How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Movie Quote Quiz
Video

The Grinch: The nerve of those Whos. Inviting me down there - and on such short notice. Even if I wanted to go my schedule simply wouldn't allow it. 4:00, wallow in self pity; 4:30, stare into the abyss; 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no-one. 5:30, jazzercize. 6:30, dinner with me. I can't cancel that again. 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing; I'm booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9 I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear?

The Grinch: Those Whos are hard to frazzle, Max. But, we did our worst, and that's all that matters.

Grinch: Hello!
Grinch's Echo: Hello! Hello! Hello!
Grinch: How are you?
Grinch's Echo: How are you? How are you? How are you?
Grinch: I asked you first.
Grinch's Echo: I asked you first. I asked you first. I asked you first.
Grinch: Oh, that's real mature. Saying exactly what I say.
Grinch's Echo: Exactly what I say. Exactly what I say. Exactly what I say.
Grinch: I'm an idiot.
Grinch's Echo: You're an idiot.
Grinch: [Whispering] All right. Fine. I'm not talking to you anymore. In fact, I'm going to whisper. So that by the time the sound of my voice reverberates off the walls and gets back to me, I won't be able to hear it.
Grinch's Echo: You're an idiot.

Grinch: Fat boy ought to finishing up any time now. Talk about a recluse! He only comes out once a year, and HE never catches any flak for it! Probably lives up there to avoid the taxes! [Notices Santa leaving.] OOOpsy! Forgot about the reindeer. If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead. Max, I'm going to steal Christmas!

Movie Nut

The Grinch: Oh. Bleeding hearts of the world unite.

The Grinch: One man's toxic sludge is another man's potpourri.
[Max barks.]
The Grinch: I dunno. Some kind of soup.

Lou Lou Who: Let's see, we've got a munkle for your uncle, a fant for your aunt and a fandpa for your Cousin Leon.

The Grinch: And they'll feast, feast, feast, feast. They'll eat their Who-Pudding and rare Who-Roast Beast. But there's something I just cannot stand in least... Oh no. I'M SPEAKING IN RHYME!

Mayor Augustus Maywho: He had hair. Not pleasant. He shed. Not right.

The Grinch: That's what it's all about right? That's what it's always been about! Gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts! Do you know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me...in your garbage. Do you see what I'm saying here? IN YOUR GARBAGE! I could hang myself with all the bad Christmas neckties I found at the dump! And the avarice...[points to mayor.] The avarice never ends! "I want golf clubs!" "I want diamonds!" "I want a pony so I can ride it two times, get bored, and send it to make glue!" Look, I don't wanna make waves, but this WHOLE Christmas season is STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! There is however, one teeny, tiny, Christmas tradition that I find quite meaningful [snatches mistletoe from ring case.] Mistletoe. [Turns around and shouts.] NOW PUCKER UP AND KISS IT, WHOVILLE!

The Grinch: How dare you enter the Grinch's lair!? The impudence! The audacity! The unmitigated gall!

Cindy Lou: Um, maybe you need a time out.
Grinch: Kids today. So de-sensitized by movies and television... WHADDAYA WANT?

Movie Nut

The Grinch: Any calls?
Grinch's Answering Machine: You have no messages.
The Grinch: Odd. Better check the outgoing.
Grinch's outgoing message: IF YOU UTTER SO MUCH AS ONE SYLLABLE, I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH! If you'd like to fax me, press the star key.
The Grinch: Hmm. Hmm. Oh well.

Grinch: I believe I'm here to...accept...an award of some kind. And...the child...mentioned a cheque.
Cindy Lou: No I didn't!
Grinch: All right, then give me the award! come on! while I'm young.

The Grinch: We're gonna die! We're gonna die! I'm gonna throw up, and then I'm gonna die! Mommy tell it to stop!

Lou Lou Who: I'm glad he took our presents. You can't hurt Christmas, Mr. Mayor, because it isn't about the...the gifts or the contest or the fancy lights. That's what Cindy's been trying to tell everyone...and me. I don't need anything more for Christmas than this right here. My family.

Continuity mistake: After the Grinch unscrews the light bulb in the town Christmas tree, all the lights in the town go dark and the Grinch starts to take off in his sled-thing. When they show a close up of him, the lights are on. Then a few seconds later, the lights are off again.

More mistakes in How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Trivia: Jim Carrey's makeup took 2 hours to put on and 1 hour to take off, every day for 92 days of filming.

More trivia for How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Question: In the beginning, there is a watchman that announces "Another minute closer to Christmas!" as each minute ticks off a countdown clock. Assuming that each panel (days, hours minutes) is on a revolving wheel of some sort, how can the three wheels work correctly in such close proximity to each other? Granted, only the minutes part moves for the sake of the story, but it still begs the question.

Movie Nut

Answer: By machine.

The clock in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is designed for cinematic effect; a real-world counterpart would rely on precise gearing and engineering to allow three separate wheels to operate in close proximity without interfering with each other. The key would be in the gear ratios and the alignment of the gears to ensure smooth operation of each panel.

More questions & answers from How the Grinch Stole Christmas
More movie quotes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.