Halloween Is Grinch Night

Halloween Is Grinch Night (titled It's Grinch Night for the 1992 videocassette release and Grinch Night for the sing-a-long videocassette release) is a 1977 Halloween television special and is the prequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! It premiered on ABC on October 29, 1977.[2] The original voice actor for the Grinch, Boris Karloff, by now deceased, was replaced by Hans Conried, though Thurl Ravenscroft, who sang on the original special, again provided singing vocals. The songs were written by Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo.[3]

Halloween Is Grinch Night
GenreComedy-horror
Written byDr. Seuss
Directed byGerard Baldwin
Voices ofHans Conried
Henry Gibson
Gary Shapiro
Hal Smith
Irene Tedrow
Jack DeLeon
Narrated byHans Conried
Composer(s)Joe Raposo
Country of originUnited States
Production
Executive producer(s)David H. DePatie
Friz Freleng
Producer(s)Ted Geisel
Running time26 minutes
Production company(s)DePatie–Freleng Enterprises
Release
Original networkABC[1]
Original releaseOctober 29, 1977 (1977-10-29)

The special won the 1978[4] Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program.[5]

Plot

In Whoville each Halloween, a "Sour-Sweet Wind" blows and a chain of events causes the Gree-Grumps and Hakken-Krakks to arouse the Grinch into descending to Whoville in his paraphernalia wagon and wreaking havoc in the town on "Grinch Night." All of Whoville dreads the smell of the wind as an omen, and everyone retreats to their home as the whole village goes into lockdown.

Euchariah, a young Who with astigmatism, goes out to the "euphemism" and blows away. He runs into the Grinch as he is picking brickles out of his fur, the end result of a failed attempt to hunt down the last Wuzzy Woozoo. After giving Euchariah a brief spook, the Grinch decides the young boy is too small to waste time on and resumes his trek to Whoville.

Euchariah decides that he must stall the Grinch in order to save Whoville. Catching up to the Grinch's wagon, the irritated Grinch decides to give Euchariah the "spook's tour," and Euchariah is drawn in to a surreal nightmare with spooks and monsters in all directions. The boy endures the spooks just long enough for the Sour-Sweet Wind to die down, forcing the Grinch to abandon the trek and return home. His dog Max, visibly depressed and nostalgic throughout the special, refuses to return with the Grinch and follows Euchariah home; the Grinch vows that he will try again next year.

Voice cast

Songs
  1. "I Wouldn't Go Out on a Night Like This" - Josiah
  2. "The Grinch Night Ball" - the Grinch
  3. "How Many Times" - Max's inner voice, the Grinch
  4. "As the Grinch Creaks Ever Closer..." - Chorus
  5. "I Wouldn't Go Out on a Night Like This (Reprise)" - Chorus
  6. "He is Wandering in the Wind" - Chorus
  7. "Ooga Booga" - the Grinch
  8. "Grinch Is Gonna Get You"/"Members of the Un-human race"/"the Spooks tour Finale" - Monster Chorus (Hans Conried, Thurl Ravenscroft, The Mellomen, Mel Blanc, Paul Frees, and Paul Winchell) (The song starts with all the singers, then turns into a duet between Ravenscroft and Winchell.)
  9. "Gone is the Grinch" - Chorus

Home media

The special was first released on VHS by Playhouse Video in 1989. In 1992, it was released by Random House Home Video on VHS under the title It's Grinch Night. It was also released by VHS by CBS Video through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in 1996 under the title Grinch Night. In 2003, the special was released as a bonus special on the VHS and DVD release of Dr. Seuss on the Loose from Universal Studios Home Entertainment under its original title (though the packaging and menu still referred to it as Grinch Night). On October 18, 2011, the special was released on DVD by Warner Home Video under Dr. Seuss's Holidays on the Loose!, along with How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat.[6]

References
  1. "Beware of the Grinch!". The Robesonian. 28 October 1979. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  2. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 119–120. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. Terrace, Vincent (2013). Television Specials: 5,336 Entertainment Programs, 1936-2012 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 134. ISBN 978-0786474448.
  4. "30th Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners". Emmys. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  5. "1977–1978 Emmy Awards". InfoPlease. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  6. Dr. Seuss's Holidays on the Loose! DVD – Warner Bros.: WBshop.com – The Official Online Store of Warner Bros. Studios
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