The Grinch

The Grinch is the main protagonist from the book and television special, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. He is the resident grouch of Whoville, living high above the Whos on Mount Crumpit with his dog Max—and usually watching them. The Grinch is a Who-hater (except for the ending of the special, where he changes character completely). The Grinch appeared in Seussical the Musical portrayed by Patrick Page. In 2000 Jim Carrey portrayed the Grinch in Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. He once hated Christmas and his heart used to be 2 sizes too small.

The Grinch is one of the most popular and well-known characters created by Dr. Seuss, second only to the Cat in the Hat.

Appearances

In Cartoons:

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Book)

In the How the Grinch Stole Christmas! book the Grinch appears as the main villain who takes the Whos Christmas away from them by dressing up like Santa Claus. Later he brings the gifts and presents back to Whoville.He even carves the Roast Beast.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (TV Special)

The Grinch appears as the main antagonist in the How The Grinch Stole Christmas TV special and takes away the Whos Christmas from them, like he did in the book, but eventually brings it back in the end. He was portrayed by Boris Karloff who is best known for his rolls in old horror films.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Film)

This performance loosely follows the book and TV Special, but is more of a recluse who just wants peace and quiet. The film also introduces a reason to why he hates Christmas, giving him a tragic backstory. He is portrayed by Jim Carrey in the film.

The Grinch Meets His Max (Book)

The Grinch appears in the The Grinch Meets His Max (Book) with an itch that won't go away. A dog named Max comes to play with him but he refuses. He tries to get Max to get away but fails. Later Max scratches the itch; he and The Grinch become friends and live on Mt. Crumpit.

Halloween Is Grinch Night

The Grinch appears in Halloween is Grinch Night as the main villain once again. This time coming down to Whoville on Halloween because of a sour-sweet wind that blows. He has three encounters with the young Who named Euchariah who isn't scared of The Grinch. The Grinch and his dog Max bring the Paraphernalia Wagon down to Whoville. The wagon is filled with monsters called The Unhuman Race. The Grinch is sent back to his cave in the end. He was voiced by Hans Conried who is best known for voicing Captain James Hook in the 1953 animated film Peter Pan.

The Grinch Grinches The Cat In The Hat

The Grinch later appears in The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat as once again the main antagonist. He meets the Cat in the Hat for the first time. In the beginning he is happy until his Grinch Reflection turns him back into himself. He ruins the Cat's day by using a device called the Vackusound Sweaper, which makes him able to make anyone make any sound he wants. He also invented the darkhouse which makes things so dark you can't see a glove in front of you. Near the end of the special, The Cat In The Hat goes to a cafe but the Chef who works there asks him if he wants some food. The Cat was just trying to get away from The Grinch but The Grinch made trouble in the cafe as well. The Cat and the other people sing to The Grinch about his mother, and The Grinch turns nice again. He was portrayed by Bob Holt who is best known for his voice roll as the Hulk in the animated series of the same name.

The Wubbulous World Of Dr. Seuss

The Grinch appears in The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss as a secondary villain in season 1 and a recurring villain in season 2. He was portrayed by Anthony Asburywho is best known for his muppets rolls and is the only voice acter of the character to still be alive.

Horton Hears A Who!

The Grinch appears as a cameo in both Horton Hears a Who installments. He had no lines in either.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Film)

The Grinch appears in the How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Film) as the main character and protagonist. He was portrayed by Jim Carrey.

Seussical The Musical

The Grinch has a small roll in Seussical the Musical He was portrayed by Patrick Page.

Personality

The Grinch is an 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 it. 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 accompany 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.

He is seen to give up his evil reputation and actually become important (or more important) to Whoville The Grinch is based on Dr. Seuss' college story, Santy Claus Be Hanged.

Appearance

The Grinch has a large potbelly, long fingers and feet, a pear-shaped body (much like the Whos), 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.

Theories

Using his personality as an evidence (since he turns friendly at the end of the original TV special, and turns back from this state to his former, evil self in The Grinch grinches the Cat in the Hat), the chronological order may be: 1st Halloween is Grinch Night, 2nd How the Grinch stole Christmas, 3d Horton hears a Who (but only if his cameo is taken as canon), 4th The Grinch grinches the Cat in the Hat.