Perhaps the most well-known of all the characters Dr. Seuss created is the Grinch, a human-ish furry green giant of a creature who harbored a deep-seated distaste for humanity and its traditions, particularly around Christmas time.
Seuss brought the Grinch to life in 1957 with his book "How The Grinch Stole Christmas," which was made into three separate films: a 26-minute animated TV movie narrated by Boris Karloff in 1966, a 2000 live-action feature simply called "The Grinch" that featured Jim Carrey in the title role, and a 2018 feature-length animated film narrated by Pharell Williams and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the misanthropic beast released.
For his rendition of the Grinch, Carrey had to sit in a makeup chair for more than eight hours each day. In an interview on "The Graham Norton Show," Carrey said after the first marathon makeup session, he went back to his trailer and kicked a hole in the wall because of the grueling process before telling director Ron Howard he "couldn't do the movie." Howard called in co-producer Brian Grazer, who hired a CIA torture expert to help the actor in the makeup chair. The man gave Carrey various tricks to employ, including punching himself in the leg and smoking cigarettes. Carrey added that he used "a giant cigarette holder so the yak hair wouldn't catch on fire."
The 2018 version went on to earn more than half a billion dollars in box office receipts worldwide, making it the most successful Dr. Seuss film adaptation ever. But the Grinch was not the only Seuss book character to get its own feature film.
