Today we will talk about the Grinch – the one who tried to steal Christmas in 2000 – played by actor and comedian Jim Carrey. This feature film was the first film adaptation of the Christmas story by the American writer Dr. Seuss (Theodor S. Geisel).
Although legal, it was in 1966 when the first (animated) film based on the work of Dr. Seuss, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was made.
5. The Grinch Was Not Originally Green
In the three existing film adaptations of The Grinch, as well as in any animated series in which he has been mentioned (The Simpsons) we see that green color that characterizes him so much. But in reality, Dr. Seuss’s original is white, black with red and pink spots. So why is the Grinch green? He first appeared in this color for the 1966 Christmas special How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the request of director Chuck Jones. That shade of green was not only chosen for creative and technical reasons but also because it reminded the filmmaker of the cars parked outside his office.
4. Featuring Jim Carrey
To turn Jim Carrey into the Grinch took the characterization team about three hours of work, and after filming, they had to spend another hour removing all the makeup. Rumor has it that the actor was so uncomfortable with the characterization that he turned to the military to teach him torture resistance techniques. The Grinch’s bodysuit was made of spandex covered with Jack’s hair and dyed green. As for the color of the eyes, at first, the actor used yellow contact lenses, but because it bothered him greatly, they had to make this modification through CGI.
3. Building The Shooting Set
The small town of Whoville was built in the backyard of Universal Studios and was decorated with 52,000 Christmas lights, 8,000 ornaments, and more than 1,900 candy canes. In addition, the set designers for the buildings were inspired by medieval, Moroccan, and Islamic architectural influences. Even if we can’t be in Whoville we can have a little piece of the movie with these Grinch Funkos.
2. Academy Winners For Best Makeup
All the effort put into the characterization of the film was rewarded with an Oscar Academy Award for Best Makeup. After the Wizard of Oz in 1939, no other film had ever had so many characters characterized on the set. In addition, both the actors and the extras who had to play the characters had to go to a choreographer to learn how to move like these characters.
1. The Key Party
Remember the beginning of the movie, don’t you? When the Grinch, as a baby, arrives in Whoville in a basket, he is outside a house. Inside you can see that they are having a party and in a glass bowl they are leaving the keys. It seems that it was a Key Party, where the men leave their car keys there, and then the women choose one of them at random to see with whom they will spend the night.
