YMMV / How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

• Adaptation Displacement: In some countries where the book and the animated special aren't well-known and/or were never published, many viewers were introduced to the Grinch story by this movie and refer to it as "the original" when comparing it to the 2018 animated film.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The Grinch's backstory provides one: is he just naturally bad from birth, or did he become that way from how he was treated by many of the Whos?
  • Due to her Adaptational Intelligence, the scene where Santa Grinch tries to fool Cindy Lou Who takes on a different tone from the original. When she leaves with a pointed message telling "Santa" not to forget the Grinch, was it just her being kind, or was she Obfuscating Stupidity and trying to appeal to the Grinch's good side?
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: A more unconventional instance than most, but still applicable nonetheless: a good number of viewers both then and now thought the Grinch's facial expressions in the film were mostly the result of the makeup Jim Carrey wore, when in actuality he's fully capable of morphing his face to that heavy of a degree on command. One of Carrey's stand-up bits in the 90's involved him doing "facial impressions" of various celebrities, with his version of the Grinch's Evil Grin being a re-purposing of his Jack Nicholson impression; Carrey is still fully capable◊ of pulling off faces like that to this day and typically does it nowadays to amuse child fans and their parents.
• Awesome Music
  • Although some would say it's more of a Award-Baiting Guilty Pleasure, "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" and its full-length country-pop version "Where Are You Christmas?" is a touching song that has become somewhat of a modern Christmas staple.
  • For the instrumental score, you can never, ever go wrong with James Horner.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Martha May Whovier. As a new character introduced in this film, she's either an accepted addition as Grinch's Love Interest (a lot of artwork has been made that shows them off together), or she's a completely pointless character that adds nothing of value to such a classic Christmas story.
  • Cindy Lou Who. Some find her an adorable and sympathetic character while others find her preaching and cloying.
  • The Whos in general. Some liked that they were flawed, had differing personalities, and had to grow alongside The Grinch to learn Christmas isn't all about materialism while others felt making them materialistic missed the point of the story and also thought the Whos were too unlikeable to the point they were rooting for The Grinch.
• Broken Base: The Grinch's backstory. Some thought the backstory made him a more sympathetic character while others either felt The Grinch didn't need a backstory, the backstory grinds the movie to a halt and barely relates to the plot, and/or the backstory was too cliche and uninteresting.
• Can't Un-Hear It: For millennials and (to a much lesser extent) early Gen Zers, Jim Carrey's voice is the Grinch in their minds.
• Catharsis Factor: After seeing the Grinch be ruthlessly tormented by the Whos, him thrashing the entire festival — including his revenge on Maywho with the razor — is nothing short of rewarding. His "The Reason You Suck" Speech towards the Whos' selfishness and hypocrisy also deserves a mention.
• Crazy Is Cool: This version of Grinch is characterized as very over the top individual, constantly Chewing the Scenery, so it's natural that this trope could apply to him.
• Critical Backlash: From the half of the audience who likes it. It's not considered among the greatest Christmas films of all time, and the Adaptation Expansion and more negative approach to the Whos are controversial, but for fans it's not a bad film adaptation of the book and mostly maintains the spirit of it. And not to mention, it's far better than the following film based on a Dr. Seuss book. It helps that Ron Howard defended the film as more variations on a theme than a straight adaptation.
• Critic-Proof: This was the #1 film in North America five weeks in a row upon release, and became the highest grossing film of 2000 domestically ($260 million) and remains the highest-grossing live-action Christmas movie since Home Alone. But critical response was sharply divided (52% on Rotten Tomatoes and 46/100 on Metacritic).
• Cult Classic: Since the film's release and especially after The Cat in the Hat and later the 2018 Animated Adaptation The Grinch, there are those who think of this film as a live-action Christmas classic. Jim Carrey's performance and the effective makeup and messages are the particular strengths for them. Quoting this movie is a time-honored social media tradition for those who enjoyed it as children.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: The Grinch's Moms. Though the movie outright never says they're a couple it strongly implies it and, while the movie is hardly the most progressive and daring portrayal of LGBTQ characters in family entertainment, the fact that they are portrayed as positive, loving, and friendly parents makes many appreciate how it's not only one of the few portrayals of queer characters in a kids movie at its time but also one of the few positive portrayals.
• Fanon:
  • A popular fan theory posits that Max was a Christmas puppy someone threw away like all the other garbage the Grinch rants about in his "Reason You Suck" Speech. This would explain his Undying Loyalty, with even his Servile Snarker moments being interpreted as simply how friends who knew other for a long time treat each other.
  • Grinch's "Loathe entirely!" when reading the book of Whos alphabetically is directed specifically at his hatred for the mayor, Augustus May-Who, given that he was Grinch's bully during their childhood. It fits when you consider that Augustus' name would come up early in the book alphabetically.
• Fetish Retardant: Martha's provocative outfits and flirtatious voice were clearly intended as a Christmas present for all the dads in the audience, but combining Christine Baranski's sex appeal with Seussian costume designs and Who makeup just forces you to acknowledge that a hypersexual character exists in a Dr. Seuss story, and the implications alone just leaves too many people disgusted to find her sexy.
• First Installment Wins: Compared to its Spiritual Successor The Cat in the Hat, it at least tries to be suitable for all ages and doesn't lose focus on its plot. Even its harshest critics will agree it was better than the adaptation that followed, if only for Jim Carrey's performance.
• Franchise Original Sin: Despite its missteps in tone, it still keeps the spirit of the original story for the most part. The infamous The Cat in the Hat film that followed it, however, forgot all of the stuff that worked and instead focused on amplifying everything about The Grinch movie that was bad. The generous examples of Parental Bonus and demographically inappropriate humour that ultimately destroy Cat in the Hat were counterbalanced in The Grinch with things that were true to the original story and mostly-justifiable instances of Adaptation Expansion, and the creepy look of the Whos ultimately had nothing on Thing 1 and Thing 2. As well, Jim Carrey's performance as the Grinch is funny, touching, and consistent in its characterization compared to Mike Myers's lazy see-what-sticks approach to the Cat (and that's not even taking the far inferior makeup into account).
• Genius Bonus: In Horton Hears a Who!, first published three years before the original Grinch book, Whoville is established as being inside a dust speck. In this movie, it's inside a snowflake, but this is consistent since snowflakes form around dust specks in real life; being inside an ice crystal is just what makes it winter there.

• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • After Jeffrey Tambor's sexual harassment allegations in the late-2010s, Mayor May-Who's rather creepy fixation on Martha feels a lot grosser.
  • At one point in the film, The Grinch sets the Christmas Tree in Whoville on fire. 21 years later, the Fox News Christmas Tree in New York was set on fire by a homeless man.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • A character who runs away to a snowy mountain as a result of being different from their peers, who ends up creating an impressive lair within that mountain, and eventually defrosts thanks to a brave girl determined to make them open up. Are we talking about the Grinch, or are we talking about Elsa?
  • At the end of the film, when the Grinch realizes that Whoville's love of Christmas isn't merely superficial, he begins to weep and states "I'm leaking..." Eighteen years later, near the end of the pre-release hype cycle for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a supposed Content Leak (which was later revealed to have been an elaborate fake, that nonetheless correctly guessed two of the characters on the roster with DLC added) surfaced, and it featured a promotional image of a newer version of the Grinch on the side. You're a leaker, Mister Grinch.
  • The Grinch even beat Shrek in being a green colored creature to use a Smash Mouth song.
  • While climbing the mountain, Dru and Stu describe the Grinch as a horrible monster that kills those who come across him. Come 2022 and a movie comes out featuring an expy of the Grinch doing exactly that.
  • Augustus, played by Jeffrey Tambor, constantly hits on Martha, played by Christine Baranski. While that's Harsher in Hindsight knowing Tambor's real life behavior it is kind of funny to see the two go from would be lovers to enemies in Trolls 16 years later (which funnily enough also had Justin Timberlake who, alongside NSYNC, provided a song for this movie).
• Jerkass Woobie: The Grinch due to his new backstory. He was a borderline sociopath as a kid until one Christmas he put all his heart into embracing the holiday and being good... and wound up traumatized and an outcast in the end. Then at the Whobilation, he starts getting into the holiday again... until the Mayor yanks his chain and reinforces his previous cynical view of it.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: While the Grinch is still the antagonist of the story, he is considered to be much nicer than Mayor Augustus. He bullied the Grinch when they were kids, and even years later, he still sees the Grinch as an outcast. When the Grinch was invited to partake in the Cheermeister Celebration, he was genuinely having a good time. He could have turned over a new leaf right there and then if Augustus hadn't reminded him of the worst day of the Grinch's life and publicly proposed to Martha May just to pour salt in the wound.
• Just Here for Godzilla
  • Jim Carrey constantly Chewing the Scenery is one of the most remembered things about this movie. Even professional critics and/or non-fans of Carrey will admit that, regardless of their thoughts on his performance, his casting as the Grinch was perfect.
  • Fans of retro-vaudevillian performer Bill Irwin mainly watch this movie to see his performance as Lou Lou Who, as it's one of his only starring roles in a major motion picture.
  • Others watch it for a young Taylor Momsen.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Many people have commented on how Mayor Maywho bears a rather disturbing resemblance◊ to former US presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
  • "This is not pudding."
  • "BRILLIANT!"
  • "Almost lost my cool there."^* Often paired with a Disproportionate Retribution.
  • "Help me! I'm... feeling!"^* Aside from the in-universe context, it's commonly used as a Tsundere way to admit the user has romantic feelings for someone.
  • The entire scene of the Grinch reading aloud his schedule in order to justify not leaving his lair briefly reached memetic status in 2020 as various countries began enforcing national lockdowns.
  • "Baby Grinch" has quickly caught gained memetic statues near the end of the 2010s decade due to his uncanny design◊. It's become a popular reaction image on Tumblr and 4chan during the Christmas season.
  • "I guess I could use a little... social interaction."^Explanation This line from the Grinch is often used as a Pre-Mortem One-Liner indicating that someone is ready to commit an act of mischief.
• Misaimed Merchandising: While the film is against consumerism, there were a lot of merchandising tie-ins the year of its release, including video games, a board game, toys and otherwise.
• Misblamed: Detractors of the film's jokes aimed at adults tend to blame Jim Carrey, who is notorious for ad-libbing and adult humor, for it. It was actually Executive Meddling by the studio that was responsible for the cruder jokes. Carrey actually wanted to keep the film family-friendly.
• Moe:
  • Cindy Lou Who.
  • Young Martha May, ignoring that suggestive lollipop scene.
• Moral Event Horizon: Already expressing Fantastic Racism against the Grinch even when they were kids and being a Hate Sink as is, Mayor Maywho crosses it when he not only pushes the Grinch into rage at the festival, but then berates Cindy Lou in front of everyone after he's stolen Christmas for trying to help the Grinch too, essentially blaming a little girl for what's happened.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The amount of creepy-looking people in the film have unsettled many younger viewers over the years.
  • The Grinch’s rampage during the Whobilation could be considered this. While it’s largely played for laughs, the shot of the Grinch burning the tree is still pretty intense, and Cindy Lou’s Oh, Crap! expression probably isn’t too far off from some kids’s reactions.
  • The way the Grinch's heart growing three sizes is depicted can be rather disturbing for the same reason that it's jarringly funny. It looks for all the world like the Grinch is suffering a spontaneous and very painful heart attack!
• One-Scene Wonder: The baby Grinch is onscreen for maybe two minutes.
• Retroactive Recognition
  • Cindy Lou's actress, Taylor Momsen, would later play Jenny Humphrey, as well as become the lead singer for The Pretty Reckless.
  • Although he was still slightly well-known beforehand as Alpha 5 and Daggett, the voice on the Grinch's answering machine is provided by Richard Steven Horvitz, a year before truly achieving infamy as ZIM.
  • Did you know Christine Baranski, who portrayed Beverly Hoffstader in The Big Bang Theory, starred in this film as Martha May Whovier?
• Romantic Plot Tumor: Appropriate for a character whose first scene has her hanging up lights while wearing a provocative outfit, Martha is a textbook "sexy lamp" character who really only exists to give the Grinch and the Mayor something else to fight over. Her relationship to either man has absolutely no bearing on the plot and cutting her entirely wouldn't change it in the slightest.
• Rooting for the Empire: The Grinch was already subject to this sometimes, but this movie increased it by fleshing out his backstory and giving him a Freudian Excuse, along with making the Whos all seem rather shallow and greedy and just plain stupid by comparison.
• Signature Scene: A lot of the scenes that revolve around Jim Carrey on his own Chewing the Scenery as the Grinch are some of the most timeless moments that people fondly look back on. Some of these classic Carrey-Grinch scenes include him stating his hate to everyone listed in the Whoville telephone book, arguing with his own echo, and reading through his daily schedule.
• So Okay, It's Average: Is the film as outstanding as the Chuck Jones special? No. But is it better than the live-action The Cat in the Hat movie? Yes. At the end of the day, it's pretty much just an average Dr. Seuss adaptation that, despite its flaws, has nothing special to offer.
• Special Effects Failure: The film boasts some pretty impressive practical effects and outright stunning makeup, the latter being enough to earn the Best Makeup Oscar, and still look impressive today. The CGI and greenscreen effects, however, are firmly of their time, especially the CGI Santa in the Grinch's binoculars or the ending scene of him skiing down Mt. Crumpit (it's also very easy to see when the scene cuts from greenscreen to a live set).
• Squick
  • At one point, the Grinch gleefully tricks the sleeping mayor into rimming Max. No, really.
  • How about the fact that the Grinch really does have termites in his smile?
  • Grinch eating rotten fruits, glass bottles and other kind of garbage.
  • Grinch heating a hot nail by sticking it in his mouth.
• Strawman Has a Point:
  • The Grinch's anti-Christmas rant in Whoville is not entirely without merit, given how materialistic and mean the Whos have been treating him over the years, and how they seem to be all too willing to Yank the Dog's Chain. Even Cindy Lou Who echoes his complaints about the Whos placing too much emphasis on gifts; it's just that the Grinch's complaints feel far more justified, given his backstory treating him like a Jerkass Woobie. The Grinch's plan would have succeeded if it hadn't been for Lou Lou Who standing up for his daughter and reminding the people that they still have each other on Christmas.
  • Mayor Augustus' insistence than the Grinch not be allowed to attend the Christmas festivities is framed as his personal vendetta against him, but he has good reason to keep him away from the town. Even if they didn't know it, earlier in the film we saw the Grinch go around town vandalizing personal property, giving weapons to kids, messing up people's mail deliveries, and generally delighting in terrorizing the Whos. True, Augustus is directly responsible for sparking the Grinch's Christmas Eve rampage, but the Grinch was a powder keg of rage and destruction that was just waiting to go off, and the mayor is in full rights to be concerned about inviting a volatile troublemaker like him to the centennial of their biggest celebration of the year.
• Ugly Cute: Baby Grinch, and how!
• Values Dissonance
  • Young Martha's flirtatiousness, especially her first shot where she's dreamily licking a lollypop, was pushing the envelope but not considered too offensive for the movie-going public of 2000, who were used to seeing much more explicit jailbait imagery in Britney Spears videos. In the social media age, when it's become much easier for people to point to the evidence of how harmful even the most gently implied sexualization of minors can be to underage people, it feels much more inappropriate.
  • The Grinch calling Max a "sicko" for assuming that his "kilt" (read: tablecloth worn around his waist) is a dress. Nowadays, just assuming that isn't seen as sick at all.
• Values Resonance: With the increased consumerism regarding Christmas since 2000, the film's message about gifts really aged well.
• Vindicated by History: While nobody is about to call this film a masterpiece, opinions of it have softened into more of a Guilty Pleasure, especially when held up next to the far less popular adaptation of The Cat in the Hat, which cranked the inappropriate jokes up to eleven and had much poorer casting choices (criticize Jim Carrey all you want, but he's a much better choice for The Grinch than Mike Myers was for The Cat). In the wake of the animated version from 2018, which was criticized for trying so hard to be inoffensive that it wound up being insufferably dull, others have given this one credit for at least doing a distinct variation on its source material, whether or not it always worked.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: One thing the viewers can unanimously agree on with this movie is how spot on the make-up for the Grinch is. They managed to make Jim Carrey look exactly like the Grinch without the slightest restriction to his wide array of facial expressions, a feat that could not have been easy; to give an idea of how much free range Carrey's facial muscles had, his version of the Grinch's iconic Evil Grin is entirely him being able to pull that off on command. No wonder this film won the Academy Award for Best Makeup in 2000.
• The Woobie: Cindy. She's completely missing out on what Christmas truly is and nobody listens to her at all. It gets to the point that, when she cheers up the Grinch by sending him to the Cheermister and Mayor May-Who's cruel joke on the Grinch causes the Grinch to destroy the entire place, she is blamed instead of May-Who.
  Cindy: (heartbroken) I just wanted everyone to be together for Christmas.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: The teen and adult Whos; their doglike facial features and lack of visible lips makes for copious amounts of Unintentional Uncanny Valley, especially next to the kids, who look like normal humans with only slight modifications (Cindy Lou Who's large front teeth, for instance).

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