A Grinch-less Grinchmas

The Grinch you meet in the maze

Now, you can go down to Universal Studios–Hollywood (USH) to watch
the Whoville Whobilation stage show and wade through a little maze to
shake hands with a costumed Grinch. But the most television viewers have
seen of our Suessian friend was on the movie’s opening night during a
live QVC remote from the park—that caught glimpses of the back of
his head.

Whoville Whobilation stage show’s Grinch

An official mandate came down from Universal’s legal department two days later: Do not allow the Grinch talk to or even show his face to any media crews that enter the theme park or Citywalk.

Unfortunately, no one shared the new policy beforehand with the throngs who showed up at a disastrous Grinchmas media event the following Tuesday. Reporters and camera crews were incensed to learn they could take pictures of the maze and the snowrun and the fine folks of Whoville, small and tall, just not the Grinch. What good, newsmen ranted, was a Grinch promotion with no Grinch?

Local TV news anchor Ann Martin doing promos sans Grinch

So, who stole the Grinch? The culprit, it seems, is Jim Carrey. Evidently, per his contract with Universal, Carrey owns the rights to the facial look and voice portrayal of the movie Grinch. And Carrey doesn’t want anyone except himself portraying the character.

USH had scheduled an actor dressed as the Grinch to make promotional
appearances around town through the end of the year, as long as he didn’t
talk. The tour had to be scrapped when Carrey decided he didn’t want the
Grinch to leave the lot even as a non-talking character. At the last
minute, Universal got permission to use a talking “meet-and-greet”
Grinch, as long as he stayed in the park and Citywalk, far away from any
media. Even the backlot would be taboo, meaning a Grinch appearance at
the Universal 5K Run had to be canceled.

The next time you see a TV commercial for Grinchmas or one of the movie’s breakfast cereal, fast food or other merchandising partners, note that it shows either footage of Carrey from the film or just his furry, green hand.

The real Grinch, some employees think,
may be USH management. First, years ago, when they bought the
company from MCA, lame-duck parent company Seagrams literally stole “Christmas.”
The word was dropped from all communications, and Christmas activities
became Holiday activities. Just as Easter became “spring break,”
Christmastime became winter break.

Then, management scheduled this year’s USH employee Christmas party—oops,
Holiday party—for a week after Halloween! The reason? To save money,
of course. First, the various vendors charge around 30% less for parties
before Thanksgiving. More importantly, the theme park heard that the studio
had rented a huge tent in the outdoor parking lot behind Citywalk for
an industry premiere party for the Grinch movie. The park convinced the
party planning company to leave the tent up an extra day at no charge.

Grinch display in front of Cineplex at City Walk

Said one USH worker: “The employees did get a chance to go to one
of six screenings of Grinch at the Cineplex in Citywalk during
the party. Still, having the party this early has caused quite a morale
problem with our line employees. This year only full-and part-time employees
are invited—no seasonal employees this year. This is wrong because
we rely so much on a core of always-available seasonal employees to fill
in for shifts at the last minute everyday. This is the thanks they get.”

Shabby treatment or not, USH employees don’t seem to be jumping ship by the hundreds to join the competition. “Disney has been all over our park trying to recruit employees for (Disney’s new California Adventure park) DCA,” the employee said. “Not much response, since it seems most of our crew lives in the San Fernando Valley area and wouldn’t make that long drive down Interstate 5.”

With a few thousand more workers needed for DCA, Disney keeps expanding
its recruitment drive. Claims one worker: “Guests are even being
approached on Main Street! I’m told that Cast Records has been supplying
lists of former cast members who had ‘no rehire’ status, and their files
are being reexamined to see if maybe they were treated a bit too
harshly, and those thus determined are being invited to rehire as well.”

DCA was able to lure two big stars away from USH: Mae West and W.C. Fields. Disney has purchased the rights to the likenesses of the late comedians for use in Southern California theme parks.

Universal, though, is worried less
about DCA stealing its employees than stealing its guests.
Reportedly, USH’s advance sales for January though April are currently
at a 20-year low. Travel brokers explain that vacationers are choosing
DCA instead of USH for the second or third day of their trips.

Consequently, USH expects to experiment with a variety of ticket promotions
during 2001, after studying the success of this summer’s evolving annual
passes and the current 3-month pass (free to anyone buying a full-fare
admission until December 31) that they hope will keep visitors preoccupied
while DCA opens.

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