HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (ANIMATED)

By: Iggy Michniacki on 11.25.2009

The Movie Itself:
In the Horton Hears a Who review, I made it very clear that I actually appreciated the new, CGI version more so than the original. Well, that is simply not the case with How the Grinch Stole Christmas, not even close, as the original far outshines the Jim Carrey version (that has also recently been released on Blu-ray).

Whoville and all the Who’s love Christmas, and every time of year it comes around they seem to be happier and jollier than ever. Strolling the streets, singing Christmas songs, buying plenty of presents, and decorating the entire town is what the Who’s spend months doing in preparation. Meanwhile, at the top of a nearby mountain lives the Grinch, a scrooge-like figure that has no interest in Christmas. Finally, going over the top, the Grinch plots to steal Christmas from all the Who’s and sets out on Christmas Eve to do so. Sneaking into each house, and doing the opposite of what Santa Clause would do, the Grinch slowly fills up his sled full of everybody elses gifts and décor. Upon exiting the town, he encounters Cindy Lou Who and starts to realize something. Upon the town’s awakening, even with everything gone, they still sing and gather enjoying each other’s fellowship. This is where the Grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas and returns to right his wrongs.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a timeless classic that takes much of its attitude from A Christmas Carol and its star, Scrooge. Much like other Dr. Seuss characters, the stars of the book don’t resemble humans and the Grinch doesn’t even come close. A tall monster, covered in green hair, living in a cave on the side of a mountain would lead somebody to become that grouchy.

Much like the other Dr. Seuss television adaptations, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is short and very close to the source material. The animation style resembles the book and the story doesn’t stray far from it, not even close to as far as the big-budget Hollywood remake does. As a fan of Jim Carrey, it’s difficult to say that he is one of the reason’s I appreciate this original television version as opposed to the recent big screen release. The Grinch is the Grinch, but in the new movie, he’s Jim Carrey taking away from the original character that has been around for decades.

The story, like most Dr. Seuss stories, has a message at the end of it; Christmas isn’t just about gifts and decorations, it has a much greater meaning. The same could be said for all holidays, and maybe that is why children enjoy this book year round, or maybe it’s the green haired guy. Either way, How the Grinch Stole Christmas has secured itself in the realm of holiday classics, whether it be book or animated classic.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is entertaining, one of the more entertaining Dr. Seuss adaptations. Even though it is aged, it still captures the eyes and mind of children and still sees a prime-time television slot every year. This movie is fun for the whole family, and could help bring them all together on a cold winter night.
Rating: 7/10

The Presentation:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas has been on Blu-ray for over a month now and it has seen mainly praise for its video but some criticism. There was obviously an extensive process to clean up the picture as the colors of the image have been quite altered. The question is for good or bad, and the answer is really up to the viewers themselves.

The 1080p VC-1 video codec is brilliant for a source this age. Although the colors have been tweaked, I found them to look fantastic. Green’s were more green, and the Grinch himself looked a bit brighter and more noticeable. The colors of Whoville also looked sharp, and even though different than the DVD I have (from the Classic Christmas Collection), they still stay true to the colors they are representing. The biggest difference in the colors is the brightness, as that is obviously the intent of the clean-up.

Like Horton, the image has a bit of banding and looks flat. But, it also has much more detail than any previous version, especially the television broadcast, and shines a new light on this entire movie. I’m going to come out and say it, no matter what the controversy of the video is, it looks great and improves the viewing experience.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas has a Dolby Digital 2.0 track that is less than spectacular. Although slightly better than the Horton Hears a Who DD 2.0 track, I wouldn’t say this is exceptional or acceptable for a Blu-ray movie. With a decent size disc, and a platform that offers the best of the best one would hope for the best results. The track isn’t dynamic in range, as it seems lackluster more often than not. The music is decent, and the dialogue is clear and understandable. Overall, there isn’t much good or bad to say about the track; below average would simply describe it.
Rating: 7/10 (video 8/10, audio 5/10)

The Extras:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas suffers from the typical catalogue or classic Blu-ray release problem that many others do. That’s not the lack of extras, but the lack of extras being in high definition. There are a few extras on here, most of which are aimed at the younger audience but they all seem to have gotten the standard definition port.

• Dr. Seuss and the Grinch – From Whoville to Hollywood (SD): A look at Dr. Seuss, his book, The Grinch and where it has gone to now.
• Grinch Pencil Test (SD): An image gallery of Grinch storyboards. Songs in the Key of Grinch (8:01) (SD): A look at the song and voices of the feature.
• Grinch Song Selections: The Grinch has a few songs that everybody remembers, such as ‘Opening Song,’ ‘Trim Up the Tree,’ ‘Welcome, Christmas,’ and ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.’ These are playable here in the extra features.
• Making Animation and Bringing it to Life Commentary: Animator Phil Roman and June Foray do a commentary strictly about the animation.
• Who’s Who in Whoville (SD): Text biographies of many parties involved, including Dr. Seuss.
• TNT’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” Special Edition (SD): Phil Hartman hosts a special, originally airing on TNT, that takes a look behind the scenes of Grinch.
• Trailers (SD): Peanuts Holiday Collection and Classic Christmas Collection trailers are on board.
• DVD Copy
• Digital Copy

Overall:
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of the better Dr. Seuss animated features to ever hit television. To make it even better, it's one of the better animated holiday classics to continuously hit television as well. Even with the plenty of positives to the movie as well as the great video presentation on this Blu-ray one might wonder if the price justifies it. Grinch fans, feel free to upgrade everybody else might want to wait on a sale price for this one.
Rating: 7/10