Christmas lovers and Dr. Seuss fans can rejoice this holiday season. More than six decades after its publication, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ is getting an official follow-up. This new story — titled, ‘How the Grinch Lost Christmas’ — takes place one year after the holiday classic. And like the iconic original book, it teaches us yet another valuable lesson about the spirit of Christmas.
So if you’ve been wondering what happened after the Grinch’s literal change of heart, your answer is coming just in time for the 2023 holiday season.
Christmas in Who-ville… One Year Later
As we all know, the original story centers around the Grinch’s attempt to ruin Who-ville’s Christmas. With help from his dog Max, he steals everyone’s presents, decorations, and food on Christmas Eve night. But when he sees how happy everyone is, despite what they’ve lost, he suddenly learns the true meaning of Christmas. As a result, his tiny heart “grows three sizes that day.”
In ‘How the Grinch Lost Christmas,’ one year has passed, and the Grinch wants to show everyone his newfound love for the holiday. He’ll do this by decorating the best Christmas tree ever seen and winning the Who-ville Christmas Crown. But when things suddenly go wrong, he loses heart and reverts to his mean old self. It’s now up to Cindy-Lou Who to bring him back and remind him that winning isn’t everything.
Who's Who In This Brand New Creative Team
Despite the "Lost" title, this story is not based on a newly-discovered long-lost manuscript. According to AP, it was actually created by Alastair Heim and Aristides Ruiz — an author and artist team with experience in the Dr. Seuss universe. Heim has written the Seuss-themed books ‘If I Ran Your School’ and ‘I am the Cat in the Hat.’ He’s beyond thrilled to get this opportunity to expand on Seuss’ universe.
“All throughout writing the story, I couldn’t fully believe that I was actually getting to play in the amazing creative sandbox Dr. Seuss created all those decades ago.”Alastair Heim
As for Ruiz, he’s been illustrating the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library books for over two decades. He admits there were several challenges to adding to such a beloved story, especially one centered around the holidays.
“When I heard of the opportunity to be a part of this project, I jumped at the chance only to find that it was difficult and daunting to approach adding to or expanding such an esteemed and treasured part of the American Christmas canon."Aristides Ruiz
A Grinchy Continuation of a Christmas Classic
Dr. Seuss — a.k.a Theodor Geisel —- first published ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas ‘in 1957 in response to the holiday’s growing commercialization. Since then, it’s been translated into nine different languages and adapted to screen multiple times. There’s that 1966 animated TV film, narrated by Boris Karloff and featuring the now classic song ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.’ Then in 1977, a lesser-known prequel, ‘Halloween is Grinch Night,’ premiered on ABC.
In more recent years, we’ve received a 2000 live-action film, starring Jim Carrey in the title role, and a 2006 Broadway musical. There’s also a 2018 3D-animated film starring Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as an unauthorized 2022 horror parody titled, ‘The Mean One.’
Despite its modest success at the time, the 2000 film seems to now have the biggest (or at least most vocal) fan base. In fact, this version is so well-loved that many wondered if it would ever get a sequel with rumors spreading across the internet every few years "announcing" the sequel. Jim Carrey announced his retirement from acting in 2022 so it will be interesting to see if the sequel story and audience nostalgia will be strong enough for him to return for another Ron Howard directed sequel. If not, at least we have this brand-new book to look forward to and revisit every Christmas, and the very real possibility of an animated special to accompany it!
‘How the Grinch Lost Christmas’ will be released on September 5th, 2023 and is now available for pre-order from Amazon!
Want to add some whimsy to your holiday season?
Rent-A-Christmas can help!
