Plot
All the Whos of Whoville celebrate the Christmas season with joy and happiness, except for the bitter Grinch, a hairy green creature living north of the city in a cave on Mt. Crumpit with only his dog Max for company. The Grinch hates the Whos and their Christmas celebrations, and is prone to rudeness, making him an outcast that no one cares for or likes to talk about.
Cindy Lou Who is a young girl who is overwhelmed by the commercialism and material greed that always seems to come with Whoville’s Christmas. Cindy becomes interested in the Grinch and wonders why everyone is so averse to him. After she is saved by him from a post office sorting machine, she comes to believe that he isn’t as bad as he’s made out to be. She decides to conduct interviews with people who once knew the Grinch in order to learn more about him.
Cindy finds out that the Grinch, as a baby, floated down into Whoville on Christmas Eve, carried by a strange wind. He was adopted by two elderly sisters who taught him a deep love of Christmas. At school, the kids teased the Grinch for his appearance, especially Augustus May Who, the current mayor of Whoville. The only one who was kind to the Grinch was Martha May Whovier, who he developed feelings for. At Christmas, the Grinch made Martha an angel ornament and shaved his face in order to appear attractive, but ended up cutting himself. The next day at school, his gift to Martha was insulted by Augustus and the whole class laughed at his shaving cuts. Enraged, the Grinch declared a hatred of Christmas and moved to a solitary life on Mt. Crumpit.
Cindy is touched by this story, and nominates the Grinch as Holiday Cheer Meister for the Whos’ Whobilation so he can be included in Christmas again. Augustus reluctantly agrees, but is sure the Grinch won’t show up. Cindy goes to the Grinch’s cave and invites him herself. He at first rejects the offer, but gradually changes his mind and comes to the proceedings late. Just as he is enjoying himself, however, Augustus humiliates him by giving him an electric razor as a gift and proposing to Martha with a new car. The Grinch angrily demeans the Whos for their avarice and goes on a rampage. The Whos, however, soon fix the Grinch’s damage and anticipate Christmas the next morning.
Fed up and not wanting to spend another Christmas alone, the Grinch resolves to steal all of the Whos’ gifts. He poses as Santa and creates a rocket-powered sleigh and uses Max as a reindeer. He robs every house in Whoville and carries the stolen items to the top of Mt. Crumpit, where he plans to dump the load. The Whos emerge to find they have no gifts, but Lou, Cindy’s father, says that they are still together and safe, so Christmas hasn’t been hurt, which was what Cindy was trying to tell them all along. The Whos welcome Christmas with song, which the Grinch hears. He is at first frustrated, but then becomes so touched his heart grows to three times its original size. The Grinch desperately tries to save the sleigh of presents before it slides off the top of the mountain, finding the strength to do so when he sees a visiting Cindy Lou is on top of the pile. The two of them return the gifts and the Whos forgive and welcome the Grinch. Martha May turns down Augustus’s proposal and declares her love for the Grinch. Accepted and happy at last, the Grinch hosts Christmas dinner for everyone at his cave.
Read more about this topic: How The Grinch Stole Christmas (film)
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“Those blessed structures, plot and rhyme—
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something imagined, not recalled?”
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