Behind the ‘Grinch’

Behind the monster who despises Christmas

Reveal the behind story through creating magic for the movie “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”, with the grumpy face character who hates Christmas to the bone! Through the background story of the character and the town of Whoville.

Christmas is usually remembered as a festival of happiness, joyful music, and giving gifts under sparkling lights. River City Bangkok would like to invite everyone to question what happiness at the end of the year, through one of the most powerful Christmas’s storytelling movies that does not begin with warm story, but instead starts from the hatred of a green grumpy character called “The Grinch”, who represents people that never feel like they are part of this happy festival at all.

‘The Grinch’ is a green, furry, big belly character from the picture book of Dr. Seuss, which later was reinterpreted through plays, television programs, and most famously adapted into the film “How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)”. This movie created magic for Christmas by questioning the true core of this festival, with the background story of the Grinch and the town of Whoville, a place full of community power and togetherness. The extreme contrast between people who celebrate Christmas with full heart and the Grinch who hate Christmas deeply becomes the starting point of a story that is not only about end-of-year celebration, but also reflect themes of acceptance, childhood memory, and space for those who were once left outside the circle of celebration.

From this iconic Christmas movie, we clearly see that the Grinch is presented as a character who is very different from the Whos. This can be seen from his appearance, with fluffy fur, green skin, and grumpy face, designed as a character who hate humans, dislike social interaction, and live alone on a cliff for 53 years far away from Whoville.

Meanwhile, ‘the Whos’ who live together as a group are more similar to humans and own strong community spirit. They live with love and harmony, making Christmas a very big event because it connects everyone in the town to celebrate together. In the original book by Dr. Seuss did not explain or show exactly the details of this hatred toward Christmas.

While in the television version “The Grinch Grinches The Cat In The Hat” in 1982, interpret the story reflects mother and child relationship, suggesting emotional abandonment in the Grinch’s childhood and the death of his mother as an important trigger that made him unable to adapt well to society or see the world positively during important moments of his life.

Which is different from the film version “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” in 2000 starring to Jim Carrey, which clearly builds the Grinch’s childhood background, showing how he was bullied because of his differences. Emotional wounds from being forgotten on Christmas, together with bullying from physical appearance, shaped his negative view of Christmas and led him to plan stealing Christmas from the people of Whoville.

In the movie, it is clear that the Grinch holds resentment toward Christmas and the Whos due to childhood bullying, especially from “Augustus MayWho”, who later becomes the mayor of Whoville. On the night of Christmas, Grinch plans with his loyal dog ‘Max’ to steal all Christmas gifts from the Whos!

The important thing is that the movie does not only expose the Grinch’s “evil” from difference. Looking deeper, his actions come from painful experiences during childhood experiences. He steals Christmas to make everyone feel the pain as he is carried, caused by being labeled as different and how bad by society labelling. The movie reveals in the end that when the gifts are gone, the bond between the Whos does not disappear.

“When everything was taken away, the Whos sang. 

And that was when Christmas finally began”

Welcome Christmas – Danny Elfman

The Grinch was mentioned as having ‘a heart two sizes too small’ is a reason why it is filled with hatred. But after the song “Welcome Christmas” sung by the Whos on the night all the gifts were gone, his heart grew three sizes. He realizes that Christmas in Whoville does not depend on the gifts he stole, but about the love and connection people in the town share. More importantly, he was warmly welcomed when he returned the gifts, as if he became a part of the Whoville family.

Christmas may not be only a festival of giving, but it also about accepting the differences. During the celebration season, River City Bangkok please invites everyone to reflect on your truly happiness. It  may not be about what we receive, but about the space we open for each other. Like the story of the Grinch shows us that Christmas can complete when no one is left outside the circle of the ‘Welcome Christmas’ song.