The Grinch-Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Directed by: Ron Howard | 105 minutes | comedy, family, fantasy | Actors: Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin, Molly Shannon, Clint Howard, Josh Ryan Evans, Mindy Sterling, Rachel Winfree, Rance Howard, Jeremy Howard, TJ Thyne, Lacey Kohl, Nadja Pionilla, Jim Meskimen Michael Dahlen, David Costabile, Mary Stein, James Ritz, Deep Roy, Jessica Sara, Mason Lucero, Ben Bookbinder, Michaela Gallo, Verne Troyer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anthony Hopkins

dr. Seuss was a well-known children’s author, whose fanciful books were filmed several times. Not so strange: his ‘The Cat in the Hat’, for example, ensured that many, especially American children, learned to read and the illustrations of his books are beautiful. Theodor Seuss Geisel, the real name of Dr. Seuss, possessed the rare talent to create wondrous worlds, which will continue to appeal to generations thanks to their timelessness. How the Grinch Stole Christmas was released in 1957. Within ten years of publication, the successful book already resulted in a cartoon film that is still beloved to this day (1966, 26 minutes). In 2000 Imagine Entertainment came up with a variant for the current generation. The story was stretched to feature film length. The reliable, risk-averse director Ron Howard unfortunately does not manage to bring the magic of the book to the silver screen.

In a snowflake a very small people live in the village of Whoville. These residents are called Who’s and they are a friendly and cheerful breed. They look like humans, but have weird haircuts and funny faces, with snouts instead of noses. The Whos love Christmas. The focus is on the Lou Who family, father Lou Lou Who (Bill Irwin) works at the post office and is therefore busy with the distribution of all Christmas mail, mother Betty Lou Who (Molly Shannon) is determined to win this year’s prize for the most beautiful Christmas lights and then there are also Christmas presents for everyone to be bought. Daughter Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) has her doubts about the upcoming big party. She wonders what Christmas really stands for and whether all those gifts are necessary. When she encounters the evil Grinch at the post office, whom everyone is raving about, she senses there is more to his pickle and sets out to investigate. She finds out why the Grinch hates Christmas so much and decides to get him to join the festivities in the village.

Jim Carrey is barely recognizable under all the green makeup, but his physical acting is impressive nonetheless. He jumps, dances and performs silly antics that it is a delight and even his crazy pelvic pulling is not lacking. For example, Carrey is delightful in the scene where he can’t decide whether to accept Cindy Lou’s invitation. Carrey’s portrayal is one of the main reasons to see the film, but his contribution does not save the film. ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ didn’t become the Christmas classic the filmmakers had in mind. dr. Until his death, Seuss reportedly denied any filmmaker who wanted to use the rights to the book to make a live action production of his beloved book. You wish he’d lived or at least his heirs wouldn’t have gone for the big bucks, because there isn’t much to recommend the film except for Jim Carrey. No matter how beautifully cared for the village looks, how comical (or is bizarre is the right word?) the appearance of the Who’s; nowhere are you drawn into the world, such as in the beautiful animated film ‘Horton Hears a Who’ (2008), which is also based on a book by Dr. Seuss, and also set in Whoville, succeeds. The characters are not charming enough, but come across as nasty and materialistic monsters. Cindy Lou may have a heart of gold on paper, but Taylor Momsen is nothing more than a cute blond girl and completely interchangeable as an actress and film character, because she only serves as a plot mechanism.

In addition, the Grinch’s background knitted into the original story provides an irritating, explanatory tone. The explanation for his behavior comes much too soon, probably to arouse sympathy for the green furry creature, which is partly successful, but it takes away a lot of the tension. All in all, How the Grinch Stole Christmas isn’t a feel-good Christmas movie, but a bleak and unnecessary retelling of Dr. seuss. Although the viewer rating indicates “All ages”, the film is not suitable for young viewers due to the melancholy atmosphere and various tense moments.