$315,000 was how much the Grinch cost to make in 1966.
$1 in 1966 is the equivalent to $8.76 today.
$2,759,400 is the cost today.
Just to compare
75 million was the cost of the Grinch movie in 2018.
Which that movie runs for 85 minutes.
Total cost coming to $882,000 per minute.
Compared to $110,376 per minute for the original movie.
Generally speaking, the Grinch 2018 wasn’t that well loved with fans, getting a 56% on Rotten Tomatoes and even though it made an impressive 513 million dollars in theaters, it seems like in 50 years, it’s more likely the 1966 TV special will be more viewed.
Big question though is why did the Grinch 2018 cost so much more?
Why with the massive amount of technology, industry insights and more, does a special from over half a century cost less over something today?
Wanted to see that and look at the basics for the animation that went into making the original Grinch, versus the 2018 Grinch.
To make the original Grinch, it took the following.
14 months of production
15,000 drawing cells
250 backgrounds
1,200 characters and layouts
60 musicians
The project was one of the biggest animation efforts at the time, especially for something with an intended TV release. Just for a comparison, Charlie Brown’s Christmas special which came out two years earlier cost only $80,000, versus the Grinch at 6x that.
It was a pretty big effort, with a lot of the animation work outsourced to Asia to save money, where during the 14 months of production, the illustration team looked like a factory.
Which this is a cost most animated shows today don’t need to deal with.
One notable example being the early 2010s series, Legend of Korra, which was heavily praised for animation, but the reported budget only ranged from $800,000 per episode, which were around 23 minutes each.
Most cartoons hold around the same, with anime being even less, where the popular anime One Punch Man, only had a reported cost of $80,000 to make, despite incredible animation.
Family Guy is also an example of what can be done with better tech, where the pilot was made by Seth MacFarlene for only $30,000.
The Grinch at 2.7 million for an under 30 minute animated show is actually expensive, showing tech can improve things.
So big question. Why do animated movies such as the Grinch 2018 cost so much?
The only way I can really explain that is theatrical standards.
45 million dollars was the cost of Lion King 1994.
90 million today
The Lion King 2 however cost less than half of that, where the goal was only a direct to VHS sequel and possibly an animated series, where they wanted a budget that’d better reflect a Disney Channel show.
The consensus being to get people to watch something animated on cable, a streaming service or a VHS/DVD/Blu Ray release, it doesn’t take an insane level of quality.
To get people to go to a theater and pay movie prices, where kids need adults to also be convinced to watch it, there needs to be this theatrical quality.
Why almost all 2D animated movies ended, where studios determined audiences only wanted higher budget CGI movies.
One example of this was one of the final 2D animated movies Disney gave a theatrical release on, which was Teacher’s Pet in 2004. It was a conclusion to a popular Disney Channel cartoon, done on a similar budget, only hitting 10 million dollars and while cheap, it still couldn’t bring back the money, getting only 6 million in theaters, which was a giant let down.
So this is why the Grinch 2018 cost 75 million.
It likely could have been made at a similar animation quality for a third the cost, but the little details that make things way more expensive took over and drew costs up.
Which well, it ended up making a profit at 512 million in theaters made and that amazingly made it WAY more profitable than the Jim Carrey Grinch film, that made 345 million dollars on a budget of 123 million.
So… Merry Christmas early!