The Grinch

The Grinch (also known as Dr. Seuss' The Grinch) is a 2018 American animated Christmas comedy film directed by Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney (in the former's feature directorial debut), and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, with a screenplay written by Michael LeSieur and Tommy Swerdlow. Produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is the third screen adaptation of the 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss, following the 1966 television special and the 2000 live-action feature-length film. It marks Illumination's second Dr. Seuss film adaptation, after The Lorax in 2012. The film stars the voices of Benedict Cumberbatch, Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Angela Lansbury (in her last voice acting role before her death in 2022), and narration by Pharrell Williams. The plot follows the Grinch and his pet dog Max who plan to stop Whoville's Christmas celebration by stealing all the town's decorations and gifts. The Grinch was released and distributed by Universal Pictures in the United States on November 9, 2018. It grossed over $526 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Christmas film of all time, as well as the highest-grossing Dr. Seuss film adaptation. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the animation and the vocal performances (particularly from Cumberbatch), but criticised the lack of creative license. This was the final Dr. Seuss film adaptation to be released during the lifetime of Seuss's widow Audrey Geisel, who served as executive producer of the film and died on December 19, 2018, five weeks after the film's release. Plot