How the Grinch Stole Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Timing: 1:45 (105 min)

6.779/10
8220

6.847/10
212907

6.4/10
332000

All about film

Video 7

Photo 108

Actors and characters

Release date

2000-11-17

Country

Germany, United States, France

Production

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Brian Grazer Productions, LUNI Productions GmbH and Company KG

Genre

Family, Comedy, Fantasy

Budget

$123 000 000

Revenue

$345 800 000

Website

Director

Ron Howard

Actors

Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin, Molly Shannon, Clint Howard, Josh Ryan Evans, Mindy Sterling, Bryce Dallas Howard
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Todd Hallowell

Operator

Donald Peterman

Composer

James Horner

Artist

Audition

Editing

Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
All team (98)

• Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy were considered for the role of the Grinch. Christopher Lloyd was also wanted for the role, but he declined due to illness.
• Anthony Hopkins voiced and recorded all the narration in a single day.
• The production of the film required: makeup application 8000 times, 300 props, 1938 candy canes, 69 tons of marble chips used as snow, and 443 stage costumes.
• It took approximately three hours to apply Jim Carrey's makeup at the beginning of each shooting day.
• Once, the film's director, Ron Howard, arrived on set early, put on the Grinch costume, spent 3 hours in makeup, and worked the entire shooting day in that guise. Jim Carrey, seeing his 'double,' flew into a rage, mistakenly thinking the director was his own stunt double. Upon learning who was behind the makeup, Jim couldn't contain his emotions and felt immense respect for Ron.
• Jim Carrey hated the yellow contact lenses he had to wear during filming. They were so uncomfortable that some scenes had to be shot without them, and later, with the help of computer graphics, Jim's eyes were given the appropriate color.
• On December 4, 2000, Konami released a game of the same name for the Sony Playstation console.
• Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy were considered for the role of the Grinch. Christopher Lloyd was also wanted for the role of the Grinch, but he declined due to illness.
• Applying makeup to Jim Carrey each day was so agonizing that he literally had to consult with a CIA expert who teaches resistance to torture in order to get through it.
• The scene in which the Grinch (played by Jim Carrey) commands his dog named Max (whose name was Kelly off-camera) before stealing Christmas was actually an improvised mockery by the actor of the film's director and producer, Ron Howard, and his directorial style. Howard himself liked the scene so much that he decided to include it in the movie.
• The Grinch’s costume, worn by Jim Carrey, was covered in yak hair, which was sewn onto a synthetic elastic fabric and dyed green.
• In the manner of speaking of the Grinch, Jim Carrey parodied Sean Connery, the actor who played James Bond, agent 007.
• Initially, the Grinch was not green, but black and white with splashes of red and pink, but director and producer Ron Howard wanted his film, among other things, to resemble the short animated film by Chuck Jones and Ben Washam, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” (1966).
• A well-known Hollywood knitwear designer named Sass Kazins and two other knitters created 250 items of clothing for the film in four months (including 8 identical red-striped sweaters for Jim Carrey). That amounted to 83.3 sweaters per person over 120 days – and all of it was done by hand.
• Jim Carrey stated that all the improvisations he came up with on the fly in the film were suitable for the age category of the intended audience. According to the actor himself, he is ashamed that some “adult” jokes are present in the film, and he did not object to their inclusion at the time. Later, Carrey learned that Ron Howard had removed many of the even more “adult” gags himself, but was forced to leave some in due to pressure from studio management.
• During filming, Jeremy Howard (who played Drew Lou Who) shaved off his eyebrows, thereby halving the time it took to apply his makeup each day.
• After finding himself in the Grinch's makeup and costume for the first time, Jim Carrey felt extremely uncomfortable and told Ron Howard that he would not be able to play the Grinch. According to him, 'it's like being buried alive.'
• Artists from Cirque du Soleil (a Canadian entertainment company) were involved in performing the stunts in the film. In particular, they can be seen in the parade scene at the beginning of the film.
• During the making of the film, makeup artist Kazu Hiro repeatedly complained about Jim Carrey, calling the actor extremely temperamental and rude. According to Hiro, only the amount of work planned for the first three days of shooting was completed in the first two weeks, because Carrey could suddenly disappear mid-shoot, without saying or explaining anything to anyone, forcing the film work to be halted against their will. It got to the point where Hiro once left the project altogether, but Ron Howard persuaded him to return, promising that Carrey would control himself in the future. Hiro returned and completed the project, but later called the entire project the worst episode of his career in cinema, and soon retired altogether.
• A well-known Hollywood knitwear designer named Sass Kazins and two other knitters made 250 items of clothing for the film in four months (including 8 identical red-striped sweaters for Jim Carrey). That’s 83.3 sweaters per person over 120 days – and all of it by hand.