You're a nice one, Mister Grinch? We'll see.
How the Grinch Lost Christmas! is a 2023 sequel to the iconic 1957 children's book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Written by Alistair Haim in the writing and art style of Dr. Seuss, the story picks up some time after the original, where everyone's favorite green curmudgeon is now happily enjoying the Christmas season atop Mt. Crumpit. When he gets word that WhoVille is hosting a Christmas Tree decorating contest, he decides to enter so he can prove to the Who's that he's a changed man (er, Grinch) and earn their acceptance. But as he gets busy working to make his tree, he may find that things won't go the way he planned—and it puts him in danger of falling right back into his miserly habits! Can Cindy Lou Who remind the Grinch of what Christmas really means?
These Tropes Really Are a Heel!
- An Aesop: The moral seems to be less is more, considering that Cindy-Lou's tree got first prize despite being smaller than The Grinch's tree.
- Bigger Is Better: Subverted. The Grinch gets the largest tree he can find, chops it down, and goes overboard with all manner of Christmas decorations in the hopes he can win the tree decorating contest. It's unquestionably the largest of the competitors, but he only wins second place; Cindy's much smaller tree (which happens to be the smallest of them all) takes home the crown.
- Call-Back: Much of the dialogue is written similar to Grinch's tale from the original story, but is cleverly changed to reflect his newfound love of Christmas. Such an example includes his descent of Mt. Crumpit—not to steal Christmas from the Who's, but to join in their festivities.
- Double-Meaning Title: The story not only tells of the time that the Grinch lost his Christmas spirit, but serves as clever Foreshadowing to how he loses the tree decorating contest.
- The Grinch: The Trope Namer himself is back, but he subverts this at the start of the story since he loves Christmas on account of his Character Development from the first story. The problem is his newfound love for the holiday puts him at risk of winding back up where he started.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: Despite spending all day chopping down and decorating a ginormous tree, the Grinch's efforts only net him second place in the contest. Cindy Lou Who's tree, which is significantly smaller and less grand in its decor, winds up the winner.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Now that he's a changed Grinch, the former mean one himself is determined to prove to the Who's that he's a holiday loving guy. Upon hearing about the Christmas Tree Decorating contest, he goes all out to demonstrate his newfound love for the season, only to go right back to being miserable and cranky when he loses. Fortunately, Cindy intervenes and makes it clear that WhoVille does care for him, which overjoys the Grinch so much.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Cindy Lou Who climbs Mt. Crumpit to see Mr. Grinch, asking for his help with her entry in the tree decorating contest. Grinch is so busy with his own tree, he sends her on her way.
- Sore Loser: The Grinch loses the Christmas Tree decorating contest to Cindy Lou Who, and he takes it so poorly, his heart shrinks right back to the size it was in the first story. However, he's not mad that he lost to Cindy so much as he thinks the Who's have failed to accept he's changed, and put his impressive tree in second as a sign of spite. He gets over it when Cindy tells him that they want Grinch in their festivities, and crowns her the winner with a big, beaming sense of pride on his face.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Really, Grinch, you didn't have to go and chop down the largest tree in the forest and trim it up to the nines with every Christmas decoration you could find just to prove to the Who's you're no longer a Christmas-hating miser.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Thanks to the events of the first story, The Grinch is a much jollier and happier fellow who loves Christmas. However, when he loses the contest to Cindy, his heart shrinks right back to its original size and he goes right back to being that miserable old Grinch—at least until Cindy calls out to him from below Mt. Crumpit and says the Who's want the Grinch to join them in the festivities. This causes Grinch's heart to grow even bigger than last time, and he happily sleds down the mountain without hesitation.
