How the Grinch Stole Christmas! to let out bitter and sorrowful cries, but is confused to hear them singing a joyous Christmas song instead. He is puzzled until it dawns on him that "maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more" than just presents and feasting. The Grinch's shrunken heart suddenly grows three sizes. The reformed and liberated Grinch returns to the village to give back all of the Whos' Christmas stuff and participate in their Christmas feast. The Grinch first appeared in a 32-line illustrated poem by Dr. Seuss called "The Hoobub and the Grinch," which was originally published in the May 1955 edition
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special) songs and animated sequences without words (the longest being an extended scene in which the Grinch and Max comically descend into Whoville) were added. As all the major networks had flipped to full color schedules by 1966, the special was likewise produced in color, establishing the Grinch's color (white in the two-tone illustrations of the original book) as green, a convention used in later television specials featuring the character as well as the 2000 and 2018 film adaptations. The half-hour (with commercials) short was originally telecast in the United States on CBS on December 18, 1966. CBS repeated it annually