There have been three iterations of DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: the eternal storybook, the classic animated special, and the dogshit live action movie from Ron Howard and Jim Carrey. So, since one of those three is an abyssmal failure, logic dictates it should be remade.
Enter Chris Meladandri and Illuminatrion Entertainment, the team behind DESPICABLE ME and THE LORAX. To date, THE LORAX has been far and away the best adaptation of a Dr. Seuss story for the big screen. The music was catchy and the environmentally friendly moral still hits home, but without sacrificing the heart of the book. That is what was crucially missing from both Ron Howard‘s THE GRINCH and Mike Myers‘ THE CAT IN THE HAT. Neither of those movies had heart which could have been due to the difficulty in setting such a fantastic world in a realistic manner. It just ends up looking fake and takes you completely out of the magic of the tale.
Deadline reports that Meladandri, who also worked on HORTON HEARS A WHO over at Fox and Blue Sky, and Illumination have a great working relationship with Audrey Geisel, widow of Dr. Seuss, which is enough of a blessing on the project for me.
With the turnaround time on an animated movie being upwards of two years, do not expect to see the latest version of HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS anytime soon, but expect when it is ready that it will hit theaters around Thanksgiving.
