Meet The Real Grumpy Grinch!

Green, grumpy and grinchy; Dr. Seuss’s character Grinch is a sour one, who plans to spoil Christmas for an entire village. Grinch was a misfit because he was different. It made him bitter and he began avoiding people. He started living atop of a cold, dreary mountain with his dog, Max.

So, Grinch wanted everyone else to be miserable too as he could not bear their gleeful and happy holiday spirits. So, Grinch did everything in his power to spoil Christmas for all the Whos in Whoville.

Dr. Suess; The Inspiration Behind Grinch?

Dr. Suess didn’t have to look far for the inspiration behind his grumpy character. When he brought Grinch to life in his holiday classic, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, he was brushing his teeth and found his inspiration in the mirror.

Credits: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

“I was brushing my teeth on the morning of the 26th of last December when I noted a very Grinchish countenance in the mirror. It was Seuss! Something had gone wrong with Christmas, I realized, or more likely with me. So I wrote the story about my sour friend, the Grinch, to see if I could rediscover something about Christmas that obviously I’d lost.” Said Dr. Suess in an interview in 1957.

If there is still any doubt regarding whether Grinch was inspired by Dr. Suess himself or not, it can be cleared by the fact that he was seen cruising in a California neighborhood with a vanity license plate that spelled the word “GRINCH”.

The similarity between DR. Suess and his character “Grinch” is so uncanny that even his stepdaughter, Lark Dimond-Cates remarked during a speech she made in 2003 that Dr. Suess was “Grinch” on his bad days.

Who Are The “Whos”?

The “Whos” are innocent and clueless enemies of the “Grinch”. They seem to have no idea that their misfit neighbor is plotting to spoil their holiday spirits. “The Whos” kind of appear as a group and only one of them ever gets a name. In Grinch’s eyes, “The Whos” are only loud and obnoxious neighbors who don’t deserve to enjoy the holiday season.

“The Who”, who got a name

Cindy-Lou is the only “Who”, who gets a name in the story. She is a sweet, innocent little thing with wide eyes and a pink nightgown. Her encounter with “Grinch” is in fact the first time “Grinch” does an “un-grinchy” thing.

“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. …”

All of us are aware of the iconic song that went like “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch. Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk, Mr. Grinch”. But few of us are aware of the fact that the voice behind these lyrics is that of Thurl Ravenscroft, who was quite uncredited for his role in the show.

Did Chuck Jones Drew Himself as Grinch?

It is believed that Chuck Jones drew Grinch’s cartoon, very much like his own face. If you put his face next to Grinch’s, the similarity is unmistakable. Both of them have rounded chins and chubby cheeks.

Credits @theuniversalgrinch

Chuck Jones acknowledged that he somehow sneaks his own face into the characters that he draws. It seems like one of his trademarks. And if you are wondering why “Grinch” is green, it has something to do with a series of funny coincidences that Chuck Jones experienced. He always ended up with rental cars of the same shade of green as Grinch’s.

When Dr.Suess saw the drawing of the Grinch, he also remarked to Chuck Jones that “That doesn’t look like Grinch, it looks like you.” To which he responded, “Well, it happens.”

Grinch’s Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day!

Throughout the storyline, we are led to believe that Grinch has a nasty heart that will never change. For crying out loud, that’s what the title says. But we have been quite misled here, as, by the end of the story, the Grinch character does not stay nasty and mean. And the best part is that he even joins the “Whos” for Christmas dinner.

As they say in Who-ville, The Grinch’s small heart, grew three sizes that day.

Something to Learn from Grumpy Grinch