The Show
While I don't remember the 1966 premiere, and I wouldn't actually see it in color until years later, CBS' annual airing of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! was something of a tradition for me... until Ted Turner snatched it up and made it a cable TV exclusive. Maybe that's why I've made it a point to own every DVD edition, and now I'm counting the days until Thanksgiving so I can start watching it with my kids. Yet again. They like the slapstick humor and Max, the doe-eyed pup, while I empathize with the joyless Grinch, resenting the revelry of the holidays as it echoes up toward his cave every December 25th.
Cursed with a heart two sizes too small, The Grinch is immune to the spirit of Christmas, and so he hatches a plot to ruin it for all the Whos down in Whoville. But his epiphany at the top of Mt. Crumpit not only changes "the king of sinful sots" forever, it has become the stuff of holiday movie legend, and it still gets me every time.
The Picture
The 1.37:1 image is consistently clear and crisp, with a decidedly bolder palette than the also newly re-released Horton Hears a Who! The high-def master captures any random smudges and variations between the cels, but very little "dirt" per se, so all we're seeing is what the animators really intended. In fact, at 1080p on my 50-inch Samsung display, some of the wider shots now reveal character details I never noticed before.
The Sound
The Grinch makes a point of complaining about the noise of Christmas, but we'll have to take his word for it as this is a restrained Dolby Digital 2.0 mix. There were some great surround opportunities, as when the circle of Whos sing their celebratory song, but for whatever reason Warner decided to leave well enough alone. I just wish that the audio was closer to the stepped-up brilliance of the video.
The Extras
"Dr. Seuss and the Grinch: From Whoville to Hollywood" is a 2006 retrospective about the book, cartoon, and creator Theodore Geisel (16 minutes), while "Songs in the Key of Grinch" gives us eight minutes with composer Albert Hague and singer Thurl Ravenscroft. "TNT's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Special Edition" (19 minutes) is a thorough overview of the enduring Grinch phenomenon, all the more fun as hosted by the late, great Phil Hartman. All of these are indicated as HD, but they appear to be merely upconverted from SD. Phil Roman, one of the original animators and eventually a major player in the industry, is joined by voice actress June Foray for the commentary track.
The "Grinch Pencil Test" and four "Who's Who in Whoville" bios (of Chuck Jones, Dr. Seuss, Boris Karloff and June Foray) are presented as still frames. "Grinch Song Selections" collects four tunes (with sound effects) over a static image of Whoville. Disc Two is a DVD containing the same content in standard definition. A Digital Copy for Windows Media only can also be found on this disc.
Final Thoughts
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! is one of those discs I don't need to think twice about. Just about everyone has a special place in his/her heart for it, and this new Blu-ray edition looks better than ever, with DVD and portable versions to boot. This one's a keeper.
Product Details
- Voice Actors: Boris Karloff, June Foray, Thurl Ravenscroft
- Director: Chuck Jones
- Audio Format/Languages: Dolby Digital 2.0 (English)
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rating: NR
- Studio: Warner
- Release Date: October 6, 2009
- Run Time: 26 minutes
- List Price: $29.99
- Extras:
- Audio commentary by Phil Roman and June Foray
- "Dr. Seuss and the Grinch: From Whoville to Hollywood"
- "Songs in the Key of Grinch"
- "TNT's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Special Edition"
- "Grinch Pencil Test"
- "Who's Who in Whoville"
- DVD Copy of the entire Deluxe Edition
- Digital Copy for Windows Media
