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Title Card of the special

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Chuck Jones for MGM originally aired with plugs for The Foundation for Full-Service Banks (A Full Service Bank) before the opening and closing credits. The plugs were cut out in subsequent airings at the sponsor's request due to the special's message contradicting their services. The accompanying music for the plugs is intact on the soundtrack of the special.

It wasn't seen again until 2013 when Robatsea2009, the same user who originally posted the sponsor plugs from "A Charlie Brown Christmas," uploaded it on YouTube. It was taken down due to a copyright strike, but would later be mirrored on Internet Archive.

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Opening Sponsor Plug[]

The opening plug occurred between the Cat In the Hat productions logo and the opening credits, showing the company logo cross fading into the credits. This narration accompanied it: "The Foundation for Full-Service Banks representing America's 14,000 national banks, state banks, and trust companies presents Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!."

Closing Sponsor Plug[]

The closing plug occurred between the ending of the special and the end credits and featured falling snowflakes with the Grinch, Max, and Cindy Lou Who inside them. This was followed by a visual of falling banks, checks and vehicles that turned into ornaments before ending with a giant ornament full of snowflakes that cross faded back into the company logo and then into the ending credits.

It was accompanied by this narration: "From the Grinch, and from Max, and from Cindy-Lou Who, and the thousands of banks, give or take one or two, that care for your savings and checking accounts and provide loans you need in all kinds of amounts. From the full-service banks that serve you all year, may this special season be full of good cheer. May your Christmas Day be so very, very, wonderfully, happily, joyously merry. The Foundation for Full-Service Banks representing America's 14,000 national banks, state banks, and trust companies has presented Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!."

Rediscovery[]

The special sponsorship ads were reuploaded onto YouTube on January 6th 2021 by user Will C Wilson but have since been taken down. The video is still available on the Internet Archive however.

Trivia[]

  • Chuck Jones thought the bank’s sponsorship of the special was quite odd due to the message of Christmas not coming from a store stating “I thought that was very odd, because one of the great lines in there is that the Grinch says, ‘Perhaps Christmas doesn’t come from a store,’” Jones said of the surprise endorsement. “I never thought of a banker endorsing that kind of a line. But they overlooked it, so we went ahead and made the picture.”
  • A 1970 ad for the company features the same animation of the letters flying away from the logo as seen in the special but played in reverse.
  • As late as 1984 prints of the special were still circulating with a bit of the sponsor narration still intact saying “Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” : https://youtu.be/BrU8oa9RCs8?si=fdkEZq2prXSgM8Uh

References[]

Soundtrack for the Ads[]

How_The_Grinch_Stole_Christmas_-_Opening

How The Grinch Stole Christmas - Opening

Opening title score with sponsor plug music.

How_The_Grinch_Stole_Christmas_-_Finale

How The Grinch Stole Christmas - Finale

Closing score with sponsor plug music.

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