So the other day we were watching our annual viewing of How the Grinch Stole Christmas when I got an idea. An awful idea! I got a wonderful, awful idea! Well, not really – but I did have a couple thoughts that I found interesting.
It seemed obvious on this sitting that The Nightmare Before Christmas was based, at least in part, on the Grinch story. Think about it – the making and using of the Santa suit to “replace” Santa, the dogs in both stories, the visiting of everybody’s houses with the end result of ruining Christmas, both being musicals, and the lesson learned at the end. The main difference, of course, was intent – with the Grinch being full of malice and Jack thinking that he was “helping” Santa by giving him the year off. I looked this theory up to see if there was any official truth to it and basically just found that Nightmare was based on a lot of the older Christmas specials. I don’t think I’m alone in my theory, though, based on these creations I found below…
My other thought concerned Santa, or the lack of. During the story, the Grinch pretends to be Santa while stealing everything Christmas related – then he goes back and gives everything back after learning his lesson. Nowhere along the line, it seems, does the actual Santa make an appearance. Did Santa already come before the Grinch got there? You’d think the Grinch would have waited until he showed and then made him part of his wonderful, awful idea. Plus, it seemed like the Grinch made his visit shortly after the town went to bed, therefore, before a visit by Santa. Could it be that the story left the real Santa out of the story because it was admitting that…..Santa was actually the spirit in all of us to give and reflect and be young again at this time of year. And that the spirit of Santa Claus that the Grinch tried to steal couldn’t actually be stolen – which is why:
“He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming! It came! Somehow or other, it came just the same!”
and…
“Christmas Day will always be
Just as long as we have we.”
Well that’s my theory on the Grinch. Next time I’ll get into my idea about how Frosty the Snowman is really just a deadbeat dad – who sweeps into town every year for Christmas Eve and then disappears for yet another year….
dave's word 