10 Upcoming Films That Are Terrible Ideas

By D.M. Anderson /

4. How The Grinch Stole Christmas

There€™s a good reason Dr. Suess€˜ books are wafer-thin. They€™re meant to be read by parents to put their toddlers to bed, or by children themselves once they start learning to read. There€™s also a good reason why 1966€™s How The Grinch Stole Christmas became a beloved holiday TV special: Chuck Jones€™ animation is wonderful, Boris Karloff€™s narration and voice of The Grinch are perfect, and the story encapsulates the true spirit of Christmas in 22 short minutes. It was never conducive to a full-blown feature film, nor are any other Dr. Suess books, for that matter. We€™ve been bombarded by them over the past decade and a half (both CG animated & live-action), and all are nothing more than cynical attempts to cash in on a brand name. The live-action remake, The Grinch, may have made a pile of money (probably because it features Jim Carrey at his most unhinged), but you€™d be hard-pressed to find someone who actually likes this movie. Believe it or not, yet-another feature-length version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is currently in development. This one will be fully CG-animated, yet doesn€™t change the fact that the original book can be read and enjoyed in a fraction of a movie€™s running time, meaning it will be just as unnecessarily padded-out as the Jim Carrey version. Since CG animation is no longer a novelty, finding a reason for this film€™s existence is a challenge. It€™s hard to imagine anyone improving on the original TV special, which is still aired every year during the holidays. WHAT COULD SAVE THIS FILM: It stands to reason that the only way this film will be successful is if little kids consider traditional animation as irrelevant and archaic as those who poo-poo old movies filmed in black and white. A sad, but potentially true, reality.