The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a well-loved holiday movie about the Grinch with a heart two sizes too small and the Whos of Whoville with joy in their hearts. The Grinch plans to steal Christmas by taking everyone’s presents and decorations because he does not understand the true meaning of Christmas. The movie’s sweet sentiment relays that Christmas is more than presents and a big dinner. It is about the people you love and how you spend the day with them.

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas came out December 18, 1966, as a Dr. Seuss special on CBS which turns 52 years old in 2018. The runtime is only 30 minutes and strictly sticks to the book by Dr. Seuss. During the whole movie, the narrator, the Grinch, and the characters in Whoville all rhyme just like in the Dr. Seuss books. The movie emphasizes all the presents that the Who’s have and how the Grinch steals from all the houses slipping from to chimney to chimney of each house. Cindy Lou Who comes to the Grinch when a red ornament roles over to her while she is sleeping and wakes her up. She watches as he stuffs the tree up the chimney and cannot help but ask why. The grinch comes up with a quick lie that he has to fix her tree and is taking it back to his workshop. The Grinch soon learns the meaning of Christmas by listening to the Whos sing in a circle that is usually around there town christmas tree that he stole. After learning the meaning of Christmas his heart grows three times the size of his regular heart and has the strength to lift all the things he stole from the Who’s. The Grinch now values Christmas and has a huge feast with all the Whos and has the honor of cutting the roast beast.

In the 2018 version of The Grinch, the writers added many new elements to the story such as a why the Grinch hates Christmas and places a greater focus on Cindy Lou Who’s life. One of the biggest changes in the story are that the characters do not rhyme like the older animated version and the book. It also dives into the Grinch’s past and see that his main reason for hating Christmas is because he was lonely. In the middle of the story, we meet a reindeer named Fred who leaves before Christmas with his new family. This new aspect of the movie emphasizes the Grinch’s loneliness and cements that the Grinch is the way he is because of his loneliness. Cindy Lou Who’s big role in the movie is to show that not everyone wants material things. Her biggest Christmas wish is for her mom to be happy after always working the night shift at the hospital and having to take care of the twins. Cindy Lou Who also has a bigger impact on the Grinch because she shows the Grinch the true meaning of Christmas. She tells the Grinch that the town singing can make any sadness go away if you close your eyes. The Grinch does and his heart grows three times the size. Fred, the reindeer, helped the grinch save all of the toys. The run time for The Grinch is an hour and a half and premiered November 9 in the movie theaters worldwide.