Friday, December 9, 2011

"How The Grinch Stole Christmas" 1966



"How The Grinch Stole Christmas"

I was driving home listening to the radio and the Grinch song came on the radio.

Singer: 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 Gri-inch! / You're a bad banana with a... greasy black peel.

He paints quite the picture huh?

I just asked my husband who sang the song, Thurl Ravenscroft.  He also did the voice of Tony the Tiger of "THEY'RE GREAT!" fame.  He didn't have to google it!

I am referring to the classic cartoon.  I am not going to review the atrocity that is the Jim Carrey version. 



Don't look at me that way, bad Grinch!



This is my Grinch.  

I love the Dr. Seuss book and this one literally reads the book to you. 

[first lines]
Narrator: Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville - did not. The Grinch hated Christmas - the whole Christmas season. Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all... may have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But, whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes, he stood there on Christmas Eve hating the Whos. Staring down from his cave, with a sour grinchy frown, at the warm, lighted windows below in their town. For he knew that every Who down in Whoville beneath was busy now, hanging a holly who wreath.



I used to work with a lady who loved this special.  Whenever she had the opportunity she would make an aluminum foil hat and say she was Cindy Lou Who.  Surprisingly it didn't take much to come up with an opportunity. Scary.

This movie just takes me to my childhood.  So many classic moments are burned in my brain.



Max the dog/reindeer. 

Grinch: All I need is a reindeer!
Narrator: The Grinch looked around, but since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found. Did that stop the Grinch? Ha! The Grinch simply said...
Grinch: If I can't *find* a reindeer, I'll *make* one instead.
Narrator: So he took his dog Max, and he took some black thread, and he tied a big horn on the top of his head.

The Grinch cleaning out every house in Whoville. 



When all the Whos down in Whoville woke up and started singing.  This shocked the Grinch. 

Narrator: He puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought... doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps... means a little bit more!
It is a little hard to believe that all those Whos, not one of them got upset.  I would think that if I woke up and found all my Christmas missing, I might get a little upset before I walked out the door and started singing Christmas carols. (Not that my husband would let me sing.  I am really, unbelievably bad at singing.)



Narrator: And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say - that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And then - the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of *ten* Grinches, plus two!



So the Grinch returns their Christmas.



Narrator: He brought everything back, all the food for the feast. And he, he himself, the Grinch - carved the roast beast.

In my house I love to annoy my son by calling any meat, Roast Beast.  It gives it an exotic flair.

Love this classic.  And it is old enough to be called a classic. 



1 comment:

  1. Haha, we say Roast Beast in our family as well. This is my second favorite of all the classic Christmas cartoons (first being Rudolph, of course). I've never seen the Jim Carrey version, and have no interest in doing so. This one is the real one, and it never should have been done as a live action movie in the first place!

    Oh, and... I knew it was Thurl Ravenscroft without Googling, too. Nice to know I'm not the only nerd who retains this kind of information! ;-)

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