Holiday Book & Movie Marathon – The Grinch

Everyone has at least one classic Christmas movie they hope to watch each year – and it’s really fun to introduce your favorites to your kids. By now your children have probably seen The Grinch animated film from 2018, but are they familiar with the whole line up of Grinchy-inspired classics?

Winter break is a great time to coordinate a ‘read and watch marathon’ with your kids, just in time for Christmas. Here’s how it works: first read the book from Dr. Seuss, then watch all three films. Your heart will grow nine sizes for sure!

If you don’t already own the book, you can purchase it here on Amazon, or check out this kid-friendly read-along video on Youtube instead. Next grab your popcorn and hot cocoa and snuggle in for a movie marathon. (And if you really want to get in the spirit, how about these matching Grinch pajamas for the whole family!?)

Here are some fun facts about all three films:

Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” (Released 1966) “The Original”

• The lyrics to the song “Fahoo Foraze” were made to imitate classic Latin. After the special aired, the studio received letters asking for a translation from people who believed them to be real Latin.
• Thurl Ravenscroft who sang the original song is best known as the voice of Tony the Tiger in numerous Frosted Flakes’ TV commercials. Thurl was picked to sing these songs, because his voice was extremely deep.
• Unfortunately Thurl received no screen credit for his singing, an oversight Dr. Seuss attempted to rectify by sending letters to every major columnist in America identifying Ravenscroft as the singer on “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” He is also part of the chorus on the other two songs.
• The slice of roast beast that the Grinch carves changes color as he passes it to the plate.

Streaming on Amazon Prime and Youtube

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Released 2000) “The Jim Carrey One”

• According to Rick Baker, the prosthetic makeup Jim Carrey wore took about two hours to apply and one hour to remove.
• The line “6:30 p.m. Dinner with me. I can’t cancel that again” was improvised by Jim Carrey.
• In the final scene, Cindy Lou Who passes Max a plate of “Green Eggs and Ham,” in reference to Dr. Seuss’ book published August 12, 1960.
• When the Grinch pulls the sheet off of the table, all of the silverware was scripted to fall off with the sheet. But Jim pulled the sheet off so well that when nothing came off he went back and ruined the table.

Streaming on Amazon Prime and Youtube

The Grinch (Released 2018) “The New One”

• When Cindy Lou and her friend go up into the treehouse, the baseball hat they ride on as a platform has the name “Theodor” carved on it. This is a reference to author-creator Dr. Seuss aka Theodor Seuss Geisel.
• There’s a scene where Donna Who is late for her bus and chases after it yelling the bus driver’s name “Sam” who then stops and lets her on. This is a reference to the film Speed (1994) where Sandra Bullock’s character Annie does the same thing.
• This film marks the second time a British actor has voiced the character of the Grinch. The first was Boris Karloff in the 1966 special, and this one was voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.
• When everyone in town is bringing their ornament for the enormous Christmas tree, all of the homemade ornaments have a hook for hanging except for Cindy Lou’s angel.

Streaming on Google Play, Amazon Prime, Vudu, iTunes and Netflix

*All facts from imdb.com