Dr. K's Waiting Room

Released: 17 November 2000
Director: Ron Howard
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Budget: $123 million
Stars: Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin, and Jeffrey Tambor

The Plot:
The monstrous Grinch (Carrey) hates Christmas with a passion. When the joyful holiday cheer of Whoville becomes too much for him, the Grinch disguises himself as Santa Claus and sets out to ruin Christmas by stealing the town’s presents! 

The Background: 
In 1955, poet and children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel (better known by his pen name, “Dr. Seuss”) wrote and illustrated “The Hoobub and the Grinch”, the precursor to a more expansive work focusing on the mean-spirited Grinch. Inspired by his personal life and the rampant commercialisation of the season, Dr. Seuss quickly completed the story, which reportedly received critical acclaim and saw the titular character become an instant and surprisingly complex Christmas icon. Following previous collaborations, Dr. Seuss teamed with legendary cartoon director Chuck Jones to adapt the story into a television special that became a universally loved Christmas classic. Although he refused to sell the film rights to his works before his death, his widow, Audrey Geisel, successfully negotiated a lucrative merchandising deal that gave her a high percentage of any profits and creative control over any projects. Many filmmakers and names vied to produce a Grinch adaptation but Geisel rejected them all until a reluctant Ron Howard impressed with a pitch to flesh out the story and add a backstory to the Grinch. Jim Carrey signed on to portray the title character and endured a torturous experience, courtesy of renowned make-up artist Rick Baker, that saw him irritable and moody due to the uncomfortable suit and make-up before eventually learning to endure the process. With a worldwide box office gross of nearly $350 million, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas was a commercial hit, though reviews were mixed. While Carrey’s performance was universally praised, it was seen as both the sole saving grace of an otherwise uninspired film and awkwardly gratuitous at times. The film was followed by an equally successful CGI reboot in 2018, Carrey’s appearance was evoked for bizarre slasher film in 2022, and Carry later said he’d reprise the role if he could use motion capture rather than a practical suit.

The Review:
Just as in the original children’s story and the classic animated special, the film is set in Whoville, a wonderous, magical land populated by enthusiastic and joyous beings known as Whos. As related by our narrator (Anthony Hopkins), the entirety of Whoville and its surrounding lands, including the ominous Mount Crumpit, is contained within a single snowflake and, while the Whos celebrate every season and holiday with gusto, their most favourite holiday is, of course, Christmas time. The Whos really get into it, decorating the entire town and swarming the shops to buy gifts upon gifts for their nearest and dearest (and, seemingly, everyone in town). While all Whoville revels in the season and is united in jubilation, some competitiveness does exist within the town: Betty Lou Who (Molly Shannon) strips her entire house of every lightbulb she can find in a bid to outdo her neighbour, Martha May Whovier (Baranski), who always has the best lights in Whoville. The pompous mayor, Augustus May Who (Tambor), is positively giddy during the festive season, especially as he manipulates the town’s goodwill into regularly voting him as the “Holiday Cheermeister” so he can bask in their adulation and generosity. Interestingly, this is a world where everyone is eager to buy and exchange presents but also one in which Santa Claus exists, indicating that they also receive additional presents from the Big Round Guy. It’s no surprise, then, that the Grinch later lays into the Whos regarding their avarice and their hypocrisy for, while all the Whos delight in the season and pile gifts under the tree, almost all their presents get “dumped” to Mount Crumpit via a lengthy disposal tube, causing a mountain of disregarded Christmas gifts to pile up near the Grinch’s snow swept home. Indeed, Christmas is depicted as a chaotic time in Whoville, especially for postmaster Lou Lou Who (Irwin), who has the unenviable task of sorting and delivering everyone’s Christmas cards and gifts. You’d think a small town like Whoville wouldn’t need such a large and hectic mailing system but, as I said, the Whos are nothing if not enthusiastic and generous and it’s heavily implied that other, similar towns also exist on the same snowflake.

Yet, despite the chaos, Lou remains captivated by what all Whos see as the Christmas spirit. Whoville is a town committed to the idea of spending their cash on gifts and going all-in with the season and see all the excess and frivolity as being part and parcel of getting into the spirit of things. Even the youngsters are encouraged to make gifts for their friends (“Christmas of Love”) and it seems Whoville celebrates Christmas all year round in at least some capacity. Hell, the town clock even counts down to the minute as they approach the big day! However, there’s one Who who’s not feeling the Christmas spirit this year: little Cindy Lou Who (Momsen). This year, Cindy Lou is perplexed by the excess and greed, sad to learn from her father and all those around her that there isn’t more to Christmas than just presents (“Where Are You, Christmas?”) Disillusioned with the town’s obsession, Cindy Lou desperately searches for some deeper meaning to the holiday and, eager to please her father, Cindy Lou tries to help out in the mailing room only to come face-to-face with the Grinch, an ostracised figure known throughout the town as a miserly spoilsport who hates Christmas. Shocked by the monster’s appearance, Cindy Lou almost falls victim to the post office’s gigantic and ludicrous sorting machine but, annoyed by her screams for help, she’s saved by the Grinch. From that moment, Cindy Lou becomes fascinated by the creature and goes out of her way to find out everything she can about him. While this annoys Mayor May Who and causes some concern throughout the town, she learns that the Grinch came to Whoville many years ago on a strange wind and was conditioned to hate Christmas from an early age. Left out in the cold while the Whos celebrated the season and bombarded by obnoxious Christmas spirit, the young Grinch (Josh Ryan Evans) was the antithesis of his joyous Who peers: furry, mean spirited, and with a vile disgust towards all things Christmas. Despite everyone in town preferring to act like the Grinch doesn’t exist, Cindy Lou actively campaigns to both talk about and involve him in the festive season, believing that the true spirit of Christmas is offering holiday cheer to all, regardless of their appearance or demeanour. This sets her at odds with Mayor May Who, who harbours a deep-rooted jealousy and dislike towards the Grinch that stems back to their childhood, where they both vied for the attention of the young Martha May (Landry Allbright).

Indeed, Martha was one of the few Whos who showed any affection for the young Grinch and, even in adulthood, is still awestruck by the monster’s rugged charisma and inexplicable superhuman strength. Described as more of a “What” than a Who, the Grinch’s animosity towards Christmas was only exacerbated when the young May Who (Ben Bookbinder) mocked and bullied him, leading to an anti-Christmas outburst and the Grinch exiling himself to the frigid wastes of Mount Crumpit. There, he lives alongside his dog, Max (Kelley/Various/Frank Welker) and amuses himself by scaring away any Whos daring enough to climb his mountain. Incensed by Whoville’s Christmas cheer, the Grinch throws on a simple disguise and heads into town to cause them mischief, sabotaging bikes, encouraging kids to run with a hacksaw, making prank phone calls, and messing up Lou’s mailing system. Satisfied with his malice, the Grinch returns home and is seen to be an extremely lonely individual, one who consoles himself with feelings of animosity and spite but who secretly yearns for affection and to be accepted. Disgusted by these feelings and caught in a perpetual cycle of self-loathing, the Grinch actively pushes away any who attempt to reach him, including both Max and Cindy Lou, and wrestles with his insecurities and anxiety when Cindy Lou invites him to accept the title of Holiday Cheermeister. After debating with himself, the Grinch finally decides to accept Cindy Lou’s offer and cautiously arrives at the ceremony. Despite his mean-spirited demeanour and disgust of the Whos, the Grinch genuinely seems to enjoy participating in the holiday games and being celebrated by the town, but his brief flash of happiness turns to rage when Mayor May Who humiliates him in front of everyone with a shaving razor. Seething, all his childhood memories of being bullied overwhelming him, the Grinch launches into another tirade, berating the Whos and going on a rampage, incinerating the town tree and reaffirming the town’s wariness of him. Retreating to Mount Crumpit, sure that his actions will have crippled the town’s Christmas spirit, the Grinch is further incensed to find the town “relentless” in their celebration and quickly returning to their holiday cheer. This causes the vile Grinch to hatch a devious plot to ruin their Christmas once and for all just as he does in the source material (“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”).

The Nitty-Gritty:
It’s actually quite amazing how Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas manages to take the story, and the original animated feature, and make it so spectacularly dull. Obviously, the source material isn’t long enough to sustain a full-length feature film and I understand wanting to expand upon the concept and the Grinch’s character, but this is honestly one of the Christmas movies I dread watching every year. The pacing is really off and the film feels way too long, spending far too much time in Whoville and needlessly complicating the Grinch with a backstory that really isn’t all that interesting. It would’ve been so much easier and saved so much time to simply say that a town of Whats lived over the mountains or beyond the sea or whatever and one of them randomly landed on Mount Crumpit one Christmas and was ostracised by the Whos because of his startling and terrifying appearance, leading to him resenting them and Christmas. That would’ve spared us the time spent exploring the Grinch’s childhood (as much as I like the “You’re eight years old and you have a beard!” line) and the strange love triangle between the Grinch, Martha May, and May Who that could easily be cut from the film. Martha May’s shown to be fascinated by and attracted to the Grinch, yet does nothing to defend him and is just as horrified by his rampage; the Grinch doesn’t even spare her when he steals the Whos’ Christmas! Additionally, I love Jim Carrey as much as the next guy and he’s the best part of this film, but so much of the runtime is spent just watching him riff and mess about in the Grinch’s lair. It’s funny seeing him eat glass, argue with his echo, and thumb through his depressing diary, but it also feels like needless padding since the film knows it doesn’t have enough steam to justify being nearly two hours long and must rely on Carrey’s comedic antics. Honestly, this would’ve been perfectly fine as a 90-minute feature, or they could’ve worked in some more musical numbers to stave off the utter boredom I always feel around the second act.

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is like a feature-length stage show, in many ways. Whoville never feels like anything other than a sound stage and the film seems to be embracing its whimsical roots in its aesthetic. Everything is bright and over the top, accentuating Whoville’s obsession with Christmas and compounding the Grinch’s sour nature since he’s literally and figuratively bombarded by this holiday cheer, which only shrinks his already small heart. The Whos honestly look horrific, even more so than the Grinch! Rick Baker’s prosthetics and make-up perfectly capture Dr. Seuss’ artwork but looks extremely uncomfortable for the actors, whose facial features are distorted to make them appear comical and exaggerated. The Grinch, meanwhile, looks superb. Garbed head to toe in yak fur, with oversized fingers and a cat-like visage, Jim Carrey disappears into the role, embodying the Grinch through and through, yet retains full body and facial movement, allowing his rubber-faced antics to shine and his over-the-top performance to steal every scene. The Grinch is another of Carrey’s famous live-action cartoons; every movement is exaggerated, even subtle ones, and he’s clearly throwing everything he has into bringing the cartoon character to life. The Grinch provides many of the film’s most amusing lines and scenes: I love his interactions with the Whos, many of which feel improvised by Carrey, and his utter revulsion towards them (and, depressingly, himself). His only companion is Max, a doggy who secretly loves Christmas but goes along with the Grinch’s plans out of sheer loyalty. The Grinch is shown to be an alluring, terrifying figure, exhibiting superhuman strength and durability as well as a mischievous nature and aptitude for invention. He has many large contraptions and machines in his lair and easily cobbles together a fully functioning, flying sleigh out of the Who’s discarded gifts and trash. The Grinch is both vain, conceited, and incredibly insecure; he just wanted to be accepted for who he was and was faced with mockery at every turn. He embodies Cindy Lou’s disillusionment, representing both the lack of Christmas spirit and the true meaning of the season since he doesn’t want presents: he just wants to be accepted without judgement. Of course, he doesn’t do himself any favours: he causes havoc in town and wrecks the Who’s decorations with his outbursts, reinforcing the belief that he’s nothing more than a mean-spirited monster, much to the delight of Mayor May Who.

Enraged at the Who’s relentless Christmas spirit, the Grinch fashions himself a Santa suit, builds a flying sleigh, and forces Max to act as his Rudolph as he sneaks into town on Christmas Eve to steal everyone’s Christmas presents (and all their Christmas paraphernalia) in scenes that directly adapt the animated feature. Swiping every gift using a giant hose and stuffing them into a magical, oversized bag, the Grinch leaves no stone unturned: he forces Mayor May Who to kiss Max’s butt and even steals from Martha May. However, while ransacking the Lou Who’s house, the Grinch is once again met by Cindy Lou. Naturally, she doesn’t recognise him due to his “convincing” disguise and is disappointed when “Santa” reinforces the belief that Christmas is all about presents. The Grinch keeps up the charade to avoid being discovered, sending Cindy Lou to bed and swiping her tree before hefting his haul back to Mount Crumpit to toss it all over the edge. While Mayor May Who is enraged to discover what’s happened and blames Cindy Lou for inviting the Grinch into town, he’s shut down by Lou, who finally finds his backbone, sticks up for his daughter, and relates the true meaning of Christmas: family. Galvanised by his words, the Whos join hands and sing (“Welcome Christmas”) and even the Grinch is touched by their spirit, finally understanding the true meaning of Christmas and finding his heart enlarged by their cheer. Immediately remorseful, he attempts to save the town’s gifts but is only able to summon the strength when Cindy Lou appears on the sleigh and is endangered. With the gifts secure and Cindy Lou safe, the Grinch speeds down the mountain to return what he stole and admits his wrongdoings, prepared to be punished for his crimes. While Mayor May Who encourages Officer Lihan Who (Jim Meskimen) to arrest the Grinch, the cop and the town are only too happy to forgive and forget since the Grinch not only apologised but returned everything he stole. To make matters worse for the greedy mayor, Martha May rejects his engagement in favour of the Grinch and the once monstrous figure enjoys his first Christmas with the Whos, hosting the season at his cave and carving the Roast Beast alongside Cindy Lou, his heart having finally grown large enough to allow love and warmth into his life.

The Summary:
There’s no doubt that Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a Christmas classic. It has a lot of fans and I can understand its appeal, but I just find it to be far too long. The movie loses a lot of momentum after the first hour and it becomes painfully obvious that the movie is struggling to expand the source material into a feature-length production. I’m honestly surprised it didn’t lean more into being a colourful, Christmas musical; at least some more musical numbers would’ve kept the energy up. Instead, it relies entirely on Jim Carrey’s madcap, comedic antics to sustain it and, while these are amazing and the best parts of the film, it’s not enough to keep me from descending into boredom as the film limps along to the finale, the only part that’s even remotely like the source material. Thankfully, Jim Carrey gives a magnetic and inspired performance here; despite being completely unrecognisable under the make-up, his personality and energy shine through and it’s clear he put everything he had into bringing the miserable monster to life. Everything from his theatrical delivery, his over-the-top performance, and his exaggerated motions make the Grinch an amusing and instantly memorable character and he’s responsible for the best lines and moments in the film. I loved seeing him stewing on Mount Crumpit, him arguing with his insecurities and causing mischief in town, and his fully justified rampages when he’s humiliated by May Who. Everyone seems to be channelling that stage show energy, to be fair, leaning into the ridiculousness and embracing the quirky nature of their appearances and rhyming patterns. The whole film has a colourful, unique visual appeal that make it almost dream-like and I enjoyed those aspects, even if the environment did feel a bit cheap at times. However, because of the sheer amount of needless padding, you can easily just watch a montage of Carrey’s performance and skip to the final act, where the film finally adapts the source material and the Grinch steals Christmas. Everything else feels bogs down the runtime and really makes Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas a chore to watch, at least for me, meaning it’s not one of my favourite Christmas movies.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Are you mad that I’m so critical of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas? Do you regularly watch it for the Christmas season? How do you think it compares to the book and other adaptations? Did you enjoy the additional lore added to the Grinch or did you also find it unnecessary? What did you think to Jim Carrey’s performance? Are you a bit of a Grinch around this time of year? What Christmas movies and specials are you watching this year? Whatever your thoughts on Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, leave them in the comments and go check out my other Christmas content across the site.