The Grump Who Stole Christmas portrays the classic The Grinch Who Stole Christmas in a whole new light. All of Santa’s reindeer are beginning to get excited to fly on Christmas Eve—except for Larry. Larry feels that Christmas is becoming mundane and embarks on a journey to change how Christmas is celebrated.
Larry travels throughout the North Pole searching for a man named “B”—which is short for “the Mighty Bunion.” The Mighty Bunion wants to create a new holiday villain by removing Santa from the picture. When Larry meets the Mighty Bunion at his evil castle, they conspire to get rid of Santa. The Mighty Bunion casts a spell that makes Santa disappear. The rest of the reindeer must work together to bring Santa home in time for Christmas.
The faith aspect of The Grump Who Stole Christmas can be viewed in one of two ways, with the first being that there is no reference to faith at all and that it is just a fun Christmas cartoon. The second, however, can be extracted from the parallels between Santa and God and The Mighty Bunion and Satan. While they are minimal, these parallels are visible in the numerous ways that The Mighty Bunion wants to dethrone Santa and make the holiday about himself. The film states that the “Christmas spirit is stronger than evil” and the good eventually wins out over the bad.
With all of this being said, it is important to note the magical aspect of the film—this magic can be interpreted as witchcraft. The Mighty Bunion is “a creature who wields powerful magic of his own” and casts numerous evil spells while Santa casts good spells to reverse the evil. In addition to this, one of the evil characters is said to be a “magically conjured evil spirit.”
The animation in The Grump Who Stole Christmas is simplistic, but the 3D effects are well done. While each character has a distinct personality and voice, the audio does not always line up with the characters’ mouths. The different settings suit the plot well and the producers do a very good job of creating an atmosphere appropriate for each scene.
Overall, The Grump Who Stole Christmas is an entertaining Christmas film. While some of its contents can raise red flags, it creates an atmosphere for families to enjoy the film together and discuss the relationship between good and evil.
The Dove Take:
The Grump Who Stole Christmas demonstrates the theme of good versus evil through a magical, Christmas-themed lens.
