Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas parents guide

Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas Parent Guide

A live-action version of the classic tale.

Overall B

The Grinch is an ambitious attempt to translate the impossibly difficult images of Dr. Seuss' (Theodor Geisel's) popular book into a live-action movie.

Release date November 17, 2000

Violence B-
Sexual Content B+
Profanity B
Substance Use B+

Why is Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas rated PG? The MPAA rated Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas PG for some crude humor.

Run Time: 104 minutes

Parent Movie Review

The Grinch is an ambitious attempt to translate the impossibly difficult images of Dr. Seuss’ (Theodor Geisel’s) popular book into a live-action movie. But director Ron Howard, along with an army of motion picture artists (creating an enormous credit roll), were undaunted by the challenge.

Opening with all the Whos in Whoville frantically spending money to celebrate Christmas, little Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) is the only source of reason. Searching for a richer meaning to Christmas, she decides to nominate the mysterious Grinch as the Holiday Cheermeister of the annual Whobilation festival. In a community where even uttering the word Grinch can bring upon you the condemnation of Mayor May Who (Jeffrey Tambor), Cindy’s forthright declaration meets with understandable displeasure.

Determined to discover what motivates the Grinch to be so Grinchy, Cindy Lou does some investigating, providing us with a “back story” that Dr. Seuss never got around to penning. The result of a delivery mix-up, Baby Grinch ended up in Whoville where he stuck out like a green thumb. Discovering it’s not easy being green (and hairy), he headed up the mountain to live the life of a hermit (not to be confused with Kermit…).

If you can imagine Jim Carrey dressed in a lizard-green skin-tight furry suit and speaking like Sean Connery (reportedly due to the dentures he had to wear), then you’ve got a fair picture of what to expect from what is perhaps the most over-promoted movie of the year. Fortunately Geisel’s widow Audrey muzzled the majority of off-color jokes and typical Carrey bathroom humor (only a few brief moments of possibly objectionable content remain), however it appears that left the writers stuck for something to say.

Consequently this film opens fast, drags in the middle, but happily reverts to Seuss’ story for the finale and—aside from a couple of unnecessary revengeful comments from Carrey—reminds audiences that Christmas is more than presents and long movie line-ups. If the overdone wobbly camera effect (leaving me wishing the concession stand sold Gravol) and hefty prices to get your family into the theater don’t leave you too dizzy, you may find a little Seuss magic still left in this 21st century Grinch.

Directed by Ron Howard. Starring Jim Carrey, Molly Shannon. Running time: 104 minutes. Theatrical release November 17, 2000. Updated

Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas Parents' Guide

The message of the original Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas was that the real meaning of Christmas had nothing to do with commercialism. How does the marketing and promotion of this movie provide an ironic twist to the original intent?

To find out what Dr. Seuss really said about Christmas, check for the book by the same name at your local library, bookstore, or possibly your own bookshelf.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas movie is November 20, 2001. Here are some details…

Although we have not reviewed the DVD version of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), we provide the following information for your convenience.


DVD Release Information:
  • Studio: Universal
  • Theatrical release date: November 17, 2000
  • DVD release date: November 20, 2001
  • Runtime: 105 minutes
  • Production company: Universal
  • Package type: Keep case
  • Aspect ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1
  • DVD encoding: Region 1
  • Available audio tracks: English & French (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS).
DVD Extras:
  • Deleted scenes
  • Production notes
  • Out takes
  • Whoville section including Who School, Jim Carrey makeup, set decoration, visual effects.
  • Music video - Faith Hill
  • Sing-along
  • Read-along
  • Screensavers
  • Games
  • Photograph retouching
  • Recipes

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