Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (25th Anniversary Edition) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski

Release Date: November 11, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Release Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

Discover the true meaning of the holiday season with this live action adaptation of the beloved classic. Why is The Grinch such a grouch? No one seems to know, until little Cindy Lou Who takes matters into her own hands and turns both Whoville and the Grinch’s world upside down, inside out…and funny side up.

It’s time to return to Whoville in the live-action adaptation of ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ which follows the dreaded Grinch who lurks in his home just past Whoville with his dog Max and utterly despises Christmas and basically everything about it. When a young Who named Cindy Lou attempts to include the Grinch in the Christmas festivities and even nominates him for a cheer award, her plan backfires when the Grinch is ridiculed out of town only to return home and develop a diabolic plot to destroy Christmas for the townspeople. But young Cindy Lou alone might just have the kindness and Holiday cheer to turn around his opinion.

The live-action take on ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ is directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price & Peter S. Seaman, based on the book by Dr. Seuss, and Howard does a nice job guiding along the film and bringing the iconic world and characters to stunning life with heart and style. The film’s cast includes Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin, Molly Shannon Clint Howard, Taylor Momsen, Mindy Sterling and Anthony Hopkins as the narrator, with most offering capable and fitting performances in each of their roles that complement the fun.

Ron Howard’s live-action ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ first debuted theatrically in late 2000 and it still serves up a heartfelt, goofy and gorgeously crafted take on the beloved tale 25 years after it first dazzled moviegoers. The film does a terrific job of turning the environment and characters within into a live action version that almost always honors the general look and aesthetic of the book and animated classic, while at the same time expanding the story and offering plenty of new additions to it all that expand and build upon the limited story of the source material.

Everything comes together quite nicely to deliver a unique take on the story that works far better than it should, with a great cast to help back it all up including a quite memorable performance by Jim Carrey as the green Christmas hating Grinch that allows Carrey to get a bit carried away with it all but still retains the general vibe and heartwarming tone of the beloved story it’s based upon. If you’ve never had the pleasure of this one but have ever had any interest in it then this Holiday season should be a perfect time to finally give it a shot, especially with this newly remastered 4K release now available.

The Ron Howard directed live-action ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ film starring Jim Carrey returns home on 4K Ultra HD in celebration of its twenty-fifth anniversary courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The new 25^th Anniversary 4K UHD release features a newly remastered full Ultra High Definition presentation of the film itself with Dolby Vision and HDR10 that has the movie surely looking better than it ever has before. The perhaps not flawless yet still quite stellar new UHD video presentation is perfectly complemented by a fairly immersive Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that only adds to the overall fun of the viewing experience.

This new 25^th Anniversary 4K UHD release also features a nice helping of bonus content including a brand new retrospective Featurette and is available both in standard packaging and in a Limited Edition Steelbook release. If you’re a fan of the film that would love to own it in 4K with the pretty terrific newly remastered video and audio then this release is definitely worth adding to your collection and is recommended.

VIDEO:

The 25^th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ features a newly remastered full 2160p Ultra High Definition video presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR10 presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks mostly fantastic as a whole and provides a clean, filmic and sharp presentation that’s colorful and richly detailed while never suffering from any unexpected issues along the way. Detail is wonderful on characters, surroundings and nearly everything else, while the Dolby Vision HDR offers more vibrant and lifelike colors on numerous elements throughout including the Grinch himself and much more; with deep, rich and rewarding black levels to further complement it. Overall, this is a pretty great Ultra High Definition presentation that holds up nicely throughout and should excite fans.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack delivers a crisp, clean and frequently immersive audio presentation throughout. It repeatedly takes advantage of all seven available channels in order to send music, vehicle and comical action effects, plus crowd noise and plenty more whipping throughout the various speakers pretty regularly and never resulting in any clashes with dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is a very nice Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that does its job well and adds an extra layer of fun to the viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 25^th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ features some enjoyable extras including the brand new retrospective Featurette ’25 Years Later: The Gift of The Grinch’ (running approximately 35 minutes in length), along with an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Ron Howard’, plus a collection of ‘Deleted Scenes’ (running approximately 9 minutes) and ‘Outtakes’ (approximately 3 minutes). Also included are some previously released Featurettes including ‘Spotlight on Location’ (approximately 7 minutes), ‘Who School’ (6 minutes), ‘Makeup Application and Design’ (7 minutes), ‘Seussian Set Decoration’ (5 minutes) and ‘Visual Effects’ (11 minutes). The ‘Faith Hill “Where Are You Christmas?” Music Video’ (4 minutes) and the film’s ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (1 minute) are also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 8/10

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‘Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas: 25th Anniversary Edition’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD & Limited Edition 4K UHD Steelbook from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas: 25^th Anniversary Edition’ on 4K UHD at Amazon HERE!

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