The other night, one of my favorite Christmas shows was on – “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” I admit that things that were cool when I was a kid forty years ago probably aren’t as cool for kids now. I made my seven-year-old watch it with me and he did a bit, through his Nintendo DS.
He must have been paying more attention than I thought because he does know the words to several of the songs and knows who Cindy Lou Who is.
The story was written by Theodor Geisel – that’s Dr. Seuss to me and you. In case you didn’t know, the Dr. Seuss handle came from Geisel’s middle name – Seuss. Geisel, who also worked on ad campaigns and as a political cartoonist is you can imagine, wrote “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” in 1957.
It tells the story of the Grinch, a nasty, man character that lives in a cave above the town of Whoville. Everyone in Whoville is just hap-hap-happy and the Grinch can’t stand it. He decides to poo-poo on their Christmas by stealing all the Christmas decorations and presents with the help of his dog, Max. This, he figures, will ruin Christmas for everyone and they will be as grumpy as he is.
But, the Grinch’s plan fails miserably. Taking the decorations and presents doesn’t prevent the Whos from celebrating Christmas. When he realizes that there is more to Christmas, his heart, formerly “two sizes too small,” grows three times larger and he returns all the goods to the community to celebrate with the Whos.
I don’t know if I read the book growing up. Since it was written in 1957 and I was born in 1963, it’s doubtful. That’s because Chuck Jones did the beloved animated special that we still watch today in 1966. It’s narrated by horror master Boris Karloff.
Hopefully you were able to catch it this year, as the special celebrates its 45th airing anniversary.