How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
On November 17, 2000, nearly 35 years after the animated special aired on television, Dr. Seuss fans finally got a live-action film adaptation of
How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Director Ron Howard transformed 11 soundstages at Universal Studios into the whimsical, glittering world of Whoville, and populated it with an impressive lineup of stars just barely recognizable beneath prosthetic noses and pear-shaped costumes.
Though the movie didn’t achieve overwhelming acclaim at the time—
The New York Timescalled it a “shrill, overstuffed, spiritless cinematic contraption”—Jim Carrey played the grouchy, nihilistic anti-hero with enough gusto to make it an annual must-watch for many. To celebrate its 20th birthday, here are 20 facts about what it took to bring Seuss’s beloved Whos to the big screen.