Halloween Is Grinch Night

Halloween Is Grinch Night (1977)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This twenty-five minute television special is a sequel to HOW THE GRINCH STOLE Christmas but of course this doesn't feature Boris Karloff's voice sadly. As far as the film goes, this time out the Grinch decides he needs to return to Whoville and make sure they don't have any fun at Halloween time.

HALLOWEEN IS GRINCH NIGHT certainly isn't the masterpiece that the original film was but to be fair one really shouldn't turn this on and expect it to be. For the most part this is a mildly entertaining special that will probably keep the kids a lot happier than their parents. Once again we're treated to some wonderful animation and there's no question that the Grinch character is one of legend. The major problem that I had with the film is that I didn't really care for any of the musical numbers. They were decent but just not good enough to hold my attention throughout the running time.

Halloween is Grinch Night takes place one evening when a 'sour-sweet wind' blows through Whoville and warns the Who's that the Grinch is coming down with his Paraphernelia Wagon from Mt.Crumpit to celebrate the much feared "Grinch Night." One boy, Euchariah is swept away by the wind and comes face to face with the Grinch himself. Now Euchariah must stall the Grinch until the wind dies down, even if he has to face the horrors in the Paraphernelia Wagon.

Halloween is Grinch Night is surprisingly good. The length of the movie is only about 30 minutes but during that time there's at least more then 10 songs, which are all incredibly catchy. Most of them are describing what Grinch Night is, how nasty the Grinch is, even the Grinch sings a song. One song sung by Max, Grinch's dog, really surprised me due to how sad it is and how Max longs to get away from his terrible master.

Unlike "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" there's a lot of dialogue in this special and the voice acting is very good. The most impressive comes from Hans Conried who voices The Grinch(and narrator). It's down right terrifying at times.

The animation is also great with everything detailed in that classic Dr. Seuss style. The most impressive scene is when the Grinch opens the Paraphernelia Wagon. It's then when everything from your nightmares you had as a kid comes out at once. With scary visuals and scary lyrics sung by the one and only Thurl Ravenscroft, that scene is no doubt the best in the special.

If you have kids or if you want to watch something to kill your time that's Halloween related, this special is for you. It's not as classic as How the Grinch Stole Christmas but it is nonetheless a good Halloween special.

Halloween is Grinch Night is not going to appeal to everybody, people will find it hugely entertaining and others will find it bizarre. I do belong in the former category, but I can certainly understand the latter opinion as well. It is not as good as How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but is still very impressive. The animation is very good, it is full of colour and the Paraphanelia Wagon sequence is memorably trippy. The music is wonderful, I love the jauntiness of the incidental scoring and the songs are very catchy. Max also sings and his song I found touching as a child and still do at 20. There are more faithful Dr Seuss adaptations out there, but the rhymes that form the dialogue are witty and elegant at the same time, while the story is briskly paced and bewitchingly oddball. The characters are ones you engage with, The Grinch himself will live long in the memory, and the voice acting is superb especially the soothing then terrifying narrator/Grinch of Hans Conreid, a worthy successor to Boris Karloff. So all in all, a great and underrated special. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Halloween is Grinch Night (aka Grinch Night) revisits the titular Grinch on a different holiday, this time Halloween. The return of the sour sweet wind leads to several disturbances in the wildlife surrounding Whoville which causes a chain reaction of annoyances that spurs the Grinch to embark towards Whoville with his paraphernalia wagon to inflict his grinchly mischief, and only young who Euchariah can stop him.

Although allegedly a prequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, in truth the short has very little connective tissue to the previous short. Chuck Jones does not return to direct Grinch Night with the reins instead being handled to Rocky and Bullwinkle veteran director Gerard Baldwin and executive produced by Looney Tunes alum Friz Freleng and Dr. Seuss himself being the sole connective element on both shorts returning to his role as producer and writer respectively. Boris Karloff does not reprise his role as the titular Grinch having passed on 8 years prior, and the role is succeeded by veteran voice actor/character actor Hans Conried best known for voicing Captain Hook in Disney's Peter Pan and playing the villain in another Seuss project, Dr. T in the, in my opinion, overlooked film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

The short certainly maintains the same visual style as its predecessor with its coloring, designs and animation being well produced and bearing the signature Seuss style with ease. Unfortunately Grinch Night suffers heavily when compared to its Christmas based counterpart, but even if that weren't the case this would still be an above average but unexceptional holiday short.

The biggest issue is for the first two thirds of the special not much happens as it's very dialogue heavy and there's not much in the way of a plot or characters that drives the special forward. Most of the beginning parts of the special are the Whos in the village hunkering down awaiting the arrival of the Grinch in fear simply because he's the Grinch. There's never a detailed plan as to what the Grinch plans to do once he arrives in Whoville with his paraphernalia wagon and the stakes of the special feel lacking as a result. The Grinch despite being in a Halloween special also feels less threatening as a presence because even though his name is in the title there really isn't all that much time spent developing the Grinch.

Despite the drawbacks that come from comparison, Grinch Night does boast some positive traits. The music, sounds, and voice acting are effectively done and do well to build that Halloween atmosphere Grinch Night is going for. The third act of the special is also quite effective as once we see the inside of the Grinch's Paraphernalia wagon it leads to many elaborate, creepy, unsettling, and creative designs that bear the signature Seuss weirdness while having a threatening presence that fits in well with the rest of the short. That's probably where Grinch Night succeeds the most, its story is unfortunately lacking in much substance but it does manage to salvage itself with an effective use of atmosphere and unsettling surreal imagery in the last third that make it worth viewing at least once.

Grinch Night's biggest drawback is being in the unfortunate position of being compared to a timeless holiday classic, but even that aside it still has its own personal hurdles to overcome. The first two thirds are marred by turgid pacing and an over abundance of dialogue and a story that just isn't that strong. However the show also makes effective use of its sound design, voice acting and visuals(especially in the third act) that make Grinch Night, not unlike the Halloween candy we consume, a pleasant enough treat that helps overlook its lack of substance.

"Halloween is Grinch Night" is another of the Dr. Seuss animated films based on a Theodor Seuss Geisel children's story. This cartoon short aired as a TV half-hour special in 1977 on ABC.

The comedy isn't as clearly presented here to ameliorate for the fright factor. Dr. Seuss introduces some new creatures at the edge of Whoville. They are awakened when the sour-sweet wind descends in the fall. Gree Grumps awake from their sleep in the tree trumps. Their growling stirs the water of Punker's Pond. And that awakens the Hacken Cracks whose yowling reaches to the peak of Mt. Crompet. That, in turn, stirs the Grinch into action.

The old Grinch meets his match in a young boy, Euchariah, who stumbles upon him after being blown away from home by the sour-sweet wind. It's a fun cartoon story that most kids should enjoy - those of us from two to 92.