59 Years Ago Today: The Magical First Airing of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'

I was not around on the evening of December 18, 1966, when families across America gathered around their glowing televisions and got introduced to what would become one of the greatest holiday classics of all time.

We flash forward 59 years, and we've seen many different iterations of The Grinch, but the original is still the best.

Today, I want to flashback to the very first broadcast of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! on CBS and talk about how it became a permanent fixture that redefined what a "Christmas special" could be.

Let's dive in.

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The "Unfilmable" Project

I can't imagine what CBS was thinking when they read the classic Grinch story from Dr. Seuss and thought, "Let's get this on TV!"

The actual audiobook for the story is like 10 minutes long, so you'd need to at least double the story for a TV show, and also...it occurred in a magical land with a giant green beast...so it pretty much had to be animated.

So, before 1966, Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was notoriously protective of his work. Just getting the rights to his stuff was going to be incredibly hard. He had already resisted a ton of offers to bring the Grinch to the screen. His big fear was that Hollywood would dilute the book's message or ruin its unique aesthetic.

Enter Chuck Jones, the legendary animator behind Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. He was pals with Geisel and convinced him there was a way to make this work.

Jones promised that if he got to work on it, he would keep the heart of the story intact while expanding the world of Whoville with the fluid, expressive animation that only a master of the craft could provide.

And that offer was too good for Geisel to pass up.

The Ingredients of a Masterpiece

What made that first airing so legendary? It was a "perfect storm" of creative genius. I think right off the bat, the voice of the villain matters to get old people into the story.

They used Boris Karloff, famous for his role as Frankenstein’s monster. He provided the narration and the voice of the Grinch and managed to sound both terrifyingly cold and, eventually, warmly redeemed.

The music is what people talk about still today, as well. Albert Hague composed the music, but it was Thurl Ravenscroft (the voice of Tony the Tiger) who gave us the deep, rumbling vocals for "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."

Fun fact: Seuss wrote the lyrics to that song!

Okay, here's a massive thing that I didn't know... In the original book, the Grinch was black and white with some pink and red. It was Chuck Jones who decided to make him that signature green, which was inspired by the color of many ugly rental cars Jones drove at the time!

Beyond the animation, the reason we are still talking about this special 59 years later is its soul. In an era that was already becoming heavily commercialized, the Grinch’s realization remains the ultimate holiday "gut punch."

Christmas is meant to be spent with the people you love, and welcoming in the people who need love.

Summing It All Up

As we approach the big 60th anniversary next year, tonight is the perfect night to dim the lights, grab some cocoa, and revisit the original masterpiece.

Let me know what you think in the comments.