Dr. Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a 1966 TV Special, originally airing on CBS and based on the 1957 children’s book by Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel. I’ll be talking more about the special itself and the two theatrical versions in a later post this week (tomorrow if nothing else shows up that demands attention). Directed by Chuck Jones, I’d be surprised if I have to explain this story’s plot to you. It’s that famous a story.
It’s also one of those rare Christmas productions where the song famous from it has actually aired on the radio and been done by celebrities other than the original singer on other Christmas albums. “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” only has one real singer however, and if you only know Thurl Ravenscroft for being the voice of Kellogg’s mascot Tony The Tiger (whatever happened to Tony, Jr?) check out his singing range, while horror legend Boris Karloff acts as the narrator of the special and doubles as the Grinch. The song plays over the Grinch stealing all the Who houses, taking the Who feasts, and all the Who toys. The song is really good on it’s own and don’t be confused when I say…being part of a Christmas classic is the only reason it’s part of stations’ Christmas music. On it’s own it really isn’t a Christmas song.
There’s a second song, both meant to pad out the run time (again, more on that in the next article) of the special. The combined songs of “Welcome Christmas” (which gets a reprise as part of the ending) and “Trim Up The Tree” don’t get nearly as much play, and yet of the songs offered it’s easily the more Christmasy of the two. For this year’s Christmas song examination let’s take a look at them both, starting with the big one.
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