1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Well, Hello and welcome to This Day in 3 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: History Class, a show for those who aren't afraid of history, 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: no matter what day it is. I'm Gabe Luisier, and 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: in this episode we're looking at the lesser known prequel 6 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: or is it a sequel? To Dr Seuss How the 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: Grinch Stole Christmas? The surprisingly trippy and sometimes nightmarish Halloween 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: Is Grinch Night. The day was October seventy seven. The 9 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: animated special Halloween Is Grinch Night aired for the first 10 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: time on ABC. The twenty six minute cartoon short was 11 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: directed by Gerard Baldwin and marked the second TV appearance 12 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: of the popular character The Grinch. Un Like his earlier special, 13 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: the one where he tried to steal Christmas, Grinch Night 14 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: is not based on any existing book. Instead, Dr Seuss 15 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: himself Theodore Geisel wrote the original story specifically for television. 16 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: It's unclear whether the tale is meant to take place 17 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: before or after the character's life changing Christmas encounter with 18 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: the Who's, or even if it fits in the same 19 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: timeline at all. The one thing that's for certain is 20 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: that the Grinch in this special does not have an 21 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: oversized heart. There were a lot of behind the scenes 22 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: changes for The Grinch's second Holiday outing. This time around, 23 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: production was handled by Depatty Freeling Enterprises, a small studio 24 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: started by Warner Brothers alumni for his Freeling and David H. Depatty. 25 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: They had inherited the sous mantle from Chuck Jones and 26 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: MGM in the early nineteen seventies and had already produced 27 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: several animated specials for primetime television, including adaptations of The 28 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,639 Speaker 1: Cat in the Hat and The Lorax Halloween Is. Grinch 29 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: Knight was the first SUE special made for a b 30 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: C rather than CBS. Sadly, that switch resulted in a 31 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: much reduced budget, as evidenced by the specials often underwhelming visuals. 32 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: There were concessions behind the microphone as well. Boris Karloff 33 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: had famously narrated The Grinch's Christmas Special in nineteen sixty six, 34 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: but he passed away just three years later. His replacement 35 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: in Grinch Knight is none other than Hans Conride, the 36 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: voice of Captain Hook in Disney's Peter Pan. Much like 37 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: Karloff before him, Conride narrates the story and also voices 38 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: the Grinch, including a few brief moments of singing. One 39 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: welcome carryover from the first special is thorough Ravenscroft, who 40 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:56,239 Speaker 1: provides speaking and singing voices for various characters. Another familiar 41 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: name in the credits is Henry Gibson, the voice of 42 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: Wilber the Pig in the animated version of Charlotte's Web. 43 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: Gibson gives a heartrending performance as the singing voice of Max, 44 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: the Grinch's poor exploited puppy, but we'll come back to 45 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:15,639 Speaker 1: that sequence a little later. The story of Halloween Is 46 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: Grinch Knight is pretty straightforward and somewhat familiar. Once again, 47 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: the residents of Whoville find themselves being menaced by the 48 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: grumpy green hermit who lives at the top of Mount Crumpet. 49 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: Once again, there's a pivotal confrontation between the Grinch and 50 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: a stalwart young who, and once again the action is 51 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: centered on a holiday, though maybe not the one you think, 52 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: because while the official title is Halloween Is Grinch Knight, 53 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: the word Halloween isn't actually spoken in the special. Instead, 54 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: it's replaced throughout by the term grinch Knight. At the 55 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: start of the short, we learned that every autumn, on 56 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: a Halloween night, I mean Grinch Knight, a peculiar sour 57 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: sweet wind begins to blow, setting off a noisy chain 58 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: reaction among the local wildlife. Agitated by the smelly wind, 59 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: the Greek grumps started growling, which in turn sets the 60 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: hack and cracks a howling, and so forth and so on, 61 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: And as we already know, there's nothing the Grinch hates 62 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: more than noise pollution. So once a year, when all 63 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,679 Speaker 1: that racket kicks up, he descends from his mountain lair 64 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: and vents his frustrations on the innocent who's below. Much 65 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,280 Speaker 1: like in the Christmas Special, the Grinch is propelled down 66 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: the mountain by his scrawny dog Max. This time though 67 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: he's not strapped to a sleigh, but to an enormous 68 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: two wheeled cart, which the Grinch refers to as his 69 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: quote paraphernalia wagon. Remember it was the nineteen seventies. It's 70 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: at this point when the Special really starts to distinguish 71 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: itself from its predecessor. The camera zooms in on Max, 72 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: and for the first time we hear the dog's internal monologue. 73 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: It's delivered in the form of a crushing Lye sad ballad, 74 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: and although it feels a bit out of place in 75 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: a Halloween special, it paints a clear picture of how 76 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: miserable life with the Grinch really is. Here's a clip. 77 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:15,840 Speaker 1: How many times have I send and said? How many 78 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: times have I sen in my head? What am I doing? 79 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 1: Why am I the slave of this grenchy old crop? 80 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: And I say, how I wish I could turned. As 81 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: poor Max trudges his way down the mountain side, the 82 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: who's in Whoville are busy battening down the hatches. Since 83 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: grinch Knight is an annual occurrence, Whoville residents notice stay 84 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: indoors until the sour sweet wind has passed. However, on 85 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: this particular grinch Knight, a young who named Yukariah ventures 86 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:56,359 Speaker 1: outdoors to visit the euphemism that's the word Seuss uses 87 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: to refer to the family outhouse since he wasn't allowed 88 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: to say bathroom. Unfortunately, for u Karia and for his bladder, 89 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: he's swept away by the powerful autumn wind before he 90 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: can relieve himself. He eventually lands, as bad luck would 91 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: have it, on the same mountain path as the Grinch. However, 92 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:19,119 Speaker 1: their initial encounter is shockingly civil, with yu Karaia even 93 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,559 Speaker 1: taking the time to give the Grinch a crash course 94 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 1: and optometry. It's a bizarre exchange, but it establishes Yukariah's 95 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: knack for annoying the Grinch, a talent that features heavily 96 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: in the story's finale. Take a listen, Who are you, Yukariah? Who? Sir? 97 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: You are a small watch? I do the best I can, Sir? 98 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: Are you really the Grinch? Am I? The sorry? Sir? 99 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: I have a slight A stigmatism, an optical condition in 100 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: which parallel rays of light from an external source converge. 101 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: You diverge unequally in different meridians. Do you know, sir? 102 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: I like you much better with my glasses off. You'll 103 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: put your glasses back on and face the fact, am I? 104 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: The Grinch? Show him? In order to prove it's really him, 105 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: The Grinch proceeds to menace Yukaraiah off the road with 106 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: his flying, dancing eyebrows. It's the whole thing, don't ask, 107 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: and then continues his ominous descent to Whoville. By now, 108 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: the boy knows he's the only thing standing between his 109 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: town and whatever the Grinch has in that wagon and 110 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: so a stigmatism or no a stigmatism. He determines to 111 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: foil the Grinch's sinister plan the only way he can, 112 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: by distracting and delaying him until the sour sweet wind 113 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: stops blowing. To do this, Yukariah challenges the Grinch to 114 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: scare him properly instead of just doing weird things with 115 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: his eyebrows. The Grinch obliges by inviting the boy to 116 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: climb atop his carriage and get a sneak peek of 117 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: the horror he has in store for Whoville. This is 118 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: when we learned that the grinches paraphernalia wag and is 119 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: basically a Pandora's box. It's loaded with nightmarish creatures and 120 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: when it's opened, they're all set free upon the psyche 121 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: of whoever looks inside. It's at this point that Grinch 122 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: Knight really earns its stripes. As a Halloween special, the 123 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: lid of the wagon is lifted and yu Kariyah is 124 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: given a spookstour of a bizarre and frightening landscape. Lost 125 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: in a black void, He's menaced by all manner of monsters, ghosts, 126 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: and specters, as well as by abstract shapes and impossible architecture. 127 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: It's hard to do the sequence justice in words, but 128 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,679 Speaker 1: if you've ever watched the Psychedelic Pink Elephant scene and Dumbo, 129 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: it's a lot like that, but even weirder and way 130 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: more threatening. These mind bending visuals are accompanied by arguably 131 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 1: the best music of the special. My personal favorite is 132 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: Grinch Is Gonna Get You by a claimed sesame Street 133 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: composer Joe Riposso. It really sells the danger facing the 134 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: young protagonists, plus it's super creepy. Check it out. Despite 135 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: the Grinch's best efforts, Ukariah endures every terror thrown his way, 136 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: and by the time the nightmare ends, the sweet sour 137 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: wind is gone, leaving the Grinch no choice but to 138 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: slink back up the mountain until next year. This is 139 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,959 Speaker 1: where the chronological setting of the story gets a little hazy, 140 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: since the Christmas Special ended with the Grinch reformed Grinch 141 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: Night what seemed to be a prequel since it both 142 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: begins and ends with the Grinch being an unrepentant jerk. However, 143 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: Dr Seuss throws a wrench in that theory at the 144 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: very end of the special, after watching Ukariah stand up 145 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: to the Grinch, Max is emboldened to finally break free 146 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: of his abusive master and returns to Whoville to live 147 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: with the boy in his family. A happy ending for 148 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: Max is a welcome treat for viewers. But if this 149 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: story really is a prequel, that means Max eventually returns 150 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: to the Grinch and helps him steal Christmas, which is 151 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: kind of a bummer right. The alternative, however, is only 152 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: slightly less depressing. It would mean that Grinch Night is 153 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: a sequel to the Christmas Special, and that sometime after 154 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: learning his Yule Tide lesson, the Grinch reverted to his 155 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: old ways and began terrorizing Whoville on an annual basis. 156 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: That interpretation does square with some other aspects of the story, 157 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: like the fact that residents are so on guard against 158 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:45,680 Speaker 1: the Grinch, showing that he's already an established threat. Of course, 159 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,959 Speaker 1: the third option is that Dr. Seuss didn't overthink any 160 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: of this like I'm doing, and that he didn't intend 161 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: the Grinch stories to connect one way or the other. 162 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: That's probably the safest assumption, especially since there is a 163 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,079 Speaker 1: third animated Grinch speci show that you'd then have to 164 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: try to make sense of that's right, Halloween Is. Grinch 165 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:07,959 Speaker 1: Knight was so successful that it actually spawned a follow up, 166 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: Two's The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat, a 167 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: crossover between Seus's arguably most famous characters. Neither of those 168 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: specials are as well regarded or as well remembered as 169 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But before you write them 170 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 1: off entirely, consider this. Both Grinch Knight and it's follow 171 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: up one Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children's Program. The 172 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: original Grinch special did not, so take that Christmas Fans, 173 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: Halloween Forever. I'm gay, Bluesier and certainly you now know 174 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: a lot more about Grinch history today than you did yesterday, 175 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: And if you're up for it, you can learn even 176 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: more about it by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 177 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d I HC Show And if you 178 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: have any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them 179 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: my way at this day at iHeart media dot com. 180 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear your own thoughts on the SIUs 181 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,079 Speaker 1: Cinematic universe, but be warned, I'll probably respond with more 182 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: of mine too. For now, though, thanks to Chandler Mays 183 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 184 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again soon for one more 185 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: scary day in history class. For more podcasts from I 186 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 187 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.