The second animated TV special featuring Dr. Seuss' arguably most famous creation, The Grinch. This one isn't the absolute must-see classic that "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is, but it is decent on its own. The animation is good, especially by the standards of television animation at the time. The voice work is solid. Yes, Boris Karloff is missed but Hans Conried is an admirable replacement. I found the songs unimpressive. Certainly no standouts like in the Christmas special. All in all, it's an interesting effort that should please most Seuss fans. Just try to go into it not expecting anything on the level of the more famous Grinch story.

What started out as another peaceful evening in Whoville quickly took a turn for disaster. For you see, the sour sweet wind was creeping in, causing all the alarmed citizens to rush in doors and lock themselves in tight. Why, you may wonder? Well, the sour sweet wind starts a chain reaction, for when that wind starts howling, that causes the Gree Grumps to start growling, which causes Puncker's Pond to runkle and grunkle, which disturbs the Hacken-kraks who start yowling, and all this dreadful noise irritates a certain angry green guy known as the Grinch atop Mount Crumpet. He sees this as the perfect opportunity to ride into two and wreak untold havoc upon Whoville and its stalwart citizens. He sends his dog Max to fetch his "paraphernelia wagon." You see, this version of the Grinch knows the black arts, for not only can he make his own eyebrows fly off his face, but he's got a giant wagon full of strange creatures that will be helping him celebrate his Grinch Night Ball. So down the mountain they go, Max pulling the wagon and the Grinch snapping his whip at him, the dog begins to rethink his life choices and laments winding up the slave of "this grinchy old crock." So on his way to Whoville, the Grinch has some fun running over flowers and terrorizing an endangered species of Wuzzy Woozoo, which ends with him getting tossed in a brickle bush.Meanwhile, in Whoville, despite being told to stay in doors, a young boy named Ukariah suddenly had to go to the euphemism, but on his way out, the wind was so strong is carried him right out of the yard. He's blown up the side of the mountain where he comes across Max and assumes he's a lost puppy. That's when Ukariah meets the Grinch face to face, though at first he doesn't believe he is who he is, which raises the Grinch's ire even further. He gives him a "$2.00 treatment" by flying his eyebrows around to a weird chant, then tells Ukariah to get lost and goes along his way. The boy found he couldn't let that weirdo wreak his havoc on Whoville, so raced down the mountain to try and stop him again, but no luck. On the second try, Ukariah bravely confronted the Grinch and dared him to show him what he's got, and so that evil green hermit unleashed his paraphernalia wagon, giving Ukariah a real spooks' tour. Every weird, bizarre and unspeakable creature from the dark recesses of Dr. Seuss' imagination came at him full force. When it was all over, the boy noticed that the sour sweet wind was dying down, which simultaneously stopped all the other noisy creatures that caused the Grinch from prowling. Defeated, the Grinch orders Max to take him home, but the dogs blows him a raspberry and decides to go home with Ukariah. So Whoville was safe once again, Ukariah went home to his grandparents with his new friend Max, and the Grinch alone had to haul that wagon back up the hill. But he knew the wind would be back some day, and when it does, he'll be back. Some day. Ha ha ha.The title always struck me as a bit odd, as this special really doesn't focus on the holiday of Halloween, though an alternate title is simply It's Grinch Night. Either way, if you watch this, you're guaranteed a fun night. Great story, great animation, great voice acting, and especially fantastic music. The songs are catchy, the creature designs are imaginative, this was just an all-around excellent animated special. I don't think it's in canon with How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and if it is, this is a prequel as he doesn't reform in the end. Now something that struck me as funny while I watched this, when Ukariah goes missing, his grandparents just keep calling his name from the house, rather than go look for him. I guess Grinch Night is so horrific that they wouldn't even go out to search for their own grandson. But anyway, definitely give this Dr. Seuss classic a look. The fun and frolic will soon commence. I wouldn't miss a special like this for six dollars and sixty cents.

Let's get the record straight. I love "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". It's my favorite special ever since I was a little girl. Man, it's such a warm classic. "The Grinch Grinches The Cat in The Hat" was not as warm as the Christmas special, but it had its moments. "Halloween is Grinch Night", on the other hand, is beyond charming. It's pretty bizarre. However, the additional nonsense is the only abomination in this special. It's bad enough when this little who boy enters the Grinch's wagon, which is filled with demons, singing a lousy song. Unlike the other two Grinch specials, the Grinch never changed his wicked ways on here. The Halloween Grinch special suffered a great deal between the other two Grinch specials, but I will give the director credit for the way the Grinch is drawn. If you are an adult, you'll find out how bizarre this special is.

Ah, the lesser known Grinch holiday movie. In my family it's always been regarded a classic, kept on a dingy old VHS recorded from TV when I was just a small child. It is truly a bizarre film, much different than it's Christmas counterpart, and probably wouldn't appeal to lots of people. But for me, it is pure DECADENCE. I ADORE it. This is a quality film, undeniably, and anyone who says different, well, it's just not their thing I guess. But really, MAX SINGS!!! Can it get any better than that?? I think not. There's actually quite a bit of singing. As well as fun creepy creature things. I dunno, I'm weird, but I love this movie. It's excellent in a very bizarre way, I can't describe. I'd say it helps to be a bit abnormal yourself, as an indication of whether u may like it or not. Mmmmm yes.