Author: Bill Bradley / Source: HuffPost
There’s a new Grinch in town, and he wouldn’t touch your fan theories with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole. Especially not that one theory.
Maybe the most famous of Dr. Seuss creations, the Grinch is an ever-recurring presence in TV and film. His overweening torso has appeared in the classic 1966 holiday cartoon and Jim Carrey’s 2000 live-action film “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and it will appear once again in Illumination’s upcoming animated remake, “The Grinch,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular humanoid.
In most renditions, the Grinch has a reputation for being a curmudgeon with a disturbing heart condition. He always realizes the true meaning of Christmas eventually, particularly after the Whos sing like angels even though the Grinch pilfered their presents.
But are these stories actually darker than you suspected?
We took our questions to Cumberbatch, the latest resident green Santa impersonator, who weighed in on the grimmest fan theories we could throw at him. Was he contractually obligated to answer every prying, inconsequential question we had about the animated holiday movie? Who’s to say? But here’s what we got:
Is the Grinch secretly trying to wipe out all the Whos?
First, let’s establish that How the Grinch Stole Christmas! might not be a standalone story. It could be connected to the Dr. Seuss tale Horton Hears a Who!, since both sagas involve a place called Whoville inhabited by Whos.
In Horton Hears a Who, which was published three years before How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, we learn that Whoville is so tiny that it exists on a speck of dust. It’s such a big deal that Horton hears one of its inhabitants because the place is basically microscopic. In fact, we’re led to believe that the only way Whos prevent giant creatures (who are actually normal-sized) from destroying their world is by making a lot of noise (singing and playing instruments).
So, for years, fans have assumed that the Grinch and all the Whos are actually quite tiny. The 2000 live-action movie affirms the theory: Whoville is shown to exist on a snowflake.
But the connections between Horton and Grinch take a darker turn in a deep dive courtesy of Cracked writer Mark Oliver.In his article, Oliver explains that if the Grinch’s plan to steal Christmas actually worked, causing the Whos to lose their Christmas spirit and cease their loud singing, they would be in danger of extinction because “giant” creatures would no longer be made aware of the Whos’ existence. It’s not such a far-fetched thought. In Horton, Who lives are threatened every second. Oliver points out that Horton’s decriers wanted to put the Whos’ dust speck in boiling oil. For defending the existence of Whos, Horton is tied up, beaten and “mauled.”
Knowing how dark that story gets, does a possible Grinch plot to destroy the Whos seem…
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