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This is twenty-five minutes of absolute perfection. A hugely successful artistic marriage between the adapter and source material, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is as much of a mighty, towering classic as the beloved Dr. Seuss book.
For me, this is perennial viewing. Christmas is never quite complete without a few viewing experiences every year – A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and this, which may be my favorite of the lot. Jones and Seuss merge beautifully, balancing out the weirdness and idiosyncrasies in each other’s work to create something vital and wonderfully alive.
No offense to Ron Howard’s 2000 live action version, but this is the only one you’ll ever need to watch. It’s a model of absolute economy, moving through the story with a fantastic balance of pacing, merging in moments of humor, darkness, song, and joyous uplift in a bite sized chunk.
Even better is the sense of enthusiasm and love for the source material that radiates throughout the special. Jones clearly finds a kindred spirit in Seuss’ topsy-turvy, angular world. Whoville is free of straight lines, made up entirely of curves, sharply jutting out corners, and rolling hills and valleys. The basic framework allowed Jones to really go crazy with the whacky character movements and designs, creating smart, unique choices like the Grinch’s eyes hauntingly peering out of a chimney or the montage of Whos running around putting up decorations with a large assortment of gadgets and gizmos.
But would How the Grinch Stole Christmas be quite as memorable without the vocal intonations of Boris Karloff? He gravels his voice for the Grinch, reaching back into his Universal Monsters days to bring weight and menace to the role, and narrates with his naturally soft, lilting speech, finding the humor and warmth in the text in his delicate tones. I’ll fight anyone who disagrees with me on this, but I find his work here to be among the greatest of his career.
Matching him in virtuoso vocal delivery is Thurl Ravenscroft’s booming bass voice singing, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” Ravenscroft delivers the series of jokes and verbal put-downs like a great radio ham. He knows this is faintly ridiculous material, but he delivers it like it’s a piece of the great American songbook. In fact, it would be easy to imagine Karloff and Ravenscroft delivering this as a radio play, and achieving the same delirious heights on the listener without the vibrant animation and colors to go along with it.
It’s a merger of many great talents on a top-shelf project, and we were blessed with a masterpiece. I’ve loved this special for my entire life, and the older the I get the more I appreciate its combination of vibrancy, quirk, and hint of darkness before delivering the heartwarming and uplifting final bow. I said it earlier, and I’ll say it again, this is perfection.
