Fifty years ago in 1966, there was a television special that was released in a midst of a wave of animated holiday specials and it is right up there with "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer"(1964), and "A Charlie Brown Christmas"(1965) that went on become as classics. "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" was originally intended to be released as a theatrical short ended up going to television under the direction of legendary animator Chuck Jones(who was also the producer along with Ted Geisel)along with assistant director Ben Washam. It was based on the eponymous 1957 famous children's book by Ted Geisel(aka Dr. Seuss) about a mean spirit Grinch who wrecks havoc of the Who's of Whoville as he tries to take Christmas away from them is a must see from beginning to end. But also finds a way to return the kindness to the people he stole from. Featuring the voice of the great Boris Karloff as The Grinch(who also serves as the narrator)along with the additional voices of June Foray and Thurl Ravenscroft(who was also the voice of Tony The Tiger for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes Cereals) with music and lyrics by Albert Hague and Eugene Poddany. So successful that the animated special in 1967 won the Grammy Award for Best Children's Recording In The Spoken Word to Boris Karloff-the only major award of his astounding long career in film and television. Thurl Ravenscroft also received Grammy nominations for his work.
The half-hour television special "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" was originally telecast as "A CBS Special Presentation In Color" airing on Sunday December 18,1966 where it aired in prime time at the 7:00 eastern/6:00 central time slot where the special preempted "Lassie" in its regular time slot and faced strong competition it faced when it aired during the first half of "Voyage of the Bottom of the Sea",and the second half of "The Bell Telephone Hour" and from the ratings it received from it's original telecast "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" was a colossal hit...becoming the most watched television special in its time slot. The original sponsors during its initial telecast were The Coca-Cola Bottling Company and the Foundation for Commercial Banks. So successful that CBS aired the special annually ever December until 1987. After it's initial network run on CBS,the animated special moved over to Ted Turner's Turner Network Television(TNT) and Superstation WTBS which was also TBS(Turner Broadcasting System) where it was shown annually from 1988-1995. Then in 1995 it was moved again over to the WB Television Network where it shown annually twice from 1995-2006. From 2006-2014 it came back to network television this time over to ABC where it aired twice annually on that network until 2014. As of August 13,2015 it moved over to NBC where it would be shown twice annually during the Christmas season. As of December 18,2016 NBC will air the special in honor of its 50th anniversary.
The phenomenal success of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" spawned two animated specials that were telecast between 1977 and 1982. On October 29,1977, ABC aired the television special titled "Halloween Is Grinch Night" that was a prequel to the classic holiday season that was produced by Ted Geisel along with executive producers David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng under there production company DePatie-Freleng Enterprises that won the Prime Time Emmy for Outstanding Children's Special in 1977. On May 20,1982 ABC aired another animated television special titled "The Grinch Grinches The Cat In The Hat" that was also produced and created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and produced by Ted Geisel(featured the voices of Mason Adams and Bob Holt). A feature- length live theatrical feature "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" was released in 2004 starring Jim Carrey and directed by Ron Howard and coming in 2018 a 3-D animated feature film based on the classic Dr. Seuss story featuring the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch will come to theaters in late-2018.
Even after more than 50 years...this animated special still entertains. Happy Anniversary...Mr. Grinch!!!
The half-hour television special "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" was originally telecast as "A CBS Special Presentation In Color" airing on Sunday December 18,1966 where it aired in prime time at the 7:00 eastern/6:00 central time slot where the special preempted "Lassie" in its regular time slot and faced strong competition it faced when it aired during the first half of "Voyage of the Bottom of the Sea",and the second half of "The Bell Telephone Hour" and from the ratings it received from it's original telecast "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" was a colossal hit...becoming the most watched television special in its time slot. The original sponsors during its initial telecast were The Coca-Cola Bottling Company and the Foundation for Commercial Banks. So successful that CBS aired the special annually ever December until 1987. After it's initial network run on CBS,the animated special moved over to Ted Turner's Turner Network Television(TNT) and Superstation WTBS which was also TBS(Turner Broadcasting System) where it was shown annually from 1988-1995. Then in 1995 it was moved again over to the WB Television Network where it shown annually twice from 1995-2006. From 2006-2014 it came back to network television this time over to ABC where it aired twice annually on that network until 2014. As of August 13,2015 it moved over to NBC where it would be shown twice annually during the Christmas season. As of December 18,2016 NBC will air the special in honor of its 50th anniversary.
The phenomenal success of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" spawned two animated specials that were telecast between 1977 and 1982. On October 29,1977, ABC aired the television special titled "Halloween Is Grinch Night" that was a prequel to the classic holiday season that was produced by Ted Geisel along with executive producers David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng under there production company DePatie-Freleng Enterprises that won the Prime Time Emmy for Outstanding Children's Special in 1977. On May 20,1982 ABC aired another animated television special titled "The Grinch Grinches The Cat In The Hat" that was also produced and created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and produced by Ted Geisel(featured the voices of Mason Adams and Bob Holt). A feature- length live theatrical feature "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" was released in 2004 starring Jim Carrey and directed by Ron Howard and coming in 2018 a 3-D animated feature film based on the classic Dr. Seuss story featuring the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch will come to theaters in late-2018.
Even after more than 50 years...this animated special still entertains. Happy Anniversary...Mr. Grinch!!!