HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

Watching the iconic 1966 animated television special Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! has become a holiday tradition for numerous families including my own.  Every year we keep an eye on the scheduling for television shows as Christmas approaches to make sure we don't miss when it airs. This holiday season though, we can watch it whenever my kids want thanks to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment who provided us with a DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: THE ULTIMATE EDITION Blu-ray + DVD + Digital combo pack.

This ultimate edition for your home entertainment video library includes the classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas cartoon along with two other remastered Dr. Seuss television specials The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat + Halloween is Grinch Night. With this compilation your family can enjoy the Grinch's antics from Halloween through Christmas with these Dr. Seuss themed stories:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!:

Magnificently narrated by Boris Karloff (Frankenstein, The Mummy) and directed by animation genius and cartoon legend Chuck Jones (Looney Tunes, What's Opera, Doc?), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! tells the story of the miserable Grinch, who wants to sabotage Christmas for all the Whos in Who-ville.

The Grinch thinks that by stealing the Whos Christmas trees and presents, he’ll succeed in stealing their joy. However, when Christmas morning arrives, the Grinch is taken by surprise when he notices the Whos greet the day joyously singing Christmas carols regardless of the fact that their village has been completely stripped of holiday gifts, decorations and treats. The cheerful attitude of the Whos prompts the Grinch to ponder the true meaning of Christmas and he slowly comes to realize the spirit of the season is not generated by material possessions. Will the Grinch have a change of heart and consider returning the Whos’ Christmas gifts?

The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat:

The Grinch is up to his old tricks again in The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat, the Emmy® Award-winning special directed by legendary animator Friz Freleng. In this special, the Cat in the Hat encounters the Grinch while picnicking one day. He refers to the Grinch as Mr. Greenface, which the Grinch takes an as insult, prompting him to retaliate by building a series of outrageous devices designed to cause all sorts of disruption. First, he creates a “Vacusound Sweeper,” which distorts any and all of the sounds within a 50-mile radius of the Cat in the Hat. Then he creates the “Dark House,” which is the direct opposite of a light house and puts the Cat in the Hat into complete darkness. He then uses the “Flummox Deluxe” to further warp the Cat in the Hat’s surroundings, which sends him and everything around him into complete chaos. Will the Cat in the Hat figure out a way to stop the Grinch and outsmart all his crazy devices?

Halloween is Grinch Night:

When the Sour-Sweet wind starts to blow in Who-ville, all the Whos take cover because this signifies the beginning of Grinch Night, an evening in which the Grinch descends upon Who-ville to terrorize all its citizens. As the Grinch sets out on his journey to Who-ville, he encounters a courageous young Who named Euchariah, who attempts to stall the Grinch from reaching Who-ville. The Grinch however puts Euchariah into a trance in which he encounters all sorts of strange creatures who try to intimidate him. Will Euchariah manage to snap out of the trance in time to stop Grinch from reaching Who-ville?

DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: THE ULTIMATE EDITION also includes a number of featurettes including:

Making Animation and Bringing It to Life:  Audio commentary with animator Phil Roman and June Foray, the voice of Cindy-Lou Who

Dr. Seuss and the Grinch -- From Whoville to Hollywood: A Rapping, Rhyming Chronicle of the Original Book and This Beloved Animated Adaptation

Songs in the Key of Grinch: Interviews with Composer Albert Hague and Vocalist Thurl Ravenscroft

Who's Who In Whoville:  Biography about your favorite Grinch team with Creator/Writer Dr. Seuss, Director Chuck Jones, Narrator Boris Karloff, and the Voice of Cindy-Lou June Foray.

Grinch Song Selections: Sing along to your favorite songs from Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

 Head over to wbshop.com to pick up this collection of Grinch cartoons for yourself. These Dr. Seuss inspired shows are a great way to add some cheer to your holidays and are a sure fire way to put smiles on the faces of kids and kids-at-heart.

The Grinch Trailer

The folks over at Illumination Entertainment animation studio sent me a sweet announcement about a trailer release ... this cookie with a message in frosting noting that Dr. Seuss' THE GRINCH will be arriving at movie theaters across the USA on November 9, 2018 along with a postcard announcing the film's trailer was available now to see.  Illumination did a wonderful job transforming the story of THE LORAX into a movie which my family owns as part of our home entertainment library and regularly watches over and over again.  So we are all excited to see the studio bringing another Dr. Seuss story to the silver screen.

THE GRINCH will be a modernized retelling of Dr Seuss' classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas! originally published in 1957.  Illumination is the studio behind a number of recent hit animated movies including the Despicable Me franchise, Sing and The Secret Life of Pets and from looking at the trailer it appears THE GRINCH will have a similar artistic style to those other films.  THE GRINCH has been scripted by Michael LeSieur, directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier, with music by Danny Elfman and starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange / Sherlock) as the voice of the Grinch.  Check it out the trailer for yourself:



Obviously, with its Christmas themed story this movie is being released to be enjoyed during the holiday season.  Based upon our enjoyment of previous Illumination animated features, THE GRINCH is a movie that my family is absolutely going to be looking forward to seeing when it arrives at theaters.  For more information, visit the movie's official website grinchmovie.com.

Happy 109th Birthday Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel ( aka Dr. Seuss ) was born on March 2, 1904  and he would have turned 109 years old TODAY! Theodor Geisel passed away in 1991 but still lives in the hearts of everyone who has ever read, or had read to them, childhood classics like the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, and If I Ran the Zoo.  During his career as a writer, poet, and cartoonist his use of imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of trisyllabic meter was highlighted in 46 books that were published under the well-known pseudonym Dr. Seuss.  These books have both educated and entertained generations of children.  I know they are prominently included in my children’s library. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss and thank you for being you!

This month KOHL’S is selling in its stores and online through its Kohl’s Cares foundation Dr. Seuss  books and toys for $5 each.  Kohl’s  department stores sell designated Kohl’s Cares kid-friendly merchandise with 100% of net profit from these sales donated to children’s health and education initiatives within the United States.  Since 2000, more than $208 million has been donated to charitable causes through the Kohl’s Cares program.  The Dr. Seuss items on sale are books (The Cat in the Hat, ABCs, Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book, Happy Birthday to You, and the Dr. Seuss All Occasions Note Card Set) and stuffed animals (The Cat in the Hat, Horton, the Alligator and Red Rhino from ABCs, and Snoozapalo from the Sleep Book) are $5 each. Click here for more information.

 

I read to my 4 year old twins Dr. Seuss's "ABCs" book every day to help them with learning their letters and numbers.  As they have gotten older though, we've begun letting them use our PC and iPad to play with and learn from educational apps. Oceanhouse Media has done a nice job of publishing Dr. Seuss' works as interactive storybook apps for mobile IOS, Android, and Nook devices. We have several of these that we enjoy loaded on both my iPad and iPhone. In recognition of Dr. Seuss birthday they are giving away this weekend FREE two of their Dr. Seuss apps, Dr. Seuss Camera & Cat in the Hat Camera. CLICK HERE for more information.

 

The Dr. Seuss Camera apps let you use the camera on your iPhone or iPad to create images  personalized with your own photographs and incorporating Dr. Seuss’s artwork and characters. The apps feature:
 

• 16 cards based on original artwork by Dr. Seuss
• Take a picture with your face in the cutout or alongside the characters
• Load images from your Photo Library
• Add crazy borders and stamps to your cards
• Move, rotate, scale and delete stamps to further customize your cards
• Save cards to your Photo Library or e-mail them to family & friends

 

 

Dr. Seuss book publisher Random House also has an official website dedicated to the author www.seussville.com which is full of interactive features plus fun and educational activities, crafts, and learning tools for your kids.