Caroline Surratt and Abigail St. Jean
The new modern music wasn’t the only thing changed in Illumination’s rendition of the Christmas classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. The updated Grinch was released in theaters on November 9th 2018. This is the third rendition of the original Doctor Seuss book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The first movie was animated and it was released in 1966. Then in 2000 “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was released with Jim Carrey starring as the grinch. The most recent rendition is simply called “The Grinch.”
The basic plot of all three renditions is similar. A grumpy Grinch lives alone on top of Mt. Crumpet with his dog, Max. He absolutely detests everything about Christmas and the holiday spirit. Knowing this, it is not hard to believe that the Grinch hates the Whos (the townspeople in Whoville) who have the most cheerful outlook on the holiday season. The Whos give themselves the challenging task of making Christmas festivities three times bigger. The Grinch decides he will do everything in his power to make the “sickening Christmas spirit” stop. So he and his dog Max set out to do the unimaginable: steal Christmas. At the end of the movie the Grinch meets Cindy Lou Who who teaches him about the real meaning of Christmas. Then the Grinch realizes that he can’t steal Christmas because it is not about the decorations or the presents.
There are many challenges writers face when trying to turn a well loved book into a movie, and the writers from the first two movies faced them beautifully. They were able to add more detail but still capture the spirit of the original book. The new version did not live up to the expectations set by the 2000 movie. The new Grinch has a slightly different personality, as he is not very mean or nasty and the new movie gives watchers little reason to dislike him. His change of heart at the end of the movie is not as dramatic or surprising.
One of the main characters in all renditions is Cindy Lou Who. Cindy is a innocent little girl who has always been sympathetic to the Grinch. In the newest version, Cindy is not so innocent. She goes behind her parents back and attempts to capture Santa by setting up traps around her house. The new movie leaves out the classic scene of Cindy quietly walking down the stairs on Christmas night to get a glass of water. Instead, the new movie shows Cindy on a stakeout ready to trap Santa.
While modern approaches to classic movies are popular, messing with a classic movie like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is not a good idea. The new Grinch is like the old Grinch stripped down to the studs, the much more simplistic version leaves out many parts of the plot that Grinch viewers have grown to love. The movie is a good option for younger children, but as with all of the new animated Disney movies that have come out, they have plots that all ages will enjoy. Compared to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (2000), the new movie was very safe. The writers took no risks. Overall save your money and watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on Netflix instead.
