How The Grinch’s Third Act Won Me Over

I was told to not bother to see The Grinch in theaters, as I had friends who did not enjoy it. When I watched it a year later, for the most part I found it rather standard. I might have thought of it as just passable along the lines of Illumination’s non-Despicable Me work such as Sing or The Secret Life of Pets (the first one that is). However, I was really surprised by the third act, turning my view of the movie around, not only by the cleverness of the assorted gadgets, but by the absolute awkwardness that came with the Grinch’s heart growing three sizes. I have not sat down and watched the live-action version because from everything I’ve seen and heard, it looks horrendous.

Before going into more detail, I should first describe my theories on adapting very short material, which is something I’ve put a lot of thought into since I’m working on similar-type screenplays myself. I think there are two ways to expand a short story to feature length - filler and twisted. The filler method essentially stretches out the plot to feature length, adding some details and changing some things, but overall keeping the same story. Examples of these include The Polar Express and classic Disney Animated films such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. The other method, twisted, makes major deviations in the basic plot. Examples of this include Tangled and Frozen. The Grinch falls under the filler category, despite the several changes that were made. Usually the best filler ones make some small changes to fit the extended plot. Cindy Lou Who also gets her own arc unlike the original (again, I haven’t seen the live-action version, but with everything I’ve seen of it, she should have recognized the Grinch being disguised as Santa). This subplot and the Grinch’s backstory do a good job of tying into the themes of the film, as well as those of Christmas. Another subplot includes Fred, whose role is essentially just a setup for the payoff of him helping save the day.

I’ve heard complaints that the Grinch isn’t mean enough. I don’t hate this choice for several reasons. While if Benedict Cumberbatch had used his normal voice, it would have made for a menacing Grinch, I’ve actually grown to like this version. As a feature length adaptation, it’s simply a supplement to the original, not a replacement, so I don’t mind him being portrayed a little differently with his own interpretation. While his arc is less severe than the original, I did find him a more sympathetic character and more relatable than the original. We all know people who consider Christmas more along the lines of annoyance, but doesn’t make them despicable people. And making the Whos less overly obnoxious is an interesting choice because it means the Grinch has been misinterpreting the holiday all along. It also makes his arc almost a little less fantastical and less sudden. Granted, this Grinch didn’t need the heart size detail because it felt organic even if it wasn’t there. I think it was something they had to add because it was from the original, but it was superfluous, similar to how I think that Jafar’s snake staff should have been left out of the Aladdin reboot because he had enough street smarts to work his way up to his position without the use of magic.

I found Cindy Lou’s wish more impactful than her encounter with the Grinch in the original because it shakes the Grinch’s beliefs to the core. The Grinch only knows the materialism associated with Christmas, which makes Cindy’s wish all the more shocking to him. In the original, Cindy Lou makes no impression on him at the time and he just goes about his business of stealing (again, I haven’t seen the live action version and don’t want to so much that I’m unwilling to do so for research for this). Sure she acts as a foil to him, they don’t really form a relationship. In the recent film, she comments about closing her eyes and feeling happy, which leads straight into the Grinch’s redemption.

I heard they do the same thing in the live-action, but I like the fact that the Whos take a moment to process the mass theft before they start singing because that’s a more natural reaction. I also appreciate how Cindy feels guilty about the situation because she thinks it’s her fault. It was an interesting touch that this time, The Grinch doesn’t try to listen to their responses. It’s a different type of selfishness where his motive was not to hurt them, but rather he’s stealing everything to suit his own wants. When he does, I like how he focuses on her when he looks through the spyglass and does what she recommended. I like it better that his heart grows and then he tries to save the sleigh, instead of the other way around as in the original. In some ways, I felt the heart growing, rather than simply being shown it. It also shows the Grinch feeling something deeper about Christmas than simply having a thoughtful epiphany.

When he returns the things to Whoville was when the film really surprised me, as he confesses what he did, apologizes directly to Cindy (a nice touch) and then leaves in shame. I immediately was reminded of the Alistar Sim version of A Christmas Carol, the best version, in my opinion, or at the very least, the best performance of Scrooge. When he goes to his nephew’s dinner, there is an strong sense of complete awkwardness as he asks for forgiveness while not everyone is initially accepting. I felt the same vibe with in The Grinch starting with this scene up til the ending. It makes sense, since the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is very similar, with a lowly, mean soul discovering the truth about Christmas and becoming more pleasant in the process. The film acknowledges this even more by giving him a similar backstory to Scrooge, being alone at Christmas year after year (I liked that a flashback to this was his inciting incident for deciding to steal Christmas). I actually like that the Grinch just goes home, assuming that he won’t be accepted and that he’ll remain alone even with his change of heart. I appreciate that he starts with just little changes, giving Max a present while also acknowledging that it might grow to annoy him very quickly, showing that he’s still got some of his personality despite his heart growth.

I loved the easy forgiveness that Cindy shows the Grinch by inviting him to dinner and, based on her mother’s response, it was presumably Cindy’s idea. Again, the awkwardness continues as the Grinch tries to fit in and then does a toast showing his full repentance. The welcoming attitude of the Whos is lovely, and the fact that the Grinch is starting to accept it is refreshingly realistic. The film also has a great “epilogue” of sorts, similar to A Christmas Carol, in the credits, with the Grinch using his gadgets to fulfill Cindy’s wish and help her mother, similar to Scrooge helping Tiny Tim. In fact, the epilogue demonstrates how accepting the Whos are, and that the Grinch just had to accept them also to end his loneliness.

It’s not a perfect movie by any means. It does have its usual Illumination trademarks, such as the pop music and Pharrell Williams as the narrator, which doesn’t quite work for the source material. And yes, in terms of telling the story of a bad guy who really isn’t the worst whose heart is melted by a little girl, they did do it better with Despicable Me, another movie I hadn’t expected much from initially. But I enjoy The Grinch anyway. It does have a nice redemption story not only similar to Scrooge, but one that reminds me of Edmund and Eustace from The Chronicles of Narnia. I also appreciate that, unlike the original, this version actually mentions Christ. The original has always bugged my mother because they just say that Christmas means a “little bit more” when from a religious perspective, it means a lot more. In addition, the fact that the lyrics of the song they sing in the original sounds Hindu makes me appreciate that Illumination actually include hymns that mention Christ’s birth. Not that every Christmas special has to mention it, but it is a nice touch. Overall, it’s an enjoyable film that was really elevated by its third act.

Reference Videos:

https://youtu.be/MPpT7Mxy7CA?t=1568

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ZFhjNYXCg