NEWS
A "Grinch" update
12 Sep 2000 Here's a collection of several "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas" bits appeared recently on the web and other media outlets. Take a deep breath and read on:
- Jim Carrey will be on the November cover of the re-launched Details magazine.
- The movie was already officially rated PG by the MPAA. For those not familiarized with the US ratings system, PG - "Parental Guidance Suggested" - means that the ratings board considered that some material may not be suitable for children. (Uh?!)
- Sir Anthony Hopkins was selected by Ron Howard as the "Grinch" narrator. Following the footsteps of Boris Karloff, the original narrator of the 1966 classic cartoon by Chuck Jones, Hopkin's assignment was described by Universal as a combination of dialogue from the book and original narration. According to Entertainment Tonight, in a news piece that showed the actor during the recording session, it took only one day for Hopkins to finish the task.
- The second, and quite beautiful, advance poster will be already available to buy this week.
- Composer James Horner talked recently to The New York Times about his work on "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas". You can register for free and read it at the newspaper's website, following this link.
- Adding to a mile long list of tie-ins, Dynamic Forces will be releasing a Grinch-themed trading card set which will feature images from the movie along with Dr. Seuss classic Grinch images and original illustrations by the Hildebrant Brothers, Dan Jurgens, Alex Horley and John Estes, among others. All the details can be found at Diamond's page. Dynamic Forces is also releasing an original, movie-inspired lithograph by the Hildebrandts which can be viewed here.
- In a perhaps more unexpected alliance, Universal will be also promoting the movie through "Grinch" racing car paint schemes namely on John Force's Ford Mustang (NHRA) and Terry Labonte's Chevy Monte Carlo (Nascar). If you're a collector, 1/24 diecast models of the cars will be available to buy in specialty shops, as of November.
- Producer Brian Grazer gave an interesting interview to USA Today, titled "How The Grinch Got So Grinchy", in which he addresses some of the plot adaptations required to turn the original short story by Dr. Seuss into a feature film, what is the core message of the film and the philosophy behind the makeup and sets conception. The Grinch's cave is described in the article as "a styrofoam labyrinth of ingenuity, loosely modeled on New York's Guggenheim Museum." Click to read the entire article.
Speaking on foam, the company behind several of the "Grinch"'s sets is the Studio Foam Shop and, for those who enjoy these production details, you can take a peek at some of their models here.
- And finally, here's a few assorted quotes heard around Who-ville:
"You really can't describe it, he so totally inhabits his character and is completely unique. You've never seen a screen character like the Grinch. And he brings it to life in a way that is totally related, and really funny, but complete. You know, with a soul." -- Director Ron Howard on Jim Carrey's performance. E! Online (8/4/00)
"About two weeks in, I was having a lot of trouble with the Grinch suit, so they brought a guy in who actually teaches people how to handle torture, and he gave me a couple of tips. You just forget [the pain]. Sitting around in that suit was not too fun, but performing in it was amazing. I can be as uncomfortable as I want, but when somebody says action, it's like going into another reality." -- Jim Carrey on the Grinch's makeup. Entertainment Weekly (8/15/00)
"I looked at the Grinch as someone who is not just the angry guy, he's hurt. He's upset. I wanted to be able to make the Grinch sympathetic. I don't want it to get scary, but I thought to myself, 'This is a guy who wants to be invited to the party.'" -- Jim Carrey on the Grinch's character development. Sun Times (6/29/00)
"The Grinch is different. That is the wonderful thing about this tale. It is not just about the Christmas commercial. It is about people who kid themselves into thinking that they don't want to be a part of the party. Everybody wants to be a part down deep! Sometimes we get ourselves caught up in our own self-loathing. We shut ourselves into caves." -- Jim Carrey again on the Grinch's character development. Entertainment Tonight (6/19/2000)
"He's spectacularly brilliant as The Grinch. The industry won't be able to ignore that… [Carrey is] very accessible, totally prepared, always giving 10,000 percent. He's the real thing." -- Christine Baranski on colleague Jim Carrey. Hartford Courant
-- FilmForce and MovieHeadlines gave some good driving instructions to Mt. Crumpit. With a big Spank You also to HAL 9000 for the MPAA info and to ClassAct Movie Posters for the poster release date. Click to comment this article.
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