2012 Frankenweenie set up!⚡️

FRANKENWEENIE Books ~part4

🇺🇸FRANKENWEENIE : A MONSTROUS MENAGERIE OF STICKERS!

Publisher:Disney Press (2012/9/4)

This book is 4 sheets of stickers in total. There is a page where you can put stickers freely. However, the page is on paper which the sticker can't be peeled off. Stickers can only be used once.

Mr. Burgermeister, Mr. Rzykruski and Bob's stickers is very rare, only in this book. (Maybe)

🇯🇵FRANKENWEENIE : 3Ｄ MOVIE GUIDO

Publisher:USAGI PUBLISHING (2012/12/1)

This is a magic book that allows you to summon your fav into the real world just by putting on the included 3D glasses. (an exaggeration)

The content only introduces the characters, no storyline. I thought it was published in connection with Victor making a 3D movie, but it doesn't seem to be related.

🇯🇵FRANKENWEENIE : OFFICIAL MOVIE MAGAZINE

Publisher:USAGI PUBLISHING(2012/12/1)

Character introductions, mazes, puzzles, knowledge, crafts, etc... It's like a Japanese children's magazine with lots of appendices. It's very good. The feeling of being out of ideas is also great.

The pages on how to experiment and how to shoot stop-motion animation are instructive. And a page of the craft that, when cut out, makes the next page unreadable. There is no option to read the next page and then cut it off. Door sign? I don't know what that means. There is also the weird check test.

Anyway, a chaotic book.

BTW, According to this book Nassor can't forget Colossus. Seriously, the best.

(This is all the FW's books I have. If you know of any other one, in any language, please let me know.)

tagged by @csny to list ten songs with names in the titles ^_^ hi

1. harold the barrel - genesis 2. guinnevere - csny 3. moribund the burgermeister - peter gabriel 4. helen of troy- robert plant 5. corrina, corrina - bob dylan 6. mr. crowley - ozzy osbourne 7. biko - peter gabriel 8. lucretia the cat - ray barretto 9. lola - the kinks 10. adam raised a cain- bruce springsteen

tagging @cowboyinthesand @whitelightningstrikes @brnunderpunches

Here we go again, another midnight rendezvous with a tornado. I’m not scared, nope, I’m brave, I’m a brave lil soldier.

Meanwhile at the home of burgermeister, meisterburger, a burger was assaulted and hotdog saved the day. While being interviewed, Mr burger says he owes his life to hotdog. Mr Bratwurst was said to have been the culprit. It’s always the brats…

Gotta go storm watching.

Polterpup (Frankenweenie Parody cast)

Young Luigi is a science nerd and outsider at school, but he does have one good friend: his dog, Polterpup. But then, tragedy strikes, and Polterpup shuffles off this mortal coil. Luigi is heartbroken, but his science teacher Dr. Eggman gives him an idea of how to jolt old Polterpup back to life. The experiment is successful, and all goes well, until Luigi’s fellow students steal his secret and use it to resurrect other dead animals -- with monstrous consequences.

Luigi as Victor Frankenstein (Mario)

Polterpup as Sparky Frankenstein (Luigi’s Mansion)

Terence as Edward Frankenstein (Angry Birds)

Matilda as Susan Frankenstein (Angry Birds)

Princess Daisy as Elsa Van Helsing (Mario)

Dracunyan as The Vampire Cat (Yo-Kai Watch)

Taranza as Nassor (Kirby)

Bowser Jr as Edgar E. Gore (Mario)

Bandana Dee as Bob (Kirby)

Hiro Himada as Toshiaki (Big Hero 6)

Lucy Wong as Bob’s Mom (Balan Wonderworld)

Rinko Shirokane as Weird Girl (BanG Dream!)

Dr. Eggman as Mr. Rzykruski (Sonic)

Antasma as Mr. Burgermeister (Mario and Luigi)

Poochy as Persephone (Mario)

Garfield as Mr. Whiskers (Garfield)

Norman as Colossus the Mummy Hamster (The Secret Life of Pets)

Bloopers as The Sea Monsters (Mario)

The Rat King as the Were-Rat (The Last of Us 2)

Yo-Kaiju as Shelly (Yo-Kai Watch)

Watching Rankin Bass specials along with Peanuts & Chuck Jones Grinch with the parents and Larold. So far interesting tidbits have been:

”You’re a heel, Mr. Grinch” AND HERE COMES THE GRINCH WITH THE STEEL CHAIR-

Burgermeister’s assistant is named Grimsley which as someone who likes Pokemon Grimsley is hilarious

Fun fact: I was scared of Bumble the Abominable Snowman for the longest time until like high school

About last Friday (or about almost a week ago), March 26 was Martin Short’s 71st birthday. 

Martin Short was known for “Innerspace,” “We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story,” “The Prince of Egypt,” “Jungle 2 Jungle,” “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius,” “The Santa Claus 3: The Escape Clause,” “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” “The Complete, Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley,” “The Willoughbys,” and so on. He was in two films with Joseph Gordon-Levitt; “Treasure Planet,” and “The Wind Rises.”

In Burton’s collaboration, he starred in “Mars Attack!” as Press Secretary Jerry Ross. In 2012 (same year when “Madagascar 3″ released), he voiced three characters from “Frankenweenie” remake: Mr. Frankenstein (Victor Frankenstein’s dad), Mayor Burgermeister, and Nassor. 

Besides “Frankenweenie,” Martin had been voice acting with Catherine O’Hara: “The Addams Family” movie (2019) and “The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimly.”

Happy belated Birthday, Martin Short. 

Your list of minor inconveniences post reminds me of a passage in my intro German textbook, called Mr. Ruff's bad day, that went exactly like that with minor inconveniences, then the last sentance, very casually, was "at midnight, Mr. Ruff's house burns down." We all thought we mistranslated till one of the comprehension questions was does Mr. Ruff have a place to live anymore? That passage lives in infamy in my Universities German Department, everyone remembers it.

Here is my attempt

En UND einer schockierenden Wendung der Eventbrite, ansässiger Süßwarenhersteller der Extraklasse: Die Bierstube von Burgermeister Ruff ist burned downen

Christmas 2021 - Day 6 - Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970)

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Six krazy Kringles!

Well, it’s been another fairly lacklustre effort on my part but we’ll round out the festive season with our traditional look at both the Rankin Bass universe and ‘song made into a Christmas special’. It really does continue to surprise me how many of these things are out there, not least in the Rankin Bass catalogue. Like, apparently they have one based on Santa Baby. That’s doesn’t seem the kind of song that’s fitting for a kids special given it’s very suggestive themes.

S.D Kluger is here to deliver all of the letters to Santa from the little girls and boys, going so far as to open a few to observe all the questions that kids like to ask Father Christmas. Pretty sure that’s against the law there, Kluger, even if the kids have terrible hand writing with backwards letters and punctuation. Still, it’s interesting to see Kluger in his natural habitat having seen parodies of him in South Park and that Spongebob special a few years back.

Does pad the special out a bit right at the start as he prances about in front of a bunch of forest creatures. The fact he can seemingly float as he dances shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given that’s voiced by Fred Astaire, I heard that guy can dance on ceilings.

Meanwhile, the real story begins when a baby is abandoned on the doorstep of some form of government building inhabited by the controller of Sombertown; Burgermeister Meisterburger, which is a tremendous name. Not a bad idea, I suppose. Maybe the person in charge will take pity on the child, take it in and then it can live the life of luxury. Not so in this case though as Burgermeister is having none of it and promptly demands the baby be taken to the orphanage asylum. I get that asylum in this case is referring to a safe place but you normally think about someone being sent to an asylum as someone with extreme mental problems or something. That would be a rather interesting development, the orphanage for insane babies.

The little baby gets lost along the way though but is rescued by a bunch of forest critters before it runs into trouble in the mountains of the Whispering Winds, home of the evil Winter Warlock. Not a very fleshed out character is Mr Winter, he’s sort of a prototype of Winterbolt that would come some years later in Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July. Coming from Christmas in July, it did seem like would be a repeat of that with the whole evil wizard type thing going on but this goes in a bit of a different direction and Winter isn’t as featured as you might expect.

The critters leave the baby at the doorstep of the Kringles who are a bit like the seven dwarves, mixed with Christmas elves and voiced by the chipmunks. Luckily they’re not in this for very long so the grating voices and stupid names don’t get on your nerves for very long. They’re all named Wingle, Dingle, Tingle, Zingle...anything that ends in ‘ingle’ basically; Zingle Kringle. And they all live with this woman who is referred to as the Elf Queen; Tanta Kringle. She’s a bit weird as she has this accent that seems to float between this sort of German/Austrian thing and almost a Swedish one. She ignores the standard naming convention of this family and bestows the young baby with the name of Kris Kringle which is the first in what is a list of establishing where all the Santa Claus mythos comes from.

As much as these Kringles love making toys, there’s not really much they can do with them considering their town is cut off from Sombertown by the mountain and the wizard threatens them everytime they try to go through. So, they just make the toys and throw them out the back door immediately. Maybe they’re on one of the EU subsidies where farmers are paid to make crops that no one is going to even use, leading the milk lakes and meat mountains.

Tanta shares with young Kris the story of how they used to be the chief toymakers to the King, just tuck this away in the back of your mind because we’ll come back to this later...

Back in Sombertown, the Burgermesiter takes a tumble down the steps of the town hall when some little brat leaves an errant toy laying around so he takes the rather rational measure of banning all toys, which is probably up there with the banning of dancing in Footloose in terms of government overreach. I love this shot of him then laid up in bed with an ice pack on his head and the doctor taking his temperature. That seems a little unnecessary. It’s just a bump on the head, I can’t imagine he has a fever to go with that. It’s like that time Vince McMahon hurt his ankle so they had him in hospital hooked up to a heart monitor.

Adult Kris Kringle is a radical soul at heart and isn’t going to put up with these evil Mountain wizards or tyrannical Burgermeisters, rolling into town like gangers delivering hooch during prohibition as he dumps a sack full of Kringle brand toys in front of two miserable looking kids washing their stockings. This town really is just a sea of grey meaning Kris and his toys stand out like a sore thumb, their virbrant colours instilling new life into Sombertown almost akin to how Christmas brings a little joy into our dull and dreary lives every December.

There’s a degree of world building beginning to develop here, with the townspeople immediately suspicious and distrustful of this outsider coming into town with his loud attire and questioning these draconian laws. They all immediately flee and run inside their houses when he mentions his contraband collection of toys, really sells how in fear they live of the dreaded Burgermesiter. Or the Burglarmeister as the kids call him.

Kringle offers to give the kids his toys but only once they cheer up a bit, he doesn’t like sour faces and they better watch out, they better not cry, they better not pout and he’s telling them why. Gotta shoehorn these lyrics in here somewhere I guess. I agree with his point about the faces though. They’re really creepy, kinda like Funk Pops with these cold, dead eyes and lifeless faces. I’ve just realised what they remind me of...

Those weird faces from the GTA Trilogy remaster.

I like how Kris is able to bargain his way out of seemingly any trouble by just giving toys to people. Local school teacher questioning why you’re giving her students a bunch of illegal toys? A doll should answer those. Government official wanting to arrest you for said toys? A yo-yo will fix that. Winter Warlock’s Evil Dead trees got you trapped? A train will melt that icy heart of his. This special is just conditioning our kids to buy their way out of trouble.

But with all of the Burgermeister’s forces on the lookout for Kringle, how will he ever be able to get the kids their toys? Well, he’ll just sneak them in under cover of darkness of course! And if the Burgermeister orders all the doors and windows be bolted shut at night? Well, he can just go down the chimney!

And when the Burgermeister starts doing door to door searches for toys, well, they would never think to look in the stockings that are hanging up by the fire to dry out. But wait a minute, the father of this family looks familiar...is that the King from earlier? To what lengths did this Burgermeister go to seize power?! Perhaps he lets the King live freely rather than be locked up in his dungeons, after all, what better reminder to the people that the Burgermeister can inflict his power upon anyone than for them to see the former King on a daily basis, this once regal fellow now reduced to a common man.

His power trip even extends to arresting Kris, the rest of the Kringles and the wizard before holding a bonfire of all the toys in the town square as the kids look on.

They all make their escape by way of flying reindeer thanks to some old magic feed the wizard had laying around, though Kris will forever have to live in hiding thanks to his wanted status. Kris Kringle might be a wanted man but you know who isn’t? Santa Clause. And good look finding anyone matching that posters description, the real Kris Kringle has a beard now, you’d never tell the difference! He’s like Clark Kent.

Kringle even gets married to his impromptu love interest, the nagging school teacher from earlier. As a wanted criminal it’s hard for him to settle and get married in any regular church so they had to make do with a ceremony in the forest in front of decorated pine trees, placing their wedding presents at the bottom.

It’s weird because it seems to remove any of the religious aspects of Christmas and suggest that Santa was the genesis of everything but it then goes into this song that references the three wise men. Or it later talks about how the requests for gifts became so frequent that he had to limit his journeys to just once a year and he chose the most spiritual of all nights for it’s connection to such boundless love Wow, I think even Kirk Cameron would be proud of how many things this movie is able to explain away.

Whilst not quite on the level of cynicism and arseholes that Rudolph was, this does have an edge to it that elevates it above just being the saccharine kids show that it first appears with that cutesy S.D Kluger intro. This story thread of the oppressive Burgermeister, his stranglehold on this town and Santa’s attempts to bring some cheer to it is unexpected but really cool, it has this whole renegade good vs evil vibe to it. Some of the character designs are very off but I love how expressive the Burgermeister is. He’s very over the top with the way he often has to take pratfalls or become enraged by Kringle outsmarting him yet again. And there’s even the odd picturesque moment like that wedding scene with Mr and Mrs Clause at the foot of the Christmas tree in the glow of the moonlight. Very reminiscent of that scene in Rudolph with him floating beneath the night sky.

It’s another thumbs up from me, not on par with Rudolph but it doesn’t bog itself down with filler like Christmas in July and is much more interesting than Frosty.

Benefits of Horse Riding for Kids & Tips on How to Get Started

What could be better than taking a relaxing ride through the countryside on horseback? Whether you're an experienced rider or not, it's never too late to learn how! Get started by learning the basics and some great tips can be found in the book “How To Get Started Horse Riding”.

When I was a kid, my parents put me on really nice horses to suit my every age from my Shetland “Buttons” to my next pony “Gidget”, then “Cassie”, then “Talisa” and many more as I developed from home Mustering, to Pony Club, to Dressage and Jumping competitions and the lifelong sport I love called Polocrosse. I remember my little Shetland “Buttons” and thinking she was the most amazing thing ever! Since then, the joy of riding horses has continued throughout my life. You should definitely try it too because you might find out how fun it is!

This story is about a girl named Ruby who loves horse riding. One day, Ruby's mom told her she could go to Bonogin Valley Horse Retreat a riding school for Kids! She was so excited and couldn't wait to start. When they arrived at the equestrian centre, they met with Mrs. Burgermeister, their instructor and began their lesson right away. They learned how to groom horses, brush them down, saddle them up properly and much more! The next time we saw Ruby she was grinning from ear-to-ear with excitement to learn more and become a great rider to own her own horse one day!

It's never too late to start your child on a horse. Horses are not only great for teaching balance, but they're excellent at lowering stress and depression levels! Here are some tips to get you started:

🐎 Find a reputable instructor/equestrian club. Ask about their experience, what they teach and if they offer lessons for kids of different ages and abilities.

Make sure to also learn about horse care, how to handle horses on the ground and how to prepare them to ride as this will greatly increase your understanding of horses and provide a better relationship with them to communicate better when riding.

🐎 Don't forget about safety! Make sure you have all the equipment necessary before riding –a must have is a good fitting helmet, long pants and riding boots to start.

🐎 Start with beginner classes before moving onto more advanced ones so that you don't get discouraged or overwhelmed at first. A good place to start is obstacle courses, where you'll work on balance, following directions and developing your skills over time. After four weeks of this type of class students can start to develop from walk to trot and how to turn and stop.

🐎 A good website to find a horse riding school is www.horseridinghub.directory Horses need time to rest after getting back from being ridden so that their muscles can recover and not be sore/tired when going out again in the future. So be aware that you can’t stay on their back for hours and 30-45min is usually enough for them.

🐎 Horse riding can be hard at first so regular time in the saddle will make all the difference for success and developing a confident positive attitude is the only way to be able to work with a horse.

🐎 Parents are always looking for fun ways to keep their kids fit, but sometimes it's hard to find something they will actually enjoy doing. That's why horseback riding is not only a great way to spend time with your child, but also provides so many benefits for them. Here are some of the key reasons you should take your children horse riding:

🐎 Horses require discipline and responsibility from both rider and handler so this teaches children how important these qualities can be in life as well as building trust between the two parties.

🐎Learning the basics of horse care teaches responsibility that carries over into other aspects of their lives like chores and work ethic which creates successful adults who have self-worth.

Christmas Gift Ideas for Equestrian in Australia

Favorite Christmas villains

The Grinch from How The Grinch Stole Christmas 

The essential Christmas baddie .Iconic from his green fur to his voice provided by Boris Karloff 

Hans Gruber  from Die Hard 

One of the great action movie villains,Alan Rickman steals this movie 

Burgermeister Meisterburger from Santa Claus is Comin to Town 

My favorite Rankin/Bass villain.A strict toy hating tyrant ,played brillaintly by Paul Frees and he has one incredibly catchy villain song

The Penguin and Max Schreck from Batman Returns 

While  this films version of the Penguin is nothing like the comics and the writing on him is a bit confused ,there is a tragicness to him and Danny Devito  delivers one of his best performance.Walken is magnificent as well as the corrupt buisnessman ewho is as monstrous as the sewer dwelling supervillain 

Mr Potter from Its A Wonderful Life 

One of the great classic film villains,a wonderfully hateable character,this guy makes it his mission to make Georges life a living hell and basicallly drives George to near suicide

Snow Miser and Heat Miser from A Year Without A Santa Claus 

OK technicallly these guys arent villains but they are antagonists .They are elemental brothers  caught in a feud  who cause trouble for the heroes ,but the heroes need to talk to in order for it to snow in Southtown 

Stripe from Gremlins 

Leader of the red eyed little monsters who just want to have fun at the cost of humanity .This Gremlin is funny as he is terrifying

Ernst Stavro Blofeld from On Her Majesties Secret  Service 

MOVIE TAKES PLACE ON CHRISTMAS IT COUNTS .Bonds arch nemesis,blackmailing the world with germ warfare just so he can for him to be cleared of all his crimes and be made a count .Just a fantastic villain

the Abominable Snow Monster  from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer 

THIS THING SCARED ME AS A KID 

Billy from Black Christmas 

A psychopath  murdering soriety girls.We dont know who he is ,alll we learn about him is through his deranged rantings ,and all we see of him is his eye......And thats terrifying 

Hey Mr. Burgermeister, how was your feeling when your niece Elsa dating with Victor?

“Elsa! Why didn’t you tell me you were dating the kid next door!”

“H-how did you find out?!”

“Never mind that. Point is, I don’t want my niece dating some crazy Frankenstein kid who doesn’t even know when he takes things to far! Stay away from him, you hear me?!”

“Yes uncle Bob..”

•Who could have told him? I wonder..”

santa claus is coming to town

dubbed into portugese with auto generated subtitles that were then auto translated into english

in this universe the kringles are called the gringos

they are from tokyo and they make samsung phones and send them to the moon

they also make dolls who are forced to only talk about the south

kris gringo meets the beautiful school teacher miss jeff koons

who likes to discuss... religion and politics

mr gringo is havin none of that shit

but he gives her “the luxury doll” which i can only assume is a sex toy

we then learn that jessica was an orphan who was later adopted

we then meet the winter warlock who goes from being a “guy say bad chair” to being a “guy say GOOD chair”

mr gringo desperately needs mr guy say good chair to come with him to defeat a sponge man [spongebob??? burgermeister spongebob???]

we then learn that guy say good chair’s real name is JOSEPH

and that “jeff koons” is only her nickname, her full name is jessica parker

and the BURGOMASTER destroyed the children’s toys

jessica realizes she... faked light??? and learns that chile produces the most coffee out of any country.

and she thinks her anime eyes reflection is MUCH prettier than the neighborhood toesa. everyone knows the neighborhood toesa is UGLY.

look there! a drug hallucination!

we then discover kris gringo’s actual name is crisis gringo and he needs to be dropped.

jessica notices that JOSEPH is burning her favorite candle scent: winter swarm ethics. but he really doesn’t want her to drop mr crisis gringo.

after they run away we discover crisis gringo’s birth name: luis ricardo.

but the gringos insist on calling him clinton, which he finds offensive.

we end on a beautiful wedding with some sadistic undertones

jessica gives crisis gringo a present of perfume that was started in april

the end

Psycho Analysis: The Grinch

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

What can be said about the Grinch that hasn’t already been said a million times by a million different people? The Grinch is easily one of the most iconic Christmas characters of all time, up there with the likes of Scrooge, and he even has a similar character arc in which he learns the true meaning of Christmas and becomes a better person. The original Chuck Jones animated short has gone down as one of the most beloved Christmas specials of all time as well as one of the best Dr. Seuss adaptations ever (if not THE best), and it gave the Grinch his iconic theme song which every other adaptation has seen fit to use.

The Jim Carrey live action take and the Illumination version which featured Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role both tried to bring a fresh take to the world’s most beloved classic Christmas curmudgeon, but did they succeed in making him entertaining and engaging as a villain is the real question?

Actor: In the original Chuck Jones short, none other than Frankenstein’s monster himself, Boris Karloff, portrayed the Grinch, but this is mostly due to the fact he was the narrator of the story and the Grinch is the only character who really speaks due to the tale being mostly shown from his POV. Still, let’s not pretend like Karloff isn’t the definitive voice here, especially considering his competition.

Carrey and Cumberbatch are both good actors, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think they really do the Grinch all too much justice. Carrey, bless his heart, at least comes fairly close, with his Grinch being in line with the original, but at the same time this is a comedic Carrey character coming off of his 90s run as a wacky comic actor. Carrey injects that manic Carrey energy into the performance, and while I think it’s a good performance, I don’t necessarily find it to be a good Grinch,

Cumberbatch faces a similar issue, not helped by his decision to use a weird American accent as opposed to his natural British one, leaving his Grinch sounding like a nasally dork. Again, he doesn’t do a terrible job by any means, but his performance certainly does nothing to convince you the Grinch is a mean, rotten soul.

Motivation/Goals: The Chuck Jones Grinch sticks to the original book to a fault; the Grinch is just a cranky jerk who hates Christmas for some inexplicable reason, and so decides to ruin it for everyone out of petty spite. Yes, it lacks any sort of depth, but the Grinch is a character from a children’s book and he just puts so much darn effort into his plan that it’s really easy to forget he’s just doing this because he is just a miserable bastard.

The two other attempts at the Grinch have gone a long way to giving him some sort of tragic backstory explaining his hatred for Christmas. And… I actually really like that. Yes, yes, villains can just do villainous things because they’re jerks, but I do appreciate the other adaptations attempting to do something interesting with the character and make him a bit more engaging in a feature-length product. In the Jim Carrey film, the Grinch becomes bitter and evil due to a childhood of constant bullying, while the Benedict Cumberbatch Grinch was a lonely orphan who never got to celebrate Christmas. While obviously it’s up to the viewer to decide whether or not these backstories add any sort of interesting element to the Grinch’s hatred of Chrtistmas, it’s hard to deny that it makes a bit more sense than the Grinch suddenly and randomly deciding after half a century that this Christmas was going to be the last ever.

Personality: While this section of Psycho Analysis is going to be semi-retired, the three Grinches are actually a perfect example of where examining the personalities of the characters can actually show a lot about the overall quality. Obviously, the original Grinch is exactly what a Grinch should be, at least in my eyes: a bitter, miserable curmudgeon who takes great joy in bringing misery to others with his selfish, senseless acts of holiday thievery. He’s a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

The Carrey Grinch does still have these elements, but it’s a bit outshone by Carrey’s hammy performance. His Grinch is about as wild as Ace Ventura or the Riddler, and while hammy villains are always fun – and there’s no denying the Grinch is – it makes it a lot easier to see him eventually turning to the light side, especially since he’s actually shown to have some redeeming qualities.

These issues are continued into Cumberbatch’s Grinch, and in fact here the problems peak. Cumberbatch’s Grinch from the start comes off as more as mildly irritated jerk, yet one who really doesn’t seem evil at all, and as the story continues he seems far more like a depressed, unhappy man with undiagnosed mental illness who is suffering due to childhood trauma. You don’t want to say this guy has termites in his smile or that he’s slippery as an eel or that you wouldn’t touch him with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole; you just want to give him a hug and tell him that things are going to get better. He just seems like he needs a friend, not a total life-changing epiphany.

Final Fate: We all know how it goes; his heart grows three sizes and he learns the true meaning of Christmas. Each of the adaptations keeps this in, though obviously to diminishing returns as each successive adaptation has made the Grinch nicer from the get-go in some regard due to the tragic backstories and whatnot.

Best Scene: At least for the original, his best moment is, of course, the montage during “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch,” in which we get to see all of the slippery ways this green meanie is ruining the holidays. Of course, this is matched by the epic moment at the end where the Grinch gains super strength from his heart growing three sizes and lifts the sleigh of stolen goods, which is equally awesome whether it’s te animated one or Jim Carrey doing it.

Cumberbatch’s Grinch manages to have a different moment to call his best: after he has redeemed himself, he gets invited to dinner in Whoville, and the scene where he nervously goes to the house and makes small talk is just very sweet and endearing. It’s easily the best scene in the movie and shows that even watered down there’s still plenty of heart to be mined from this timeless tale.

Final Thoughts & Score: I think that the fact that the Grinch is constantly being reimagined is a sign at how impressive and enduring he is as a character, and he’s easily the greatest Christmas villain of all time (with apologies to Hans Gruber, Mr. Potter, Burgermeister Meisterburger, and Kirk Cameron). The original special is obviously the definitive portrayal of the character, to the point where the Grinch became a household name and got himself two more specials, one in which he once again terrorized Whoville (this time with a wagon filled with nightmarish hallucinations) and one where he faced off against the Cat in the Hat, the latter being especially notable for beating Zack Snyder to the punch at making “Crossover Versus Movie in Which One of the Title Characters Is Redeemed By Mentioning His Mother” by 34 years.

The original Grinch even effected himself; his iconic green, almost goblin-like appearance was a departure from the book, where he sort of resembled a more mischievous Who, and it has ended up sticking for the character ever since. Throw in that iconic villain song about how foul he is sang by Thurl Ravenscroft AKA Tony the Tiger, as well as the fact that “Grinch” is up there with “Scrooge” as shorthand for someone who hates Christmas, and it’s easy to justify letting the Chuck Jones take on the Grinch steal not only Christmas, but an 11/10.

Carrey’s take on the character is different, but not bad. I’m not going to say it’s good either, though; I still think Carrey hammed it up too much and just let loose his manic energy. And it’s really weird, because I have a soft spot for the film and I love the performance, and I think the insane energy of Carrey’s performance is what elevates the film and has helped it become a sort of holiday cult classic, but I think that it kind of misses the point of how the Grinch should be. It really boils down to the usual thing with these adaptations that try and add complexities to characters that just work better when they are simple: Jim Carrey’s Grinch is a great, fun character, but he just isn’t a great Grinch. Still, the makeup and costuming is so amazing that I’d feel like a Grinch myself if I stole too many points, so I think a 6/10 is a solid score for a performance that manages to be a bit above your average villain.

And then we get to Cumberbatch. I’m just going to say it: I barely consider his Grinch a villain. He’s just too nice and sad and cranky to really be evil. Sure he has wacky inventions, sure he is a bit passive aggressive to the Whos, but god this guy is just not mean enough. The fact he can just walk into town and interact with the townsfolk and they don’t even bat an eye says a lot about how watered down and toothless this take on the character is. Not helping is the safe, soft design Illumination gave him, as well as Cumberbatch’s weird American accent. Still, I don’t think this Grinch deserves worse than a 4/10 when it comes right down to it. In this case, it’s more that what’s interesting about him as a character saves him from sinking any lower than just being subpar as opposed to the problem with Carrey being that what made him interesting as a character made him less appealing as a Grinch. This guy does still try and steal Christmas, after all… It’s just that he’s so nice to begin with that you really aren’t too shocked when he does end up turning over a new leaf.

While it’s obvious the Grinch has had his ups and downs over the years, the fact he is such a legendary figure and an enduring cultural icon really says a lot for his staying power, as well as that sometimes a simple villain that lacks any complex motivation beyond “he’s a jerk” can really resonate with people. Maybe all of these other adaptations don’t quite measure up to the original animated special, but they don’t need to; it’s just interesting to see what different visions for the Grinch look like from different creators. Whether it’s good or bad, one thing is for sure: he’s a mean one, that Mr. Grinch, and we all love him for it.

You know what we don’t love him for, though? His dental hygiene. 

Merry Christmas!

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and Other Family Mishaps That Ruined The Holidays

Cousin Gilroy got mugged by Eight Maids-a-Milking

The milk game isn’t quite what it used to be, what with all the nut-milks on the market, milking just doesn’t pay like it used to. With rent on the farm only rising, the maids even considered taking in a ninth roommate, but ultimately they saw no other choice but to turn to crime. Cousin Gilroy was walking by the farm after his bike popped a tire on a pointy stone when the maids rushed out and beat him with their milk pails. “Give us all your money or we’ll milk ya!” they screamed as the clanking of pails hitting flesh reverberated off of the side of the barn. Gilroy handed over his wallet, his bike, and his dignity. When he got back to safety, he shook his head at what the maids had become. Unfortunately, things are not looking much brighter for the rest of the 12 Days of Christmas crew; the partridge was evicted so they could bulldoze the pear tree and make way for a combination KFC Taco Bell and the pipers piping have traded their windpipes in for a different type of pipe. The lords can’t even bring themselves to a-leap.

Brother-in-Law Greg got visited by Three Tom Hanks’ of Polar Express’s past

When Greg awoke the night before Christmas, all through the house, a creature was stirring: the ghost hobo from Polar express, as voiced by Tom Hanks. The Hanks-voiced Jason-Statham-without-Fast-and-Furious-looking train traveler lit a fire in the guest bedroom where they shared some beans, reminding Greg of all the terrible family meals over the years. Next came the bouncing image of Santa Clause who, with the fatherly voice of Tom Hanks, told Greg he needs to help somebody named Tiny Tim. Greg had barely a moment to ponder Santa-Hanks’s words when none other than the mustachioed Train Conductor Hanks smashed through the window telling him if he doesn’t change his ways, not only will he be dead by next Christmas but that Train Conductor Hanks would personally hole-punch him to death with his smooth CGI rendered hands while moving 150 mph to towards the depths of hell. Hanks flicked a ticket onto Greg with the words “WATCH YOURSELF” punched into it, mounted the annoying glasses kid like a horse, and rode him into the moonlight. Greg woke up the next day a changed man and bought everyone on the block a Peloton™.

Uncle Herb contracted a tapeworm from the HoneyBaked™ ham

The Grinch claims he is a changed who-man but word on the street is the only thing enlarging his heart is heart disease. When the green villain came for his annual ransacking, he took presents, our remaining toilet paper, and even took the roast beast. As a result, Mom had to pick up a last-minute Honey Baked™ ham. Unfortunately for Uncle Herb, the ham wasn’t honey-baked enough and became warm undercooked casing to harbor life. In the meat industry, there are safety standards to prevent this sort of thing. This ham did not meat those standards. Like a long skinny Santa, the tapeworm went down Uncle’s chimney. Like tinsel snaking around the Christmas tree, the parasite decorated Uncle’s insides. The tapeworm was a long ribbon that twisted through the present that are Uncle’s intestines, from which, he passed on Christmas Day. The tapeworm was met by a watery porcelain manger that no wise men found fit to visit.

Aunt Sandra got extorted by her former lover Mr. Snow Miser from Rankin & Bass’s The Year Without a Santa Clause

Did we know Aunt Sandra was into some shady business? There were signs. Did we know it was an affair with the infamous Mr. Snow Miser? Not a clue. But when a letter arrived on the eve of Christmas Eve, Aunt Sandra broke down at the dinner table, crying. Unless she gave Mr. White Christmas $25,000 dollars, that patriarch of the organized crime dynasty known as winter was going to release scandalous photos of the two of them: faces coated in the white stuff, playing with icicles. “He’s too much!” she exclaimed. Her reputation as a solar panel executive would never survive this scandal, not to mention Uncle Burgermeister Meisterburger would be devastated she cheated on him with another greedy claymation miser. Days later, news broke that Mr. Ten Below was put ten below ground after he was found with uniform hole punches through his heart. Mr. Snow Miser would never bother Aunt Sandra again. Sandra later received a ticket on her doorstep with the word “ADULTERER” and had to come clean to Uncle Burgermeister who demanded a divorce.

Train Conductor Hanks is a merciful yet vindictive god.

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and Other Family Mishaps That Ruined The Holidays was originally published on Weekly Humorist

Still in the Habit of Making these, but Suggestions are Officially Closed, and I still have alot of other Art Ideas to come in Mind. Even for a late holiday entry, here is a Tribute to the Wonderful Mr. Paul Frees, who did Voices for many Rankin/Bass programs such as Burgermeister Meisterburger, Newsreel Announcer, Grimsby, Topper, & Additional Voices in 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town', Jack Frost & the Traffic Cop in 'Frosty's Winter Wonderland', Aeon the Terrible, Santa Claus, General Ticker, Humpty Dumpty, & 1776 in 'Rudolph's Shiny New Year', and the Wayfarer in 'the Wind in the Willows'(his Final Rankin/Bass program to appear). But he was also the Voice of Boo Berry in the old General Mills' Monster Cereals ads, Arnie the Dinosaur in 'the Puppetoon Movie'(his Last Theatrical Film role, and a Film Dedicated to the Gentleman), the Narrator, Chief of State, Judges in The Pantry of Pomp, & Bailiff in 'Twice Upon a Time', the Pillsbury Doughboy in his old Pillsbury Ads & 'tPM', Boris, Inspector Fenwick, & Captain Peter “Wrongway” Peachfuzz in 'Rocky & Bullwinkle', John Lennon & George Harrison in the Cartoon 'Beatles', Ape, Weevil, Baron Otto Matic, & Various voices in 'George of the Jungle', and Squiddly Diddly, Morocco Mole, Double-Q, Yellow Pinkie, & Claude Hopper in 'the Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel show'. Honorable Mentions: Jerry Mouse in the Tom & Jerry short "Blue Cat Blues" Ol Dreamy & the Raven in the 1959 dub of 'the Snow Queen' Meowrice in 'Gay Purr-ee' Dr. Hu in the English dub of 'King Kong Escapes' Antiquity in 'the Flight of Dragons' Mabruk in 'the Last Unicorn' the Narrator in 'the Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal' Wally Walrus, Charlie, Doc, & Various voices in 'the Woody Woodpecker show' Ali, Aaron's Father, The Three Wise Men, Meshaw, Jamilie, & Various other Male roles in 'the Little Drummer Boy' Santa Claus, Traffic Cop, & the Ticket Man in 'Frosty the Snowman' Santa Claus, Man at Thanksgiving Table, Colonel Bunny's assistant, Fireman, & Ben the Rooster in 'Here Comes Peter Cottontail' Santa Claus, Zero, Spats in 'the First Easter Rabbit' Bombur & Troll #1 in 'the Hobbit' Olaf & Donkey Dealer in 'Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey' Jack Frost, Officer Kelly, Winterbolt, Genie of the Ice Scepter, & Keeper of the Cave of Lost Rejections in 'Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July' Father Winter & Kubla Klaus in 'Jack Frost' Elrond, Orc, Uruk-hai, & Goblin 'the Return of the King' Ghost of Christmas Past & Present in 'the Stingiest Man in Town'