The Grinch isn’t Green by Jared Schwartz

The Grinch isn’t green. Or at least he wasn’t. Something interesting to dive into is the ways stories change over time, passed from one person to the next in a medium-sifting game of telephone. Because in our modern world, stories aren’t shared strictly verbally from one person to the next, but instead recorded in some format or another (or multiple formats) that can confirm an authenticity to some commonly accepted version of a story.

In our current world of shared universe-story telling (and MULTIVERSE-spanning story-telling), cross-media stories have stricter ties to the past than they used to.

A fictional story doesn’t change via whispers from one generation to the next as in the past, now it is a game of Telephone from one adaptation to the next, and The Grinch isn’t alone in this. Superman, whose first appearance pre-dates the Grinch by about 20 years, is one of the first major examples, to my knowledge, of a character whose story is majorly defined via its transitions into other mediums and then back again.

PART 2

If you were to ask any person what Superman’s weakness is, a great many would answer Kryptonite, a word that’s so well-defined within pop-culture’s lore around the Superman story/ies, that my own autocorrect knew what it was. However, Kryptonite did not “exist” within Superman’s story until half a decade after his debut, and even then, would not be part of the “true canon” of Superman’s comicbook stories until a full decade after Superman’s origin.

This is because while Superman’s story was unfolding via comicbook adventures in the pages of Action Comics, the tenants of his world were being established simultaneously in cartoons, a newspaper comic strip, and movie and radio serials. And it was within one of those radio serials that Kryptonite first made its debut.

The fact that Superman existed within so many mediums is what allowed the pop-cultural lore around the character to permeate our collective subconscious so strongly, like Coca-Cola marketing but for stories.

Our eyes, minds and hands delighted in beholding his comicbook adventures. Our ears became equipped to recognize “It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” from the radio show. The cartoons and live-action adventures told us what his power feels like.

So yes, one of the most essential parts of Superman’s stories, Kryptonite, something often recognized as being very significant to our understanding of his character in the very first place, wasn’t even from the comics that introduced him. (So feel free to correct any self-respecting superhero fan who complains when other mediums introduce elements that weren’t in the comics, because if they like Superman, they’ve been okay with it before.)

What does this have to do with the Grinch? Everything.

PART 3

While the Grinch is not a character with weekly or even monthly updates to his story, stories, or lore, he possesses similar cultural elements that made Superman and others mainstays in the ongoing pop-cultural discussion, all while so many other characters and stories fizzle out of public awareness.

Branding, of course, is a big part of it, and so is having an iconic look. However, the most defining aspect of that iconic look was not there in the beginning.

In the first published version of Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! from 1957, there is no color on the Grinch at all, due to the illustrations mostly being black and white aside from some highlights.

None of those highlights on the Grinch were at any point green, nor was he ever described as being green by the story’s text, although there was some green on the cover, not part of the Grinch himself, and it’s drowned by the orange that really fills up that image.

This is to say that our popular lore of what the Grinch is, was not even there. If you were to read the book after having wiped your memory of any other versions or adaptations of the Grinch, as well as all of pop culture’s reference to it, you would read that story and probably read the Grinch to be some sort of take on the concept of theAbominable Snowman.

Why wouldn’t you? Without clarity about Dr. Suess’ original intentions, we’re left with the following information: The Grinch is a fuzzy creature that lives on a snowy mountain and whose story is tied fully to Christmas and thus, Winter.

The Grinch is as white as the pages he lives on, and he is not made to stand out from the snow storms he grouches around in. So if you’re left with nothing but this original story, that’s what the Grinch is, the Abominable Snowman of Whoville, a location first established in Horton Hears a Who!

PART 4

The Change came when Chuck Jones, famous for his work in Looney Tunes (and who previously worked with Dr. Suess/Theodor Geisel on the USO cartoons of Private Snafu), got to direct his animated take on How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.

This take on the story, while also introducing the iconic song You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, made the choice to color the Grinch in a strikingly nauseating green color, perfectly suiting the character’s repulsive personality as well as helping him to contrast visually from the white that surrounds him.

This is the version of the Grinch that struck such a cord with people that it still persists as the popular version of the story today.

This is the reason that Jim Carrey is not painted white in his movie (which also features the iconic song), and that the Grinch hasn’t been made into an assortment of other colors for his many other adaptations. (Who knows, if the choice to color him green came from that color being on the cover, the Grinch could’ve just as easily have been made orange!)

This version of the character also spawned some less popular sequels, including one which takes place on Halloween (possibly not in the town of Whoville anymore…I would assume the Grinch just hates any town that gets excited about holidays, despite Halloween never being mentioned in that cartoon aside from its title) and a cross-over with the Cat in the Hat.

This version of the character is so cemented as the proper version of the Grinch, that even reprints of the original book feature a green Grinch on their cover, despite that not being his appearance within the book.

So, while the translation of stories from one medium to another is a pretty fascinating game of Telephone, it’s also an amazing dive into who contributed most significantly when whispering into the next person’s ear from the first.

t1 INT. ART GALLERY:DAY 1

THE ARTIST, hair slicked back, wearing round glasses, a

slick button-up suit, and a name-tag reading "THE ARTIST"

sits alone in a gallery surrounded by nothing but sculptures

of himself, which appear to be staring him down. There are

labels next to each of them saying "unsold".

The Artist removes an "unsold" sticker, puts it underneath

his "THE ARTIST" name-tag and then yells to the sky....

2 INT. ARTIST’S BEDROOM:NIGHT 2

THE ARTIST is still yelling, hair now a mess, suit covered

in drool, looms over a massive slab of clay. To his right, a

drawing, a bust of himself. Surrounding it are tiny

sculptures of nude men and women, each destroyed or

incomplete in some way.

Back to the slab. Yelling ceases. He takes his knife and

begins to mold it. Eyes appear. He molds further. A mouth.

The slab is starting to look like him. The man wipes his

face with his hand.

Clay gets on his sleeves, he yelps pathetically. Then he

sculpts a little bit further and accidentally bends the

statue’s nose sideways.

Screams.

He hurls his unfinished piece onto the ground, ruining it.

He takes another swig of his bottle, then throws it onto the

pile of other empty beers, missing the garbage can. He cries

into his sleeve.

The Artist gets up to pick up the bottle, walks to the other

side of the room, but then brightness fills the space,

stopping him in his tracks.

Outside his window, a shooting star. The Artist clamps up

his hands and kneels. His eyes clench shut with the severity

of his hopes.

The brightness is now gone from the room. The Artist crawls

in to bed, and shuts his drunken eyes.

3 INT. ARTIST’S BEDROOM:DAY 3

The next morning, he wakes up to a strange sight. Above his

head floats two hovering hands, not connected to any body.

Their color constantly shifting, the hands are molded from

the idea of creativity itself. The man shrieks, knocking

aside several bottles left on his bedside to the floor. As

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 2.

one of them rolls away, it hits a bust. The exact bust that

the man was failing to sculpt the previous night. It is

complete now. It is perfect.

The Artist points at the sculpture, then back to the Hands.

ARTIST

You did this?

The hands shrug.

The Artist hastily sketches another work, and hands it off

to the Hands.

They take hold of the drawing, seemingly inspecting it. Then

they whisk away, out of the room. The sculptor sits aghast.

The hands return through the front door, wheeling in a new

slab of clay. Very quickly, before the sculptor’s very eyes,

the hands create a beautiful sculpt of a woman.

4 INT. ART GALLERY:DAY 4

Wealthy-looking patrons are ooing and awing at the amazing

sculptures as the "artist" himself, with his Hands floating

next to him. People bump into the Hands with an "excuse me"

but nobody notices them.

WEALTHY WOMAN

(to the Artist)

How on Earth did you create such

marvelous works?

A large crowd immediately gathers in rapid succession and

lean in.

ARTIST

Uh, mainly it was a work of

self-respect. It also took, of

course, time, patience, you know.

Raw talent.

The crowd appears non-plussed.

ARTIST

...and, uh, you know, a willingness

to get my hands dirty.

Crowd cheers.

int. artist’s bedroom:night

The hands are continuously working, molding more and more

artwork.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 3.

The Artist, cleanly pajamaed in his Mickey Mouses onesies,

sits by his bed when another heavenly ray of light comes

into his room.

Hands clasped, again he prays.

Then, again, the Artist shrugs and settles into bed.

5 INT. ARTIST’S BEDROOM:MORNING 5

Sunlight beams into the Artist’s eyes, waking him suddenly.

He is surrounded by hands. There must be 50 of them

"standing" around, awaiting his orders.

The Artist loudly removes a page from his drawing pad, and

then hands it to them.

The Hands file his sketches and immediately start molding

some clay.

6 INT. ART GALLERY:NIGHT 6

The floating hands stand lined up unnoticed against the wall

as the Artist dodges questions left and right.

A HARVEY WEINSTEIN-LOOKING MOFO stares at one of the nudes

next to a BUSINESSMAN.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN-LOOKING MOFO

You know, I’ve walked past this

gallery a million times and never

felt like coming in here until now.

I can’t figure out what changed.

The Businessman shrugs, similarly to the hands.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN-LOOKING MOFO

Henchman! I’d like to know the

artist.

The Businessman slinks to the Artist, and the two exchange

business-cards, as the Businessman also hands him a

champagne.

The Artist raises his champagne glass, and so do the wealthy

patrons as everybody cheers for him, while the floating

hands politely applaud from the back.

4.

7 INT. ARTIST’S BEDROOM:NIGHT 7

The Artist sits hiccuping at his desk with a drink in his

hand, his home no longer full of sculptures or sketches, but

instead an army of hands, awaiting orders. A "beep" comes

from his computer and immediately opens it.

Words flash across the screen onto the artist’s face. "We

like your stuff", "We think",

"family-friendly","more","remove the nudity, still imply

it", "more", "Money","more","big bucks", "more", "MORE" and

"MORE!"

and then

..."$"

"FROM: a representative of a HARVEY WEINSTEIN-LOOKING MOFO"

The Artist puts his head down, and slyly swivels his chair

around towards the hands.

8 INT. ART GALLERY:NIGHT 8

Hands are hard at work in all corners of the room,

scribbling concepts onto pages, which are hastily culled

through by the Artist.

The Artist tosses sketch after sketch aside until he sees

one that makes him smile. Pointing at it, he then puts his

finger out to the Hands themselves.

The hands all point to a single black pair of hands in the

middle.

The Artist nods to the Black Hands

Immediately the Black Hands begin scribbling out pages which

the other hands take and start sculpting, while the Artist

leans back into his swivel chair, pops open a can of beer

and watches.

Immediately finding himself bored, he turns on his computer.

"PRESS CONFERENCE"

9 INT. ART GALLERY:DAY 9

At the press conference, there is no hands. The Artist

stands alone on the stage. And adoring paparazzi stands

ready taking hundreds of photos of their newest celebrity.

The man approaches a microphone.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 5.

Flashes of light reflect in the glasses of the Artist as

photos upon photos are taken.

The Next Days’s paper, Variety is reporting news of a

Children’s Television series based on the hit sculptures.

10 INT. ARTIST’S BEDROOM:NIGHT 10

The Artist wakes up to a floating hand’s finger tapping him

on the forehead. The hands surround him. Only this time, the

hands are crossed.

11 BLACKSCREEN 11

ARTIST

(V.O. over phone)

Hi. Let’s have another press

conference tomorrow.

12 INT. ART GALLERY-DAY 12

The Artist, beaten and bloodied, sits hunched over his

podium like a wrestler who now has to confront the press

about his defeat. He is wearing a black sweater, making him

resemble a pseudo-Steve Jobs. The Floating Hands "stand"

proudly behind him.

ARTIST

I think it’s time I told you all

the truth of my incredible story.

MONTAGE of the Artist regaling them with the events up to

this point.

ARTIST

...and so I prayed to God that

night...

ARTIST

...The first set of floating hands

appeared above my bed...

ARTIST

Suddenly all of you people were

interested in my artwork...you

weren’t before....

ARTIST

...And anyway, that leads to last

night, when my hands beat me up for

not sharing my money with them.

They’re really so greedy, always

demanding something from me, and

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 6.

ARTIST (CONT’D)

then they hurt me when I try to

look out for myself. Police!

A snoozing officer awakes next to the podium.

ARTIST

I’m rich, and I’d like you to know

that these beggars assaulted me,

simply for the "crime" of being an

entrepreneur!

The officer pulls out some handcuffs while the hands swarm

in all directions.

POLICE OFFICER

(into his walkie talkie)

Gonna need some backup here.

The officer struggles to capture any of the exiting hands,

but pauses for a moment to salute the Artist, who stands

proud, but still bloodied, in-front of the American flag.

He nods to his press conference’s audience. A

Harvey-Weinstein-looking Mofo arrives on stage, shaking the

Artist’s hand.

ARTIST

And starting now, in celebration of

my victory today, I would like to

announce that I have sold the movie

and video game rights to my

artwork, and that a novelization is

coming shortly. Additionally, I

have hired a biographer to chart my

rise to success. I believe it will

become a major part of the history

in our nation’s elementary school

textbooks.

As he speaks, the audience is clearly in awe of him. In the

back sits an older couple wearing nothing but red, white and

blue.

OLD MAN

(whispering to his wife)

That man is an amazing artist.

OLD WOMAN

No, he’s better than an artist.

He’s a businessman.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 7.

THE END