Universal High Jinks: Happy Grinchmas!

The annual theme park treat brings out the Whos and story-sweet haps.

Few characters in the pantheon of kidly literature have been as complicated, multi-layered, or as green-furry, snarl-on-face-y as The Grinch.

One simply feels that one must make the The ahead of his name begin with a capital T, and one knows that The Grinch, an ornery, iconic creation by one Mr. Theodore Geisel, is a fellow who offers a needed counterpoint to the sugariness of the season.

Universal Studios Hollywood agrees, though its annual Grinchmas celebration does come with quite the dose of good cheer and happiness for all, even if the host has a bit of a bad attitude from time to time.

The Whos are out in full, festively attired force at the theme park through Sunday, Jan. 3, with a whole sleighful of to-dos that are so delicious they could rival the roast beast.

Could, we said. We wouldn't dare challenge one of the most famous meals in the Dr. Seuss universe.

So what's on tap if you head up the hill at Universal City? Story time with none other than Cindy Lou Who,  caroling courtesy of the Who-ville singers, and, after 5 o'clock, an evening visit, via the Studio Tour, to the backlot-lovely Whoville (where there shall be more singing, of course).

The snapshot-ready centerpiece to the book-sweet high jinks is the twisty 60-foot Christmas tree, a fir designed to look as though it came straight from the pen of a certain imaginative illustrator.

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If the dog devotees out there are wondering if Max is about, he is, so take heart. Speaking of hearts, has a yuletide pup ever captured so many? Even in the face of The Grinch's grinchiness, Max stayed as spunky and smiley as ever.

But does The Grinch know that a particularly famous boy wizard is on the way in April? No one would ever question The Furry One's reign at the holidays, but he should make a little room, in his lair, for the opening of Hogwarts, another place with a lot of drama and heart.

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