The Grinch

The Grinch lives alone in a cave above Whoville with only his dog Max for company, and the cheerful preparations of his neighbours for their annual Christmas celebration irritate him more each year. When they decide to make the holiday bigger than ever, he settles on a plan to put an end to it by taking Christmas away from them. Meanwhile, a young girl named Cindy-Lou has her own hopes for the season, and her path is set to cross with his.

This animated adaptation of the Dr. Seuss story was directed by Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney and written by Tommy Swerdlow and Michael LeSieur. It is the first of two features credited to Mosier, followed by Minions & More 2, while Cheney's earlier directing work includes Puppy and a Despicable Me 2 mini-movie collection. Benedict Cumberbatch voices the Grinch, with Cameron Seely as Cindy-Lou, Rashida Jones as Donna Who, Kenan Thompson as Bricklebaum, Angela Lansbury as Mayor McGerkle and Pharrell Williams as the narrator.

The film was produced by Illumination and Universal Pictures on a budget of about 75 million dollars and went on to earn roughly 553 million dollars worldwide, a strong return for an animated family release. On IMDb it holds 6.4 out of 10 from around 113,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.9 out of 10 from over 4,500 votes, while its critics' rating stands at 6 out of 10 from 198 reviews. Critical and audience responses therefore sit fairly close together, both pointing to a broadly liked film rather than an enthusiastically received one.