“You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch/You really are an eel/You're as cuddly as a cactus/you're as charming as an eel/Mr. Grinch/You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel” – “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” lyrics by Theodor Geisel

In one of those cosmic ironies so common in show business, the immortal character actor Boris Karloff (born William Henry Pratt) spent most of his career playing heavies (usually in low-budget horror flicks) even though, in real life by all accounts, he was a charming, kind-hearted, proper British gentleman in every sense of the phrase. Despite a pronounced lisp, he also was blessed with one of the most beautiful speaking voices that an actor could possibly dream of. This asset served him well for the series of children’s tales he recorded for Caedmon Records in the 1950s.

When legendary animator Chuck Jones finally persuaded Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) to allow him to adapt his 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas as a cartoon television special, he remembered Karloff’s recordings and asked him to play the dual role of the Narrator and the Grinch.

Another stroke of sheer genius was adding songs with lyrics by Geisel and music by Albert Hague (who also composed the background score) and hiring Thurl Ravenscroft (best known as the voice of Tony the Tiger on the commercials for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal) to sing the most famous of those songs, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”

Directed by Jones and Ben Washam from a script by Geisel and Bob Ogle, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (originally broadcast on Dec. 18, 1966) has deservedly become the single most beloved of TV holiday specials. (The less said about the execrable live-action film version starring Jim Carrey, the better.) The story takes place in the fairy tale setting of Whoville.

Narrator: Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot,
but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville – did not.
The Grinch hated Christmas – the whole Christmas season.
Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

The Grinch is a mean-spirited hermit who lives in a cave with his dog, Max. (Thanks to Jones’ flair for facial expressions, Max just about steals the show.) Fed up with the noise and the cheerful good spirits of the Whos holiday celebrating, the Grinch hatches a plot to eliminate Christmas once and for all. As he explains to Max, he will dress up like Santa Claus, sneak into the Whos’ homes and steal all of their gifts, ornaments, Christmas trees and even the roast beast!

With Max along as his “reindeer,” the Grinch’s plan goes off without a hitch. The only person who catches the Grinch in the act is little Cindy Lou Who (June Foray), but it doesn’t shake his sense of sang froid. Maintaining his impersonation of Santa, he gets Cindy Lou a drink of water and sends her back to bed. His thievery completed, the Grinch takes the haul up to the top of the highest nearby mountain so he can dump all the swag into a ravine.

Just as the Grinch is tipping the sled full of loot over the cliff, he hears the Whos gathering in the town square. To his utter amazement, they’re singing their traditional Christmas hymn as though nothing toward has happened! How can they possibly be celebrating this Christmas, the Grinch wonders.

Grinch: It came without ribbons!
It came without tags!
It came without packages,
boxes or bags!

At that very moment, the Grinch finally gets it: Christmas isn’t the accumulation of gifts; it’s a state of mind spreading good will to all. Suddenly, he literally has a change of heart; his heart grows three sizes larger! Unfortunately, the sled, with Max tied to it, is just about to plummet into the abyss…

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is available from Netflix and Amazon.