How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Synopsis: Bitter and hateful, the Grinch is irritated at the thought of the nearby village having a happy time celebrating Christmas. So disguised as Santa Claus, with his dog made to look like a reindeer, he raids the village to steal all the Christmas things. The village is sure to have a sad Christmas this year.
Director(s): Chuck Jones, Ben Washam (co-director)
Production: Warner Home Video
  1 win.
 
IMDB:
8.4
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NOT RATED
Year:
1966
26 min
23,821 Views


NARRATOR:
Every Who down in Who-ville

liked Christmas a lot.

But the Grinch...

...who lived just north of Who-ville,

did not.

The Grinch hated Christmas,

the whole Christmas season.

Now, please, don't ask why.

No one quite knows the reason.

It could be perhaps

that his shoes were too tight.

It could be his head

wasn't screwed on just right.

But I think that

the most likely reason of all...

...may have been that his heart

was two sizes too small.

But whatever the reason,

his heart or his shoes...

...he stood there on Christmas Eve

hating the Whos.

Staring down from his cave

with a sour Grinchy frown...

...at the warm lighted windows

below in their town.

For he knew every Who

down in Who-ville beneath...

...was busy now

hanging a holly Who-wreath.

And they're hanging their stockings.

He snarled with a sneer.

Tomorrow is Christmas.

It's practically here.

Then he growled,

with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming:

I must find some way

to keep Christmas from coming.

Or tomorrow, I know,

all those Who girls and boys...

...will wake bright and early,

they'll rush for their toys.

And then- Oh, the noise. Oh, the noise.

Noise, noise, noise.

There's one thing I hate. All the noise.

Noise, noise, noise.

And they'll shriek squeaks and squeals,

racing round on their wheels.

[BICYCLE BELLS RINGING]

They'll dance with Jing-Tinglers

tied onto their heels.

They'll blow their Floo-Floobers.

They'll bang their Tah-Tinkers.

[PLAYING]

They'll blow their Who-Hoobers.

They'll bang their Gah-Ginkers.

They'll beat their Trum-Tookers.

They'll slam their Sloo-Slonkers.

They'll beat their Blum-Blookers.

They'll wham their Who-Wonkers.

And they'll play noisy games

like Zoo Zitta Ka Zay...

...a roller-skate type of lacrosse

and croquet.

And then they'll make

earsplitting noises de luxe...

...on their great big

Electro Who-Cardio Shluxe.

[PLAYING]

Then the Whos, young and old,

will sit down to a feast.

And they'll feast, and they'll feast.

And they'll feast, feast, feast.

They'll feast on Who-pudding

and rare Who-roast-beast.

Oh, roast beast is a feast

I can't stand in the least.

And then they'll do something

I hate most of all.

Every Who down in Who-ville,

the tall and the small...

...will stand close together

with Christmas bells ringing.

They'll stand hand in hand,

and those Whos will start singing.

[SINGING "WELCOME CHRISTMAS"]

And they'll sing, and they'll sing.

And they'll sing. Sing, sing, sing.

NARRATOR:
And the more the Grinch

thought of this Who-Christmas sing...

...the more the Grinch thought:

I must stop this whole thing.

Why, for 53 years,

I've put up with it now.

I must stop Christmas from coming.

But how?

Then he got an idea. An awful idea.

The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea.

GRINCH:

I know just what to do.

The Grinch laughed in his throat.

GRINCH:
I'll make a quick Santy Claus

hat and a coat.

Then he chuckled and clucked:

GRINCH:

What a great Grinchy trick.

With this coat and this hat,

I'll look just like Saint Nick.

All I need is a reindeer.

The Grinch looked around.

But since reindeer are scarce,

there was none to be found.

Did that stop the Grinch? Ha.

The Grinch simply said:

GRINCH:
If I can't find a reindeer,

I'll make one instead.

So he took his dog, Max,

and he took some black thread...

...and he tied a big horn

on the top of his head.

Then he loaded some bags

and some old empty sacks...

...on a ramshackle sleigh,

and he whistled for Max.

[WHISTLES]

- Then the Grinch said:

- Giddap.

[YELPS]

And the sleigh started down...

...toward the homes where the Whos lay

a- snooze in their town.

All their windows were dark.

No one knew he was there.

All the Whos were all dreaming

sweet dreams without care...

...when he came to the first little house

on the square.

This is stop number one.

The old Grinchy Claus hissed as he climbed

to the roof, empty bags in his fist.

Then he slid down the chimney.

A rather tight pinch.

But if Santa could do it,

then so could the Grinch.

He got stuck only once,

for a minute or two.

Then he stuck his head out

of the fireplace flue...

...where the little Who stockings

hung all in a row.

These stockings...

He Grinched.

...are the first things to go.

Then he slithered and slunk

with a smile most unpleasant...

...around the whole room

and he took every present.

Pop guns, pampoonas,

pantookas and drums...

...checkerboards, bizzel-binks,

popcorn and plums.

Then he stuffed them in bags.

Then the Grinch, very nimbly...

...stuffed all the bags, one by one,

up the chimney.

[WHISTLES]

[GRUNTING]

Then he slunk to the icebox.

He took the Whos' feast.

He took the Who-pudding.

He took the roast beast.

He cleaned out the icebox

as quick as a flash.

Why, that Grinch even took

the last can of Who-hash.

Then he stuffed all the food

up the chimney with glee.

GRINCH:
Now-

- Grinned the Grinch.

GRINCH:

- I will stuff up the tree.

As the Grinch took the tree,

as he started to shove...

[CINDY-LOU WHIMPERS]

...he heard a small sound

like the coo of a dove.

He turned around fast,

and he saw a small Who...

...little Cindy-Lou Who,

who was no more than 2.

She stared at the Grinch and said:

Santy Claus, why?

Why are you taking our Christmas tree?

Why?

But, you know, that old Grinch

was so smart and so slick...

...he thought up a lie,

and he thought it up quick.

Why, my sweet little tot...

The fake Santy Claus lied.

...there's a light on this tree

that won't light on one side.

So I'm taking it home

to my workshop, my dear.

I'll fix it up there,

then I'll bring it back here.

And his fib fooled the child.

Then he patted her head.

And he got her a drink,

and he sent her to bed.

And when Cindy-Lou Who

was in bed with her cup...

...he crupt to the chimney

and stuffed the tree up.

Then he went up the chimney himself,

the old liar.

And the last thing he took

was the log for their fire.

On their walls, he left nothing

but hooks and some wire.

And the one speck of food

that he left in the house...

...was a crumb

that was even too small for a mouse.

Then he did the same thing

to the other Whos' houses...

...leaving crumbs much too small

for the other Whos' mouses.

It was a quarter of dawn,

all the Whos still abed...

...all the Whos still a-snooze...

...when he packed up his sled.

Packed it up with their presents,

their ribbons, their wrappings...

...their snoof and their fuzzels,

their tringlers and trappings.

[SCREAMS]

Ten thousand feet up,

up the side of Mount Crumpit...

...he rode with his load to the tiptop

to dump it.

Pooh-pooh to the Whos.

NARRATOR:

He was Grinch-ily humming.

They're finding out now

that no Christmas is coming.

They're just waking up.

I know just what they'll do.

Their mouths will hang open

a minute or two.

Then the Whos down in Who-ville

will all cry boohoo.

- That's a noise...

- Grinned the Grinch.

...that I simply must hear.

Rate this script:4.0 / 6 votes

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is a writer and a creator and makes characters. more…

All Dr. Seuss scripts | Dr. Seuss Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/how_the_grinch_stole_christmas!_10295>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    Who played the role of Neo in "The Matrix" trilogy?
    A Matt Damon
    B Keanu Reeves
    C Brad Pitt
    D Tom Cruise