Line #62 WesternAnimation/HalloweenIsGrinchNight


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/halloween_is_grinch_night.jpg]]
2
3	->''"It's a wonderful night for Grinch Night!\
4	Their troubles will now commence!\
5	Oh, I wouldn't stay home on a night like this\
6	For sixty dollars and sixty cents!"'' [[note]]Due to a 363.9% inflation increase since 1977, this is equivalent to $281.15 today.[[/note]]
7
8	''Halloween Is Grinch Night'' is an animated television HalloweenSpecial and a followup to ''WesternAnimation/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''. (It isn't clear whether it's meant to be a prequel or sequel, although it presumably takes place prior to the Grinch's HeelFaceTurn in ''Christmas''.) A co-production of [[Creator/DePatieFrelengEnterprises DePatie-Freleng Enterprises]] and Creator/DrSeuss, it first aired on [[Creator/AmericanBroadcastingCompany ABC]] on October 29, 1977 and won the MediaNotes/EmmyAward for Outstanding Children's Program the following year. Hans Conried serves as both the story's {{Narrator}} and the voice of TheGrinch, in a manner similar to Creator/BorisKarloff in the earlier special. Unlike ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'', it is an original work and not based on a book.
9
10	The story takes place in and around Whoville, a town that the Grinch periodically terrorizes on a night known as "Grinch Night," which commences when a "Sour-Sweet Wind" blows and sets off a variety of animal calls that annoys the Grinch into terrorizing the Whos. As the story opens, the Sour-Sweet Wind is just beginning to blow when Euchariah, a young bespectacled Who (a resident of Whoville) with astigmatism, goes outdoors to use the outhouse (referred to as "the euphemism" in the story), and is swept away by the wind.
11
12	On the road he encounters the Grinch, along with the Grinch's dog Max, who are in the process of bringing a large wagon -- called the "Paraphernalia Wagon" -- down to Whoville. Euchariah decides to keep the Grinch from reaching Whoville by stalling him, but as the night goes on, he realizes he will have to face him and his fears head-on if he is to save Whoville from the horrors that the Grinch is going to unleash.
13
14	----
15	!!This show provides examples of:
16	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal:
17	** Featured in a couple of the songs. Also the Wuzzy Woozoo.
18	** "[[RunningGag I wouldn’t go out on a night like this]]...for [[NumberOfTheBeast sixty-six million six hundred thousand]] dollars [[OverlyLongGag and an extra sixty-six cents]]!"
19	* ArtEvolution: The Grinch maintains his colour scheme from ''How The Grinch Stole Christmas'', though otherwise his design plays much closer to that of the books.
20	* BadassBookworm: Euchariah. He can define the term of an astigmatism, and somehow stand up to the Grinch and survive all of the horrors in the Paraphernalia Wagon.
21	* BigFriendlyDog: Max fits this role in the end; on his hind legs he's as tall as Euchariah, and after freeing himself from the Grinch he runs down the hill after Euchariah and the next shot we see is him happily slurping Euchariah's face.
22	* BigOlEyebrows: The Grinch's lift clear off his face and fly around like giant bats. He's rather proud of them, and even demonstrates their flying abilities for Euchariah.
23	-->'''The Grinch:''' It's a wonderful night for eyebrows.
24	* BirdPeople: Among the nightmarish creatures in the Grinch's wagon include a group of towering, penguin-like humanoids, which are among the first set of monsters we see in it in fact.
25	* BringIt: Before The Grinch unleashes everything in the Paraphernalia Wagon, Euchariah basically tells him this:
26	-->'''Euchariah:''' Do your worst! Bring out your spooks! Shoot the works! ''I will not flinch!''
27	* ChekhovsGun: That piece of wood that got knocked off the tree stump where the Grinch crashed was used by Euchariah to slide down the mountain ahead of the Grinch.
28	* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to ''WesternAnimation/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''
29	* DerangedAnimation: The entire [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeFaBvL72a8 Paraphernalia Wagon sequence]]. It is filled with [[EldritchAbomination utterly bizarre entities]] and [[MindScrew almost completely incomprehensible imagery]] thrown at every other second. It gets more and more [[SurrealHorror surreally intense]] as it climaxes.
30	* DisneyAcidSequence: Everything that happens after the Grinch opens his trap-door... well... to say none of it makes sense is an understatement.
31	* DisproportionateRetribution: The Grinch is annoyed at the various animal caterwauls -- something the Whos have ''zero'' control over -- so he takes it upon himself to go terrorize them for it. That would be enormously petty... though it's implied it's more of an excuse anyway.
32	* DogKickingExcuse: Grandpa Josiah says that the noise of the animals disturbed by the Sweet-Sour Wind riles up the Grinch, but given that the Grinch is actually disappointed when the wind dissipates, it seems likelier that terrorizing Whoville is just something he likes to do and (for whatever reason) he uses the noise as an excuse.
33	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Max earning his freedom and going back to Whoville with Euchariah, after the former having been one of the most extreme woobies ever, and the latter having had the [[{{Pun}} euphemism]] scared out of him.
34	* EatTheCamera: A pink, spectacle-wearing spook does this during the infamous MindScrew.
35	* EldritchAbomination: The Paraphernalia Wagon is filled with these types of creatures, going from somewhat comprehensible to completely incomprehensible.
36	* EnemyToAllLivingThings: The Grinch abuses his dog Max, rolls over flowers on purpose, and scares the Whos and goes after the Wuzzy Woozoo for fun. Notably, after Euchariah successfully stalls him until the wind blows out, the Woozoo and the ducks seen in the opening sequence are celebrating along with the Whos.
37	* EvilIsPetty: Among other nasty things, the Grinch runs over flowers.
38	-->'''The Grinch:''' ''[seeing one of the flowers pathetically struggling to rise back up]'' Ah, missed one.\
39	''[He backs up the Wagon, crushing the flower.]''\
40	'''The Grinch:''' Got it! ''[EvilLaugh]''
41	* EvilLaugh: This is the last thing the Grinch leaves us with.
42	* FailedASpotCheck:
43	** Euchariah, while on Mount Crumpet, is wondering aloud, "Where ''is'' that euphemism?", despite the fact that he's no longer in his grandparents' yard.
44	** Moments later, on seeing Max, Euchariah thinks he's a stray, not noticing Max is hitched to the Grinch's Paraphernalia Wagon.
45	* {{Filler}}: The dialogue between the Whos is almost always prefaced by the narrator saying "And [x] said:", trying to fill out the time before the big climax.
46	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: Parts of the MindScrew.
47	* GoToTheEuphemism: The TropeNamer. Euchariah's attempt to go to this, against his grandfather's advice ("''No one'' goes to the Euphemism on a night like this!") is what has him meet face to face with The Grinch.
48	* GracefulLoser: Despite his scheme being botched and Max even leaving him to lug his wagon alone, the Grinch defiantly laughs his way back, knowing the Sour-Sweet Wind and Grinch Night will soon be back.
49	* GratuitousGerman: The Grinch shouts out "''Achtung!''" to Max.
50	* HappyDance: At the end, the town ducks and the Wuzzy Woozoo do a joyful jig to celebrate.
51	* HereWeGoAgain: Despite Euchariah's attempts to stop the Grinch, Grinch Night will happen again when the next Sour-Sweet Wind blows through.
52	* HoldingTheFloor: Even though Euchariah hadn't seen what's inside the Paraphernalia Wagon before, he dares the Grinch to unleash the contents on him, relying on HeroicSafeMode to ensure he occupies the Grinch while the [[InstantCooldown Sour-Sweet Wind dissipates]].
53	* HumanoidAbomination: The Paraphernalia Wagon is filled with these types of creatures as well, with some being subtly humanoid while others are only barely resemble them.
54	* {{Idiosyncrazy}}: The Grinch can only come off his mountain and do his thing if the Sour-Sweet Wind is blowing and all the creatures it riles are riled. Once the wind dies down, even ''he'' has to admit there's nothing he can do.
55	* IronicEcho:
56	** Euchariah mentions how situations looked much better without his glasses on. The person he's addressing will tell him to put the glasses back on and face the facts. The first time he does it, it's to his grandfather. The second time, Euchariah is speaking this ''to the Grinch!''
57	** In the first song, Grandpa Josiah keeps listing amounts of dollars and cents that he wouldn't venture out for on Grinch Night. Later on, the Grinch says he wouldn't stay home for an amount of dollars and cents.
58	* KnightOfCerebus: Despite how LaughablyEvil he is, the Grinch completely changes the tone of the cartoon.
59	* LastOfHisKind: The Wuzzy Woozoo the Grinch chases is apparently the only one left in Whoville.
60	-->'''Sergeant [=McPhearson=]:''' The Woozoo, at least, should have immunity! He's the only one left in our community!
61	* LuckyCharmsTitle: In place of the "o" in "Halloween" is a jack o' lantern.
62	* MasterOfIllusion: The Grinch's Paraphernalia Wagon seems to be hypnotizing Euchariah [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou and the audience]] into ''thinking'' he's in a surreal hellish landscape. This possibility is supported by the fact that at the very end of the sequence, he's seen standing on top of the wagon again.
63	* MelancholyMusicalNumber: Max's sorrowful ballad about how he regrets his life with the Grinch and longs to go back to his innocent puppyhood days, when his future was bright.
64	* MindRape: The Grinch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeFaBvL72a8 does this]] to Euchariah using the Paraphernalia Wagon during the movie's climax.
65	* MindScrew: Again, what the Grinch does to Euchariah (and the viewers). Or tries to do, anyway.
66	* MinskyPickup: Prefaces "Grinch Night Ball".
67	* MondegreenGag: The line from the round sung by the Grinch and various creatures during the MindRape sequence: "Grinch is gonna get ya, yes indeedy fa la la, ya!" The sing-along version of the special actually transcribes the "yes indeedy" part as the complete gibberish "[[EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped nitzen diff a la]]". In the subtitler's defense, these ''are'' Dr. Seuss lyrics we're dealing with here. This is noticeably averted [[https://youtu.be/MIYKNJxxapU?t=17m33s in the German dub]], which has simply "blitzi blie fa ha la".
68	* MookFaceTurn: Max ends up ditching the Grinch to go off and live with Euchariah.
69	* MrExposition:
70	** Grandpa Josiah's opening song gives a good summary of why the Sour-Sweet Wind is so alarming to Whos.
71	** Sergeant [=McPhearson=], the local reporter who watches from his [[Franchise/TheSmurfs mushroom]] [[MissionControl observatory]].
72	* TheMusical: The special has no fewer than seven vocal tunes, some with several measures, and ''very'' few instances of repeating. Impressive, given its half-hour running time.
73	* NegativeContinuity: If this is a sequel to the Christmas one, then the Grinch [[AesopAmnesia went back to being evil]]. If it's a prequel, then Max went back to serving the Grinch.
74	** The special ''WesternAnimation/TheGrinchGrinchesTheCatInTheHat'' seems to suggest that the Grinch goes back to being evil on a regular basis.
75	** It also shows that that Grinch is a member of an entire species, most of whom are profoundly unpleasant people. So they could be different Grinches, each called "the" Grinch because there are no other Grinches in the area.
76	* {{Nephewism}}: It's {{implied\|Trope}} that Max was raised by his Aunt Woofie, because he and the Grinch mention her and not Max's parents when talking about the time when he was a puppy.
77	* NeverMyFault: The Grinch gets brickles stuck on him and says the Whos "brickle-ized" him. Not only were the Whos not outdoors when he crashed and got thrown into the brickle bush (because ''he'' had frightened them indoors), but also he might not have crashed if he hadn't been trying to hunt down the Wuzzy Woozoo.
78	-->'''The Grinch:''' ''[picking brickles off his rear end]'' Brickle-ize me, will they? [[DisproportionateRetribution I'll brickle-ize the entire township!]]
79	* NobodyPoops: Downplayed. The outhouse is referred to as "the euphemism" but Euchariah's reason for using it is not explicitly given.
80	* NonIndicativeName: Halloween is never even brought up, nor does any character allude to it outside the title, which is why re-releases have sometimes renamed it "[It's] Grinch Night" and the German dub is titled "An Halloween kommt der Grinch" when it was released in West Germany.
81	* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: The Whos and animals of Whoville all shack up in safety when the Sour-Sweet Wind starts blowing. A female Who even goes back for her son's doll.
82	* OurMonstersAreWeird: All the spooks in the Grinch's Paraphernalia Wagon come in many different shapes and sizes, each with their own design.
83	* PainToTheAss: While chasing the Wuzzy Woozoo, the Grinch ends up crashing into a brickle bush and gets a bunch of brickles in his britches.
84	-->'''The Grinch:''' Darn these brickles anyway! I'll be sore for a month.
85	* PictorialLetterSubstitution: The title logo has a jack o' lantern in place of the "o" in "Halloween".
86	* RaisedByGrandparents: Euchariah lives with his Grandpa Josiah and Grandma Mariah (and two younger Whos that may or may not be his siblings). His parents are never mentioned and are nowhere to be seen.
87	* RealityWarper: The Grinch has some magic power, as he was able to shrink and enlarge himself in his VillainSong.
88	* RhymesOnADime: It's a Creator/DrSeuss special, after all.
89	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The Wuzzy Woozoo, whom the Grinch torments along the trip down his mountain.
90	* RuleOfThree: It takes Euchariah three attempts to stall the Grinch before he's able to go into the Paraphernalia Wagon.
91	* SameCharacterButDifferent: The Grinch's portrayal has gone from cantankerous and unpleasant, but basically harmless, to outright sadistic.
92	* SayMyName: Euchariah leaves the house to use the "euphemism". Before he can reach it, the wind blows him partway up Mount Crumpet. Grandpa Josiah and Grandma Mariah begin shouting desperately for him.
93	-->'''Grandpa Josiah:''' Euchariah? Euchariah? Where are you, Euchariah?
94	-->'''Grandma Mariah:''' Euchariah! Euchariah! Oh, come home, Euchariah!
95	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: At the end, when Grinch orders Max to carry the Paraphernalia Wagon back up Mount Crumpet, Max takes the harness off of himself and blows a raspberry at the Grinch, before going home with Euchariah.
96	* SealedEvilInACan: All those ghouls and spirits inside the Paraphernalia Wagon that were going to be unleashed in Whoville.
97	* ShoutOut: At one point in the infamous MindRape sequence, Euchariah meets the Jibboo from the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Things You Can Think."
98	* SlasherSmile: The Grinch makes a very creepy grin during the title sequence.
99	* SpoilerOpening: The opening credits show excerpts from the Paraphernalia Wagon sequence.
100	* SurrealHorror: The Paraphernalia Wagon scene. If you need elaboration, see MindRape above.
101	* TechnicalEuphemism: Euchariah, the trope namer for GoToTheEuphemism, calls the outhouse "the euphemism" and says he needs to go there.
102	* UnusualEuphemism: The outhouse is literally called "[[LampshadeHanging the euphemism]]". Toilets were still too taboo to be seen on TV, and "euphemism" really sounds like a made-up Seuss word if you don't know that it's a real word and what it means. It's extra funny if you ''do'' know what it means.
103	* VillainRespect: The Grinch is genuinely impressed that Euchariah withstood every single horror of the Paraphernalia Wagon without going insane.
104	* VillainSong: "Grinch Night Ball".
105	* WarningSong: At the beginning of the MindRape sequence, the Grinch and various creatures can be heard singing a round:
106	-->''Euchariah, Euchariah,\
107	This is it, this is it!\
108	Grinch is gonna get ya!\
109	Grinch is gonna get ya, yes indeedy fa la la, ya!''
110	* WeWillMeetAgain:
111	-->'''The Grinch:''' That wind will be coming back someday. ''I'll'' be coming back someday. ''[EvilLaugh]''
112	* WindsOfChange: All the Whos down in Whoville notice a change in the wind when the Sour-Sweet Wind begins to blow. The wind makes the local animals go crazy and starts angering the Grinch, thus starting off Grinch Night.
113	* WouldHurtAChild: Admittedly, all the Grinch does is scare Euchariah, but this does count; he essentially takes a wagon full of pure MindRape, meant for the entirety of Whoville, and exposes Euchariah to it in undiluted form.
114	* YouDontLookLikeYou: Max is designed slightly differently here than in ''WesternAnimation/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''. Because of this, some viewers have wondered if it's even the same Max.
115	* YouShallNotPass: Euchariah tries to stop the Grinch from tormenting Whoville with his strange device, the Paraphernalia Wagon, by getting in his way before he can get down Mt. Crumpet. Although the Grinch regards him as not a threat, he eventually decides to use the abilities of the Wagon on Euchariah.

Context WesternAnimation / HalloweenIsGrinchNight