Pratfall-heavy take on holiday tale is fun, mostly gentle.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
Lots of pratfalls and physical comedy; characters are frequently catapulted through the air, go speeding on sleds, etc. The Grinch throws stuff at his alarm clock and destroys/decapitates a snow man. He also causes some mild destruction in Whoville. Cindy Lou traps "Santa" (really the Grinch). The Grinch eventually gets hurt (and is in peril at the top of a mountain), characters fall, an animal has to help, and a part of a mountain breaks off.
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Nothing on-screen, but there are lots of offscreen Grinch tie-ins, from apparel to toys and books.
Positive Messages
a lot
Kindness, compassion, love are true spirit of Christmas. Encourages everyone to be selfless, see the good in friendship and community. Also a message about rejecting the commercialization of Christmas and celebrating love, family, friendship instead. Shows how one person, one moment of kindness, can change even the hardest heart.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Cindy Lou loves her mom, wants her mom's life to be easier. She's kind, generous, loving. Meanwhile, Cindy's mom wants to make Christmas special for her kids. Cindy Lou's friends all team up with her to "catch" Santa so he can help. The Grinch starts out isolated and resentful but has a (literal) change of heart during the course of the story.
Educational Value
very little
Encourages kids to delve into Dr. Seuss' story, look past the commercialization of holidays, value friendship and community.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Dr. Seuss' The Grinch is an animated adaptation of the classic holiday story, featuring the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch as the legendary Christmas curmudgeon. The movie is appropriate for most younger viewers, with many more scenes of physical comedy and pratfalls than genuine peril (though there is a scene in which it looks like the Grinch will fall over a mountain -- but of course he's saved). Expect lots of falls from heights, catapulting through the air, speeding on sleds, etc. The Grinch ends up in his underwear in a brief scene, and a naked Who is seen behind a cookie that's strategically placed to obscure anything inappropriate. Like Seuss' original, this is a story about kindness, compassion, love, and generosity being the true meaning of Christmas. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
I don’t understand the few very negative reviews. My 7 year old loves this movie and watches it year around. The story is great, gives more context to the characters and allows more empathy for the Grinch. The music and voice acting was all superb. I prefer this Grinch to Jim Carey’s overacting and don’t care much for the original voice at all.
What's the Story?
Narrated by Pharrell Williams, DR. SEUSS' THE GRINCH elaborates on Dr. Seuss' classic book about the Christmas-hating Grinch (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), who lives above the merry town of Whoville. Down below, the mayor of Whoville (Angela Lansbury) has deemed that Christmas is going to be three times as big as in previous years. So the Grinch decides he's going to ruin everyone's holiday by pretending to be Santa and stealing the entire town's presents and decorations. But adorable little Cindy Lou Who (Cameron Seely), whose mother, Donna Lou (Rashida Jones), is a hard-working single mom, has a plan of her own: trap Santa and ask him for a very special gift.
This adaptation is bright, colorful, and occasionally funny, but it doesn't come close to matching the effectiveness of the short-and-sweet original. While Cumberbatch's voice isn't as resonantly deep as Boris Karloff's, his Grinch is believably grumpy, angry, and resentful of Whoville's need for a ginormous Christmas celebration. The Grinch's lovably loyal dog, Max, makes the green meanie a bit more sympathetic, as does the sad backstory that explains his motivations for hating the holiday.
But this isn't only the Grinch's story. It's also Cindy Lou's, as she attempts to convince Santa to grant her selfless wish. To accomplish her goal, there's a subplot involving a group of her friends, a kid-led caper that should appeal to younger audiences. Jones is well cast as a loving mom, and Kenan Thompson adds comic relief as a Whoville resident who misguidedly believes that the Grinch is his pal. For its enduring messages about kindness and love, it's hard to find fault in The Grinch, but it's unlikely to surpass Chuck Jones' famous animated special on the "holiday classics" list.
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