Can THE GRINCH Teach Us About Sincere Christmas Joy?

Published: December 13, 2024

Can THE GRINCH Teach Us About Sincere Christmas Joy?

By Movieguide® Contributor

Director Yarrow Cheney’s 2018 movie THE GRINCH captures the Christmas spirit — and the real reason for the season — perfectly.

Movieguide® founder and publisher Dr. Ted Baehr celebrated THE GRINCH’s balance of the emotions of “fear and anger with humor, with the light,” specifically in a scene where the townspeople sing about Jesus.

“I’m so glad that you feel that way because it’s such a wonderful, realistic sort of a scene,” Cheney said. “You know, us as Christians, we are so joyful with our faith, especially around Christmas time, and to have the Grinch’s point of view, you know, these guys are a little bit overbearing, and to make that humorous but also sincere and showing where he starts knowing where he’s going.”

Movieguide® honored the film’s strong Christian worldview and celebration of Jesus’ birth with a Teddy Bear Award®.

THE GRINCH is a precious, delightful, superbly made movie. The colorful animation shows incredible imagination. The humor is delightful. The love is heartwarming. It’s well-designed, well-written and well-organized. The movie’s message is that Christmas can triumph over the meanest, most alienated heart. It features loving parents and children, a joyous community of inspired Whos, and a terrific character arc for the Grinch. Plus, it has great Christmas carols focusing on Jesus Christ and His redemptive love. MOVIEGUIDE® fell in love with THE GRINCH (2018). We think you will too.

READ MORE: THE GRINCH (2018) REVIEW

Cheney’s next project? An adaptation of his book “Superworld: Save Noah.”

A synopsis of the book reads:

Every 12-year-old kid feels like they don’t fit in sometimes — but Noah takes it to a whole new level. When a meteor crashed to Earth on his seventh birthday, the whole planet got superpowers…..except for Noah.

Thanks to his tin foil superhero costume, Noah’s powers got deflected — onto his little sister. He’s literally the only normal person in all of Superworld. He can’t fly. He can’t scale tall buildings. He can’t turn broccoli into candy. (And of course his little sister got double powers. Of course.) And still…when the biggest, baddest villian in town plots to take over Superworld forever, normal Noah and his supercharged best friends are the ones who just might save the day. Seriously.

“This adaptation will be directed by husband and wife duo, Yarrow and Carrie Cheney. The Cheneys have illustrious animation careers as they have been involved in classic animated movies such as THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE (2002), THE LORAX (2012) and the DESPICABLE ME series. Yarrow would actually make his co-directorial debut with THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (2016), then solo direct Benedict Cumberbatch’s THE GRINCH (2018),” Inside the Magic reported last year.