How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) Movie Script
NARRATOR: Every Who down in Who-ville
liked Christmas a lot.
But the Grinch...
...who lived just north of Who-ville,
did not.
The Grinch hated Christmas,
the whole Christmas season.
Now, please, don't ask why.
No one quite knows the reason.
It could be perhaps
that his shoes were too tight.
It could be his head
wasn't screwed on just right.
But I think that
the most likely reason of all...
...may have been that his heart
was two sizes too small.
But whatever the reason,
his heart or his shoes...
...he stood there on Christmas Eve
hating the Whos.
Staring down from his cave
with a sour Grinchy frown...
...at the warm lighted windows
below in their town.
For he knew every Who
down in Who-ville beneath...
...was busy now
hanging a holly Who-wreath.
And they're hanging their stockings.
He snarled with a sneer.
Tomorrow is Christmas.
It's practically here.
Then he growled,
with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming:
I must find some way
to keep Christmas from coming.
Or tomorrow, I know,
all those Who girls and boys...
...will wake bright and early,
they'll rush for their toys.
And then- Oh, the noise. Oh, the noise.
Noise, noise, noise.
There's one thing I hate. All the noise.
Noise, noise, noise.
And they'll shriek squeaks and squeals,
racing round on their wheels.
[BICYCLE BELLS RINGING]
They'll dance with Jing-Tinglers
tied onto their heels.
They'll blow their Floo-Floobers.
They'll bang their Tah-Tinkers.
[PLAYING]
They'll blow their Who-Hoobers.
They'll bang their Gah-Ginkers.
They'll beat their Trum-Tookers.
They'll slam their Sloo-Slonkers.
They'll beat their Blum-Blookers.
They'll wham their Who-Wonkers.
And they'll play noisy games
like Zoo Zitta Ka Zay...
...a roller-skate type of lacrosse
and croquet.
And then they'll make
earsplitting noises de luxe...
...on their great big
Electro Who-Cardio Shluxe.
[PLAYING]
Then the Whos, young and old,
will sit down to a feast.
And they'll feast, and they'll feast.
And they'll feast, feast, feast.
They'll feast on Who-pudding
and rare Who-roast-beast.
Oh, roast beast is a feast
I can't stand in the least.
And then they'll do something
I hate most of all.
Every Who down in Who-ville,
the tall and the small...
...will stand close together
with Christmas bells ringing.
They'll stand hand in hand,
and those Whos will start singing.
[SINGING "WELCOME CHRISTMAS"]
And they'll sing, and they'll sing.
And they'll sing. Sing, sing, sing.
NARRATOR: And the more the Grinch
thought of this Who-Christmas sing...
...the more the Grinch thought:
I must stop this whole thing.
Why, for 53 years,
I've put up with it now.
I must stop Christmas from coming.
But how?
Then he got an idea. An awful idea.
The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea.
GRINCH:
I know just what to do.
The Grinch laughed in his throat.
GRINCH: I'll make a quick Santy Claus
hat and a coat.
Then he chuckled and clucked:
GRINCH:
What a great Grinchy trick.
With this coat and this hat,
I'll look just like Saint Nick.
All I need is a reindeer.
The Grinch looked around.
But since reindeer are scarce,
there was none to be found.
Did that stop the Grinch? Ha.
The Grinch simply said:
GRINCH: If I can't find a reindeer,
I'll make one instead.
So he took his dog, Max,
and he took some black thread...
...and he tied a big horn
on the top of his head.
Then he loaded some bags
and some old empty sacks...
...on a ramshackle sleigh,
and he whistled for Max.
[WHISTLES]
- Then the Grinch said:
- Giddap.
[YELPS]
And the sleigh started down...
...toward the homes where the Whos lay
a- snooze in their town.
All their windows were dark.
No one knew he was there.
All the Whos were all dreaming
sweet dreams without care...
...when he came to the first little house
on the square.
This is stop number one.
The old Grinchy Claus hissed as he climbed
to the roof, empty bags in his fist.
Then he slid down the chimney.
A rather tight pinch.
But if Santa could do it,
then so could the Grinch.
He got stuck only once,
for a minute or two.
Then he stuck his head out
of the fireplace flue...
...where the little Who stockings
hung all in a row.
These stockings...
He Grinched.
...are the first things to go.
Then he slithered and slunk
with a smile most unpleasant...
...around the whole room
and he took every present.
Pop guns, pampoonas,
pantookas and drums...
...checkerboards, bizzel-binks,
popcorn and plums.
Then he stuffed them in bags.
Then the Grinch, very nimbly...
...stuffed all the bags, one by one,
up the chimney.
[WHISTLES]
[GRUNTING]
Then he slunk to the icebox.
He took the Whos' feast.
He took the Who-pudding.
He took the roast beast.
He cleaned out the icebox
as quick as a flash.
Why, that Grinch even took
the last can of Who-hash.
Then he stuffed all the food
up the chimney with glee.
GRINCH: Now-
- Grinned the Grinch.
GRINCH:
- I will stuff up the tree.
As the Grinch took the tree,
as he started to shove...
[CINDY-LOU WHIMPERS]
...he heard a small sound
like the coo of a dove.
He turned around fast,
and he saw a small Who...
...little Cindy-Lou Who,
who was no more than 2.
She stared at the Grinch and said:
Santy Claus, why?
Why are you taking our Christmas tree?
Why?
But, you know, that old Grinch
was so smart and so slick...
...he thought up a lie,
and he thought it up quick.
Why, my sweet little tot...
The fake Santy Claus lied.
...there's a light on this tree
that won't light on one side.
So I'm taking it home
to my workshop, my dear.
I'll fix it up there,
then I'll bring it back here.
And his fib fooled the child.
Then he patted her head.
And he got her a drink,
and he sent her to bed.
And when Cindy-Lou Who
was in bed with her cup...
...he crupt to the chimney
and stuffed the tree up.
Then he went up the chimney himself,
the old liar.
And the last thing he took
was the log for their fire.
On their walls, he left nothing
but hooks and some wire.
And the one speck of food
that he left in the house...
...was a crumb
that was even too small for a mouse.
Then he did the same thing
to the other Whos' houses...
...leaving crumbs much too small
for the other Whos' mouses.
It was a quarter of dawn,
all the Whos still abed...
...all the Whos still a-snooze...
...when he packed up his sled.
Packed it up with their presents,
their ribbons, their wrappings...
...their snoof and their fuzzels,
their tringlers and trappings.
[SCREAMS]
Ten thousand feet up,
up the side of Mount Crumpit...
...he rode with his load to the tiptop
to dump it.
Pooh-pooh to the Whos.
NARRATOR:
He was Grinch-ily humming.
They're finding out now
that no Christmas is coming.
They're just waking up.
I know just what they'll do.
Their mouths will hang open
a minute or two.
Then the Whos down in Who-ville
will all cry boohoo.
- That's a noise...
- Grinned the Grinch.
...that I simply must hear.
He paused.
And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound
rising over the snow.
It started in low...
...then it started to grow.
[WHOS HUMMING]
[WHOS SINGING
"WELCOME CHRISTMAS"]
But this sound wasn't sad.
Why, this sound sounded glad.
Every Who down in Who-ville,
the tall and the small...
...was singing without any presents at all.
He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming,
it came.
Somehow or other, it came just the same.
And the Grinch,
with his Grinch feet ice-cold in the snow...
...stood puzzling and puzzling.
How could it be so?
It came without ribbons.
It came without tags.
It came without packages, boxes or bags.
He puzzled and puzzed
till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something
he hadn't before.
"Maybe Christmas," he thought,
"doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas, perhaps,
means a little bit more."
And what happened then?
Well, in Who-ville they say...
...that the Grinch's small heart
grew three sizes that day.
And then the true meaning of Christmas
came through.
And the Grinch found the strength
of 10 Grinches plus two.
And now that his heart
didn't feel quite so tight...
...he whizzed with his load
through the bright morning light.
With a smile in his soul,
he descended Mount Crumpit...
...cheerily blowing Who-Who
on his trumpet.
[TRUMPET PLAYING]
He rode into Who-ville,
he brought back their toys.
He brought back their floof
to the Who girls and boys.
He brought back their snoof
and their tringlers and fuzzels.
He brought back their pantookas,
their dafflers and wuzzels.
He brought everything back,
all the food for the feast.
And he himself, The Grinch...
...carved the roast beast.
Welcome Christmas, bring your cheer.
Cheer to all Whos far and near.
Christmas day is in our grasp,
so long as we have hands to clasp.
Christmas day will always be
just as long as we have we.
Welcome Christmas while we stand,
heart to heart and hand in hand.
liked Christmas a lot.
But the Grinch...
...who lived just north of Who-ville,
did not.
The Grinch hated Christmas,
the whole Christmas season.
Now, please, don't ask why.
No one quite knows the reason.
It could be perhaps
that his shoes were too tight.
It could be his head
wasn't screwed on just right.
But I think that
the most likely reason of all...
...may have been that his heart
was two sizes too small.
But whatever the reason,
his heart or his shoes...
...he stood there on Christmas Eve
hating the Whos.
Staring down from his cave
with a sour Grinchy frown...
...at the warm lighted windows
below in their town.
For he knew every Who
down in Who-ville beneath...
...was busy now
hanging a holly Who-wreath.
And they're hanging their stockings.
He snarled with a sneer.
Tomorrow is Christmas.
It's practically here.
Then he growled,
with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming:
I must find some way
to keep Christmas from coming.
Or tomorrow, I know,
all those Who girls and boys...
...will wake bright and early,
they'll rush for their toys.
And then- Oh, the noise. Oh, the noise.
Noise, noise, noise.
There's one thing I hate. All the noise.
Noise, noise, noise.
And they'll shriek squeaks and squeals,
racing round on their wheels.
[BICYCLE BELLS RINGING]
They'll dance with Jing-Tinglers
tied onto their heels.
They'll blow their Floo-Floobers.
They'll bang their Tah-Tinkers.
[PLAYING]
They'll blow their Who-Hoobers.
They'll bang their Gah-Ginkers.
They'll beat their Trum-Tookers.
They'll slam their Sloo-Slonkers.
They'll beat their Blum-Blookers.
They'll wham their Who-Wonkers.
And they'll play noisy games
like Zoo Zitta Ka Zay...
...a roller-skate type of lacrosse
and croquet.
And then they'll make
earsplitting noises de luxe...
...on their great big
Electro Who-Cardio Shluxe.
[PLAYING]
Then the Whos, young and old,
will sit down to a feast.
And they'll feast, and they'll feast.
And they'll feast, feast, feast.
They'll feast on Who-pudding
and rare Who-roast-beast.
Oh, roast beast is a feast
I can't stand in the least.
And then they'll do something
I hate most of all.
Every Who down in Who-ville,
the tall and the small...
...will stand close together
with Christmas bells ringing.
They'll stand hand in hand,
and those Whos will start singing.
[SINGING "WELCOME CHRISTMAS"]
And they'll sing, and they'll sing.
And they'll sing. Sing, sing, sing.
NARRATOR: And the more the Grinch
thought of this Who-Christmas sing...
...the more the Grinch thought:
I must stop this whole thing.
Why, for 53 years,
I've put up with it now.
I must stop Christmas from coming.
But how?
Then he got an idea. An awful idea.
The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea.
GRINCH:
I know just what to do.
The Grinch laughed in his throat.
GRINCH: I'll make a quick Santy Claus
hat and a coat.
Then he chuckled and clucked:
GRINCH:
What a great Grinchy trick.
With this coat and this hat,
I'll look just like Saint Nick.
All I need is a reindeer.
The Grinch looked around.
But since reindeer are scarce,
there was none to be found.
Did that stop the Grinch? Ha.
The Grinch simply said:
GRINCH: If I can't find a reindeer,
I'll make one instead.
So he took his dog, Max,
and he took some black thread...
...and he tied a big horn
on the top of his head.
Then he loaded some bags
and some old empty sacks...
...on a ramshackle sleigh,
and he whistled for Max.
[WHISTLES]
- Then the Grinch said:
- Giddap.
[YELPS]
And the sleigh started down...
...toward the homes where the Whos lay
a- snooze in their town.
All their windows were dark.
No one knew he was there.
All the Whos were all dreaming
sweet dreams without care...
...when he came to the first little house
on the square.
This is stop number one.
The old Grinchy Claus hissed as he climbed
to the roof, empty bags in his fist.
Then he slid down the chimney.
A rather tight pinch.
But if Santa could do it,
then so could the Grinch.
He got stuck only once,
for a minute or two.
Then he stuck his head out
of the fireplace flue...
...where the little Who stockings
hung all in a row.
These stockings...
He Grinched.
...are the first things to go.
Then he slithered and slunk
with a smile most unpleasant...
...around the whole room
and he took every present.
Pop guns, pampoonas,
pantookas and drums...
...checkerboards, bizzel-binks,
popcorn and plums.
Then he stuffed them in bags.
Then the Grinch, very nimbly...
...stuffed all the bags, one by one,
up the chimney.
[WHISTLES]
[GRUNTING]
Then he slunk to the icebox.
He took the Whos' feast.
He took the Who-pudding.
He took the roast beast.
He cleaned out the icebox
as quick as a flash.
Why, that Grinch even took
the last can of Who-hash.
Then he stuffed all the food
up the chimney with glee.
GRINCH: Now-
- Grinned the Grinch.
GRINCH:
- I will stuff up the tree.
As the Grinch took the tree,
as he started to shove...
[CINDY-LOU WHIMPERS]
...he heard a small sound
like the coo of a dove.
He turned around fast,
and he saw a small Who...
...little Cindy-Lou Who,
who was no more than 2.
She stared at the Grinch and said:
Santy Claus, why?
Why are you taking our Christmas tree?
Why?
But, you know, that old Grinch
was so smart and so slick...
...he thought up a lie,
and he thought it up quick.
Why, my sweet little tot...
The fake Santy Claus lied.
...there's a light on this tree
that won't light on one side.
So I'm taking it home
to my workshop, my dear.
I'll fix it up there,
then I'll bring it back here.
And his fib fooled the child.
Then he patted her head.
And he got her a drink,
and he sent her to bed.
And when Cindy-Lou Who
was in bed with her cup...
...he crupt to the chimney
and stuffed the tree up.
Then he went up the chimney himself,
the old liar.
And the last thing he took
was the log for their fire.
On their walls, he left nothing
but hooks and some wire.
And the one speck of food
that he left in the house...
...was a crumb
that was even too small for a mouse.
Then he did the same thing
to the other Whos' houses...
...leaving crumbs much too small
for the other Whos' mouses.
It was a quarter of dawn,
all the Whos still abed...
...all the Whos still a-snooze...
...when he packed up his sled.
Packed it up with their presents,
their ribbons, their wrappings...
...their snoof and their fuzzels,
their tringlers and trappings.
[SCREAMS]
Ten thousand feet up,
up the side of Mount Crumpit...
...he rode with his load to the tiptop
to dump it.
Pooh-pooh to the Whos.
NARRATOR:
He was Grinch-ily humming.
They're finding out now
that no Christmas is coming.
They're just waking up.
I know just what they'll do.
Their mouths will hang open
a minute or two.
Then the Whos down in Who-ville
will all cry boohoo.
- That's a noise...
- Grinned the Grinch.
...that I simply must hear.
He paused.
And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound
rising over the snow.
It started in low...
...then it started to grow.
[WHOS HUMMING]
[WHOS SINGING
"WELCOME CHRISTMAS"]
But this sound wasn't sad.
Why, this sound sounded glad.
Every Who down in Who-ville,
the tall and the small...
...was singing without any presents at all.
He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming,
it came.
Somehow or other, it came just the same.
And the Grinch,
with his Grinch feet ice-cold in the snow...
...stood puzzling and puzzling.
How could it be so?
It came without ribbons.
It came without tags.
It came without packages, boxes or bags.
He puzzled and puzzed
till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something
he hadn't before.
"Maybe Christmas," he thought,
"doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas, perhaps,
means a little bit more."
And what happened then?
Well, in Who-ville they say...
...that the Grinch's small heart
grew three sizes that day.
And then the true meaning of Christmas
came through.
And the Grinch found the strength
of 10 Grinches plus two.
And now that his heart
didn't feel quite so tight...
...he whizzed with his load
through the bright morning light.
With a smile in his soul,
he descended Mount Crumpit...
...cheerily blowing Who-Who
on his trumpet.
[TRUMPET PLAYING]
He rode into Who-ville,
he brought back their toys.
He brought back their floof
to the Who girls and boys.
He brought back their snoof
and their tringlers and fuzzels.
He brought back their pantookas,
their dafflers and wuzzels.
He brought everything back,
all the food for the feast.
And he himself, The Grinch...
...carved the roast beast.
Welcome Christmas, bring your cheer.
Cheer to all Whos far and near.
Christmas day is in our grasp,
so long as we have hands to clasp.
Christmas day will always be
just as long as we have we.
Welcome Christmas while we stand,
heart to heart and hand in hand.