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Movie · Comedy, Fantasy · 2000 · PG

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000): parents' guide

7+our pick

Best for ages 7 and up. Rated PG for some crude humor.

A loud, manic live-action version of the Seuss story that suits most kids from about 7 with a parent, though it is cruder and creepier than the cartoon. Jim Carrey's Grinch contorts, cackles and menaces, and Cindy Lou is in danger more than once, which can frighten younger children. The humor includes rear-end gags, a fall into a woman's cleavage and a few mild words. The Grinch swigs from a liquor bottle and acts drunk in one stretch. Flashbacks show him mocked and bullied as a child, which explains his bitterness and sets up a warm message about kindness.

What's in it

Violence

Mild

Constant cartoonish mayhem: fires, explosions, crashes, a flamethrower and the Grinch wrecking Whoville. He chews glass and pushes his dog Max around for laughs. Nobody is seriously hurt, and nothing is bloody.

Language

Mild

Mild: 'hell,' 'bitchin',' 'God' as an exclamation, and the Grinch telling the town to 'kiss' his backside. He also threatens to hunt down children and gut them like fish.

Sex and nudity

Mild

Innuendo and crude gags: the Grinch lands face-first in a woman's cleavage, flashes a garter belt and dangles mistletoe over his rear. Adults at a party drop keys in a bowl, a key-party joke, and a sleeping man kisses a dog's rear.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

Moderate

The Grinch chugs from a bottle marked 'XXX' and acts drunk in the scenes that follow, then uses his alcoholic breath as fuel for a blowtorch. It is brief and played as slapstick.

Scary or intense scenes

Moderate

The Grinch's rubbery, snarling face and sudden lunges can scare small children, and ominous music underscores his schemes. Cindy Lou faces repeated danger, including a head-first fall into a mail-sorting machine.

Sensitive topics

  • Bullying

Worth talking about

The Grinch's meanness began when classmates teased him; talk about how being bullied can shape a person, and how one kind gesture changes him.

Where to stream →

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Checked October 24th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, bbfc.co.uk, tv.apple.com, Wikipedia, the-numbers.com, childrenandmedia.org.au. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.