Why Is The Grinch Green And Mean? 20 Fun Trivia Facts About ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’

“How The Grinch Stole Christmas” is a Christmas story that has been read and watched by children around the world for over 50 years. The tale by Dr. Seuss, who is often hailed as the greatest children’s book author of all time, has become a staple in most houses during the holidays.

Over the years, the story has raised some questions such as why is the Grinch green, and, arguably more importantly, why is the Grinch so mean? Check out these 20 fun trivia facts about the classic Christmas story compiled from Biography, Screenrant, AP, and TV Guide.

1. Dr. Seuss’s real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel and he wasn’t a doctor.

2. “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” was published in 1957 by Random House.

3. Before Jim Carrey won the title role in the 2000 live-action film “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy were considered for the grumpy green character.

4. Although Dr. Seuss described “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as “the easiest book of my career to write,” the author actually struggled to come up with an ending for the wildly popular tale.

5. For the live-action film, the actors and extras who played Whos in Whoville had to attend Who school to learn how Whos behave.

6. Dr. Seuss was reluctant to agree to the December 1966 television adaptation on CBS. However, Chuck Jones, who directed the Warner Bros. animated adaptation, was able to convince the author to sell the rights of his book to the network.

7. The Grinch has a close resemblance to the director of the animated special.

8. In the original book, the Grinch was black and white with pink eyes.

9. In the television adaptation, Jones decided to make the Grinch green as a nod to the funny coincidences of always receiving green rental cars.

10. A CIA specialist, who trained agents to survive being tortured, was hired to help Carrey endure the intensive eight and a half makeup process for the film. The actor said he felt as if he was "being buried alive" and even considered quitting the live-action movie.

11. The Grinch’s grumpy characteristics are modeled after his creator, Dr. Seuss.

12. Dr. Seuss appeared to confirm the Grinch was based on his personality by including an Easter egg in the story. “Why, for fifty-three years I’ve put up with it now! I MUST stop this Christmas from coming! But HOW? Then he got an idea! An awful idea!” Geisel wrote in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The book was coincidentally published when the author was 53 years old.

13. Following the success of the story, Geisel began driving around his La Jolla, California, neighborhood with vanity license plates that read “GRINCH.”

14. Following his death in 1991, Geisel’s widow, Audrey, continued to use the “GRINCH” license plate to honor her late husband.

15. Boris Karloff voiced the title character in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and was the only voice actor listed in the end credits.

16. Thurl Ravenscroft sang the catchy tune, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” However, he didn’t receive credit for loaning his voice to the animated adaptation. Dr. Seuss later wrote letters to major columnists to spread the word about the man behind the song.

17. In 1977, a Halloween-themed sequel was released titled “Halloween Is Grinch Night.” This time around, the Grinch wreaked havoc on Whoville but failed to find redemption.

18. Although it isn’t as well known as the original, “Halloween Is Grinch Night” won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.

19. The original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” cost around $300,000 to make. At the time, it was 10 times the price of the average half-hour television animation.

20. Since its debut, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” has been translated into several languages.

NBC will air the original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on Friday at 8 p.m. EST.

Freeform has several scheduled airings of “Dr. Suess’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas” throughout the month of December with the first showing listed for Dec. 1 at 8:20 p.m. EST.

The 2018 animated version of “The Grinch” will air twice on FX on Dec. 6 starting at 8 p.m. EST.