Nineties Babies Nostalgia
A pop culture podcast hosted by two 90s babies and best friends, Amanda and Jess. NBN Classic is a rewatch series where we recap & review teen tv and movies from the early 2000s (think Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, etc). NBN Remixed episodes follow a similar format but cover the tv, movies, and music we love now (Heartstopper, Young Royals, Demi Lovato, etc). Listen along to two best friends having a giggle, and let us know what you think.
Nineties Babies Nostalgia
how the grinch stole christmas and our hearts (the 2000s one)
Dr Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, as directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey, is peak cinema, peak Christmas movie, and incredibly hot ("Betty! Hiiii"). Merry Grinchmas, y'all.
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Get home from school turn on my TV who are these friends staring right back at me now that we're older why don't you come over and go back in time with me nineties babies nostalgia
Hi, I'm Amanda.
And I'm Jessica.
And this is 90s Babies Nostalgia, where a couple of 90s babies are celebrating the holidays.
just to be clear, we are not sponsored by or affiliated with any of the things we are talking about. We just really love talking about holiday movies And today we are talking about the Grinch.
how the Grinch stole Christmas the 2000 version
yes
the live action Jim Carrey. But before we get into this masterpiece of cinema, Jess, my beloved, what do you think is the ideal winter scent? Like I know that you love candles, but like what is the ideal scent of candle that you're burning during the holiday season?
oh my goodness of all the questions I thought you were gonna ask that's not the question I was prepared for okay
I love to keep you on your toes
I love a good like pine anything that is like fresh and light, but has like a pine scent, especially if you have a fake Christmas tree like a lot of us do. It's nice to then have your Christmas tree on and lighting something that smells very um Christmas tree-y. Other than that, I really love normally any of the ones that are branded like sweater weather that tend to I would say smell just like very light and fresh and like a um ah like a cologneed man like a little spicy but tend to be like a little more light and fresh but yeah I would say like the sweater weather type scents and then pine is my favorite how about you
Those are not things I expected you to say I hate the ones that are things like sweater weather because I just think that they're like I don't know fabric softener i'm like what is this that's not a thing.
Mm, I love clean scents. The other thing I do like that I didn't mention, which is great for winter too, is like anything that's like fireside.
Oh.
That has like kind of that like bonfire smell, but I feel like you have to be in the mood for that because you don't always want that smell.
Yeah. I'm much more of a sweet scented girl. I love a cinnamon candle. I haven't, I don't think I've had a mint candle, but I like the smell of peppermint. I like mint tea. I like a mint essential oil. I actually haven't had candles in like a year or two because they're not great for the cat unless I get really, really natural ones. And I haven't bothered to do that because they're expensive. I'm a little out of it, but the main one that I was burning back when I had candles was cinnamon. It is strong.
Cinnamon is strong, but it's good. And I feel like it comes in so many variants. Like you could do like a cinnamon bun that's even more like sweet, or you could do true like a red hot cinnamon, which would have like a different smell. Like there's a lot of options.
Well, that's what I like about, I prefer the the latter with that bit of spice to it where it's a bit more natural because I used to in my early 20s really like like a sweet, sweet, like a vanilla or something. And now those are too overbearing.
yeah
There's someone that downstairs has been burning pumpkin and vanilla scented candles since the fall hit. And I can smell it all through the hallway. And it's just too much for me. Through the many doors.
Mmhmm.
It's sickeningly sweet.
Yeah, yeah.
That was quick, but we have a lot to discuss.
Yes, we do, we are getting into how the Grinch stole Christmas, which is also known as Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and also Dr. Seuss's The Grinch, or just simply the Grinch. A little bit of a background as always before we get into our summary and the characters. There is a lot of different iterations of The Grinch. So prior to this 2000 film, there was the 1966 animated TV special that was very, very well received. It still plays on TV to this day. It's like very well known as one of the best TV specials of all time.
Mhmm
And Seuss himself was very, very heavily involved in the creation of that TV special.
Did you grow up watching that one?
I have seen it, yes. I feel like it's something that was always like background on TV. I don't know if I could tell you like specifics or be like, oh, my favorite moment in that one is this. But like, I definitely have watched it.
I've seen it as well, but it wasn't my Grinch. Like it was my parents' Grinch.
Yes
My parents were like, Oh, that's the better one. We should put that on. But I would never pay- It's only about half an hour, I think. And it's literally just the story of the book.
Mhm.
And I just like, I don't know. This is my Grinch. This came out in 2000 when we were in first grade. It's, it's, this is my Grinch.
Yeah, I agree. The timing of this one is like perfect with the type of TV we were watching and movies we were watching. um This is the one that we connect to the most. Whenever I glance up at myself and I see my little grinch tuft, it's making me laugh.
Oh yes, let's we should we should pause for a second and describe for anyone listening on audio
Oh yeah
that Jess is fully in a Grinch hoodie onesie. It looks like it could be.
It is a onesie. When I lived in Reno, they would do like a onesie bar crawl every single year. That was like super, super popular, but you had to be warm because it was cold and snowy outside. And so that's why I own this Grinch onesie and it was perfect.
Mm-hmm. It is the perfect Grinch green with a little tuft as if it's a tail sticking out of the top of her head and eyes and furry cuffs.
Mm hmm. And I have the heart.
Oh you have a heart?
It has the heart too. Yeah, let me see if I can has a heart.
Oh, excellent. I am in much more of a Betty Lou who I'm not I'm giving teacher could live in Whoville with my plaid woolen dress. um Yours is more fun. And I wish I had a hoodsy hoodie hoodsy onesie is what I was trying to say. And then I said hoodsy.
Oh, a hoodsy also works. Maybe it's a product we could create. Okay, getting back into it, what leads us to this 2000 Grinch movie being made is actually the passing of Dr. Seuss. So he typically declined any rights to sell his books. Like he was very, very specific. He almost always declined these. And his wife and widow, Audrey Geisel, started merchandising deals once he passed. and then eventually decided to sell the rights to how the Grinch sold Christmas. I want to say this kind of sounds like, oh, he died and then she did whatever. No, she was very heavily involved in all decision makings, all casting, all editing, the final cuts of things. Like she really, really owned these projects and made sure that it would be something that Dr. Seuss himself was very proud of as well. Like she Yes chose to do things that maybe he didn't initially do when he was living, but she really made sure that these projects were well done.
Yeah, in particular, he didn't want live actions. And so that's where this breaks off from his tradition. But she was so strict that the Grinch was the first one they auctioned. It took years to auction it off. And she had rules like the director had to have had a film that already made at least a million dollars. They had to pay three million dollars, the studios and directors, just to get the final meeting with her. And I think she was really involved in his writing career as well
Yep
and wanted to protect his legacy, but also continue it.
yep
And I think that's part of why she she licensed these deals off is that, you know, new stories couldn't come forward, but we can retell his stories.
Yep, totally. um So in 1998, it went up for auction. Multiple studios pitched. So in addition to Universal Studios, there were pitches from 20th Century Fox, the Farley Brothers, and John Hughes. Ultimately, they went with Universal Studios and The Grinch was released on November 17th of 2000. As we know, it's an American Christmas fantasy comedy film. The version was directed by Ron Howard and produced by Brian Grazer. Ron Howard was actually brought on by Brian Grazer. So Brian Grazer is a lot of who the conversations with Audrey Geisel happened with Brian Grazer. And then he chose to bring Ron Howard on ultimately to direct and co-produce the film in September of 98.
And they own Imagine, which is the production studio that produced this and the Cat in the Hat
Yes
um the Howard and Grazer together, yes.
Yes. Yeah, they're like a a duo. um Ron Howard is an actor, screenwriter, producer, and director, but he is known for directing Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, and The Da Vinci Code.
Yeah. And he was particularly interested in the project because he was drawn to the Who's and Cindy Lou Who. And so that's where he decided to create like a whole second story in addition to what we know as the Grinch.
Yep
And that's what he pitched to Glazer. Nope. Grazer and, and Geisel.
And then in addition to working on the films that I already mentioned with Ron, so Brian Grazer worked on all of those films. um But additionally, he is known for Cat in the Hat, Friday Night Lights, Fun with Dick and Jane, Curious George 2 and 3, and Arrested Development. We got our screen play, which was written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, obviously based on the 1957 children's book by Dr. Seuss. This is a writing duo. They both have single credits, but their credits that they have written as a duo are more well known. So they've done Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Wild Wild West, Last Holiday, and Shrek the Third. The Grinch was filmed on the Universal Studios Backlot, which if you've ever visited LA and gone to Universal Studios, you have seen it. It's a fun little tour. So they still have the whole Whoville set and everything there. It was a huge commercial success at the box office, grossing $346 million worldwide to a budget of $123 million. It debuted at number one on opening day, earning 15.6 million. But this doesn't really stop there because we have to think 2000. It's not just the box office. In addition to that, it had record VHS and DVD sales. So it sold eight and a half million DVDs in one week. It was the best selling home video at the time.
Yeah, it's ah it's always so crazy to think about like VHS and DVD sales and how that the getting rid of those has been a huge negative impact on the film industry because that's how obviously this was a box office success, but a lot of films aren't, but then they make that home money movie or home movie money.
Yeah, and like, even if you then lease your film to be on streaming, you're not getting as much as you would have from the home video market. Yeah, it's just something they've had to adapt to. The soundtrack is pretty well known for the Grinch. um So in addition, obviously, to all the songs that are sung in the Grinch, you also have um songs in the soundtrack from Busta Rhymes, Faith Hill, and Smash Mouth, which to me is peak 2000. as well as nsync. I just want to give a special shout out to you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. I think Amanda and I both included it. If you go back to last year, we did a really fun episode on our holiday playlist. And I think we both included it either in our playlist or definitely in our shout outs, but it is one of my favorite Christmas songs.
The composer for the film was James Horner, who worked won an Oscar for his work on the Titanic, has worked with James Cameron a lot with Avatar and Aliens, also did An American Tail, which we covered in our holiday content last year.
that is kind of our 2000 film before we get into the characters, but I do want to say like following the success of those two adaptations, um we have some additional films that came out of that. The most well-known being The Grinch that came out in 2018. It also was produced by Universal Studios and Illumination. It was released on November 9th of 2018. It grossed 540 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing Christmas film of all time, which is kind of crazy to me because I think the 2000 version is way better. But clearly, people were like, oh, if the 2000 version was great, then the 2018 version must be amazing too and went and saw it, which made it gross so much. But I'm like, it just feels unfair. I'm like, it shouldn't have made that much money.
I haven't seen it. I will also say like it's Illumination, which is the studio that makes the Minions movies
Yep
and is like peak peak animation rival only to Pixar. correct me if I'm wrong, I get the impression that the 2018 Grinch is like much more of a family friendly true Grinch adaptation.
Yes.
Yeah, so I feel like that would also be part of why it grossed so much more.
Yeah
Because this one that we're going to discuss is quite scandalous at times.
Yeah, oh yeah, totally, totally. This also is the final adaptation of anything from Dr. Seuss to be released during the lifetime of Audrey Geisel. She passed away five weeks after the 2018 film's release. In addition to that 2018 film in 2022, The Mean One is an unauthorized, unlicensed take on The Grinch, which is a Christmas horror film.
Getting into our characters, I did not realize Anthony Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter himself was the narrator.
Crazy, right?
ah When I read this note, I thought it was the funniest thing ever.
Yeah.
Obviously, if you don't know who he is, he's a Welsh actor. He's got a million accolades, including two Academy Awards, four BAFTAs, two Primetime Emmys, and again, most known for playing Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs
Yeah
which just makes it appropriate that he's involved in the Grinch in a way.
Totally. It's also just funny that they were like, okay, Anthony hopkins you gotta join on for this. And he probably was like, what? Have you looked at what I've done previously? Are you sure you want me in your Dr. Seuss movie?
But you know what, it's still not as far of a stretch as Mike Myers playing the Cat in the Hat.
Fair, fair, fair, fair. Next up, we got Jim Carrey, of course, as the Grinch, who I don't know if we need to introduce these characters to you guys, but it's our format, so he's an up-to-no-good Green-furred creature who despises Christmas. Of course, Jim Carrey is known for so many things, including Dumb and Dumber, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, The Truman Show, and Eternal Sunshine at the Spotless Mine.
We have a little fun fact in the casting of this is that actors Jack Nicholson, Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler were all considered for the role. And one of the stipulations in addition to having a director that had paid or that had earned a million dollars at the box office when going for auction or for bids for this this ah production, one of Geisel's stipulations was that they had to have the Grinch character actor had to have the stature of Adam Sandler or Jim Carrey, which I don't really understand what she means by that because had she met them, maybe she had, did she know what their stature was?
I'm guessing that she probably was very involved in this Hollywood world so they're pro- she probably had met them and had a relationship even if it was just like professional or in passing but like knew of them and had seen them in person but I agree it's weird to specify like they need to be the stature of these two people
That's fair, they did live in San Diego and her husband was very involved in animation through the military and stuff, so that yeah, she probably was involved.
Yeah.
Carrey still had to convince her in multiple meetings, though he felt like he was like auditioning for her specifically. And I will say, um she spoke more favorably of him than she did Mike Myers.
Mmmm
Can you tell that I hyperfixated on some things last night? I read so many Wiki pages.
Yeah, then we have Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who, um who is a retired actor known for playing Jenny on the Gossip Girl. Now primarily is known for being the front woman of The Pretty Reckless.
And I believe in your notes up top, you said that in the animation, Cindy Lou Who was no more than two.
Yeah, so in the animation and in the book, she is described as no more than two. So when they decided to kind of like iterate on this story and include the story of Cindy Lou who more and the whos they obviously had to age up the character. But I find it interesting because it's like, I don't know, she's just like eight. I don't know how old would you say she's like eight or 10. She's not super maybe eight.
Yeah like seven to 10
yeah
somewhere in there.
yeah.
But I can't, I just, I feel like it makes so much more sense that she's of a thinking speaking age.
Yeah, the story wouldn't be the story if she was two.
Yeah. Then we have Jeffrey Tambor as Mayor Augustus May Who. Whoville's mayor. Yes, they have a political system known for his roles as Oscar Bluth in Arrested Development, Tom Manning in Hellboy, and voice acting in the Spongebob movie Tangled and Trolls. Which makes a lot of sense because I don't recognize his face, but I did recognize his voice once I read Spongebob movie. I was like, oh yeah.
Yeah, his voice is definitely um one of those that you're like, oh, this is a voice actor.
Yeah.
Like, then we have Christine Baron Sinky as Martha
Baranski.
Baranski. Oh, yeah, not Sinky. There's not an extra I in there, guys. um As Martha May Hoovier. who is like the girlfriend of the mayor, also is known for having a crush on the Grinch. She's like really just like hot and kind of badass. She is known for her role as Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife and The Good Fight, and also as Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in The Big Bang Theory. And then she's also known for starring in Chicago, Mamma Mia, including the sequel of Mamma Mia and Into the Woods.
She's 70 and she could still get it. Then we have Bill Irwin as Lou lou Who. Yeah, that's his full name. Known for being a stage performer in the 1970s and contributed to the peak of the American circus. Could you...
Yeah, he was like super involved in vaudeville.
Interesting. Like, like Barnum and Bailey type of circus? Or...
it sounded more like, um, vaudeville performance circus, like when people would spend their time going to the theater, but it would be more like, um, acrobatic acts and things like that. But yes, he did tour with circuses as well.
Mm. Interesting. Also, Tony nominated Broadway choreographer
Mhmm
and as Mr. Noodle on Elmo's World, played Dr. Peter Lindstrom on Law and Order SVU, and had a recurring role on CSI
Yeah
which tells me that this is a very diverse actor.
Yeah, I would say in terms of all his different accolades, he definitely the one that people I think would speak the highest to is he is a very, very well-known choreographer.
Which isn't something I would expect from looking at this man because he's the only male character in this entire movie that I thought, yeah, that's a straight man.
I don't know if he is. I don't know. I don't know.
Fair, fair.
Then we have Molly Shannon as Betty Lou Who. Of course Molly Shannon was a comedian, um cast member on SNL, as well as starred in different films, Wet Hot American Summer and all of the sequels, as well as the Hotel Transylvania series, um and a bunch of different TV shows, but I would say most notably recently would be The White Lotus.
Have you seen Superstar?
No
I think that's what it's called. It's a Molly Shannon movie with Will Ferrell and they're in high school and I don't remember much. I saw it when I was like 12, but I think it's based off an SNL character. One of the things she does is she, her character puts her hands under her armpits really hard and then pulls them out and sniffs them really hard.
Oh my God.
And that's what I think of every time I see her.
That's funny. No, I definitely haven't seen that. That's funny. And then last but not least is Rick Baker, who's the makeup artist, which Amanda is questioning why I put in this section. But I feel like he is part of the cast, baby, designed and created the prosthetics for Jim Carrey and a lot of the rest of the cast, not all of them, but a few, ah but is most well known for the Jim Carrey prosthetics for the Grinch. He has been nominated for Academy Award for Best Makeup 11 times and won seven of them. And he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Yeah, the other movies, some of the other movies he's well known for are like Men in Black, and I think Nutty Professor, he did a lot of the Eddie Murphy movies.
Yeah.
But yeah, he's very, very well known.
Okay, summary.
Yeah, we open up in Whoville where we learn about the Whos who love nothing more than Christmas. And up in the mountains lives the Grinch who hates Christmas. We see a bunch of little teenagers hiking up the mountains trying to get into the Grinch's house. And he is over it. He does not like that they were up there. And so he chooses to visit town and cause chaos. He goes into the mail room and mixes up all the presents. He is like giving people eviction notices and bills and a bunch of mail that they don't want and
Jury duty, jury duty.
yeah, yeah. um And while all of this is happening, Lou asked Cindy to check on the back room to make sure everything is running smoothly because everything seems to got mixed up. And this is where she runs into the Grinch after Max sneezes. The Grinch saves her from getting hurt by the package machine. because she basically like falls into a big bucket of packages which is like going down a line that has a big like stamping machine that's gonna crush her and the Grinch ends up saving her after some encouragement from Max. And then he takes the sewer back home to his lair.
After this interaction where he saves her, Cindy Lou who becomes very curious about the Grinch and starts becoming an investigative reporter and interviewing all of the townspeople who knew him to find out what she can about him, we learn that the Grinch was raised by a couple of lesbians and has a long time feud with the mayor after they had a bullying kind of relationship where the mayor in in elementary school bullied him for being green and hairy, and they both had a crush on Martha May who, Whovier, excuse me, who seemed to be into the Grinch but afraid to tell him. And we see Baby Grinch make her this angel out of all kinds of things he got in his home as a tree topper for Martha May Whovier for Christmas. and he also shaves his face because he's being bullied for having a beard. But he comes to school with a bag on his face and the teacher makes him take it off and there's pieces of paper on his face because he struggled and so then they all laugh at him and he runs out and hates Christmas and goes to Mount Crumpet where he lives thereafter.
Yeah, you really feel for the Grinch in that moment.
Mm-hmm.
Then later on at the Whobilation, which is the day before Christmas, Cindy Lou nominates the Grinch for the Holiday Cheermeister and the Mayor tries to shut this down, but she gets the entire town on her side. But now she must deliver the nomination to the Grinch and convince him to come down. um So she climbs up the mountain and she crawls him through Max's dog door. And at first the Grinch is like not into it. He's trying to scare her and like scream at her and make crazy noises and like shoo her away. But like nothing scares this little girl. She is just like, I think you need a break. Like, can you take a breather? What is this energy?
Can I just say the entire time that he was like, ah trying to scare her. My cat was sat on the couch just watching and like so enthralled in what was happening on the TV.
Oh my God, that's so cute. She's probably like, what is this? Then she ends up staying she gives him his nomination and ultimately the Grinch decides to go to the Whobilation only because there is an award in it for him. Upon arriving in Whoville, the Grinch flies like straight into Martha May's boobs. um I just needed to note that. while at the Whobilation waiting to receive his award the mayor and the town are just like forcing him to do all of these different like cheer related activities like wear a christmas sweater sit in the chair of cheer and he is getting really fed up he's like dude i just want my award and i want to go home like i don't want to be here i don't like christmas the mayor gifts him a razor and then proposes to Martha in front of him And the Grinch then is reminded that Christmas is only about gifts and that it's meaningless. And so he goes into fvck everyone mode and sticks mistletoe in his butt and shoves it in front of the entire town. He shaves the mayor's hair like right down the middle. He sets a Christmas tree on fire and causes a giant explosion and then goes back to his lair.
He then decides that because Christmas sucks so much. Also, I feel the need to mention that the the mayor not only proposed to Martha May Whovier, he bribed her with a new car paid for with the Whoville taxpayer dollars.
Yeah
So it was really a materialism moment. And so the Grinch is like, Christmas fvcking sucks. And the Whos fvcking suck. And so he cooks up a plan that he's going to pretend to be Santa Claus. This is the part of the book that you guys all know where he turns his dog, Max, into a reindeer. And he goes through the chimneys after Santa's left and steals the presents and decorations from all of the Whos in Whoville. Coincidentally, he ends up at the Lou Who house first, and Cindy Lou catches him but like thinks that he's Santa. So he has this brief moment of being kind and then still goes through with all of his plans. He takes all of the presents back to the top of his town, of his mountain, and everyone in Whoville wakes up and is dramatically like, invite the Grinch! Ruin Christmas! they're upset. But, Lou Lou Who says, you know what, I'm not upset because this is, it reminds us what Christmas is all about. they start singing and the Grinch hears them singing thinking that he would hear them crying and he realizes that Christmas maybe isn't about the presents and he starts rhyming and his heart starts growing three sizes
And he sheds a tear
he does
as the Grinch is coming to this realization and his heart is growing Max is barking at him because all of the presents he stole from the Whos yeah they're about to fall off of the mountainside and so the Grinch is trying to stop them but it's so heavy and he does not have the strength and then he realizes that Cindy Lou had climbed her way up the mountain and is on top of the pile of presents and he becomes superhuman, pulls them away from the cliff, lifts up the giant pile and sled above his head, and then him and Cindy Lou and Max ski the sled all with all the presents back down into town. He apologizes for stealing Christmas, Martha May gives the ring back to the mayor and says, you know Grinch, you have my heart, baby. And he hosts the Christmas dinner at his house.
And that is Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or should we say Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
The Grinch stole Christmas, yeah.
Before we get into our thoughts, we wanted to go over some of the critic and moviegoer reception and accolades.
Yeah so this movie obviously box office success we know that multiple iterations came out after it so like this wouldn't happen if it wasn't very well received but from a moviegoer and critics review point it actually was heavily criticized because of the dark humor and the tone of the movie Like, people were like, oh, Jim Carrey's performance was phenomenal. And they loved the live action style and everything like that, but really had hard things to say about the humor and tone.
Yeah, it has about a 49% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics, I believe.
Mm hmm.
And a big part of the criticism was the adult nature of a lot of the jokes.
Yep. It did, though, spend four weeks as the top film in the US, the highest grossing film of 2000 domestically and the sixth highest grossing film worldwide in 2000. It is the second highest grossing holiday film of all time, besides for the 2018 Grinch, which has since topped both of these movies.
But can you guess what the film that grossed more than the 2000 Grinch?
Home Alone.
Mm-hmm.
It's not a guess. I saw that you wrote this and I didn't look it up, but I had read it the night before.
Ugh!
And so I was in the shower earlier thinking like, was it, it wasn't a Christmas story. It was a live action. And then I got to it. It was Home Alone, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, it was home alone. This is why you're not supposed to read the wikis. That's my job.
I thought, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to read it. I just wasn't the one taking notes.
Just kidding. Yeah, you're allowed to. It won Academy Award for Best Makeup in Hairstyling as well as nominations for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design. Jim Carrey got a nomination for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Also, I added this here because I didn't know where else to add it and we have to talk about it is Jim Carrey is kind of known, not just in this film, but also in this film for being an asshole on set. Carrey's makeup artist Kazuhiro actually left the production and only returned when Carrey agreed to control his temper. but a lot of this carrey blames on the Grinch prosthetics, making him feel, and this is a quote, like he was buried alive.
especially the first the first time he had to get into it, the test was like eight and a half hours. After that, it was two and a half hours every day, but they said his temper was so bad that after two weeks of filming, they had about three days worth of footage.
Yeah. They had to hire a consultant to train him in methods of enduring torture, which, like, I knew some of this lore. I didn't realize it stemmed this far. I was like, that's crazy.
Yeah, they hired someone from the CIA who trains agents to like withstand torture. But I also think it's funny that like what I read in the interview that Carrey gave talking about this is that it was mostly just like methods to distract your brain. And he was like, put on TV, put on music, smoke whenever you can. And so mostly it resulted in him like aggressively chain smoking the whole time that he was in the makeup chair while listening to the Bee Gees.
I mean, it's a method.
And also Ron Howard spent a day during the production in the full Grinch setup to like empathize with Carrey and also extend it as a gesture.
In addition to all of this and the other accolades we talked about above, it is one of the most played TV movies ever. It still plays every single year. And so, it yeah, it's just very well known. It's a household movie because it is played on TV so often. Grinchmas also is a thing at Universal Studios in both Hollywood and Orlando and has been a thing since the movie came out in 2000.
I also feel like Universal just knows how beloved it is and oh man they bank so much on that. We had to rent this damn movie from YouTube.
Yeah.
It should be on Peacock or Max or somewhere and I swear this is one of my movies I watch every year and like almost every single year come a month before Christmas. We are recording this more than a month before Christmas. I thought we would be fine but come a month before Christmas you cannot find this anywhere without paying
Yeah
because they know that you will pay and we did.
We did. And I think actually both of us ended up paying for it.
We did because I didn't watch it until after your rental expired.
Yep.
But I paid for it with my own because I knew that you had already paid.
Yeah, yeah. Getting into our actual favorite moments and things we must talk about. As Amanda said, this is a movie she watches every year. I honestly don't think I've seen this movie all the way through. Like maybe it's been in the background of something, but even then I can't confidently say that. I don't think I saw this movie in a decade. Like I have not seen it in a long time. And I just did not connect the dots that this entire movie is direct commentary on capitalism and consumerism involved in Christmas. And I love that. Like, I'd feel stupid for not realizing that, but watching it, I was like, Oh my God, that is what this movie is. Like, I just didn't know. I knew, but I didn't know.
Yeah. And that's not just this movie. It's the Grinch in general
Yeah
is about consumerism. And that was part of my, um, the Wiki spiral last night was reading about the different political and societal commentary through various Dr. Seuss books. Like he has ones on like the arms race
Mmmm
that are children's books
Yeah
that are a commentary on the arms race. Like he just involved themes a lot in his stories.
I also found it, so I i ah loved this, like coming to this realization. I was like, wait, this loves makes me love this film even more um and want makes me want to put it in my normal rotation. I don't know why I haven't been. But I found it funny, the like, other side of this is that right like this movie and the Grinch story is direct comment like commentary on consumerism however it now contributes heavily to consumerism of Christmas like here I am contributing to that with my Grinch onesie that I purchased that is branded the Grinch like
Which is something that the widow of Dr. Seuss heard as a critique or criticism when she was alive and creating more of this merchandising. I found it interesting to note that she apparently early on in like the late 90s said that she would not do cereal deals. She didn't want to see their characters on chex boxes. But then one of the big parts of the promotion of this movie in 2000 was actually a Kellogg's deal where like the Grinch would show up on different boxes of cereal. But when criticized about how an anti-consumerism story was contributing so heavily to consumerism, she is quoted as saying that that is a paradox to end all paradoxes.
Okay.
Which is just kind of funny to me.
Yeah, it's kind of like a non-answer, like I'm gonna, you know?
Uh-huh. But also she donated heavily to a lot of organizations, so I don't care.
Yeah, yeah.
I don't always love Jim Carrey. I'm kind of neutral on him. like there's I love The Mask. I don't love Ace Ventura. He's not someone I seek out, but I feel like this role was like made for him. When I watch this movie, I just think about what a phenomenal job he did.
literally, yeah, it was made for him. I just can't imagine any anyone else and knowing like how long it took to be put in the prosthetics and how much he actually hated it and still how good of a job he did.
Yeah, and I think part of why I'm like mixed on him is that he overacts so much in his comedy. His comedy is very big
yeah
but you need that kind of comedy for a character like this. And then on top of that, with all those prosthetics, I was thinking about, imagine how much like muscle control your face needs to emote through the prosthetics.
And it's quite physical comedy, a lot of it, because the Grinch is this big character and he really has to be huge. That like, yeah, the level of just like discomfort that Jim Carrey had to be in to still then deliver such a good job is very impressive.
It is. This watch through is also the first time that I've really contemplated Whoville. Like, do we think that there's a larger Who nation? Is there a greater political system or did they stop at mayor? Because if so, why not president? And also, do you think the Whos have Jesus or just Santa?
Because the background is that this is a town on the tip of a snowflake, right?
Well, so this is also a thing, is that Whoville shows up in two Dr. Seuss books in the Grinch, but in which the book, it's never specified where it exists. In this movie they say it's on a snowflake, but in other movies they don't say that. In Horton Hears a Who, it's also Whoville, but it's different and it exists on a speck of dust that's on like a flower.
Yeah.
but yes in general it exists on something very very tiny but they have like the mountain and stuff so there's like there's places to go
I feel like there's not a greater political system. They all feel pretty unfussed with life and happy. And I feel like this is because all they have to deal with is a mayor and just their cute little life.
Fair. I thought it was funny. This is the 1000th Whobilation. So I was like, what were they doing over a thousand years ago? And how did this snowflake exist for so long?
Yeah, yeah, truly.
There is this part in the film where Betty wants the best Christmas lights in town, but she's competing with Martha May, who's outdone herself on Christmas lights this year. She has like a giant Christmas light dispensing gun, which she very like sexily like leans over and shoots the Christmas lights onto the house. And also I'm like, is Betty, does Betty have the hots for Martha May?
I think she does a little bit.
Yeah, she's definitely thirsting over her.
And if she's not, I am.
Yeah.
Because Martha May Whovier is canonically one of my gay awakenings. Like,
yeah
she's so hot, and every scene she's in just exudes sex.
Yeah, it does. Again, I hadn't watched this movie in so long. A lot of this felt like I was watching it for the first time, even though I wasn't. And I was like, holy crap, this woman is so incredibly hot. Who gave her permission and why is this in a children's movie?
Yeah, for me, it's the final look when she's in the robe and she slides down the giant sack of presents and is like, oh, I'm like, oh, Martha. But also when he face plants into her cleavage or when she, she delivers the muscles, like, it's just everything about her. She is horny and she is like hormone inducing, like, uh,
Yeah, yeah, truly. I have a lot of questions about the logistical functioning of this sewer pipe that runs uphill and downhill to take the Grinch to and from his home. I don't understand how it works.
Whoville magic is my logic. I don't think I don't I don't know that gravity is a big concern. I also almost wrote this as a note about how does this work.
But they're all standing upright, like clearly there is gravity in this universe, they're not just floating.
I know from Horton Hears a Who, which by the way, I've not seen or read, but I know from all of my deep diving that because they're on a speck of dust, like when the wind blows, things like fly around, like their their world drastically changes. So one could argue maybe like when the snowflake is like moving, then the gravity is changing and he could slide down it, but that's, but like he uses it at his convenience. So I imagine there's like a pressurized sucker that's just like, vacuuming. Um, also I just almost wrote this down as a note and then thought, I don't need to know. But you need to know.
Oh, I did. I didn't need to know.
Do you have a preferred theory?
I like the vacuum theory. I was thinking that there had to be some sort of like, yeah, anti gravity function or something happening that is allowing him to like, all the way to home.
he does press a button so maybe that triggers the vacuum.
Oh, yeah. Mm hmm.
I just thought man this tunnel should be way more disgusting than it is. It looked way too clean.
Yeah, it's pretty like plain and clean, but then on either end, when he pops out, it's pretty gross. And I'm like, well, if it's gross on either end, it would be gross inside the tunnel. But if there's this vacuum function, maybe everything just is continually flowing through the tunnel. Nothing gets stuck.
I was thinking slimy stuff like food waste
Ew yeah like sticky
should be coating it.
It probably smells like sour milk. I don't i' like the thought of this tunnel anymore. There's this part where Jim Carrey as the Grinch crunches on a glass bottle and there is like chunks of glass coming out of his mouth. And I was like, what is this? Like, what did they make it out of? Guys, it's really boring. It's just breakaway resin. And I guess that's a common trick. Like I know breakaway risks resin, because in high school I was in a show where we used breakaway resin, but to like break glass, like a vase falling to the floor not for someone to eat of course you can't swallow it but i was like that's boring i wanted it to be i don't know they made some sort of like food safe glass yeah
I like that we had two different ideas about this scene because you are wondering how they practically did it. And my question was, when did he start eating glass? Because surely he was raised eating normal food. But then we get the flashback shortly after that scene, where as a tiny baby, he eats the Santa plate.
yeah
And I went, no, nevermind. Don't need to bring it up. He has been eating crap like that his whole life.
Yep, he has, he has.
In that scene where he's eating the bottles is the echo scene, which is just one of my favorite scenes of this movie.
Yes.
It's so funny. It's so well done when he's like, I have all the company I need.
Yeah.
And so he shouts so that his voice echoes in the cave and then it's like repeating everything he says until he says, I'm an idiot," and then echoes back, you're an idiot. And then he's like, I'm just going to whisper so that by the time that my voice reverberates off the, blah, blah, blah, I won't be able to hear it. And then it just shouts back, you're an idiot. And it was just, that was one of the, like, I think best child friendly humor moments.
totally Yes, totally. all of the scenes truly where the Grinch is alone in his lair are really funny.
Yes, the physical comedy, the set design, all of it. He really put his all into it. I have to say, Where Are You Christmas is a good song and the people can fight me, okay? It's the song that Cindy Lou Who sings.
Do people think it's bad?
Yes.
Oh
I don't remember if it was nominated for a Golden Raspberry. I think it might have been. And I think it was also nominated for another similar award that's like the worst of film.
Hmm. I didn't think, I don't know if it's one of my favorite Christmas songs. Like I'm not trying to listen to it all the time, but I'm not offended by it. I think it's cute.
I think it's kind of a grounding heart of the movie
Yeah
where everything else is comedic. And no, it's not a song you want to listen to, but I think it's good for the movie. I like that Taylor Momsen clearly has a little bit of vocal ability, but had not been trained at all. She's just a little girl singing a song. And when I was a little girl watching the movie, I wanted to sing along.
Yeah, yeah, true.
So I want to fight the critics from 2000. They're probably mostly dead.
I mean, that wasn't that long ago, but sure. They're at least old and retired. I love that in the flashback scenes, Martha has had the hots for the Grinch from the beginning. And I love the idea that this elementary aged school girl was like, that green little freak, I want a piece of that. Like, it is just hilarious to me that like, Of everyone in that class, which are seemingly like normal kids, she was like, hmm, the green one. That's that's who I want.
I thought it was hilarious, but I also thought it was kind of strange that then as adults, she so quickly is like, I want the Grinch, but like you haven't known him since you guys were 12. But like Whoville logic, so it's like the sewer system, I just kind of glance over it.
Mm-hmm.
But I do like that she's a freak from the beginning. I'm really surprised that I don't recall anyone commenting on the fact that he was raised by lesbians. I remember as a kid like that detail, but my homophobic parents didn't say anything and this came out in 2000 and i I didn't see it in any of the cursory like criticisms of the film, so it was kind of surprising to me.
I feel like it's one of those things where we got like, I'm not gonna say a lot, but we did get a lot of this, or some of this representation in early media like this, where it wasn't addressed. And because it was never addressed directly. They didn't refer to them as his moms. They never refer to the relationship status. You just see these two women who live together who are raising this little green baby. And so yes, they are lesbians, but like it's never directly addressed. So I feel like that was the type of representation that was allowed in 2000.
I agree and I think also because it's a fantasy movie and they raised a monster, it's acceptable. They're referred to once I think and it's as your old biddies.
Mm.
by the mayor, ah which I heard for the first time in this watch through, there was like also a moment that felt a little bit like commentary on LGBTQ rights in our society when the mayor and Cindy Lou are literally quoting the Who handbook to each other where he's like, it says this. And she's like, but it also says this felt like when Christians are like fighting each other about what the Bible says.
Ohh! Yeah!
Yeah, so sometimes this felt like an allegory for us, um which is fine, but my favorite fact about the lesbians is that in the flashback when they're like, we were hosting our annual Christmas party. you have There's ah a moment where you see them telling everyone to put their keys in a jar, and I was like, not them hosting a swingers party?
I didn't even connect that. Is keys in a jar like a swingers party thing?
Yeah, everyone would traditionally in like the 60s and 70s when swingers parties were popular, everyone would put their car keys in to a jar and then whoever keys you pull out, that's who you're going home with.
Oh my god. I didn't even know that that was a thing. That is hilarious.
I know, like that's just one of the many things that I'm like, how is this in this movie? But also I guess you as an adult didn't catch that. So we as kids definitely weren't catching that.
No
So that's truly, someone wrote that in for themselves.
Something that I loved from the makeup standpoint, which helps you know like the whos are not here like humans like me and you, and you know that because some of them have like, funky nose, the heavy use of blush, things like that. But something that every single who had was the eyelashes where the pieces on the outside are super, super, super long and exaggerated. And it makes them all look cartoon-like, which I just thought was a very beautiful way to bring a book to life and illustrations to life because it made you and made it look like you were looking at cartoons.
Yeah, and I think in the animation, they look more rodent-like than human-like, and then obviously in this, they're gonna look more human-like, but using the eyelashes and the noses the way that they protrude
Yeah up
they have those like rodent-like features.
Yeah.
And two big teeth, they all have two giant front teeth.
yeah
I thought that it was really well done, and I liked that they didn't shy away from making the men look feminine.
Yeah, me too. There is a point and towards the end of the movie. where Cindy Lou has a literal plate with milk and cookies in her hair, like as part of her hairdo, there is a plate with milk and cookies in it.
Yeah, and the mug is see through and there's milk in the glass and it moves as she moves and her mom's wearing the same one and it's crazy but I love it.
Yeah, yeah, I was like, this is, I had to rewind it. I was like, is there a plate in her hair? I was like,
Yeah, and then her dad's wearing a sweater that has plates all over it.
Yeah, so cute.
speaking of like the physical props and stuff, do we think that the giant cymbal monkey that the Grinch sticks his head in was made custom for this movie? Because I can't imagine finding one to source.
Oh, absolutely. They did not purchase that. They had to hire people to make it.
And what a commitment to the bit that they were like, for these three seconds, he's going to have his head smashed by a cymbal monkey that needs to be large enough to do that while he's in his prosthetics that make him like over six feet. So we have to custom make one that probably cost over $10,000.
Yeah, and hire people to do it. And but here's the thing, I'm sure the artists that got hired to do that were like, this is great. This is the job that I want.
That's true. Practical effects keep lots of people employed.
Yeah. Something that really stood out to me, like even when we were just rereading the summary to you guys and when I was rewatching it, Cindy Lou Who might be the bravest child. She just crawls through that dog door into the Grinch's house and that girl has no fear.
Or does she have no regard for life?
Well, I think part of having no fear, if you don't have fear, you also kind of have no regard for life.
Fair, fair. She is very brave and she takes nothing seriously.
No.
And the whole time that she was at the Grinch's, I was thinking, do her parents know she's here? Because at this point, she's nominated him for a holiday cheermeister and the whole town agreed because mob mentality. And so someone had to deliver the news to him. Did they just let her go alone? Or, or like what?
Yeah, I don't know.
Recklessness.
Well, also, like, the package machine is like spitting out packages. Everyone's getting the wrong package. Everyone's mail is out of order. And Lou isn't like, Oh, let me go figure out why this isn't working. This is my job. He freaking sends his daughter to the back. So I feel like Her parents don't really care.
That's true, they're a little off their rockers.
Yeah. One of my favorite scenes is where the Grinch can't decide what to wear. So he decides, OK, I'm going to go to this Whobilation. I'm going to receive this award. But he cannot decide what to wear. And it's just it's funny to see Jim Carrey in this giant green suit trying on different things. I mean, I can't do that. And it's just like also very relatable because sometimes it's like that's how I feel trying on things
But what will I wear is one of the most iconic line deliveries from this film. And I think that scene and the echo scene are two of the most memorable ones for sure.
Yeah.
yeah And what he ends up wearing is like lederhosen
That he steals off a yodeler that was on the mountain.
Yeah.
For some reason, and I don't know why this is, I really like in the climax when he steals the little car, when he's trying to get away from the Whobilation and there's the big explosion, he steals a little, little car from very, very tiny Whos and sticks his butt on it and drives it around. And I don't know why I love this, but I do know that I knew it was coming and I was waiting the whole time to write it down.
yeah
I was like, did I miss this? No, it's coming. No, I still like this. I'm not convinced that it's any faster than it would be if he ran, but I also appreciate his commitment to laziness.
Yeah. He was like, I can't run. I must steal this. Also his just commitment to chaos. He's like, I could just run away or I could steal this car and like cause more chaos.
Yes. And the tiny car with the big explosion.
Mmhmm.
I also really like the scene where he directs Max. I think it's charming when he's like, your name's Rudolph and everyone's making fun of you for having a red nose and action. And then Max hits the nose off and he's like, brilliant. You reject the nose because it marks consumerism and blah, blah, blah. I thought that it was really funny. And I also learned that that scene was included as Carrey, like mimicking the way that Ron Howard would direct.
Mm hmm.
which Ron Howard found charming. He liked the scene as well.
Yeah, yeah, and it was technically like some of that was done like after the take, but they still included it in like Jim Carrey just kept riffing and going on and they still Ron Howard chose to include it in because he liked it.
Yeah. I am also convinced as of watching it this time that the Grinch is really just an inventor.
What is he inventing exactly?
I mean, he makes the angel for the top of the tree for Martha May
Oh he does
and then he makes the sleigh.
Mmm
He's really taking trash and repurposing everything and just making sh1t all the time. He's just misunderstood. He's like those engineers that can't communicate with humans.
Yeah.
the adult humor in this movie is so much. Like I knew it was a lot growing up, but I, it's as an adult, it's even more, it's so funny. the face planting and the boobs. I mean, that one is huge. The swingers party. There's like, were you as you, cause I knew it was there. You hadn't seen it for a long time. Were you taken aback by it at all?
No, I knew that that was the humor of the film. But it's a lot to think that I'm like, okay, I definitely watched this movie when it came out. And some of this is like not appropriate humor for kids. But it's that fine line, which is beautiful. And one of the reasons I love this podcast is like rewatching stuff as adults Amanda and I pick up on so much more that like when you're watching it as a kid, you're not picking up on a lot of these moments that as an adult, you're like, whoa, that's inappropriate. But as a kid, you're just focused on like, haha, the Grinch is so silly. You look at his dog um and as an adult, you're like, he really flew into that woman's tits like.
Yeah, I think good family-friendly entertainment people think is child-friendly, but I think what it really is is like all ages like Especially in the 2000s, people wanted to make kids stuff that adults would also enjoy watching.
Yes.
And this is one of those things. I do think this crosses the line a little bit more than a lot of the stuff that we watched
Yeah
but I thought it was really funny watching through. Part of why I was like also looking into Cat in the Hat trivia is because my parents didn't let me watch the live action Cat in the Hat, which came out after this because Mike Myers played the Cat in the Hat and he was only known for Austin Powers. And they were like, that's going to be like filthy adult humor. Like it's not going to be appropriate. But my parents love this movie and have never had a problem with me watching it. I'm like I, granted I've never seen the cat in the hat all the way through but I'm not convinced that it's that much worse than this because this one is pretty filthy.
Yeah. I feel like that's just them coming in with pre-judgment and like that they didn't have with this film. So that's why they were like, ah, it's okay.
I was convinced watching this time that everyone in this movie is a twink. Every single person is a twink.
I started with Lou's kids walking up that mountain a couple of twinks. um And the mayor is a theater kid through and through
yes
every line delivery like When he's like, oh. He didn't show what did I tell you blah blah blah and then on Christmas morning when they wake up and he goes What did I say invite the grinch destroy Christmas and it's just like Calm down take a Xanax, but also I love the I love the dramatics
yeah he's like so extra and so over the top but in a way that is believable for this world like they really make you believe that in this world this character does exist even though if you were to pull the mayor and out and put him somewhere else you'd be like that guy is too much like the overacting is too much the dramatics are too much it's too much theater But in this film, you're like, haha, he's a little chaotic and he's very, very dramatic, but you kind of love it.
And he is considered one of the more macho figures of Whoville, I think is the less realistic part, but also makes it great.
yeah, yeah, totally.
And on our final things that we love, I did, yes, we mentioned that Cindy Lou's parents are probably not particularly um involved in her safety, but I wanted to give a little shout out to Mr. Lou Lou Who, who I know I did not know had the middle name Lou until this moment, but I do think he's a pretty good dad. As far as this movie goes, he supports his kids. In the beginning, when his teenage sons walk up Mount Crumpet and are getting in trouble for it, for talking about the Grinch, he immediately is like, nah, don't listen to them. They don't know what they're talking about. Shushes them. Lies to the mayor without second guessing. And then in the morning of Christmas, he's the one that is like, I'm glad Cindy Lou did this because she taught us about the meaning of Christmas, you know? And I do believe that a postal worker would be the moral backbone of this story.
Yeah
And of society
yeah, yeah, he is a really, really like loyal dad in the way that it's like, even if his kids are like getting into trouble or people aren't liking the things that they're doing, he like doesn't immediately bend to that. He like always tries to see it from their perspective and speak up for them, which is like really, really awesome to see.
Yeah, I kind of like that that figure in this movie is the dad and all we get of Betty Lou is that she's obsessed with beating Martha May in her light contest to the point where she steals a traffic light. Like I like that the mother is just off doing her silly little light show and the dad is the supportive parent figure.
Yeah
Gonna get into things that we don't love as much.
Why is this a common depiction for babies to show up in an umbrella just floating down the earth?
My interpretation is that it comes from the stork myth, which then I went in, you know, like birds bringing babies, this felt like an extension of that.
Yeah.
Which then I fell into a little wiki hole of that and that comes from mythology, Greek mythology, but then became like solidified in German and Norwegian mythology.
Okay, ok okay, that makes sense. Because I'm like, we see it in Dumbo, we see it here, we see it in other places too. And I'm like, ah this is just strange that it's recurring, but it makes sense that it's rooted in mythology. And then that's why it's kind of like continued into children's media.
Yeah, I mean, i I don't know that the umbrellas are, or if they are very different than the stork, then someone let me know. But I interpreted it as an extension of the stork myth.
Yeah, yeah. The other thing I wrote is that the baby Grinch was terrifying and I didn't like when he spoke.
That must have been like an animatronic doll, right?
You think it was a doll?
I don't think they would have legally been allowed to put all those prosthetics on a child that young.
But someone had to do the voice acting.
Yeah, I do think someone did the voice acting, but I think that the physical was probably a doll, right?
Okay, I still stand by that's a terrifying doll and I would not want it in my house.
I love it. I think it's cute.
Oh, no, no, no.
I like creepy little stuff.
No, me too, but no.
Santa
I don't like, and I didn't even realize until watching it, but there are scenes at the end during the Whobilation where the Grinch is being force fed to feed a bunch of stuff, ah to eat a bunch of stuff over and over again. And I don't know what about it, but it really triggered me. I almost had a fast forward. It made me really uncomfortable to watch.
Wow It doesn't make me uncomfortable, but watching it, I've always thought, well, I would hate to be the holiday cheermeister too. Like this would suck. I would be so sick.
Yeah, also like why is this an award you're winning? You guys are forcing them to do terrible things.
Yeah, it's not great. I like when he gets like angry about it and he starts being like, yeah, I just put it in my mouth.
Here's the thing the acting is great, but the moment still made me uncomfortable. I was like, I don't love that I'm being forced to watch this.
Or when they're like, this is not pudding. And he's like, what is it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There are also moments towards the end when the Grinch is like really upset and he steals Christmas, where he throws Max out into the snow and it's like full on animal abuse and I hated it. I was like, Max has done nothing but been loyal to you. He alerts you when things have gone wrong. He's always by your side. Why are you being a little dick to your companion?
Making Max, like, carry the sled has always been a bit of animal abuse, and I'm not saying he's a great dog owner, but I will say what surprised me about this scene in particular where he throws him into the snow aggressively is that he immediately goes and gets him and pulls him out. Like, he's not leaving him in the snow to find his way back.
Yeah, that's true. i But the fact that he threw him into the snow was enough for me. I was like, the Grinch, I hate you now.
And here you are in his hoodie.
Yep.
My only kind of negative about this is I feel like the last third of the movie drags, and I don't know if that's just because it's the part of the story that we know the most like The story of the Grinch that Stole Christmas is the actual part where he's pretending to be Santa and stealing the presents. I feel like the first two thirds, like zip, zap, zoom, fly by, I'm thoroughly entertained by the last third. I paused the movie and was falling down this Wiki rabbit hole for so long that my TV screensaver came on. And
Oh my god
yeah, I don't know what it is. It just starts to feel like a long movie. And I, to the point where I thought this was like a two hour movie and then I looked it up and it's only a hundred minutes.
It didn't drag for me, but I also don't like watch it as frequently. So maybe that's one of the reasons, but I agree that the first half of the movie flies by and the second half just feels like normal movie length. Like it didn't, but the first half I was like, Oh my God, I'm already an hour into this movie. Like how?
I think maybe because the first half is like so zany and then the the the latter half is like the moral heart of the story to where once it gets more serious, it loses me a little.
Yeah, fair, fair. All right, getting into a few fun facts, Anthony Hopkins recorded the entire narration for the film in one day.
Wow, and he did a great job. like I didn't know that was him, but I was thinking about how great the narrator was for it while I was watching.
yeah a great job and i'm like hopefully they didn't pay him a daily rate and it was just a set rate also another fun fact six dogs were used to play max but the main dog was named kelly who was a rescue by someone on production That's impressive that they use six dogs because he's a mutt and you would have to find six mutts that look like the same dog in like a pretty specific kind of mutt way.
Yeah, I feel like he's just kind of like a fluffy long eared mutt. Like, it's probably pretty easy to find dogs that look similar.
yeah but also not as easy as it would be to just get like six black labs you know like if you were getting like a breed it'd be easier to know like these dogs are all the same but he's like a wiry terrier looking thing
Yeah
but all brown no spots.
Yeah, I agree. He is pretty unique looking, but in terms of mutts, I feel like you could find him. But yeah, you're not wrong to find six that are willing to go and film probably was not easy.
He looks like a dog you would find in the trash.
yeah Yes
To be unkind about it.
it's my favorite type of dog.
Yeah, me too.
What you probably read this on the wiki. What do you think the grinch costume was made of?
She doesn't like when I do research. It's made of yak hair.
Yeah, it is.
I don't remember what the actual, I think it's like rubber or something. I don't remember what the suit is exactly, but I,
Spandex.
Uh, yeah, that makes sense. And then the hair is yak hair that's been dyed green, which I was kind of surprised it was yak because watching it, it looked so like synthetic, so ugly.
Yeah, but I think that's kind of the point.
Yeah. I know that when he was chain smoking while he was getting put in the costume, he had an extra long cigarette holder so that it wouldn't light the hair on fire.
Oh really?
Yeah, he had to use like an extra long specialty one so that the flame was far enough away from the hair.
That's funny.
I thought it was interesting that like the way that we talked about Audrey Geisel, and Dr. Seuss's widow was so heavily involved in this, not just the bidding, but the production of it. She did have like final vetoes over moments in the script. And there are two notable things that she vetoed, one being a family called the Whosteins, who have a menorah and Santa doesn't come visit them. AKA the Jewish whos. She vetoed that. And also a taxidermy cat in the hat that was supposed to be on the wall of the cave that the Grinch lives in. I don't know, I thought it was interesting to me that she vetoed those things and also apparently some potty humor that people described as like literally being like toilet jokes, and not the rest of the adult stuff. It makes me think about what Dr. Seuss may have liked and what she thought his legacy was appropriate for. Like, maybe the critics don't like this adult humor, but she didn't think that it was that off from what it should look like.
yeah, I think that like, right? It's like she was so picky in choosing who could do this, that like she was only gonna choose people who she thought could do a good job. So that probably helped narrow down like the few things she did have to put her foot down and be like, no, you're not putting a taxidermy cat in the hat here.
I will say she didn't like Mike Myers for Cat in the Hat.
Interesting.
She is quoted as saying, I've never seen Austin Powers, but I knew, yeah, baby. And I didn't want, yeah, baby. And she stopped licensing any live action rights after the poor critical reception of Cat in the Hat. It did even worse than this one did. And so she was like, she put a stop to all live actions for Dr. Seuss. And that's why it's only been animated since. And that one did also have adult humor, but then she was fine with it with this one, I guess.
Yeah, interesting.
It like makes me want to pick their brains of like, what did these people think?
Yeah, yeah, it's very interesting. All right, getting into quotes. At the beginning of the movie, when the Grinch decides to go down into Whoville for the first time, he goes, I guess I could use some social interaction.
I wonder how many times he goes into Whoville and pranks them.
Yeah.
When we see the babies coming down in the umbrellas, we get this little side of two Whos that we are extras. We don't know who they are. And a man goes, honey, our baby's here. He looks just like your boss.
Yeah. That's funny.
That adult humor.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is when Cindy Lou is interviewing Martha May about the Grinch. And she goes, did I have a crush on the Grinch? And then she laughs incredibly awkwardly. And was like, no, of course not. And Cindy Lou's like, I didn't ask you that.
I really like before Cindy Lou nominates the Grinch to be Holiday Cheermeister, she tells her dad, dad, I've been thinking about the Whobilation and I may do something drastic.
Yeah.
It's just, I don't know, it felt really like dramatic, but I enjoyed it.
Yeah.
And he's like, okay, honey.
Yeah, which shows how great of a dad he is. And he's like, okay, well, thanks for warning me, but I'll support you no matter what it is. when she goes up to invite or to give the Grinch his nomination, and the Grinch is being like, so just like screaming in her face and stuff, she goes, maybe you need a timeout.
Again, fearless child.
Yeah, yeah.
A line that stuck out to me in this one that I've heard before but not processed before is during the Whobilation when the Grinch is going off about how Christmas is all just about the gifts and materialism. He's like, I want a pony so I can ride it twice, get bored, and then sell it to make glue. And that made me look up how glue is made.
Oh, no!
It is now mostly, almost entirely like Elmer's glue and stuff made from synthetics
okay
but traditionally it was made from animal collagen
Oh
which primarily came from horse hides and cow hides.
Okay.
But I was like, not this being the way that 30 year old me finds out the glue is made from animals.
Yeah, yeah. I feel like I knew that glue was not like the best to source like it's not that great like any adhesives and it makes sense that it's sourced from animals.
I also just think that's such like a smart joke then to put in
Smart
in ah in a film that's criticized for taking a lot of like cheap adult jokes. I thought that that was a smart line.
Yeah.
one of the lines that like hit me personally, I took personally as a little kid. I took personally now as a 30 year old woman is when all of the president or presents presidents all of the presents are gone on Christmas morning and the mayor's like, I told you, invite the Grinch, destroy Christmas. But no, you choose to listen to a little, not to be taken seriously, girl.
Take me seriously, you little punk!
Mmhmm. Mmhmm. The mayor is the true villain. Two of my favorite quotes at the end of the movie when the Grinch's heart starts to grow. He goes, Max, help me. I'm feeling...
Yeah, I also wrote this down and what if ain't that if that ain't me like
I mean, no, you're like, oh. And then this next line may have been my favorite line. When the Grinch is skiing down all of the presents back to Whoville, he goes, the sun is bright and the powder is bitching. I just loved it.
I wrote that line down as well because as an adult, it's not my favorite line from the film, but as a kid, that was my favorite line.
Yeah.
That was when it stuck out to me. And I'm a little surprised that it has a PG rating with that line and also all of the other jokes in here.
Yeah.
Because as a kid, I was like, if I'm quoting something, I can say a swear word.
Yep, yep.
Do you have any final thoughts, Jess?
It's great. I need to put it in my regular Christmas rotation.
I'm glad to hear that.
Do you have any final thoughts?
Yeah, fvck the critics. I think that these adults that were reviewing it were watching it thinking about what kids want and most of them probably have never had a child, have never spoken to a child, don't know what kids want or kids should have. I loved this movie when it came out and I love it now.
Yeah, it's great. It truly is great. Up next, we will be kicking off episodes in the new year, focusing on our music career series with Miss Sabrina Carpenter. So that will be fun. We have done one of these before, well, it's two different episodes, but we have done them on Demi Lovato. So if you haven't listened to those, go give them a listen to prepare for the Sabrina Carpenter ones and know what you're in for. As always, please go follow us on all of our social media, 90s Babies Nostalgia on Instagram and YouTube, spell out the word nineties. We're also on TikTok, but use the numbers there. And please rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify as it really, really helps us out. And with that one, we'll see you in the next one. Happy holidays.
Merry Grinchmas.
Bye.
Bye.
Nineties Babies Nostalgia