The Art of Advent: Day 8
For day number eight of our Art of Advent calendar Lindsay Inglis has written an amazing piece all about one of our favourite Christmas characters…The Grinch! Lindsay explores the art behind Dr. Suess’ greenest and meanest Holiday hating creature and how he came to be - there’s more to it than you might think!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! has captured the hearts of all who read it since its publication in 1957. The Grinch’s story was a way for Dr. Seuss to remind himself that Christmas was about more than just money and presents. In the book, the Grinch exclaims, “Why, for fifty-three years I’ve put up with it now!” – the same age as Seuss while writing the book.
During an interview in 1957, Dr. Seuss explained, “I was brushing my teeth on the morning of the 26th of last December when I noted a very Grinch-ish countenance in the mirror. It was Seuss! So I wrote the story about our friend, the Grinch, to see if I could rediscover something about Christmas that obviously I’d lost.”
Seuss found it the easiest story of his career to write, aside from the conclusion to which he admitted having difficulty getting the Grinch out of the mess he creates for himself.
Seuss is known for his surrealist inspired cartoons, comprised of wacky creatures and gravity defying structures. He established his style in the 1920s and it was during this time that he began collecting antlers, which he would combine with paper mache and paint to create ‘unorthodox taxidermy.’ These creatures inspired many of his cartoons, including Max’s transformation into a reindeer.
In 1966 the book was adapted into a television special with animations by Chuck Jones, then best known for his work with Looney Toons. The voice of the Grinch was none other than Boris Karloff, known for his iconic role as The Monster in the 1931 adaptation of Frankenstein. Jones was able to match the whimsical nature of Seuss’s work and created scenes that didn’t feature in the original the book, such as the Grinch’s ride down Mount Crumpit where he and Max lose control of the sleigh, and his ride back up the mountain with the Who’s Christmas presents, decorations and feast.
