Hello everyone, and I find myself returning to report on the third and final trailer to The Grinch after two trailer breakdowns in my attempt to change the minds of the masses that had been hating on the film. I know I said in my last post on the movie that I wasn’t sure if I was going to make a post on every new trailer they put out. However, this was only because I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a third trailer, and I did entertain the idea of discussing noteworthy updates on the film as it got closer to its release. And boy, are there plenty of noteworthy things to discuss here, from the Grinch’s new beard to Tyler the Creator, of all people. So let’s slide our sleigh alongside the Grinch’s and get to it!
The Cast
Before we get to the trailer, let’s get into the new details revealed about the film’s cast, which was announced following the release of the trailer. The official cast list as we know it right now is shown below:
- Benedict Cumberbatch as The Grinch
- Cameron Seely as Cindy Lou Who
- Rashida Jones as Mrs. Morton
- Kenan Thompson as Mr. Morton
- Angela Lansbury as the Mayor of Whoville
- Pharrell Williams as The Narrator
There are a few notable things to point out here, among them being debunked rumors from a while back that Kaitlyn Maher was voicing Cindy Lou. The Mayor is being voiced by the legendary Angela Lansbury, whose presence is sure to be appreciated. Notably, the Narrator is being voiced by Pharrell Williams, who of course wrote and composed the song “Happy”, which itself was featured in the first trailer. I also forgot to mention in the first trailer breakdown that “Happy” was originally released as part of the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, another Illumination film, so Williams is no stranger to the studio.
As for Mr. and Mrs. Morton, I’m not sure who they are, and The Grinch has been doing a good job so far in terms of the number of additions to the book compared to the live-action film. But I’m guessing that they’re a Who couple who are either connected to the Grinch’s origin, or are related to Cindy Lou. We can dismiss the possibility of them being her parents though, as it’s already been confirmed that Cindy has a widowed mother, so we’ll have to wait and see.
The Official Third Trailer
Boy, is there a LOT to take in here, which is due to the fact that this trailer is not only longer than the second trailer, but it also has a lot more new footage. We begin with too many Minions the Grinch walking into Whoville with a choir of Whos trailing behind him singing a Christmas carol to his disgust. We then see him commit a couple of crimes against the Whos that initially came off as helpful, including using a Christmas reef as a slingshot in place of a handshake and ruining a child’s snowman by pushing off its head with the carrot that he was about to finish it with. The child’s response? A subtle reference to the Grinch’s iconic song, only for the Grinch to respond back with a snowball.
Then we see Mount Crumpit in the middle of some bad weather, with the Grinch realizing his plan steal Christmas as he makes what I’m guessing is supposed to be this movie’s version of the character’s iconic grin in a pretty neat close-up.
He then demonstrates his plan to Max by making a cup vanish into thin air, which is…interesting. This is when the music changes to a rendition of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by that of Tyler the Creator, which is…um…an even more interesting choice. While this isn’t the place to get into it, Tyler isn’t exactly the kind of composer you think of when you think of people to score your kids movie. But it’s certainly been done before, and it’s not like Tyler didn’t do a good job. You may have remembered in the first trailer breakdown how I stated that the original version of the song by Thurl Ravenscroft had a deep bass voice, compared to Bob Malone’s more hoarse and raspy voice. Here, Tyler adheres closer to Ravenscroft’s deep voice, but brings a more chilling and sinister tone to it with a shifting pitch, as if you almost don’t want to hear it, yet you can’t bring yourself but to hear it. Not only that, but there is the added touch of a group of children singing some of the lyrics behind Tyler. It’s pretty great, actually, and everyone clearly agreed. In fact, while the hate for this film has completely subsided since the second trailer, hype is now growing for the film simply because of this song, which is pretty impressive given where the film had been at.
Anyway, the Grinch tells Max and his captured reindeer that their target was the Christmas cookie. It may not sound like much, but the Grinch sees a greater meaning in the cookie, being one of the many symbols of the commercialization of Christmas and the supposed materialism of the Whos. However, it’s pretty clear that the gluttonous reindeer prefers to not look that deep into it.
As the Grinch gets ready for his heist with some questionable yet fitting spray, it is made clear that the sleigh that was on top of the house in the extremely loud snow scene is the sleigh that he will use to steal Christmas. This means that the Grinch will probably succeed in this scene, and if he doesn’t, he’ll probably try again without that fat reindeer of his making the snow any louder, which will make him start wondering if the reindeer was more of a liability. We then see the footage of him sipping his hot cocoa from the first trailer, before we finally see the part of his plan to disguise himself as Santa Claus. This is a part that I’ve been personally waiting to see for a long time, and it certainly is interesting, to say the least. We see the Grinch fattening himself up, doing this:
Building a metal candy cane (I’ll get into that in a bit), and sewing together his Santa outfit. When he presents his stolen sleigh, it is revealed to have an extra smaller sleigh to the side for Max, so this is probably when the reindeer is being used. We then see the Grinch trying on the finished Santa outfit, with one notable difference from what we’ve grown accustomed to.
While the beard is one of the hallmark aspects of Santa Claus’s appearance, the Grinch’s Santa look has always been depicted without it. It’s possible that the beard plays into the plot somehow, or that it’s simply there because the writers felt that a beard would make for a better disguise, especially given that it blocks his face. So while it’s definitely startling to see, and the film technically didn’t need it, I’m not knocking this addition, necessarily, and there wasn’t much criticism against it either, so there’s also that. While more minor, other additions to the outfit include cotton buttons down the chest, and boots for his feet.
We then see the actual heist, which reveals that the Grinch is going to place an emphasis on technology in his stealing, which again falls in line with the modernizing of the story. These various devices include what might be some engine that increases the sleigh’s speed (which I’m guessing will shut down later), a metal claw inside Max’s reindeer antler to grab items, candy cane net launchers (which he was building earlier), extendable leg apparatuses in the boots for quick movement from house to house, a conveyor belt for the bags, Christmas star shuriken attached to ribbons to quickly grab Christmas trees, and a watch on his wrist to deploy all the aforementioned devices. It may be a bit much, but I think all the intricacy is actually kind of neat.
Max’s smaller sleigh is also revealed to have its own functions independent of the Grinch’s sleigh, including its ability to actually fly, which is again interesting. It appears that during the time the reindeer is used, Max is assisting the Grinch in the heist on this sleigh. In the next scene, the Grinch finally lets Max ride the sleigh himself in a “promotion”, which must have happened from both the reindeer’s incompetence and Max’s hard work. And that’s when things really start to get book accurate.
The film’s logo then appears, with the final scene being the Grinch displaying his usual rudeness against Max when he wants to share his bed. The Grinch wins the argument at first, until the reindeer, having learned Max’s puppy dog eyes, not only gets Max in the bed but himself as well. And the Grinch very much pays for not being nice in the first place.
Notably, even with all we got, we still haven’t seen Cindy Lou. I find this interesting, that Illumination is keeping something as big as that in hiding as a surefire way to let us know that they haven’t given away too much of the movie with all this marketing. There is a chance that Cindy Lou will be featured in the TV spots, but other than that, there’s probably not much else to say about the film before its release. I already discussed the possibilities of the film’s financial performance in the second trailer breakdown thinking we weren’t going to get this trailer, so there’s that. This is probably the last post I’m making on the movie until the critical response and weekend box office comes in, so here’s hoping that all this reporting has been worth it, or that you guys were right this entire time back in February.
Until the final verdict comes in, folks. 🎅
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