“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” has been a classic Christmas tale since its initial publication in 1957. The story, originally made in book form and written by Dr. Seuss has had many different film versions over the years. The three most popular include the 1966 TV special, the live-action movies from 2000 and most recently an animated movie in 2018. All three tell the same storyline of the Christmas-hating Grinch and his plan to steal Christmas from the excited people of Whoville, but in very different ways. I took it upon myself to watch all three and come to a final consensus of which adaptation is the best.
The first adaptation was “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” a TV special that aired on CBS in 1966. It was only 26 minutes long and had no actors, but rather solely featured narration and a song. It was animated in the same style as Dr. Seuss’s illustrations in the book, with the characters looking almost identical. This version was definitely the least complex of the three, but what it lacks in complexity it makes up for in nostalgia. This one may not be the perfect movie adaptation, but it is the original. It was the only movie for 44 years before the second one came out. It’s simply a classic. I had never seen it before I decided to watch all three, but I felt like I had. Its animations have been used all over the media as a symbol of Christmas for years. It was a simple and quick watch that I would definitely put on again.
The second, and in my opinion the best, adaptation is the 2000 live-action version. Maybe I’m biased because this is the version I grew up watching, but this version is simply the most watchable and in-depth for a wide array of audiences. It has the perfect mix of plot and humor that causes it to not only be a good watch for kids, but older audiences can also look back and enjoy watching it. Everything from the music to the scenery of this version makes it stand out. The making of this film was by far the most expensive, with a budget of $123 million. You can really tell. They created a whole indoor town complete with the iconic architecture style in Dr. Seuss’s books, the Grinch’s cave, and a spectacular soundtrack for the film. Overall, it is really well put together with good laughs and wonderful cinematography.
The most recent film released in 2018 was a new animated version. This version was very fun; it leaned really heavily into the comedy and children’s tale side of the story. It was definitely the most childish of the three, which does make sense since it is a children’s story. While the other two managed to keep the wide audience range, this one was just a little hard to watch comparatively. However, it did have some good moments where it got you laughing. The 2018 adaptation also strayed the farthest from the source text. The Grinch was no longer a solitary being who hid in his cave and snuck around the city trying not to be seen, but instead simply wandered into the city having unhappy conversations with strangers and buying groceries. This led to the film losing a lot of its relation to the other two and feeling more like an interpretation of the book than an adaptation.
I wanted to decide, once and for all, what the proper ranking of the three adaptations of the book were. I would have to put the live-action version in first, the original TV version in second and the newest animated one in third. All three have their own charm. However, based on what I would watch again and how much justice they do the source text. The live action version really just outdoes the other two in those ways. The original TV version is shorter and less of a full movie, but it is still a fun watch and the most recent animated film I just wouldn’t watch again. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” really is a timeless, classic story that has been told for 60 years and will most likely be told for 60 more. All three adaptations stay mainly to the same plotline while adding their own creative differences. Some were definitely executed better than others. Ultimately, they all are successful retellings of the world famous story of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss.
