The Grinch is Dr. Seuss’s creation and Chuck Jones’s most famous television character. Seuss introduced the sour, Christmas-hating recluse in his 1957 book; in 1966 Jones directed and co-produced the half-hour animated special that gave the Grinch his movement, his expressions and, for most audiences, his color. Jones’s task was to take a few dozen illustrations and make a believable performer out of them: a villain whose slow, sneaking grin and sudden change of heart still play every December.
| Species: | A Seussian creature (the book calls him simply "the Grinch") |
|---|---|
| First appearance: | The book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957); animated debut December 18, 1966, on CBS |
| Created by: | Dr. Seuss (Theodor "Ted" Geisel); animated special directed by Chuck Jones, co-directed by Ben Washam |
| Original voice: | Boris Karloff (the Grinch and narrator); the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was sung by Thurl Ravenscroft, uncredited |
| Frequent co-stars: | Max the dog, Cindy-Lou Who |
Geisel and Jones had known each other since World War II, when both worked on the Army’s Private Snafu training cartoons. When Jones approached Seuss about adapting the Grinch, the two produced the special together: Geisel wrote the screenplay and lyrics, and Jones directed, with Ben Washam as co-director.
The book’s illustrations gave Jones the character’s shape but not his performance. Jones and his team had to decide how the Grinch walks, schemes and finally softens, while staying faithful to Seuss’s drawings and verse.
Jones admitted to a soft spot for villains, from Long John Silver and Captain Hook to his own Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian and Daffy Duck. He saw the Grinch as a deliberately simple villain whose motives need no backstory, and suggested that everyone dislikes Christmas a little. He connected the character to his own childhood frustrations with holiday gifts and thank-you letters.
The special’s Grinch is a lean, slinking figure with a crooked smile that spreads across his face as his “wonderful, awful idea” forms. The book printed him in black, white and red; the special’s green Grinch became the version most people picture.
The special has aired every holiday season since 1966 and remains one of the most-watched animated specials in television history. Boris Karloff’s performance earned a Grammy for the soundtrack recording. The character’s later screen life includes a 2000 live-action film starring Jim Carrey and a 2018 animated feature, but the Grinch most audiences picture moves the way Jones animated him.
How could anyone–how could I–not love the Grinch? I have a section of my heart reserved for villains: for Long John Silver, for Captain Hook, for the Wicked Witches of East and West (I am not prejudiced on the compass points or on wickedness). And finally, for my own tribe of miscreants: Wile E. Coyote, Marvin Martian, Daffy Duck, etc., etc… You can say that a Grinch wants to steal Christmas, and you don’t need to know anything more about him–he is just a villainous Grinch who hates Christmas. A human being cannot be that simple. If a human villain–an old man, for example–wanted to steal Christmas, we would have to go deeper into the character, to find out whether he hated Christmas because of his age, because he lived alone on a mountain, or because he loathed kids. What we do shamefully recognize, of course, is that we are all a bit like the Grinch, for we all hate Christmas a little. Or a lot. Even children hate Christmas a little. As a child you worry that your brother or sister might be given better presents, and you rarely receive all you asked for. And when it’s all over, it’s worse–there’s the dull work of dismantling the tree, and above all there is the endless thank-you letters to write. My personal problem was forgetting what anybody had given me, and I would write to my grand-mother complimenting her on knowing my size, when she had given me a jackknife. Ted Geisel had no children, and he shared the Grinch’s grumpiness about Christmas–all those kids racing around making noise.
– Chuck Jones
Every piece in our Grinch collection is certified by the Chuck Jones family. Browse originals, limited editions and prints below, or contact our art consultants with any questions.
