Heartwarming / How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

• The Grinch and Cindy are careening down Mt. Crumpet on a runaway sled and Cindy, clearly frightened, screams that they're going to crash. The Grinch proves his newly-big-heart...in his own way:
  Grinch: Now you listen to me young lady. Even if we're horribly mangled...there'll be no sad faces on Christmas!
  • And as they enter Whoville, they're screaming - with huge smiles.
  • When Cindy's dad stops the sled from crashing by himself (with a little help from Martha May and Betty Lou).
• The movie also makes the "ten Grinches plus two" scene even more heartwarming. The Grinch struggles to save the sleigh from falling, but eventually decides that they are, after all, just presents and not the real spirit of Christmas. Then he see Cindy pop up from the sleigh. She came up to him because "no one should be alone on Christmas." She gives the Grinch the strength he needed to save the day.
  • The look on his face when she says "No one should be alone on Christmas". The Grinch realizes that someone (possibly for the first time in his life) cares about him.
  • Later we see both of them (with Max) sliding down the mountainside, looking like they're having the time of their lifes.
    • When Grinch flies off the ledge of the mountain and crashes into sack, Cindy asks if he's okay. Grinch response?
      Cindy Lou: Are you all right?
      The Grinch: Are you kiddin’? The sun is bright and the powder’s bitchin’! (makes his way towards driver's seat, while Cindy lets a happy laugh) Now scoot over! It’s my turn to drive!
• Max getting the Grinch to save Cindy from the sorting machine during their first encounter. Unlike his master, he wasn’t about to leave Cindy when she was in danger thanks to the Grinch’s antics.
• The realization of the true meaning of Christmas in the movie adaption is also rather heart-warming. The slow narration and soothing musical score while the Grinch starts to slowly realize it in the realistic icy-cold snow helps the audience see the same ending we all know and love in a different way.... Until his sudden "heart attack" strikes a Mood Whiplash out of nowhere!
• This exchange between Lou and the Mayor when the former defends Cindy from the latter.
  Mayor May-Who: Cindy, I hope you're proud of what you've done.
  (cut to Cindy looking sad)
  Lou: If she isn't, I am. I'm glad he took all the presents. I..... I'm glad.
  Mayor May-Who: He's glad, you're glad. You’re glad everything is-is gone, you're glad that the Grinch virtually wrecked- no, no, no, no not wrecked, pulverized Christmas. Is that what I'm hearing from you, Lou?
  Lou: You can’t hurt Christmas, Mr. Mayor, because it isn't about the-the gifts or the contests or the fancy lights. That-that’s what Cindy's been trying to tell everyone. And me, what she's been trying to tell me.
  Mayor May-Who: What is wrong with you? This is a child!
  Lou: She's my child. And she happens to be right, by the way. I don't need anything more for Christmas than this right here, my family. Merry Christmas everybody!
  • This causes those nog-socking cheer-loving mongers to realize it's Christmas with or without their packages.
• And afterwards, the Whos very quickly forgive the Grinch for his antics:
  The Grinch: I am the Grinch that stole Christmas... and I'm sorry.(holds his hands out for Police Chief Wholihan to handcuff) *beat* Aren't you going to cuff me? Put me in a choke hold? Blind me with pepper spray?
  Mayor Augustus Maywho: You heard him, Officer. He admitted it. I'd go with the pepper spray.
  Chief Wholihan: Yes, I heard him all right. He said he was sorry.
  (Cue the Mayor having a You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! look of disbelief and shock on his face that Chief Wholihan gave the Grinch a full pardon for his crimes)
• The Grinch's first act upon his Heel–Face Turn in the live action movie, is to hug his much abused dog, Max. Of course he cuts it short when he milks it!
  The Grinch: *shoves Max off* One step at a time!
• How about when Martha May, who always had a crush on the Grinch, officially chose him over the Mayor? And she does so with confidence and no hesitation, leading to the Grinch, after a moment of shocked realization, laughing with glee.
  • Martha even corrects the Grinch when they sing Whoville Song with the rest of the Whos.
  • When the Grinch carves the Christmas turkey, she stands next to him.
  • Martha May is quite sweet in general. Despite Betty Lou's constant attempts to start up a rivalry with her, Martha May is always genuinely kind to her in response. She also doesn't hesitate to try and help Betty Lou stop the sleigh at the end of the movie.
• In the live-action movie, Cindy Lou invites the Grinch to a Christmas celebration and for a moment, he actually enjoys himself, at least until the Mayor decided to kick him. He even gets to see his moms, Clarnella and Rose Who again!
  Rose Who: We've missed you!
  • Speaking of the reunion scene, we see the humorous moment of the Grinch's mothers (and others, including his old school teacher) dressing him in a gaudy Christmas sweater. I repeat, they dress him in a sweater of his exact size. This implies that his mothers, as soon as they heard of his nomination, had knitted him a sweater, or had bought him one. Not to mention the fact that even after all his mischief, his mothers still love him!
  • The Grinch is a furry green... Something, who bordered on being a Enfant Terrible but his moms didn't care at all, they treated him like he was anyone else and loved him for who he was.
  • At the end of the film, when the Grinch and Cindy Lou return to Whoville, there's a shot Rose and Clarnella crying Tears of Joy as they see their little boy come back. There's clearly going to be a happy family reunion.
• During his rampage at the celebration, the Grinch hijacks a tiny car and drives off at full speed causing chaos. While he enjoys it at first, he's visibly horrified when he sees a mother with her stroller right in his path, and he quickly swerves the car to avoid hitting them, crashing it in the process. Even before his official Heel–Face Turn, the Grinch still won't put innocent people in danger.
  • While it's Played for Laughs, when stealing the car in the first place, the Grinch still doesn't harm the tiny couple driving it and waits for them to run away on their own, implying he didn't want to put them at risk during his joyride.
    The Grinch: (as they're running off) You did the right thing!
  • After the wreck, the Grinch realizes that the car is dripping gas and will go off at any second. He immediately shouts this out as he's running away, warning any Whos in the area to stay clear of the explosion.
    The Grinch: It's gonna blow!
• At the end, Cindy Lou gives the Grinch a kiss on the cheek.
  Cindy: Mr. Grinch! Your cheeks are...
  Grinch: I know. Hairy.
  Cindy: No!
  Grinch: Greasy? Stinky? ... Do I have a zit?
  Cindy: No! Warm!
• The young Grinch gets really into building a handmade angel Christmas tree topper for Martha for the school gift exchange. Too bad it ended so horribly for him.
  • And while not aware of the Grinch's crush on Martha, this didn't go unnoticed by his adoptive moms. They didn't even seem mad that he used a bunch of their silverware and jewelry for crafting the gift when telling the story.
    Clarnella Who: For some reason, when he came home that day, he really got into the Christmas spirit for the first time.
  • As some eagle-eyed fans have pointed out over the years, Martha actually kept what was left of that homemade angel all these years. Look closely during the scenes where Cindy is interviewing her about the Grinch. She's wearing some of the pieces in her hair.
• The Japanese poster for the movie. Just like the American teaser poster, it features The Grinch's hand holding a broken Christmas tree ornament, only with the addition of another hand (most likely Cindy Lou's) holding the ornament's broken piece.
• Behind the scenes example: To make Jim Carrey into the Grinch, they had to cover him with an elaborate yak-hair suit and large yellow contact lenses, the results being extremely uncomfortable — to the point that it took a few weeks of struggle to keep Carrey on the film at all. Director Ron Howard took notice of this and one day came to work in the same makeup to share Carrey's pain; Carrey was very touched by the gesture.
  • According to Howard's commentary track, one thing Carrey never saw as an option was having the makeup/suit changed so he could be more comfortable. If he was going to play the Grinch, he was going to look like the Grinch.

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