Grinch-Off: Carrey vs Cumberbatch

There are three versions of the Grinch now. The first, the ultimate classic, was the animated Grinch in 1966. Then in 2000, Ron Howard shook it up with a much more fleshed out story of the Grinch, played by Jim Carrey. Our newcomer is a familiar name even if we botch it half the time, Benedict Cumberbatch, in the 2018 version of The Grinch, directed by Yarrow Cheney. I had the opportunity to see it this week, and wanted to have a little ramble where I ponder over who played a better grouchy Grinch.

The Plot

The plot, at its core, is the same as ever. There is a Who, different than all the rest not only in looks but in personality. The biggest difference? He's the one Who in Whoville who hates Christmas, and will do most anything to stop it. Simple. Direct from the old Dr. Seuss book, a classic tale.

The differences start in the added details used to flesh out this book into something worthy of nearly two hours run time.

Howard's movie is darker, definitely. The Whos are almost a reflection of our real world society, times five in terms of Christmas representation. The Who community is almost obsessed with Christmas, spending large amounts of time, effort, and money to have the brightest lights, the biggest tree, and all around the most obnoxious Christmas spirit ever. In essence, a civilization focused more on commercialism and pride than the true spirit so delicately shown in the original animated version. Many of the citizens of Whoville are shown to be perpetrators of the Grinch's harsh attitudes towards Christmas and people in general, as shown in a flashback detailing his origins. In his childhood, the Grinch actually lived in Whoville, and was shown to be bullied by some children, with others mostly just watching and not helping him. This movie is indeed a family show, but it teaches the youngsters in the crowd lessons in a more blunt, dare I say gritty, way.

Cheney's movie is very much intended for children, so it's a lighter tale with its fair share of emotional moments to highlight important moral lessons for children. The Whoss of Whoville are more in line with the 1966 counterparts, people who truly love Christmas as the celebration of love and belief in humanity that it is meant to be. Even though they do work hard to make Christmas bigger and better, never do the Who lose sight of what truly matters to them. As a matter of fact, many of the Who are quite nice to the Grinch, though his interactions with them in the movie are sparse due to personal choice.

The difference mainly is in the tone set by the movies, but there are a few similarities. Both Grinch figures have sad pasts that have fostered their hatred for Christmas, and the Who's down in Whoville are all crazy for Christmas.

The Characterization – Jim Carrey

The Grinch of 2004 was almost vicious with how mean he could be, dirty, and overwhelmed with spite. It was implied that the Grinch spent every morning going over a phone book of Whoville and marking every single Who as someone he hated. In fact, a particular line was quite iconic for me.

"Loathe, entirely." Same pal.

The whole movie was just liberally peppered with some iconic lines that I gleefully look for opportunities to use.

His days were "chock full" of activities including dinner with himself, slipping into madness, and staring into the abyss. His only companion was a scruffy, adorable dog named Max. Even though Max was for the most part the only living creature who could tolerate him, he treated Max roughly but was never cruel to him. Max was his only friend. To those who feared him he was able to successfully appear as a cruel and terrible being, but for those like Cindy Lou who (ha) were determined to know the real person, he would resort to outlandish and animated attempts to be intimidating.

He had a zany sense of humor that was often at the expense of others, with the sort of wit that was ahead of its time back in the beginning of the 21st century. Nowadays pretty much everyone who calls themselves a Millenial or Gen Z appreciates the dark, self-deprecating humor of the Grinch and are quite sympathetic with his hatred of people. Jim Carrey portrayed a Who that was gruff and prickly on the outside, but a hurt, insecure person very deep down. Someone who, when alone, would stop his exaggerated movements and quips to stare; listless, dissatisfied, burning at his very core over slights that never healed from long ago.

After his heart grew three sizes, he still remained a rather awkward figure in social settings that chose to bluster through things he didn't understand. He was considerably nicer to those he already liked though, and toned down some of the spite. He started a romance that never had a chance to grow in his childhood and became a part of Whoville.

The Characterization – Benedict Cumberbatch

This Grinch, as I said before, is really and truly for kids. He's not very nice, but nowhere near the level of petty that Jim's Grinch was. The thing that stands out immediately as being different is that this Grinch actually does go out into Whoville and interact with the Who's. The Grinch in this movie doesn't seem to have the same threatening and scary reputation as his live-action counterpart, so the Who's are more likely to talk to him.

Rather than throw out caustic lines and jokes to ward off any Who that might talk to him, Benedict's Grinch is very much an antisocial introvert who just really, really wants to beg off of whatever conversation you're trying to start. This Grinch is more awkward, more prone to showing different emotions such as confusion and fear, and has a soft spot for animals (that aren't messing up his plans, at least).

Exhibit A: Max! In the 2018 version, the Grinch has an obvious affection for his dog Max and cares deeply for his well-being. Even with his heart three sizes too small, he worried over Max getting hurt during a harebrained scheme, praised Max for his efforts, and took him along on every adventure he had. Which, I really do appreciate and acknowledge as way better than the 2004 movie. Exhibit B: Fred! Fred was the only reindeer left after an unfortunate run in with a goat, and the Grinch enlisted his help with pushing the sleigh he'd need to complete his Christmas stealing scheme. Fred was allowed to move around the Grinch's home as he pleased, slept in the bed with him, and when the Grinch realized he had a family he let him go without even thinking about how it would affect his plans.

There's also a stark difference in his interactions with Cindy Lou Who. The little girl herself is quite different in this movie, determined to nab Santa Claus to help her mother rather than undergoing a crisis about the true meaning of Christmas. They don't interact nearly as much in this movie as they did in the 2000 version, but each interaction showed a vastly different emotion in the Grinch in relation to the tiny Who. In the end, Cindy Lou Who is still the girl who helps the Grinch come to the realization of what Christmas can truly mean, and pushes him to interact with the Whos more.

Going back to his personality, the Grinch in 2018 does not spend nearly so much time focusing on other people, preferring very much to be alone and work on his own hobbies. He certainly doesn't do anything as weird as eat glass either (Jim, what was that man? What was the reasoning behind that), and is more obvious about his insecurity and heartache over the past. Rather than focusing on his hatred as intensely as Jim's Grinch did, he just maintains that staying away from people is the better option to keep from being hurt again. What I really liked from the 2018 version was the addition of a sort of time frame for the Grinch. "For fifty-three years . . ." So the Grinch is a little old, then, at least fifty-five or fifty-six to account for being young when his hatred of Christmas began.

The Winner?

It's totally a subjective thing, and each person who either read this article or watched those movies is going to have a different opinion. I say: As cute as the 2018 movie was, my favorite Grinch will always and forever be Jim Carrey.

This is not to belittle the efforts of Benedict Cumberbatch because he was good in this role, and this Grinch was fun in its own way. But, oh, how can I ever give up the humorous, gleefully mischievous styling of Jim Carrey? That was a Grinch after my own heart, filled with catchy phrases and great jokes. His enthusiastic rendition of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a damn classic and I bop to it at least twice during the Christmas season. The older I get, the more I understand and empathize with Jim's Grinch, who hated people, loud rackets, and the commercialism of Christmas being tossed around.

So, who was your favorite Grinch?