How the Grinch Stole Christmas
PG

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

You better watch out!

2000 • 105 min • Family · Comedy · Fantasy

Synopsis

The Grinch decides to rob Whoville of Christmas - but a dash of kindness from little Cindy Lou Who and her family may be enough to melt his heart...

Our family guide

Best from age 6
89
Movie Knight Score
8380 reviews
  • 100 Reviewers · 5 · 65%
  • 68 Audience · 8375 · 35%

The Grinch, a green creature living atop Mt. Crumpit, despises Christmas and Whoville. He plans to steal all their gifts and decorations, but a young girl, Cindy Lou Who, tries to befriend him, leading to an unexpected change of heart.

Violence & peril
3/10
Language
1/10
Drinking, drugs & smoking
1/10
Romance & sensuality
1/10
Scary moments
4/10

Heads up

  • The Grinch can be quite mean initially
  • Some scenes might be visually intense for younger viewers
  • Brief instances of crude humor

What it models well

  • Kindness and empathy
  • The true spirit of Christmas
  • Community and belonging
  • Overcoming prejudice

Talk about it after

  • Why did the Grinch hate Christmas?
  • What does Christmas mean to our family?
  • How did Cindy Lou Who show kindness?
  • Why is being different sometimes hard?

Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.

Where to watch

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Top billed cast

Director: Ron Howard • Crew: Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman

Trailers & clips

Saving Xmas & Returning The Presents

25th Anniversary Trailer

Grinch Origin Story

The Holiday Cheermeister - Extended Preview

The Grinch Has A Visitor - Extended Preview

Fathom Events Spot

"4 O'clock: Wallow in Self-Pity"- Extended Preview

How the Grinch Came to Be

Reviewer notes

Recommended

**A movie about Christmas, and about the way we face it.** For starters, I must clarify that I have never seen any other material about Grinch, much less the original book where this character was created. I will judge this movie for what it is, without weaves comparisons. He is not my Christmas favorite, never was, I even think it is a little scary for smaller children, given the mischiefs and attitude of Grin...

Recommended

This is my favorite version and has been my favorite since I was a small child.

Recommended

At first I didn't like this movie. It's one of my daughters favorites tho. So she would always want to watch a lot around Christmas time. Now I don't mind it and it's like a Christmas tradition for us now to watch this movie.

Recommended

I'm not gonna lie, this version of the Grinch scared the crap out of me when I was a kid! But as I got older I started to get use to it. The trick was to just listen to the whole thing without looking at it and gradually (each year take a peak).

Recommended

Really good watch, will eventually watch again, and can recommend, but less so for younger audiences. I never remembered all the weird adult humor in this, it is usually just the charming grinchiness of Jim Carey's overacting that sticks with me, and maybe the Christmas spirit of Mary Lou Who. The movie manages to ride this wonderfully line between keeping the spirit of the book (even rhyming at times) and b...

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Details

TMDB audience
6.8/10 (8,375)
Age rating
PG
Status
Released
Budget
$123,000,000
Box office
$345,800,000
Franchise
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Collection

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