As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
The movie
- At the beginning of the movie, there is a scene where the Grinch is awakened by his alarm clock, which plays some Christmas songs as he tries getting it to stop playing Christmas music: The Jackson 5's version of "Santa Claus is Comin' To Town", the original version of "Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano, a Christmas-themed rap song called "Christmas Is" by Run–D.M.C., and Ray Coniff's version of "The Twelve Days Of Christmas", which has a payoff later when we see the same alarm playing the "five golden rings" part before being crushed by an entire nightstand.
- The Grinch's reason for going into Whoville around Christmas? He ate his way through a food stash meant to last until January.Grinch: How much emotional eating have I been doing?(Smash Cut to: the biggest pile of spaghetti you have ever seen being methodically shoveled into his mouth; numerous empty cereal boxes as he chugs a bowl full of milk; his rise from a massive cake with his face covered in frosting. All set to gentle elevator music while the Grinch has a Thousand-Yard Stare.)
- The fact that he took the time to garnish his mountain of depression spaghetti and light a candle.
- Even if it's kind of awful considering his Freudian Excuse, the Grinch running away from a mob singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". He keeps trying to escape them, but they keep coming after him until he runs into a supermarket.
- During a breakfast scene, when The Grinch asks Max what he wants to do today, the dog has an Imagine Spot accompanied by Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5", where he and the Grinch ride in a car.
- To be specific, Max is driving, and it's the Grinch with his head hanging out the window. Even better, the Grinch is panting and sticking his tongue out like a dog would.
- After being exiled from the music room for his impromptu drum solo, Max fumes in his bed. The Grinch comes to him and apologizes:Grinch: All right, I'm sorry. You're a good dog.Max: ::fumes::Grinch: But a bad drummer.Max: ::snorts and shrugs, as if to say, "Okay, fair enough."::
- The Grinch tries to use a horn to call for a reindeer for his sleigh. He instead gets a goat, who screams loudly.
- The goat starts following him around, and by the time the Grinch realizes:
Grinch: WILL YOU STOP FOLLOWING US?! Shoo! Away! Go back to the goat farm! Go eat a can!- He eventually finds hundreds of reindeer, but they get scared away by the screaming goat (except for the reindeer who turns out to be Fred).
- His reaction to Fred.
Grinch: Well, Santa had eight. He looks like he ate the other seven.- At the very end of the movie (before it cuts to the credits), the goat appears again—and screams again.
- The Grinch doing butt exercises to prepare to be Santa. While wearing pants that read "Go Time" across the back.
- The Grinch calling the Christmas traditions he finds in an almanac "lame."
- The Grinch admiring the page that features the gingerbread house...only to call it "So, so stupidly dumb".
- Finally, when he gets to the page about Santa Claus. Keep in mind that he wants to be like Santa Claus in order to steal Whoville's Christmas:
The Grinch: Red suit, white beard...jolly mood...that's not going to happen. - In one scene, Cindy Lou Who and her friends are practicing their trap for Santa. Her best friend, Groopert, who is playing the role of Santa in the practice run, keeps refusing to do things and thinks this is a play. He keeps refusing to grab the cookie Cindy left out, and when he does, he is thrown out the window, and all of his clothes come off.
- Groopert's Bad "Bad Acting" as Santa.
- The Grinch seeing a sleepwalking man when he tries to find Santa. He pours him a glass of milk and leaves.Sleepwalking Who: Thank you, Mommy.
- The Grinch gets decked by an inflatable snowman outside Bricklebaum's house during his attempt to return home without talking to Bicklebaum. Bricklebaum starts by reprimanding the snowman for hitting Grinchy, then proceeds to greet Grinch like they're friends.
- The Grinch, Max and Fred trying to sneak across the surprisingly noisy snow during the night.Grinch: (whispering to Max and Fred) This is the loudest snow I've ever heard in my life.
- Max tries to use Puppy-Dog Eyes in order sleep in the Grinch’s bed, and is gently denied this...until Fred comes in doing the exact same thing which causes the Grinch to begrudgingly relent. However, Fred's a very large/round reindeer, so it goes about as well as you’d expect.
- The following morning, the audience is treated to a scene that will ring true to many pet owners. Max is sleeping cozily in bed, wrapped in a blanket, head on the pillow...while the Grinch is left with nothing.
- "Look what I made, everybody! It’s a Christmas dragon! It came to me in a dream!" Oh, Bricklebaum.
- Then after the Grinch steals a sleigh from his roof...
Bricklebaum: Man, I don't know what's in this cake, but I think I just saw Santa Claus! Let me get another piece!- If you pay attention, some of the other Whos quickly start chomping on their own slices of cake.
- Cindy-Lou's mom Donna telling Buster that "your brother's head is not breakfast."
- The Grinch trying to climb up Bricklebaum's roof, only for the ladder to sink in the snow with each step.
- During the pre-heist planning, Grinch makes a big deal about resisting the temptation of the cookies. At the final house, he himself decides "what the heck"... and triggers Cindy-Lou's Santa-catcher. He would go for the one cookie in Whoville that's booby-trapped. The only one.
- Speaking of the Grinch talking about resisting the temptation of Christmas, when he talks about how Max and Fred should resist the presents, he himself becomes tempted to open the one he prepared for demonstration. He then promptly throws it away when he realizes what almost happened.
- There's something funny about the fact that The Grinch prepared presents, Christmas lights, cookies, etc. for the sake of a presentation.
- The scene that comes shortly before the Christmas heist begins. Max comes to the workshop to bring the Grinch some coffee. As soon as he gets there, the Grinch tells him that he's been working on "a lot of cool" stuff and shows him the long-string footwear with the goofiest, geekiest smile on his face. Then he finally notices that Max brought coffee and he very enthusiastically drinks it as his eye twitches.
- The fact that the horn the Grinch blows as he descends Mount Crumpit is clearly one of the presents he stole, as it still has a bow and a name tag on it.
Meta
- The Alamo Drafthouse theaters got a strange call from a... certain someone.
- The Minions watch the final trailer. The end is especially funny. Kevin, Stuart, and Bob try to cuddle with Brian, who angrily begins jumping on them, when the Grinch shows up.The Grinch: Enough already!Brian: Señor Grinch?! (tries to run away, but the Grinch grabs him and carries him away)The Grinch: Goodbye!Stuart: (as he, Kevin, and Bob laugh) Bye-bye!
- The Grinch took over Honda's Twitter account for a few days in November of 2018. No, seriously. And you can probably imagine how he acted...
- The trailer pokes fun at people who get ready for Christmas long before the holiday season even begins... while (at least for the United States) the movie premiered a full two-weeks before Black Friday of 2018.
