Bad news, Dr. Seuss fans! Netflix has just stolen Christmas by quietly removing one of Benedict Cumberbatch’s most popular movies. As of December 4th, 2018’s animated flick The Grinch is no longer available on the streaming giant. Yes, in what couldn’t be worse timing, just as the festive season is really starting to kick off, subscribers aren’t able to watch what’s one of the most successful holiday films of all time.
The Grinch is a retelling of the classic Christmas story, faithfully following the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. Cumberbatch voices the titular grump, with the cast also including Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Cameron Seely, Angela Lansbury and Pharrell Williams as the Narrator. The Illumination Entertainment production earned well over $500 million at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing Christmas movie ever.
It’s likewise had a long shelf life since it found its way onto streaming. This past year has seen The Grinch continuously move into the Top 10 most popular films list on Netflix, even long before the yuletide was upon us. Now that it’s the festive the season, it no doubt would’ve rocketed up the rankings once again and with any luck, it’ll return to the site sometime in 2021.
The good news is that 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the live-action version directed by Ron Howard that stars Jim Carrey, is still available to stream on the platform and looks to be sticking around for the remainder of the holidays. But you might want to watch it sooner rather than later, lest the Netflix elves steal it from your app one night while you’re sleeping like they did with the animated movie.
Tell us, though, are you cut up about The Grinch leaving the streaming site? And which version do you prefer? Join the discussion in the comments section below.