YMMV / Halloween Is Grinch Night

• Accidental Aesop: Don't climb into strangers' cars.
• Alternate Character Interpretation: Does the Grinch really have all those monsters locked up in the Paraphernalia Wagon, or is he a Master of Illusion who made Euchariah hallucinate all the things he saw after the wagon was opened? On the one hand, Euchariah is standing on top of the wagon when the Sweet-Sour Wind dies down, as if to suggest he was standing there all along, and the Grinch does seem to have some type of powers given his Size Shifting during "Grinch Night Ball"... but on the other hand, when Max is pulling the wagon back to the Grinch's cave, the latched door is bumping as though something inside is trying to get out.
• Awesome Music: The special contains a number of good atmospheric tunes, such as "I Wouldn't Go Out on a Night like This", "Max's Song", "Sour Sweet Wind", "Spooks' Song", and "Grinch Has Gone Away." Also, the instrumental orchestra music that plays during the last third of the Paraphernalia Wagon sequence.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The "Ooga Booga" number. It comes out of nowhere and doesn't do much besides confuse and annoy the three bystanders. In fact, the Grinch's laughter at the end suggests he did it for the sole purpose of amusing himself for about twenty seconds.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Yes Euchariah distracting the Grinch stopped Grinch Night this time. But the sour-sweet wind will return, and so will the Grinch—and he probably will have a plan to stop anyone from distracting him by then. (Then again, if this is the same Grinch as in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, his Character Development in that cartoon may stop him from trying to cause Grinch Night again.)
• Funny Moments:
  • The Meaningful Echo of Euchariah commenting that something looks better without his glasses and being told to put on his glasses again and face the harsh truth, especially when the exchange happens between him and the Grinch.
  • The Grinch may not be defeated until the end of the special, but he doesn't exactly run wild without consequence before either. He gets knocked into the brickle bush after trying and failing to hunt down the pink creature out of pettiness.
  • The third time Euchariah blocks the Grinch's way, he's standing in the path, cleaning his glasses as though nothing about the situation warrants particular attention.
  • Saying "Go to the euphemism", instead of what he really means, is clever wordplay, and funny. Thus there is the trope, Go to the Euphemism.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: If this is the same Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, then his vow to someday return may not be a bad thing.
• Memetic Mutation: "Put your glasses back on and face the facts!"^Explanation The Grinch telling Euchariah to put his glasses back on after he says he likes the Grinch better without them on is commonly used as a response to people who blindly look at things through a Nostalgia Filter.
• Older Than They Think: This special isn't the first time that Hans Conreid had performed a Dr. Seuss story.
• Signature Scene: The Paraphernalia Wagon sequence.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The instrumental segment of the Paraphernalia Wagon scene is similar to the climactic part of "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saëns.
• Tear Jerker: Max's song, oh boy. The fact that the Grinch at one point mocks him during it makes it even sadder.
  How many times have I said and said,
  How many times have I said in my head,
  "What am I doing here?"
  "Why am I the slave of this grinchy old crock?"
  And I say "how I wish I could turn back the clock,
  And have the fine future I had once before,
  And again be an innocent puppy once more."
  What am I doing here?
  Doesn't matter much how,
  But my dear old auntie Woofie wouldn't, I fear,
  Very much care for me now.
• The Woobie:
  • Max. Like in most stories involving the Grinch, Max is usually portrayed as far more sympathetic than his master, but in this one, he is clearly not happy being stuck with the Grinch. You just want to hug the poor thing, and you really root for him when he decides to ditch the Grinch in favor of Euchariah.
  • Also, the flower that the Grinch intentionally crushes with his wagon wheel. It weakly tries to rise up as though it were sentient — and, given the nature of Dr. Seuss, it probably is. And then the Grinch kills it just 'cause he wants to.