Having found commercial success in 2012 by adapting the Dr Seuss book The Lorax as an animated feature, Illumination followed it up six years later with an adaptation of Seuss’ 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This new film, directed by Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney, made some tonal shifts during the adaptation process. It wasn’t a disastrous creative misfire, as was the case with The Lorax, but it did shift the text away from what Seuss wrote and illustration towards something a little more palatable to an American mass audience.

Above the town of Whoville, the solitary creature known as the Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch) lives in isolation with only his dog for company. Resenting the joy that the townsfolk express about the impending Christmas season, the Grinch plots to steal the holiday from them entirely.

The key shift in the film from both the book and earlier adaptations (a 1966 animated special directed by Chuck Jones and a 2001 live-action feature from Ron Howard) is that it does not depict the Grinch as mean-spirited. Rather it delivers a somewhat forlorn, tragic character that can engender a great sympathy among his audience. As with their Lorax adaptation, it pushes the film away from the source. Unlike the earlier adaptation, it still manages to retain the same overall message of acceptance and joy. There is a strong theme of a man’s love for his dog throughout, which I was certainly not expecting but which I enjoyed immensely.

Benedict Cumberbatch does a superb job in the title role. Were he not openly credited, I would never have guessed it was him performing. Other performances are reasonable, but there is a general sense from both the voices and the character design that the film is influenced more by Illumination’s own Despicable Me franchise than Seuss.

Overall The Grinch suffers the curse experienced by many films, in that it is good and entertaining but ultimately only ‘good enough‘ or ‘reasonably entertaining’. Jokes land generally well, but softly. There is an overall sense of derivation at play; elements that work also feel as if they have been seen many times before. I have noted time and again that there is a valuable space for disposable entertainment, and The Grinch absolutely qualifies for that niche. The film was enjoyable, but forgettable.

Danny Elfman’s Christmas-themed score hits the expected beats, but cannot help but be reminiscent of his earlier, stronger score for The Nightmare Before Christmas. The production team must have seen this similarity coming, which suggests it was intentional. For me, it is a reminder that films should try to avoid reminding their audience of better works if they can help it.

Since The Grinch‘s release, Illumination have focused on their own franchises – as well as a high-profile animated adaptation of the Super Mario Bros game franchise. The next Dr Seuss adaptation is The Cat in the Hat, via Warner Bros. That strikes me as the most challenging of his works to adapt yet.