The Grinch
From Dr. Seuss Wiki
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| Performer: | Boris Karloff Hans Conried Bob Holt Walter Matthau Anthony Ashbury Corey Burton Fred Tatasciore Jim Carrey William Ryall Patrick Page |
| Appeared in: | How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Special) Halloween Is Grinch Night The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Film) Seussical the Musical Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! |
The Grinch is the central character from the television special, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. He is the resident grouch of Whoville, living high above the Whos -- and usually watching them. The Grinch is a Who-hater (except the for the ending of the special, where he changes character completely).
Contents |
Book Appearances
Description
Personality
The Grinch is a unpleasant "Who-hating" grouch with a wicked temper, sour attitude, depressed judgment and a heart about two sizes too small (the only exception to this is the end of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!", where he becomes whole-hearted and loving), and is always out to ruin something. He comes down to Whoville only on holidays, which we see in two of the three TV specials, which are holiday-based. However, in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" he is opposed to the holiday (Christmas), and comes down to sabotage. In "Grinch Night" he comes down to waltz around for Halloween night, which in Whoville is called "Grinch Night". This signals all the Whos to annually lock down their homes. He is best described by the song You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, sung by Thurl Ravenscroft.
The Grinch's only friend is his pet dog, Max, a big-eyed pooch who is loyal to his master despite the Grinch treating Max like a nuisance. Max also is an unwitting accomplice in the Grinch's plots. The Grinch forces him to masquerade as a "reindeer" by attaching a crooked pair of horns on him and making Max pull the sleigh with all the Whos' Christmas trappings inside. In the movie, he is portrayed as having a reputation similar to Bigfoot, although in his case, he is known to exist. He is also a skilled architect, having built his sleigh and many of the contraptions within his cave himself. The Grinch also bears a grudge against the Mayor of Whoville, who had bullied him as a child and is his rival in winning Martha May Who's Heart.
On at least 2 occasions, the Grinch has demonstrated above-average (even superhuman) strength. Whether this is a trait commonly found in his species or simply examples of adrenaline rush is never stated outright.
Appearance
The Grinch has a large bulbous stomach, long fingers and feet, a pear-shaped body, yellow teeth and is covered in green hair. He has red pupils and yellow eyeballs. He stands 5' 9" to 6' 6" to 7'. His fingers and feet look longer due to the long portions of hair coming off of them. He has large, sinister black eyebrows, and deep lines on his forehead. His mouth lines are subtle when he is in a neutral mood, yet very stretched when he is happy. He has a pair of brooding, deep-set, yellow ovoid eyes with red irises - although they are noted to become more round and white and feature blue irises after the Grinch's "conversion". In the book, his eyes are red-pink with black irises, while in the movie, they are yellow with black irises. Since the computer-animated version of "Halloween Is Grinch Night", his eyes are still yellow with now green irises and red pupils. Another physical characteristic noted to change after the Grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas is his face, which in addition to the line softening mentioned above, becomes somewhat heart-shaped as he smiles broadly. A long neck is prominent, with layers of green fur coming down it. He seems to have pockets in the fur of his large stomach, as he rests his hands inside this area. With regard to posture, he is loose and can bend easily. He often walks in stealth-mode when around Whos. He also has a thinking smile which is sweet until the idea is fully revealed with an evil smile.
