and 50s. While Maltese is credited as writing a large number of the MGM Tom and Jerry cartoons, I think by that point he was pretty burnt out having been at Hanna Barbera and churning out stories at a faster rate than he did at WB. The recently deceased David DePatie was rather disparaging towards Jones and his relationship with Dr Seuss, pointedly commenting on how much Seuss preferred working with the DFE crew than he did Jones. Incidently, DePatie was the very person who fired Jones from WB for moonlighting for UPA.

Nick Mould

I think it is because in "Horton Hears a Who" the Whoville the is on a speck of dust that is on the clover, but as its a winter story a snowflake is the method of conveyance for the dust.

John Harrison

I saw it for the first time last year and I was shocked by how not terrible it was. It was far too long to be sure, but there was a lot of good moments in there.

John Harrison

We can at least agree we appreciate that Jim Carrey committed himself so much to the role that he literally went insane - Bob

Talking Simpsons

I think the real head scratcher of the 2000 grinch is..it took place in a snowflake? As a kid that raised so meany questions.

frysjackett

I’m not a Carrey fan, but the Grinch is the one movie I can tolerate him in. I think the real problem is NO movie can hold a candle to the cartoon special. But I think the art direction of the movie is great. It’s a staple in my household bc my brother was very young and loved it and it’s a nostalgia factor for all of us now.

Look, I respect the bashing. But the Grinch movie is not that bad. It's a fully realized display of practical effects full of mad TV jokes. Is it a 10/10 recreation of the special? Nonono. Is it a solid 6.5 out of ten like every other good Christmas movie? Absolutely. In a world where everyone loves the Mario Trashpunk movie, I think there's room for Jim Carrey being mean.

Shane H

This my jam! I love this iteration of the Grinch and I consider this the best Christmas special of all time. I don't think it's particularly controversial to say this is the best version of the story. It's obviously better than the films, but also better than the source material as the music, Karloff, and animation add so much. I grew up mostly watching this on my old Christmas tape and CBS must have been in agreement with Henry regarding "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" because the TV edit the year my recording came from omitted the second of three segments of that song. I was so confused as a child whenever I watched Home Alone as the part Kevin is watching was one I had never seen. Most of the airings that followed seemed to favor cutting down on the sequence of Grinch and Max on the sleigh, but today it's usually shown completely uncut, which is for the best. I do have to wonder if the live-action film is a truly a Christmas classic, or if cable networks are just trying to convince us that it is. I don't know anyone that likes that movie and I've never been able to get through a second viewing after seeing it during its original, theatrical, run (for some reason, my dad really wanted to see it). The newer one is okay. My kids like it and it's tolerable, but definitely completely unnecessary and full of the Illumination quirks I hate like licensed music used for a joke. Also, thanks for all of the Christmas content this year and all of the content general. Happy holidays, dudes!

Joe Hodgson

Just like “asses” rhymes with “masses” ! Well done, Henry!!

I never realized until now that one of the pleasures of the narration (other than the impeccable voice of Mr. Karloff) is anticipating what word will rhyme with the one from the previous verse.

And in fact one of Justin Roiland's pre-Rick and Morty creations was a Cat in the Hat parody called Mr. Sprinkles, for Dan Harmon's short-lived "Channel 101 on a TV cable network" series, Acceptable.TV

Harry Thornton

I think it's safe to say that "Doctor Seuss but FUCKED UP" didn't go away. In fact it's right on television now in Rick and Morty. I mean come on you're not telling me those stupid nonsense words Justin Roiland says all the time aren't borrowed from Doctor Seuss.

Devin Hoffarth

Being a child of the 60s, I love The Grinch special on many levels but specifically because my father sang baritone opera as a hobby & used to sing the Grinch song around the house during the Holiday Season. And doing a damn good Ravenscroft impersonation I might add. And we get it, Bob. You don't like late period Chuck Jones. But all those affectations in his later output work perfectly here. For newer generations, their only experience with Jones will most likely be this special & I don't think they'll pass it by because of 70s cartoons they never saw. The Grinch still holds up.

James Babbo

I think one of the things that bugs me about Jones' tenure at MGM from 1963-1970 was, for a guy that really respected literature, he was quick to overly tinker the source material to his tastes. While I think it works in the Grinch, this obsessive need to make things a "Chuck Jones Cartoon" really hurt the other books he adapted like The Phantom Tollbooth or Frank Tashlin's The Bear Who Wasn't. Say what you want about DePatie-Freleng's Seuss efforts but at least those artists bent over backwards to be respectful to Seuss' design language. I guess in the 60s Jones wanted to prove to the world his genius (or he lost the people who tamed his indulgences) but the filler and cloying fourth-wall gags in The Grinch reads to me like a dude too into his own hype or someone so self-conscious they resorted to just doing what they knew worked in the past. I have immense respect for Chuck Jones and his crew and I still think the efforts made at his peak are some of the greatest cartoons in American history. It's not to say also there aren't gems from his MGM years such as the Grinch (and I admit I enjoy his T&Js and The Dot and the Line) but this period does represent some of my least favorite attributes of Jones' work. And he only just got worse with it the older he got.

tiny crow

Fun story, as a kid I enjoyed the Grinch so much, that in my second grade class, one of the earliest times I as ever asked to write a short story, I literally just ripped this story off. It was quite literally "what if the Grinch story, but all the characters were cars." I would like to say I've improved since then, but still, maybe it's a good thing I didn't pursue a career in writing XD.

ShyRanger

A hot tip for fellow Clampett heads: I have the pleasure of being a friendly acquaintance of one of his kids (Side note: I knew them for an entire year before a mutual friend casually said "did you know _____'s dad invented Porky the Pig?" And I was like first of all, did you really just say "Porky THE Pig?" Really? [This friend still says this, BTW], and second HOLY SHIT.) Anyway, their family recently lent a whole bunch of really cool stuff to the new Academy Museum here in LA, so if you find yourself in So Cal (perhaps for the Miyazaki Exhibition there, which is also very good), then I definitely recommend checking it out. Also, thank you for the research and time that clearly went into this episode. Really appreciate the extra work our hosts put in for the holiday season this year, and hope you enjoy some very well-deserved time off.

Kat Heagberg

As the last month to feature multiple What a Cartoons, this is a beautiful way to go out (not including the movie episode). This is my personal favorite Christmas special of all time: short, sweet, to the point, and has amazing character animation that never feels like limited animation.

Alex Irish