Things You Didn’t Know About The Grinch

Jim Carrey is the king of improvisation

Image Source/ Vanity FairI think it's safe to say that Jim Carrey is one king actor, given his extensive list of previous films, so it comes as no surprise that many of his lines were improvised. This includes the absolutely iconic line: "6:30: dinner with myself. I can't cancel that again." Same.

Tim Burton was close to directing the movie

Image Source/ DeviantArt / theblacklagoon00Now that would've been quite the Grinch. Around the time of production, film director Tim Burton had some great movies under his belt and he was asked to be a part of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But, it turns out he had scheduling conflicts with Sleepy Hollow, and simply couldn't take it on.

There were some surprising contenders for the role...

Image Source/ Showbiz Cheat SheetI don't think anybody can picture the Grinch being played by anyone other than the OG Carrey. But believe it or not, both Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy were both considered by producers, although there's never been confirmation of how far they got in the audition process.

They were scared the Grinch wouldn't look like Carrey

Image Source/ SpyscapeI mean, come on, when you're paying around $20m to have Jim Carrey star in your brand new Christmas film, you at least want him to be recognisable. During the production stage, they went through six different Grinch looks to figure which suited the film the best.

Carrey never got out of that costume

Image Source/ Inside UniversalCarrey was NEVER out of that costume while becoming the Grinch, and spent a total of 92 days as the Christmas-hating character. He described the process of being transformed into the green creature as similar to being "buried alive." But we'll talk more about that later!

The Grinch's makeup took eight and a half hours

Image Source/ Film School RejectsThe uniqueness of the Grinch's appearance meant that it took a long time for the makeup artists to apply to Carrey's face. While it generally took about 3 hours, with an hour to take off, the first time they applied the prosthetics it took around 8 and a half hours. Wow!

Carrey almost quit over the torture

Image Source/ Daily ExpressCarrey has not been shy when it comes to expressing his detest against transforming into our iconic character. He has since spoken about how torturous it was to have to endure the heavy prosthetics and time spent being prodded, with "frisbee like contact lenses." Ouch!

The CIA were hired to train Carrey

Image Source/ Military.comGiven that the makeup process was so long and heavy, Carrey really struggled with this element of the role. While he had many doubts about continuing as the Grinch, they decided to bring the CIA in to train Carrey in how to endure levels of torture to make sure hew as up to the challenge.

Makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji had to take a leave of absence...

Image Source/ Tokyo WeekenderAfter being subject to the torment of undergoing the Grinch transformation, Carrey became difficult to work with and erratic on set. This led to managers advising that the makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji took a leave of absence just to prove how crucial he was in the production of the film.

The Director was always eternally grateful for Carrey

Image Source/ GoldDerbyRon Howard was eventually appointed the director of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and he did not disappoint. Given the tough test of endurance that Carrey was going through, Howard wanted to empathise, so took it upon himself to undergo the full transformation at 3:30am to surprise Carrey!

The film stole the record for most extras in makeup and costume

Image Source/ Eritas DailyYep, you heard that right. How the Grinch Stole Christmas managed to dethrone the (very) cursed 1930's adaptation of The Wizard of Oz as being the film production with most extras in full costume and heavy makeup. I mean, it's hardly surprising, just look at the Whos!

It won an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Image Source/ Yahoo Movies UKOkay, maybe this is kind of a consolation for the torturous application of makeup and costumes in the production of the Grinch, but it managed to take away the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling in 2000. Honestly, it definitely deserved it.

The Grinch was never green!

Image Source/ The Art of Dr. SeussYep, that's exactly right. Our beloved green Scrooge-like character was never actually green. Dr. Seuss' 1957 illustration documents this perfectly as it was in fact black and white. It wasn't until Chuck Jones was inclined to make the character green for the first adaptation, after meeting with Dr. Seuss in an ugly green car.

His suit was made up of dyed yak hair

Image Source/ Encyclopaedia BritannicaDid you ever wonder how they went about making the costume of the Grinch for Carrey? Well, now you know. Vegan's look away, the actually used yak hair in the creation of the costume, and dyed it the specific vibrant green before sewing it onto a spandex suit.

Whoville is not far from Bates Motel...

Image Source/ Inside UniversalThe set of Whoville was located on the backlot of Universal Studios (and has since been knocked down, RIP) right by the set of the Bates Motel. So, Carrey took this as an opportunity to terrorise the tourists of Universal Studios by chasing them with a knife dressed as the Grinch.

Max was played by a lot of different canines

Image Source/ Christmas Specials WikiHiring a dog for the part of Max was not easy, and they even had to bring in Roger Schumacher the trainer to teach certain skills, looking at Max's strengths. A total of six dogs were hired to play the popular part, all mixed-breed rescues, named Kelly, Chip, Topsy, Stella, Zelda and Bo. So cute!

The Whos attended Who-School

Image Source/ PinterestThere was a proper Who-School that all the actors had to attend to learn what it meant to be a Whoville citizen. Using the limited information they had on the Whos, after Dr. Seuss passed away, they managed to uniquely grasp the quirky etiquette of the residents.

Carrey debuted his solo artist career with "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch."

Image Source/ LooperNo, there wasn't a substitute vocalist for Jim Carrey, he did the vocals himself in the iconic song "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch." Surely this was his debut as a solo artist, but never quite donned king of pop. The song was written by the original author Dr. Seuss and composed by Albert Hague.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, knows what "Fahoo Foraze" means

Image Source/ Cultured VulturesYep that's right, the meaning of the meaningless lyrics has never been clarified by the writers or producers. I mean, what kind of meaning can the line "fah who foraze, dah who doraze, goowho gums and bizilbixes" actually have? I'm not entirely sure myself...

A fan theory is that the Grinch rescued Max

Image Source/ BustleWe absolutely LOVE fan theories, and this one is great. An origin story that is never confirmed is the Grinch's ownership of Max, however in a line about gifts, the Grinch specifies that they all come to him in the "garbage." Could this mean that this is where he found Max too?

They enlisted the help of second graders for the costumes

Image Source/ BuzzfeedThe Whos were good with their hands and the costume designer Rita Ryack felt that she needed to portray the homemade theme of the costumes perfectly. She had pupils from the Brookside Elementary School in Ventura County help create some of the costumes using materials.

Writers used Latin in the lyrics of "Welcome Christmas"

Image Source/ GoalcastSo we've already established that many of the lyrics written in the songs meant absolutely nothing, it was revealed that lyrics were written this way to mimic the sounds of classical Latin, which is very interesting! it doesn't stop them from being ridiculous and nonsensical though.

Queen Liz turned up at the premiere

Image Source/ ShutterstockEven royalty loved How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It's clear that she must've been a Dr. Seuss fan as she could be seen attending the Royal Film Performance at the Odeon Cinema in London. Carrey felt the pressure when it came to meeting her Royal Highness and had to learn proper protocol.

The actors couldn't breathe under their prosthetics

Image Source/ Us WeeklyWhile the Grinch's prosthetics were very difficult to apply, so where the Whos. Jeremy Howard, or Dru Lou Who, spoke about how sometimes they were able to stick a straw up their nose to breathe from. Although it didn't fully hinder the breathing, I can't imagine that to have been comfortable.

Over 40,000 trees were in that single snowflake

Image Source/ FalangeThe opening shot of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is nothing short of dramatic. There were around 40,000 computer-generated trees inserted to create the landscape of Whoville, all cramped in that tiny little snowflake. It's very spectacular indeed, isn't it!

A lot of Cirque de Soleil performers were hired as background actors

Image Source/ The Fact SiteMany of the background actors that played the citizens of Whoville (the Whos) were actually skilled acrobatic performers sourced directly from Cirque de Soleil. The extras actually did their own stunts as they had the unique capabilities that made the Whos come to life.

Jeffrey Tambor suffered from gout during filming

Image Source/ Virtual HistoryTambor eventually ended up suffering with gout during the production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a condition which effects joints and range of motion. It didn't help that this was paired with his 4 a.m. call times and countless hours in the makeup chair.

The film is crammed with Dr. Seuss Easter Eggs

Image Source/ Closer MagazineThe directors and producers had a great time with the Grinch and wanted to include odes to some more of Dr Seuss favourite work. Horton, from Horton Hatches the Egg, appears as the torch-bearing statue on top of the huge countdown clock that sits in the centre of Whoville.

It was the breakthrough for Taylor Momsen

Image Source/ Showbiz Cheat SheetThe young actress who played the pivotal Cindy Lou Who was actually Taylor Momsen. Her gig as a Whoville citizen was her very first, and she has since gone on to do bigger and better things, like her part in the hit drama series Gossip Girl, and her position as lead singer of Pretty Reckless.

Carrey met Geisel spectacularly

Image Source/ ZimbioAudrey Geisel was the widow of the famous Dr. Seuss and had quite an input in the production of the film. During the initial talks, she was due a sit down with Jim Carrey, but at the time he was playing Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. He warned that Jim wouldn't be present at the meeting, and that it would be Andy that she's speaking to.