Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

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Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1996)

Unrated

Directed by Chuck Jones & Ben Washam           Production Company MGM Television

Starring Boris Karloff, June Foray, Thurl Ravenscroft.

A grouchy creature known as the Grinch decides to take out his distaste for Christmas by stealing the holiday from the Whos down in Whoville.

Opening Thoughts

It’s Monday, December 12th, 1983, 8:29pm. Christmas is less than three weeks away. Unbeknownst to me, my mother has just outsmarted rabid crowds of desperate parents to secure me the Red Ryder BB gun of 80s Christmas gifts, a Cabbage Patch doll, and is upstairs wrapping Kaley Hattie for me to open in ecstasies of delight on Christmas morning. But currently, my brother and I are sitting on the floor of the den, probably in our footie pajamas and eating Christmas cookies. It’s unusual that we’re allowed to be watching TV this late on a school night, but since it’s our only chance to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas (until next year, that is), Mom’s made an exception.

The Peanuts gang is finishing up “oooooo-ing” around the tree, but we sit tight, because the CBS “spiral” is telling us there’s another special presentation coming up next. I start to bounce up and down in excitement as intricate snowflakes falling over sharp mountain peaks fill the screen, and the announcer’s voice tells me what I already know: “And now, ‘Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’” is on.

Debuting in 1966, How the Grinch Stole Christmas was based on the popular 1957 children’s book by Theodor “Dr Seuss” Geisel. Director Chuck Jones was already well known for his work animating Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck for Warner Brothers, and Boris Karloff, famous for bringing Frankenstein’s monster to life, gave voice to the Grinch. Altogether, they created a special SO special, it’s been aired annually on TV for almost sixty years. I’ve been a fan of the special (I pass on the 2 movies tho) and a Grinch freak for decades now, and I can’t wait to share with you what God showed me in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

SPOILERS for Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas here!

The Grinch is a green, furry creature who lives at the summit of Mount Crumpit, north of Whoville, home of the diminutive Whos. The Grinch is a cranky and bitter person, who despises the Whos and their annual Christmas celebrations. After having “put up with it for 53 years”, he finally comes up with a plan to “keep Christmas from coming.” The Grinch dresses up as Santa Claus and, with the reluctant help of his dog Max, invades Whoville and steals all the Christmas presents, decorations, and food while the Whos sleep. He plans to dump the load off a cliff, but before doing so he pauses to listen to the Who’s cries of disappointment at the loss of their Christmas. However, the Grinch is astounded to instead hear the Whos singing songs of joy on Christmas morning, even without any presents. The Grinch realizes that Christmas, “doesn’t come from a store. That Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” The Grinch repents, and returns all the presents and goods to the Whos, who invite him to their Christmas dinner as a guest of honor.

So What Did God Show Me?

-The Whos, right from the start, are shown not only to be major fans of Christmas, but that they do many (if not all) of their Christmas activities together. The Whos are a family of families whether they’re cutting down the town Christmas tree, decorating the houses, celebrating and enjoying their gifts, or just standing in a circle holding hands and singing. Togetherness and spending time with family, whether birthed or built, is such an important part of the season. If you know someone who might be facing being alone on Christmas, why not consider inviting them over to be a part of your holidays? You never know, it could open a door to fascinating stories, rich fellowship, and lasting relationships.

-I thought the description the narrator gave of the Grinch shared some interesting insight into the Grinch’s character and why he hates Christmas.

“It could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight.” Maybe the Grinch is poor and can’t afford new shoes, and seeing the excess of Who generosity and Christmas gifts has made him bitter.

“It could be that his head wasn’t screwed on just right.” Many people (myself included) during the holidays deal with stress or seasonal depression that can chip away at the joy of the season.

“But I think that the most likely reason of all, may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.” People who have been hurt in the past may try to protect themselves by closing off their hearts and not allowing themselves to feel pain or hurt. Unfortunately when this happens you don’t feel true joy or peace either, and your heart, like the Grinch’s, can shrivel from lack of exercise. After all, the heart is a muscle that will atrophy if it’s not used, just like any other!

-I thought it was interesting that the Grinch’s desire was to stop Christmas from coming. He could have tried to ignore that Christmas existed (except for all the noise, noise, noise, noise!) He could have tried to destroy Christmas by planting a bomb and blowing up everyone and everything in Whoville. He could have tried to escape Christmas by moving away. But he wanted to stop Christmas from coming, ever again. He hated the Whos, and hated their celebration of Christmas, and wanted to hurt the Whos by taking away something that they so greatly enjoyed.

I think many of us can have small Grinchy hearts about Christmas sometimes, myself included. It’s stressful. We still have presents to buy, and to wrap. Money is tight. Everyone is short tempered. You rush around trying to get everything done. It’s tiring. Sometimes I feel like if I hear Andy Williams sing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” again I’ll dig him up and punch him in the face. But I’ve been into this fantastic new book for Advent, called Winter Fire, by Ryan Whitaker Smith, (the son of famous CCM artist Michael W Smith) and it’s a collection of reflections on the Christmas works of GK Chesterton. An entry from Day Fourteen speaks of the coming of Christmas: “Christmas arrives whether we welcome it or not, whether we are prepared for it or not, whether we are ready, in spirit and in soul, to embrace it or not. If we are unready, Christmas refuses to be moved to a more convenient date on the calendar. If we are not in the right state of mind, Christmas will not wait around for us to summon the adequate cheer with which to greet it. Christmas is notoriously inconsiderate in this regard. And for this, we should be eternally grateful-for try as we might, joy does not always come naturally to us.”

Can you imagine if Christmas never came again? Thank goodness that Christmas will inexorably always come, and bring its cheer. We never have to worry about that. No matter what sort of changes society or the world at large may go through, Christmas remains the celebration of Christ’s birth, and that can never be undone or stopped. We can always, always celebrate that, every day of every year, no matter where we are, what our circumstances look like, or even how we feel. Christmas is greater!

-One of the things the Grinch hates most of all about the Whos’ Christmas is the Christmas feast. Is he jealous, I wonder? The Grinch doesn’t seem to be enjoying anything that scrumptious in his cave, maybe he’s resentful that the Whos are all invited to such a delicious dinner and he isn’t. He scorns the roast beast and the Who hash, yet at the end of the special he is occupying the seat of honor at the banquet table, proudly carving the roast beast himself. He didn’t realize that the Whos would have welcomed him to feast any time!

Did you know that there is a magnificent feast waiting for you, too? Everyone is invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb! Yes, one day we will be attending the greatest feast of all time, one with “well aged wine and fatty meats,” and God has sent out his servants to let all know they are welcome to sit in places of honor at his table. So we can celebrate every Christmas in anticipation of that meal, because just as we commemorate Christ’s first coming, we also are anticipating his second.

-I wonder what kind of family Cindy Lou Who had…were they poor? Rich? With so many Who children in one bed, it makes me think maybe her family doesn’t have a lot of money, yet her family still decorates and enjoys Christmas and the feast. Finances can be a stumbling block for many people at Christmas, but it doesn’t always have to be. You can still “welcome Christmas” in your heart no matter your financial level. Creativity can be a valuable tool in decorations, gift-giving, and even the Christmas meal! If you’re worried about these things, don’t let the “Grinch” steal the joy of the season. Connect with the Holy Spirit to see how you can get creative with Christmas!

($25 Christmas Dinner from Dollar Tree)

(50 Homemade Christmas Gifts)

(Do It Yourself Decors and Crafts on a Budget)

 

-I wonder how the Whos felt when they first woke up and saw that everything was gone. Were they sad? Surprised? Angry? I know if all my Christmas stuff had vanished overnight when I was a kid I would have been devastated. Maybe the Who kids woke up and were disappointed, but the mom and dad Whos said, “All right, this isn’t exactly what we planned, but Christmas is still Christmas, so let’s join everyone in the singing. No one can take that (our joy) away from us!” And they’d be right. Because what Christmas all boils down to is love, and hope, and joy, and peace. Those are gifts that can never be stolen, are given to us in abundance, and we can celebrate anytime.

-The Grinch doesn’t understand that “Christmas doesn’t come from a store” because that’s all he’s ever seen from his vantage point. He doesn’t understand that Christmas comes no matter what, and without ribbons, tags, boxes, or bags. The Whos’ demonstration of appreciation of what Christmas is really about spoke to the Grinch in a way he had never understood before. Their act of singing about the true meaning of the season, even after he’d taken everything away from them, was very confusing. They should be hating him, right? But instead they stand together and say, “Keep the stuff. We don’t need it. Merry Christmas!”

That attitude of not holding tightly to earthly things was exemplified perfectly in a post by Anthony DeMello I saw on a friend’s Facebook page the other day: “A monk in his travels once found a precious stone and kept it. One day he met a traveler, and when the monk opened his bag to share his provisions with him, the traveler saw the jewel and asked the monk to give it to him. The monk did so readily. The traveler departed, overjoyed with the unexpected gift of the precious stone that was enough to give him wealth and security for the rest of his life. However, a few days later he came back in search of the monk, found him, gave him back the stone, and entreated him, ‘Now give me something much more precious than this stone, valuable as it is. Give me that which enabled you to give it to me.'” The Whos had discovered that the act of giving leaves you much richer than the act of getting.

-The Whos’ love, joy, grace, and generosity speak to the Grinch so powerfully that he immediately repents and is able to receive the “true meaning” of Christmas (could this be the Holy Spirit??) and this empowers him to save the Christmas goodies and restore them all to the Whos. This scene reminded me a lot of Scrooge after he’s repented at the end of A Christmas Carol and goes around giving presents to everyone. However, part of Scrooge’s repentance was out of fear of his eventual fate, the Grinch’s repentance was in response to love and mercy.

The Grinch, having embraced joy, allows the true meaning of Christmas to enlarge his heart (even bigger than usual!) which enables him to immediately make things right. In returning the presents and goods, humbles himself to the Whos, who in turn welcome him to their table.

Are there things in your life that are keeping your heart small and away from the table? If yes, pray this Christmas that the Holy Spirit will shine through, and that you’ll find the strength of “ten Grinches, plus two” to repent and allow God to give you a new perspective. In Ezekiel 36:26 God offers to “give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Wouldn’t it be great to have a heart that “doesn’t feel quite so tight?”

Closing Thoughts

It’s been a bit of a rough December for me this year. Oh, I could blame it on one thing or the other, but it really just boils down to Christmas things I put on myself, things I feel like I “have” to do, or the holiday won’t be amazing or complete. I have to send a present to so-and-so, I have to watch this Christmas movie or special, I have to decorate Christmas cookies, I have to send Christmas cards. When it really comes down to it, I don’t “have” to do any of those things. Christmas is so much more than cookies, or presents, or even terrific TV specials like this one, and we so often forget that. The true meaning of Christmas gets lost behind all the hustle-bustle, all the “noise, noise, noise, noise!”

To quote another favorite Christmas special, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'” (Luke 2:8-14)

That’s what Christmas is all about. That first Christmas, in a Bethlehem stable, came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags. (The Wise Men didn’t even show up with gifts until a couple of years later!) The real gifts of Christmas can’t be stolen by anyone, because they are given by God. And we, in turn, can share those gifts with others in need, whether that need be financial, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual. So this crazy season, I’m going to try and lay aside any Grinchy feelings I might be harboring in a small-hearted way, and let my heart grow large and welcome Christmas! Won’t you clasp hands and sing with me??

“Welcome Christmas, while we stand, heart to heart, and hand in hand. Christmas Day is in our grasp, so long as we have hands to clasp.”

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Did the Grinch movie impact you? How are you finding ways to make Christmas less noisy? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and how I can pray for you this Christmas season!

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One Response

  1. The older I get the sadder it makes me that Christmas has become about earthly things instead of a holy time…
    I know many families that are able to keep that balance, and I’m so thankful for that! Thank you for helping us remember the true purpose of why we celebrate, Sarah!

    Reply

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