How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

The Grinch is a... well, he's a Grinch! This green, furry, Christmas curmudgeon was created by the famous children's book writer Dr. Suess. What really brought him into the public consciousness and modern holiday culture was an animated version that ran on television for the first time in 1966. The animation was done by the famous and much-admired artist Chuck Jones, best-known for all his classic Bugs Bunny and Road Runner cartoons.

The character became so beloved, even if he is so mean in the beginning, that he got repeat outings in "Halloween is Grinch Night" and "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat." The holiday story of caring and redemption comes with classic hand-drawn and painted animation, plus fun and funny songs. And a whole village of Whos and a really great dog named Max. But you probably know all this.

The Grinch has gotten a few more modern incarnations with a live-action movie (starring actor Jim Carrey as the titular anti-hero) and a Broadway musical. After two years in New York, the show closed there but now the production gets revived as a traveling show in some part of the USA each holiday season. The Grinch has even been an attraction at Universal Studios in Hollywood where visitors got to enter his lair and try to return the stolen presents to Whoville.

So even if it's not Christmas and no matter what age, and even though he's a Grinch... everyone just seems to love this green villain.

The song "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch" first appeared in the 1966 animated tv special "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." The narrator of the story is the famed Boris Karloff, and he's often mistakenly credited as the singer of that song. It turns out an error was made when the credits of the original show were put together, and the singer was accidentally left out!

The man who really sings what many call 'the Grinch song' is none other than Thurl Ravenscroft, who had a great and long career doing voice-over work and audio character performances. He's most famous for the line "They're greeeeaaaat" as the original voice of Frosted Corn Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger.

The Grinch gets to sing in his Grinch Night special too. It's a prequel to the Christmas encounter, where a single Who stops the Grinch from grinching the whole town with a sleigh of horrors.

The Grinch time of year actually runs from Halloween (Grinch Night) through Xmas (when the Grinch steals Christmas) so if you decided to invest in a Grinch costume, you can guarantee a minimum of two times per year when you could easily break out the Grinch suit. For the full Grinch effect, be sure to restrict the size of your heart for a few weeks leading up to Christmas. Of course you will need to have an adorable and forlorn canine companion for your fiendish holiday shenanigans and you'll be able to guarantee your heart growing many sizes by Christmas morning. Snow optional.

If you want to win the competition in the holiday costume contest, dress like the Grinch and tuck a pink-dressed toddler with teeny pigtails under your arm. If you want to obliterate your fellow contestants completely, make sure to have a Max and a Cindy-Lou with you.

Optional off-season outings:

• Tax time - If you dig out that Grinch costume for a swing through the post office or for your shift at the ballot box, you'll be sure to lift a few spirits.
• Any election - Turn up at any polling place or election headquarters in a Grinch suit and the other humans there will take care of the rest.
• Flash mobs - Who doesn't love a dancing Grinch?
• Protests - Nothing says "hey you, get off of my cloud!" like a Grinch
• Any fundraiser - Again, just show up in your Grinch costume and throw on an appropriate t-shirt or some flair. Everyone else will handle the rest of the hilarity.