Are there really enough movies about the Grinch to even bother ranking them? Well, there’s more than one. So yes–the title isn’t just clickbait (not that I’m opposed to clickbait, of course–the Neal children must be fed!).
But there are more than you might think. So without further ado, here is the definitive list of movies about the Grinch from worst to best (or from “mid to brat”, as Google tells me the kids would say these days).
5. The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat
So the good news is, I don’t think there are any bad movies on this list (not something that can be said about most lists full of sequels, prequels, and remakes). And The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat is a great example of this–it is a fine movie. That said, I think it really only catches some of the greatness of either the Cat or the Grinch, and instead just ends up being good, when it should have been great.
4. Halloween is Grinch Night (1977)
This one, well, this one is odd. Not bad, and definitely a quality show, but since it’s not really “Christmas” driven it feels out of place on the list. Still, Halloween is Grinch Night is definitely a show to have under your belt.
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
So here’s the thing that both this movie and the next one on the list struggle with: the Grinch can not have a backstory. If there is any kind of understandable reasoning for why he hates Christmas, he becomes a sad figure in need of understanding rather than a bad figure in need of redemption. The Grinch is Grendel, and just grumpy because he’s grumpy. So why rate this above the two classic animated ones above? Two reasons: 1) this edition does capture the spirit of the original cartoon and the need of redemption for the Grinch, even with all the unnecessary extras added to the plot; and, more importantly: 2) Jim Carrey absolutely knocks this out of the park. And Anthony Hopkins is superb as well.
Where Jim Carrey’s version captures the things that made the original character Grinch great, this version captures everything else. The town, the Whos, the general setting of love of Christmas vs grumpyness, and how jarring the disconnect between those things can be. Like the 2000 version, this one makes the mistake of giving backstory to the Grinch and making him more sympathetic as a result, but even with that the deep love for the original is obvious here. And that gets a lot of credit in my book.
1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Oh come on, of course this is number one. This is the standard by which the others are judged–and found wanting. If you’ve seen nothing else on the list, go see this one.
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and teaches Political Science, Philosophy, and History in Southwest Missouri.
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