History WesternAnimation / HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas

* BassoProfundo: Abundant in "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", sung by none other than Creator/ThurlRavenscroft.

* AnAesop: Christmas is about the people, family, and friends in your life, and ''not'' what's about what's under the tree. Also, being a Grinch will only make you miserable in the long run.

[-[[caption-width-right:350:♫ I wouldn't touch you with a...thirty-nine-and-a-half foot '''po-o-o-le'''! ♫]]-]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Who Christmas carol includes the line, "Christmas time is in our grasp / So long as we have hands to clasp." This is an early sign that the Grinch’s plan to stop Christmas by taking away the presents, food, and decorations will fail.

* BodyPocket: When The Grinch first appears, he is leaning against his cave with his hands down pockets on his body as if he was wearing a coat.

* AnAesop: Christmas is about the people, family, and friends in your life, and ''not'' what's about what's under the tree. Also, being a Grinch will only just make you miserable in the long run.

* AdaptationExpansion: The special follows the book quite closely, but because it's a cartoon, it throws in a lot of cartoonish antics that weren't present in the original book, such as the wacky sled ride down the mountain that has definite shades of a "WesternAnimation/WileECoyote Acme invention gone wrong", as well as the scene where the Grinch "gains the strength of ten Grinches plus two."

* AdaptationExpansion: The special follows the book quite closely, but because it's a cartoon, a lot of cartoonish antics are thrown in that weren't present in the original book, such as the wacky sled ride down the mountain that has definite shades of a "WesternAnimation/WileECoyote Acme invention gone wrong", as well as the scene where the Grinch "gains the strength of ten Grinches plus two."

* {{Slurpasaur}}: InUniverse, the Grinch ties a single trimmed tree branch to Max's head with string to dress the dog up as a "reindeer".

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Who Christmas carol includes the line, "Christmas time is in our grasp / So long as we have hands to clasp." This is an early sign that the Grinch’s plan to stop Christmas by taking away the presents, food, and decorations will fail.

* MatchCut: Done several times in the sequence where the Grinch talks about the Whos’ Christmas. For example, the scene dissolves from a close-up of the Grinch’s eyes to a pair of doors that some Who children go through. And in the end, Cindy Lou’s strawberry becomes one of the Grinch‘s pupils.

* DisproportionateRetribution: The Grinch's only motivation for ruining the holiday is being disturbed by the noises of the Christmas celebration. Though it's possible he's been isolated and hating this for years, decades even.

* AdaptationalUgliness: The Grinch of the books (and most other adaptations) is basically a furrier, more mischievous looking version of the Whos. Creator/ChuckJones's redesign is much more disheveled and sinister-looking – and lacks Seuss's trademark overbite – which separates him greatly from their cutesy aesthetics. He also has a habit of pulling huge [[PsychoticSmirk psychotic smirks]], which the Grinch of the book barely did.

* TheGrinch: The title character starts out despising Christmas. He is the trope namer after all.

* InsultToRocks: From ''You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch'' -- "given the choice between the two of you, I'd take the seasick crocodile!"

* {{Slurpasaur}}: The Grinch ties a single trimmed tree branch to Max's head with string to dress the dog up as a "reindeer".

* AdaptationalJerkass: The Grinch was always a bitter, grouchy character bent on ruining Christmas for the Whos in the book, but the special puts heavy emphasis on the Grinch's wickedness. He's shown to be openly abusive to his dog Max, venting his anger on his canine friend and then forcing him to help make a Santa outfit and steal Christmas decorations. His raids on the houses are shown in more detail, with vandalization added alongside theft, and he's so petty that he even takes the last crumb too small for a mouse after the book narration mentions it was the only food left in the house. Heck, the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" makes it clear that the Grinch isn't simply a grouchy old creature who happens to hate Christmas, but a CardCarryingVillain who enjoys all the cruel-hearted things said about him.