Dr.Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas: HD DVD And DVD Combo Format Disc Review

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Title: Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas: HD DVD And DVD Combo Format

Media: HD 15/DVD 9 Hybrid Disc

Standard Definition DVD Region: One

Genre: Holiday Comedy Fantasy

Stars: Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Clint Howard, Bill Irwin, Taylor Momsen, Molly Shannon, and Clint Howard

Narrated By: Anthony Hopkins

Writers: Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman

Based On The Book By: Dr. Seuss

Director: Ron Howard

Feature length: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Extras: Enhanced Feature Commentary With Director Ron Howard, Whobilation 1000 Games, Wholiday Recipes, and PSA

HD DVD Languages: English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

DVD Languages: English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

HD DVD Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired And French and Spanish Language Subtitles

DVD Subtitles: English Captions For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Elite Red HD Case

Chapter Stops: 20

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound, DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2000/HD DVD And DVD Combo Format Release: 2006

Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Director Ron Howard’s live action adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas is visually beautiful to look at, but lacks the depth of soul that the classic children’s story and television cartoon has. As a companion to the cartoon and the book, I think it is fine for kids to enjoy, but adults might find it to be a bit of a grotesque mess though admirably Howard stays true to the look of the characters even if the makeup tends to make them appear a little mousy when compared to the animated version and the book’s illustrations. In terms of story, the film is mostly filler for Carrey to do his usual physical humor, but there isn’t too much difference between his personification of the Grinch and some of the other bizarre characters he has played on the big and small screen. Personally, I think they would have been better off doing a live action adaptation of the cartoon for television than all of the mostly meaningless filler detailing the Grinch’s backstory and linking the Grinch’s distaste for Christmas to the overt commercial aspects of the holiday used to make this into a feature film.

Released at least twice before on standard definition DVD, this HD DVD and DVD combo format hybrid disc contains extras from a later release of the film on DVD and not the original Collector’s Edition DVD release from 2001. Thus this hybrid disc is aimed at kids, but I have to state that if I had little children, I am not so sure I would want them messing around with an HD DVD disc in general, especially since I have to review them, and since this technology is not cheap, I would probably be more likely to supervise the use of the machine if they were very young since kids tend to not really understand the value of the things their parents buy and thus they may treat an HD DVD player like it was any old DVD player or VCR and if there is anything I’ve learned from using both first generation HD DVD players and Blu-ray Disc players is they can be more technologically temperamental than the refined DVD players one can purchase today for about a hundred dollars or less. So while I may be a Grinch for feeling this way and writing this, odds are if I had kids, I’d buy the DVD version for them and as an adult, I’m not one hundred percent sure if I’d consider buying the HD DVD version for myself, especially since when upconverted to 1080i, the difference between the standard definition and high definition versions of the film seem rather minimal.

In general, I find Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas to be a somewhat hazy looking picture despite the best intentions on the part of the filmmakers to create an entire fantasy world for the film. The colors are definitely more vibrant on the HD DVD side, but the improved detail in my opinion does not justify a second purchasing of the film unless you just have to have it in HD or simply don’t have the film on DVD and want to add it to your new HD DVD library. The HD version presents Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas in a 1080p high definition (1.85:1) widescreen aspect ratio with a choice of full English or French Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Soundtracks and English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired as well as French and Spanish Language Subtitles. Ron Howard’s feature length audio commentary on the HD DVD side is without the enhanced option to press enter on the remote when an icon appears on screen and then seamlessly see behind the scenes production material usually in a picture-in-picture style while Howard’s commentary continues to run it’s course. The enhanced commentary detailed above is only available on the standard definition DVD side and is letterboxed to (1.33:1). The HD DVD side is single layered at 15 gigabytes while the DVD side is a dual layered DVD-9. I think that Universal should have made this hybrid an HD-30 and include the enhanced commentary option on the HD DVD side and then make the DVD side a combination of the 2001 Collector’s Edition and later DVD releases.

English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound as well as English Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the standard definition DVD side as options. The rest of the extra value features on the standard definition side also include some lame some set top DVD games, recipes for Grinch themed food I wouldn’t give a dog, and a PSA spot for the Dave Thomas Foundation For Adoption.

The menus featured on the standard definition DVD side feature full motion scene transitions from the feature film to standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate and the menus on the HD DVD side, which enable one to change viewing choices and bookmark favorite scenes without interrupting the movie, work flawlessly.

Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas: HD DVD and DVD Combo Format is available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

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