The Grinch has come a long way since Dr. Seuss first published How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 1957. The story of the furry green curmudgeon has been adapted for TV, film, the stage, and now YouTube. Dr. Seuss Enterprises has released a new web series, which gives the Grinch his very own vlog.
The web series is available on the official Dr. Seuss YouTube channel, which launched in 2019. In the first episode, the titular loner goes through his morning routine. He wakes up, says his affirmations, and complains about the guy from the North Pole who is “happy all the time.”
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By episode two, the Grinch is attempting to convince viewers that there’s something to his hatred of Christmas. “The Whos with their lights…kind of a weird relationship if you ask me,” he says. “They’ve got some sort of light fetish. It makes me uncomfortable, to be honest.”
This more grown-up take on the Grinch is the most significant activity on the Dr. Seuss channel in months. The digital hub has previously hosted cooking videos, which are available for anyone who wants to learn the recipe for green eggs and ham. Most of its videos, which play up the sing-songy nature of Dr. Seuss rhymes, are looking to capitalize on the popularity of kids content on YouTube.
By giving a classic character a cutting edge, Dr. Seuss Enterprises is utilizing an old-school web series format: The book adaptation. A decade ago, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries kicked off a wave of literary YouTube shows, which picked up rabid fandoms and critical acclaim. The recent success of the Scooby-Doo adaptation Mystery Incorporated shows that there is still an appetite for light-hearted web series inspired by memorable IP, and the Grinch vlog fits that description.
