Dec 18, 2016

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" is 50 years old today - and still great!

Chuck Jones' animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" first aired on CBS on December 18, 1966, and today marks its 50th anniversary.

The MGM project was based on Dr. Seuss's popular children's book, but it was Jones who spearheaded its realization. After convincing Dr. Seuss that an animated feature was possible, Jones created a color presentation board and pitched it to corporate sponsors. Jones made presentations to more than 20 companies, including the likes of Kellogg's and Nestle, but was unable to convince any of them to fund this expensive project. Finally, an organization called the Commercial Banking Foundation ("more by the way," Jones said) agreed to sponsor the special project.

The generous budget provided more substantial animation and higher production values than any other animated television series of the time; when "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" was completed, CBS paid $315,000 for the rights to air it twice, in 1966 and 1967. That was quite a sum for the time; an October 1966 article in Variety was titled, "The Grinch Not Only Stole Christmas, He Dusted CBS's Pockets for $315,000." (By contrast, the previous year's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" cost less than $100,000 to produce.)

The half-hour special was well received by some critics, but also received a number of lukewarm reviews. The criticism mattered little, and the special drew 38 million viewers on its first airing and went on to become a perennial network classic.

Below, the special's animator, Phil Roman, discusses some of the elements he feels made this special unique:

Below, a selection of the film's pre-production and production artwork, as well as iconic stills from iconic scenes.