Halloween Is Grinch Night
Halloween Is Grinch Night is a 1977 children's animated Halloween television special and is a prequel to the 1966 television special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! It premiered on ABC on October 28, 1977. Boris Karloff, the original voice actor for The Grinch, had died and was replaced by Hans Conried, with Thurl Ravenscroft singing as he did in the original special. The songs and score were written by Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo.
The special won the 1978 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program.
Plot
A sour sweet wind blows through Whoville. All of Whoville dreads the smell of the wind as an omen, and the whole village goes into lockdown. The sour sweet wind awakens the gree-grumps from their slumber in the tree stumps around Punkers Pond, and once woken up, the gree-grumps begin yowling, which upsets the pond, which disturbed the hakken-kraks that live in the pond, and causes them to rise out of the water and begin yowling, which carries all the way up Mount Crumpett, and to the king of Grinch Night, simply known as the Grinch, signaling that Grinch Night has come. The Grinch orders his dog, Max, to get the Paraphernalia Wagon, and they begin their journey down to Whoville for Grinch Night and the Grinch Night Ball. The Grinch's progress down the mountain to the town is monitored by Sergeant Samuel McPherson, who updates the Whos on the Grinch's progress.Eucariah, a young Who with astigmatism, goes out to the "euphemism," which is then blown away by the strong winds. He is carried up to Mount Crumpett where he runs into the Wuzzy Woozoo, said to be the last in the community, and Max, who he acts friendly towards, before seeing the Grinch who is picking "brickles" out of his fur, the result of a failed attempt to hunt down the Wuzzy Woozoo. After giving Eucariah a brief spook, the Grinch decides the young boy is too small to waste time on and resumes his trek to Whoville.
Eucariah decides that he must stall the Grinch in order to save Whoville. Catching up to the Grinch's wagon and forcing him to stop twice, the irritated Grinch decides to give Eucariah the "spook's tour", and summons Eucariah to the top of the Paraphernalia Wagon where the Grinch opens the hatch at the top. Euchariah is drawn in to a surreal nightmare with spooks and monsters in all directions. Euchariah endures the spooks just long enough for the storm to die down, forcing the Grinch to abandon the trek and return home. Max, visibly depressed and nostalgic throughout the special, refuses to return with the Grinch and follows Euchariah home where he is greeted as a hero; the Grinch laments that he will "miss that Grinch Night Ball" but finds solace in "that wind will be coming back, someday; I'll be coming back, someday!" and then ends this promise with a sinister laugh.
Voice cast
- Hans Conried as The Grinch/Narrator
- Gary Shapiro as Eucariah
- Henry Gibson as Max
- Hal Smith as Josiah
- Jack DeLeon as Sergeant Samuel McPherson
- Irene Tedrow as Mariah
- Thurl Ravenscroft as Singer, Monsters
Songs
- "I Wouldn't Go Out on a Night Like This" – Josiah
- "The Grinch Night Ball" – The Grinch
- "How Many Times" – Max's inner voice, The Grinch
- "As the Grinch Creaks Ever Closer..." – Chorus
- "I Wouldn't Go Out on a Night Like This" – Chorus
- "He Is Wandering in the Wind" – Chorus
- "The Eyebrow Song" – The Grinch
- "The Spooks Tour"
- # "Grinch Is Gonna Get You" – Monster Chorus
- # "Members of the Un-human race" – Monster Chorus
- # "The Spooks Tour Finale" – Monster Chorus
- "Gone Is the Grinch" – Chorus