Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

SlyGuy21 This is what most people think of when Christmas specials come to mind. There's just something about how simple the story is, how great the animation is, and how perfect the message is. For me, Christmas has never been about celebrating the birth of Jesus, and it hasn't been about presents either, Christmas has always been about spending time with people you love. The gifts are nice, but at the end of the day, family is the most important thing, and Dr. Seuss knew this. The movie doesn't have a religious agenda, or a capitalist agenda, the message is that Christmas is about celebrating what we have and loving who we have with us. The songs are classic, the animation still holds up, the message is great, and it's all wrapped up in half an hour, what's better than that?

Adam Foidart If you haven't seen "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" you can't really fathom what you have been missing. It's the perfect message about what Christmas is really about, compacted into an efficient 26 minutes, filled with iconic moments and unforgettable songs. It's the story of The Grinch, a green who-knows-what that lives North of Who-Ville, and absolutely hates Christmas. On one particular Christmas Eve, he has a wonderful awful Idea; he's going to steal Christmas away from the pesky Whos down in Who-Ville! When I say that the songs in this film are unforgettable, I really mean it. This is an instance where the movie (if you can call this special a movie) is just as good, if not better than the book because of the sounds. Not only do we have the awesome narration of Mr. Boris Karloff throughout the story, but the songs in this film are so good they have become permanently ingrained in pop culture. You can't listen to the radio or go to an office party in December without hearing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and I'd bet you the Whos' celebration song is a lot of people's favorites too. They're are so good that even though they are not found anywhere in any book by Theodor Seuss Geisel a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, director Ron Howard felt obligated to include them in his live-action adaptation of the story. He knew that these tunes are so beloved that people would have vandalized the theater if the iconic melodies had been absent from his film.Aside from the music, the film has many other wonderful, sly additions to the original source material. That one image of the Grinch coming up with his wonderful awful idea and grinning from ear-to-ear in malice, or the animation of him actually slinking around and grabbing all of the presents, decorations and stockings are truly special. It's an added bonus that the film does not run on very long because you will want to include it in your roster of Christmas specials every year, if only so you can get a glimpse of that termite-infested smile. On a more personal note, I find that the ending of the film is particularly heart warming. If you think I'm giving away the film's ending, that's not the case because it ends in a way that you would not expect. It promotes the very best ideals of Christmas in a way that does not feel ham-fisted or clichéd.I only have one criticism. It's that you can tell, at several points throughout the film, that the animation budget isn't nearly as high as it should be. I know budgets are really big limitations, but when you see sacks of toys flying in the air two or three times, and the image isn't even mirrored or anything, it feels kind of lazy. This is going to sound like blasphemy, but hear me out. The book this is based on is only about 55 pages long, the illustrations in it are only 2 colors (black and red) and they have remained the same ever since the story was first published in 1957. This special has been running on television for 48 years. People will buy the DVD, or even the Blu-ray of this film for full price, even though they can catch it for free on cable annually. This property is worth millions. Isn't there, or wasn't there maybe some way someone can, or could have gone back to the original director Chuck Jones and thrown a bunch of money at him to maybe touch up some of the scenes that were missing and had to be filled in with recycled footage? It's just a thought, some would even call it a nitpick. I think it's a legitimate point to be made, that for the wonderful quality of the narration, the songs and the story, even for the animation overall, there are some sequences where you can tell that some corners were cut. That doesn't really detract from my overall enjoyment of the film, but if you had no idea what this movie was about or you had never seen it before, I feel like I would have to warn you about this portion of the overall package."How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is absolutely wonderful. It's a true Christmas classic, one that everyone can enjoy (The tall and the small) even if they have seen it time and time again. It's part of my annual line-up leading up to Christmas and I can't honestly ever see a year where I won't be eagerly anticipating seeing it again. (On Blu-ray, December 13, 2014)

Hot 888 Mama " . . . it came without packages, boxes, or bags." This is the Christmas of which every parent dreams. What mom or dad wouldn't want a household full of compliant Who kids that barely notice a difference between a home overflowing with Christmas paraphernalia, and one which looks like it's been stripped by the eviction men? What sort of spoils this picture of total Christmas simplicity and bliss is that the Grinch immediately plunges Whoville back into its same old grind of Christmas decorations, Christmas feasts, Christmas presents, and Christmas roast beasts. This 53-year-old Grinch's heart has just grown "ten sizes plus two," which sounds a lot like early-onset congestive heart failure to me. On top of that, he may be suffering from Alzheimer's. Why else would he expect his pet lap dog Max to be able to pull a semi-trailer's load of Christmas trappings? Furthermore, we never learn if Cindy Lou Who's parents were brought up on child neglect charges. But when a two-year-old has the run of the house during a late-night home invasion, heads should roll.

AaronCapenBanner Classic animated special adapted from the Dr. Seuss story that has the voice talents of Boris Karloff, who both narrates and voices the Grinch, a miserable creature who lives in a mountaintop cave with his dog Max, who gets the awful idea to ruin the Christmas of the neighboring Who's of Whoville, whose singing he cannot stand. He dresses as Santa Claus to steal their presents, but is later shocked by how they respond on Christmas morning... Wonderful special is both heartwarming and funny, with Karloff the perfect choice here. Filled with charm and memorable songs, it's nearly perfect. A perennial holiday favorite not to be missed.