How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
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- During the filming of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Jim Carrey improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
- The original script for How the Grinch Stole Christmas was written over a decade before production finally began in 2000.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a 2000 American fantasy comedy directed by Ron Howard, a live-action adaptation of Dr. Seuss's beloved 1957 picture book. Jim Carrey stars as the Grinch, a bitter, cave-dwelling creature who despises the residents of Whoville and their obsessive Christmas celebrations.
When young Cindy Lou Who, played by Taylor Momsen, reaches out to include the Grinch in the town's festivities, his attempt to destroy Christmas by stealing every present, decoration, and feast from Whoville leads instead to an unexpected change of heart. Jim Carrey endured daily sessions of up to eight hours to apply Rick Baker's elaborate Grinch prosthetic makeup, a process so grueling that Carrey consulted with a CIA operative who trained agents to endure torture. Despite the physical demands, Carrey delivered an extraordinarily physical, improvisational performance that managed to convey emotion through layers of latex and fur.
The Whoville sets, designed by Michael Corenblith, were constructed entirely on soundstages with a level of detail that brought Seuss's illustrations into three-dimensional life. How the Grinch Stole Christmas earned $345 million worldwide on a $123 million budget, the highest-grossing film of 2000 and one of the most commercially successful holiday films ever released.
