The Grinch and Max first appeared in the 1957 children’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess, and the two have been together on every adaptation since then. The Grinch is one of the most well-known holiday characters, and his dog Max has always been his beloved companion every time. Although Max has always appeared in numerous adaptations of How the Grinch Stole Christmasthe frequency with which he appears and his appearance have changed over the years.
Within the story, Max primarily serves as the Grinch’s companionas both characters live on a mountain and do not interact with any of the Whos below. In his plot to steal gifts from the Whos, the Grinch also uses Max to imitate one of Santa’s reindeer. To sneak into Whoville, the Grinch dresses up as Santa Claus and Max, as a reindeer, pulls his sleigh. In each version of How the Grinch stole Christmas, Max is an adorable and cute foil to the Grinch, but it’s not always clear what kind of dog he is.
Max’s dog breed in the 1966 Grinch special explained
Animator Chuck Jones modeled Max after his own childhood dog
The 1966 Grinch animated TV special helped set the tone for what Max would look like in future versions, but animator Chuck Jones took inspiration from the past. Max was modeled after a fox terrier because Jones had a fox terrier when he was a child. Additionally, because the film was animated, it gave Jones more room to play with Max’s appearance, allowing him to show emotions and react to the Grinch’s plans.
While it could be argued that Max doesn’t look much like a fox terrier disguised as a reindeer, the inspiration is clearly there. The 1966 special was Max’s first film appearance, and his subsequent appearances have changed slightly, although they generally share a similarity to the Jones animation.
Max was a mixed breed dog in the 2000s, like the Grinch stole Christmas
The role of Max was given to several real dogs in the 2000 film
In the 2000 live-action adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas The breed of Max’s dog is not fully known because he is a mixed breed. This film also expanded the story to make it complete, meaning Max was introduced more times. And because Max was a real dog in this adaptation, the production ended up using six dogs to play Max.
Because there are scenes where Max engages in dangerous stunts or wears different types of clothing, the production made sure to take safety precautions for all of the dogs.
All six dogs who played Max were mixed-breed dogs rescued from shelters and given haircuts to look similar.. They were trained over several months, and certain dogs had certain abilities to portray on screen. Additionally, because there are scenes where Max engages in dangerous stunts or wears different types of clothing, the production made sure to take safety precautions for all of the dogs (via Human Hollywood). Fortunately, all of the rescued dogs were also adopted by cast and crew members at the end of the film. How the Grinch Stole Christmascreating a happy ending in the film and in real life.
Source: Human Hollywood