How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Season #6 Episode #4
Synopsis: Inside a snowflake exists the magical land of Whoville. In Whoville, live the Whos, an almost mutated sort of munchkinlike people. All the Whos love Christmas, yet just outside of their beloved Whoville lives the Grinch. The Grinch is a nasty creature that hates Christmas, and plots to steal it away from the Whos which he equally abhors. Yet a small child, Cindy Lou Who, decides to try befriend the Grinch.
Director(s): Ron Howard
Production: Universal Pictures
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 17 wins & 37 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.1
Metacritic:
46
Rotten Tomatoes:
53%
PG
Year:
2000
104 min
$259,011,600
Website
48,125 Views


Narrator:
Inside a snowflake, like the one on your sleeve there happened a story you must see to believe. Way up in the mountains, in the high range of Pontoos lay the small town of Whoville: The home of the Whos.

Ask any Who, And they'll have this to say: "There is no place like Whoville around Christmas Day."

Every window was flocked, every lamppost was dressed and the Whoville band marched in their Christmasy best.

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Arbor Day was fine, and Easter was pleasant and every Saint Fizzin's day, they ate a Fizz pheasant.

But every Who knew, from their twelve toes to their snout they loved Christmas the most, without a single Who doubt.

Farfingle's welcomes you!

Thank you.

Merry Christmas! Thank you for shopping Farfingle's!

Father:
We got a snoozlephone for your brother Drew and a snoozlephone for your brother Stu, a muncle for your uncle a fant for your aunt and a fandpa for your cousin Leon.

So, we just need.... Cindy?

Sale on Aisle 3!

Cindy Lou!

Merry Christmas.

Hello, Myrna. Merry Christmas, Fred. Excuse me.

Cindy Lou? Honey?

Cindy:
Dad?

Father:
Yeah?

Cindy:
Doesn't this seem like a bit much?

Father:
This is what Christmas is all about! Can't you feel it?

Cindy:
(shakes her head no)

Merry Christmas!

Thank you for shopping Farfingle's. Wait a second! Your change!

Another minute closer to Christmas!

And, for the next five minutes only, 99 percent off!

Narrator:
Yes, every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville- did not.

Get on it, girls. All the good mistletoe's at the top.

Hey, Drew, I'll race you!

Not if I race you first.

Last one to the top is a stinky old Grinch!

You guys, where are we? I think we should go back.

What? You're scared of the Grinch!

No!

They say he lives up here in a big cave. And only comes down when he's hungry for the taste of Who flesh!

Drew!

You're scared of the Grinch! You're scared of the Grinch!

Are too!

Am not!

Wait for me!

Go on, touch it. Touch the door.

Do it for me, Stu.

Well done, Max!

Serves them right, those Yuletide-loving sickly-sweet, nog-sucking cheer mongers!

I really don't like them.

No, I don't.

Max!

Get my cloak!

I've been much too tolerant of these Whovenile delinquents and their innocent, victimless pranks.

So, they want to get to know me, do they?

They want to spend a little quality time with the Grinch.

I guess I could use a little social interaction.

Merry Christmas!

Yeah, you bet.

Ho, ho, ho, and stuff.

Oh, my.

Someone has vandalized that vehicle.

You see, Max? The city is a dangerous place.

Narrator:
The Grinch hated Christmas. The whole Christmas season.

Top of the day. Flatfoot.

Narrator:
Now, please, don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

Here's a present for you.

Be sure to run real fast with it. Come on. Double time. Move.

Narrator:
It could be that his head Wasn't screwed on just right, Or it could be, perhaps, That his shoes were too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all, May have been that his heart Was two sizes too small.

Stranger, won't let you go till you buy a chapeau!

Father:
(carrying presents)Boy, nothing beats Christmas, right?

Cindy Lou:
I guess...

Father:
You guess?

Cindy Lou:
Well, it's just, I look around at you and Mom and everyone getting all kerbobbled. Doesn't this seem...superfluous?

Dad! Dad!

What happened to you?

It was the Grinch!

The Grinch?!

What do you want? I mean....

"Grinch? Oh, no!"

Mayor:
Did someone just say "Grinch?"

Father:
Hello Mayor May-Who.

Lou.

Mayor:
I don't need to remind you all that this Christmas marks the one thousandth Whobilation, Whoville's most important celebration!

And the Book of Who ( pulling out a large book) says very clearly "Every size of Who we can measure knows that Whobilation is a time we must treasure!"

Now, Lou, please tell me that your boys were not up on Mount Crumpit provoking the one creature within a billion bilometers of here who hates Christmas!

But it was the Grinch!

No, sir, the boys didn't see any Grinch.

It was, and he came after...

I think they were up on the mountain playing with matches, or defacing public property, or....

That's a relief.

All right, you heard the man: There is no Grinch problem here.

I need it there by tomorrow.

Heck of a rush.

Merry Christmas, Mo. Heck of a rush.

But, Dad I just don't understand something.

Why won't anyone talk about the Grinch?

You kids and the Grinch!

You see, Cindy, the Grinch is a Who, who always....

Actually, not a Who. He's more of a....

A what?

Exactly, honey.

And he's a What who doesn't like Christmas.

Take a look at his mailbox, sweetie.

Not a single Christmas card, in or out.

Ever!

But why?

Lou, where's my mail?

Lou! Got the wrong mail here.

Lou! I got the wrong mail!

I'll be right there.

Lou, we got a problem!

All right, we'll straighten this out.

It'll take them years to sort this out.

This is his and now it's yours, and this hers and now it's his!

And for the rest of you: Jury duty! Jury duty! Jury duty!

Blackmail. Pink slip. Chain letter. Eviction notice.

Jury duty!

Would you mind helping me take this to the back room, honey?

Be careful of the sorting machine, right?

Yeah.

Gesundheit.

You're the....

The....

The Grinch!

That worked out nicely.

Help!

Help me! Somebody!

Max, let's go.

Our work here is finished.

Help me!

Please help!

That is not a chew toy!

Stop it, Max!

Get that out of your mouth! You have no idea where it's been!

Help!

Bleeding hearts of the world, unite!

There! Give me that!

Don't you know you shouldn't take things that don't belong to you?

What's the matter with you, some kind of a wild animal? Huh?!

Let's go.

Thanks for saving me.

Saving you?

Is that what you think I was doing?

Wrong-o.

I merely noticed that you were improperly packaged, my dear.

Hold still!

Max, pick out a bow.

Can I use your finger for a second?

Hello! Hello!

Cindy?

Dad!

Daddy!

Daddy!

What the hey...?

Honey.

Cindy?

Dad! It was amazing!

You've been practicing your Christmas wrapping!

I am so proud of you.

Now, that's holiday.

Sweet little Cindy didn't know what to do.

In her head, bum-tumbled a conflict or two.

"If the Grinch was so bad,then why did he save me?

"Maybe he wasn't so bad."

Maybe. Just maybe.

No lights on in the house. Your mom must be shopping.

Good, I'm so glad you're home.

I can feel it, Lou. This is the year.

When everybody asks who has the most spectacular lights in greater Whoville they're gonna cry out, "Mrs. Betty Lou Who!"

Isn't this the chandelier from the dining room?

It's all for the cause, dear.

And Cindy? Could you be Mommy's little helper and unscrew the bulb there from the refrigerator?

'Cause somehow I missed that one.

Go on!

Every year Martha May Whovier has the best lights.

Not this year.

This year I'm gonna beat that prim, perfect little prissy...

Rate this script:2.9 / 65 votes

Jeffrey Price

Jeffrey Price (born 1949) is an American screenwriter and producers who worked on several films and television series. more…

All Jeffrey Price scripts | Jeffrey Price Scripts

2 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. 19 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/how_the_grinch_stole_christmas_10294>.

    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?

    »
    What is a "script doctor"?
    A A writer who edits the final cut
    B A writer who directs the film
    C A writer who creates original scripts
    D A writer hired to revise or rewrite parts of a screenplay