Two reports on HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, plus a possible problem...Or How Universal Stole The Grinch!!!

You know folks... Some days I just end up hearing unrelated stories about a related film. Sometimes they’re good... Sometimes they’re bad... This time it’s a little of both. The film this time out is HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, and while I know the script report we had a while back wasn’t too spectacular.... It’s Dr Seuss man.... I’m sorry, he’s just the coolest. While I knew they were screwing with the story a bit here and there... I am still excited about this project for one simple reason. Rick Baker. The man is a legend and a god in my book. But... well... More on that later. For now, I’m passing the keyboard to InDaGreen....

Hey Harry. I took my Universal Studios Hollywood Annual Pass to the park today, and outside of an empty park, I had a great surprise as "The Grinch" is preparing to go into production. At least 6 soundstages had the Grinch prep logo and huge "No Photography" signs on the doors. The prop shops were at work making cars, lamps, everything. The "Lost World: Site B' set by the "Psycho" house is about to be demolished to make room to build Whoville. (If you can find anybody who lives above the hill, have them contact me; I have tons of telephoto lenses for sneak peeks) Last but not least, they were moving the Grinch's sled into a storage area. It is sivler and the harness looks to be rebuild from trash (plucked from the Whoville dump?). Anyway, if Ron Howard keeps the story simple, "The Grinch" should be a classic

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InDaGreen

Alright folks... That’s the man indagreen, but let’s take a looksee at what Moriarty has seen...

Hey, Head Geek...

"Moriarty" here.

As I was blowtorching one of the henchmen this afternoon, I heard one of the other disgruntled critters mumble something about how I must be the meanest person alive. This, of course, made me laugh. Everyone knows that I'm evil, but I don't even begin to enter the pantheon on meanness. There's several former assistants here in town who would swear to the identities of producers who make me seem like the Dalai Lama. Even they pale when compared to the greatest of them all, Dr. Seuss' classic creation, The Grinch.

As everyone knows by now, Ron Howard is in the last stages of prep on his feature film version of HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS for Universal. I'm not nuts about the story treatment by Price and Seaman, but I will admit a certain amount of attraction to the idea of seeing that amazing world of Dr. Seuss brought to life with modern technology. Who doesn't remember their childhood impressions of the Sneetches, the Cat in the Hat, Horton, those crazy stairs, that surreal architecture?! Sure, THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T is a neat attempt, and it's plenty trippy as far as design goes. Still, I'd be interested in what ILM could do to submerge me in a realistic representation of a completely unreal world.

I haven't seen Whoville yet, but I was fortunate enough to get a gander at the test footage that was done to transform Jim Carrey into the title character. How could I not look at the tape when it was offered to me? Rick Baker is turning Carrey into the Grinch. I'd have to be insane not to be curious. What I saw was the December tests, and the result was truly magical.

On the tape, it's Baker himself dressed in the Grinch makeup. It's a suit, a series of facial appliances... all of it blended together seamlessly. The really bizarre part is that it's a perfect live-action representation of what Seuss used to draw. No matter how resistant I was to the overall idea, the makeup won me over. He has that impossibly large, impossibly sleazy smile. He's got the eyebrows, the spindly limbs, the neck. There's an air of superiority about him, and the range of expression on the appliances was impressive. By the end of the test, I was hooked enough that I would have paid $8 just to watch this green, fuzzy, pear-shaped bastard walk around for a few hours.

Add to this the fact that I hear the Whos are equally as faithful in look, and it sounds like Baker has done the lion's share of the work in honoring the wishes of Audrey Geisel. She chose this creative team not only because of their names, but because they promised to represent Dr. Seuss' legacy with respect. It's on Howard and his writers now to come up with something that's equal to the outstanding, potentially iconic work that Rick Baker has already contributed.

Anyway... the tape put me in such a good mood that I've forgotten why I was torching the little guy to begin with. Maybe I can find some ice around here to make it up to him. I've got some good stuff brewing for Tuesday, Harry. Until then...

"Moriarty" out.

I received the two e-mails in the order you have seen them. I had good feelings and felt a bit excited. You see... This is Rick Baker’s film. There are a few times where a movie shifts the domain of the auteur away from the writers, the director and the actors.... and hones in on another person in the creative process.

Jack Pierce had his films at UNIVERSAL where the film’s trust was placed upon his putty and facepaint. Ray Harryhausen had his Mythologies and Giant Beasties. And well.... Rick Baker has had a hell of a career, but I wouldn’t say he’s really had his WIZARD OF OZ yet. And from some of the rumblings I heard today from around the production... Well... he might not.

I received a phone call real close to the email from Moriarty that began to fill me with some dread. It seems that Universal’s execs are beginning to ponder why they are paying Jim Carrey $20 million dollars to play the Grinch if we are in fact never going to lay eyes on anything more than Rick Baker’s make-up?

It seems that these GENIUSES at Universal are, a mere week away from shooting, pondering getting rid of Rick Baker’s astounding make-up that Moriarty details above, and are requesting something.... more subtle. Perhaps something that let’s you really know that it’s Jim Carrey under all of that. They think that if they paint Jim Carrey’s face GREEN... he’ll be the Grinch. You see... they know he's perfect for the GRINCH, but well... they don't understand that what we (you and I) want out of this movie is to see Jim Carrey transformed into this GRINCH.

Wow. You know.... That Green facepaint worked like a charm in BLUES BROTHERS 2000 didn’t it Universal?

I’m gonna go into exactly why Universal is paying Jim Carrey $20 million... even if they apparently don’t know it, and why they simply must keep the work Rick Baker and his people are doing.

First... Why pay Carrey $20 million dollars? Well... I’ve always been against the $20 million dollar paycheck for actors... But I do understand it. You see, for that $20 million you are buying a performance from an exceptionally talented and popular actor that has a great deal of magnetism. Now in this case, you pay Carrey his money and watch him transform himself into one of the most iconic creations the world has created. Carrey will disappear into the role, and the last thing the audience needs to think while watching Dr Seuss’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS is HOW JIM CARREY STOLE CHRISTMAS. This is Theodore Geisel’s legacy. One may toy about with the rhymes and the words a bit here and there... But in the minds of the public... we know what the Grinch looks like. His smile has a point, it wraps up to his ears, he has a button nose and a furled eyebrow.... His eyes are strange, intelligent and devious all at once. His forehead is wrinkled and he does not look like JIM CARREY!

Then why did you hire Jim Carrey?

Because of THE TONIGHT SHOW, THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, TODAY SHOW, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, US, PREMIERE, ROUGHCUT, etc. Because on all of those shows you will have Jim Carrey, charismatic uber funny showman huckster his film and character to the umpteenth. Because Jim Carrey will get INTO the role and people will marvel at his transformation.

Right now Universal... Whether you know it or not, you’ve created a bit of buzz about this film. People are wondering what Jim Carrey will look like as THE GRINCH. I’m dying to know. I’m curious as hell. And if Moriarty had had a video capture card.... I’d be sated... but he doesn’t.

We’ve heard about the tunnel built so that people like InDaGreen with his telephoto up in the hills can’t get a look at Carrey. Because whatever Jim Carrey looks like as the Grinch it’s soooo incredible that we have to wait and see it on the big screen. Because it’s magical.

But you know what happens when you go and you take away THE GRINCH and you just put Jim Carrey in greenface? The audience will say... That is not the Grinch. And they’ll walk away.

There is only one reason on this earth I’m dying to see this movie and it has to do with Dr Seuss’ amazing designs and how they will be realized in the film. The first step of that is in the work that Rick Baker is doing. The transformation of humans into ‘Whos’ and the transformation of Jim Carrey into ‘The Grinch’. The other part is the creation of the surrounding universe by the various sculptors and artists... The digital matte paintings and skies and creatures by Digital Domain.

I really hope that the rumors I hear of saving an hour or two of shooting time in trade for more mundane make-up is false. I hope that what Ron Howard and Universal Pictures are creating isn’t turning it’s back or sort of half-assing the treatment of my favorite Dr Seuss story.

I’ve heard that there are already over a 100 different make-up creations by Rick Baker for this movie. I really can’t tell you how excited that makes me. I buy issues of STARLOG and FANGORIA for a peek at just one Rick Baker creation. For a movie that has over a hundred.... heh... I’m there in spades.

It’s a week till the cameras roll.... If you are getting antsy about anything... it should be your script... not the makeup. Let Rick Baker do his job, he’s won 5 Academy Awards and is an artist.... He’s the right guy to put your trust into. Of course... you may be right... I mean... afterall... ALADDIN really didn’t benefit from ROBIN WILLIAMS’ mere voice. THE NUTTY PROFESSOR was damaged incredibly by that disgusting fat make-up on EDDIE MURPHY which destroyed his performance.

But seriously... Sometimes when make-up buries an actor they become transformed beyond anything we have seen before. Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Bert Lahr all transcended themselves in the magical make-up of THE WIZARD OF OZ. Eddie Murphy and Martin Landau both gave their best performances beneath Baker’s latex and paint. And who knows.... Perhaps... just perhaps this makeup by Baker might become the primary image folks think of when you say the Grinch... if they’re lucky.