During the holiday season, it may be a well known tradition for some to binge watch those spirited and festive holiday movies that set the mood for this special time of the year. By now, everyone has heard of How The Grinch Stole Christmas written by Dr. Seuss, which was later turned into a live action movie under the title, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Recently, a new take on the iconic book has been made into an animation that follows the story of the Grinch.

In the live action movie it begins with an introduction of Whoville and the citizens’ love for Christmas, except the Grinch. Ever since his childhood, the Grinch has hated Christmas for being bullied when he was younger for his appearance and was told that Martha May,would never go out with him by another classmate. After getting humiliated, the Grinch swears to hate Christmas and runs away to Mount Crumpit. As time passes and the Grinch goes back to Whoville for the Whobilation and soon gets humiliated by Mayor Maywho, causing the Grinch to go on a rampage, promising to ruin the Christmas spirit for the civilians of Whoville. The Grinch comes up with a plan to steal their Christmas with the help from Max. After stealing Christmas from The Who’s, the Grinch decides to dump all of the stolen gifts from the top of Mount Crumpit. He hears singing coming from Whoville, making him confused as he realizes that the gifts people received didn’t define Christmas as much as he had thought. After concluding that he had made a mistake, he decided that the right thing to do was to return the gifts back to the people of Whoville. After apologizing for his mistake, The Who’s welcome the Grinch to celebrate Christmas with them.

The new animation The Grinch focuses on the two main characters, the Grinch and Cindy Lou. It begins with an introduction of Whoville and their need for a Christmas three times bigger. The Grinch, of course, doesn’t agree with this idea, because he spent Christmas alone seeing other kids with their families when he did not have any parents. Annoyed by The Who’s constant talk of Christmas and their need for gifts, the Grinch becomes determined to stop Christmas. On Christmas Eve in Cindy Lou’s house, the Grinch falls into a trap, which wakes up Cindy Lou, who begs ‘Santa’ to help her mother. The Grinch shocked by her request, leaves the house feeling reminiscent. Carrying out his plan to stop Christmas, the Grinch goes to Mount Crumpit where he will dump the presents, but he stands at the edge of the mountain, the Grinch hears the singing of The Who’s and listens to the music, causing him to feel happy. Knowing his mistake  the Grinch returns the gifts back to The Who’s and apologizes for stealing the gifts by explaining how he was wrong about Christmas. Cindy Lou then goes to Mount Crumpit to invite the Grinch to Christmas dinner at her house. Nervously, the Grinch agrees and finally feels like he has a family to celebrate Christmas with.

While they are based on the same story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Grinch are two very different movies when taking a closer look. How the Grinch Stole Christmas follows the story of the Grinch getting bullied at a young age, causing him to grow a hatred towards Christmas. While the animated version, The Grinch, tells story of the Grinch having no parents or family to spend Christmas with, resulting in resentment towards Christmas. Other differences between the two films are the characters, specifically Cindy Lou and new characters in The Grinch. Cindy Lou’s importance in both films are important to the Grinch, as it serves as a  point where he realizes Christmas’ true meaning. In the film, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cindy Lou goes searching for the Grinch, whereas in the new animation, Cindy Lou is looking for Santa.  Characters such as Mayor Maywho, Martha May, and Cindy Lou’s father are not present in the new animation, but characters like Fred, Mr. Bricklebaum, Groopert, and many more were added in the animation. While there are notable differences between both movies, both are must-watch movies for the holiday season, as both films touch on the importance of family and the true meaning of the holidays.