You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a Christmas song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 cartoon special "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" The lyrics were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music was composed by Albert Hague, and the song was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft. The song's lyrics describe the Grinch as being foul, bad-mannered and sinister, using increasingly creative put-downs, metaphors, similes and off-hand comments by the singer, beginning with the opening line "you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch". Because Ravenscroft was not credited in the closing credits
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special) and later wrote letters to columnists nationwide telling them that it was Ravenscroft who provided vocals for the musical number. Karloff received a Grammy Award in the Spoken Word category—the only major performing award of his career—for the album. A television special called "Halloween Is Grinch Night", created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, aired on ABC in 1977, eleven years after the Christmas special. This special involved a tale of the Grinch coming down to scare the Whos every Halloween. Though less successful than the original, it was awarded an Emmy. A later cartoon, "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat"