Passes the Bechdel test
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
2000. Directed by Ron Howard, written by Dr. Seuss and Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 21 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 122. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Inside a snowflake exists the magical land of Whoville, wherein live the Whos, an almost-mutated sort of Munchkin-like people who all love Christmas. Just outside of their beloved town lives the Grinch (Jim Carrey), a nasty creature that hates Christmas and plans to steal it from the Whos, which he equally abhors. Little Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) decides to befriend the Grinch.
- Released
- 17 Nov 2000
- Genres
- Comedy, Family, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 46 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 18 wins & 37 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Grinch 84 lines, man
- The Grinch 61 lines, man
- Cindy Lou-Who 51 lines, woman
- May-Who 47 lines, man
- Lou Lou-Who 37 lines, man
- Narrator 31 lines, man
- Betty Lou-Who 14 lines, woman
- Who-Bris 13 lines, man
- Drew Lou-Who 12 lines, man
- Clarnella 11 lines, woman
Full cast, 52 people
- Jim Carrey as Grinch
- Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who
- Jeffrey Tambor as Mayor Augustus Maywho
- Christine Baranski as Martha May Whovier
- Bill Irwin as Lou Lou Who
- Molly Shannon as Betty Lou Who
- Clint Howard as Whobris
- Josh Ryan Evans as 8-Year-Old Grinch
- Mindy Sterling as Clarnella
- Bryce Dallas Howard as Surprised Who
- Lacey Kohl as Christina Whoterberry
- Rachel Winfree as Rose
- Rance Howard as Elderly Timekeeper
- Jeremy Howard as Drew Lou Who
- T.J. Thyne as Stu Lou Who
- Nadja Pionilla as Junie
- Jim Meskimen as Officer Wholihan
- Michael Dahlen as Customer
- David Costabile as Biker Who
- Mary Stein as Miss Rue Who
- James Ritz as Crazy Mose
- Deep Roy as Post Office Clerk
- Jessica Sara as Sophie
- Mason Lucero as Who Boy
- Ben Bookbinder as 8-Year-Old Augustus Maywho
- Michaela Gallo as Who Schoolgirl
- Landry Allbright as 8-Year-Old Martha May Whovier
- Reid Kirchenbauer as 8-Year-Old Whobris
- Rebecca Chace as Shopper
- Suzanne Krull as Shopper
- Steve Kehela as Shopper
- Lillias White as Shopper
- Rain Pryor as Shopper
- John Alexander as Shopper
- Kevin Isola as Tree Trimmer
- Gavin Grazer as Yodeler
- Walter Franks as Clerk
- Verne Troyer as Band Member
- Clayton Martinez as Cook
- Q'orianka Kilcher as Little Choir Member
- Caroline Williams as Tiny Who Woman
- John Short as Tiny Who Man
- Grainger Esch as Near Miss Who
- Eva Burkley as Pudding Chef
- Rick Baker as Puppeteer
- Bill Sturgeon as Puppeteer
- Mark Setrakian as Puppeteer
- Jurgen Heimann as Puppeteer
- Tim Blaney as Puppeteer
- Charles Croughwell as Balloon Who
- Frank Welker as Max the Dog (voice)
- Anthony Hopkins as Narrator (voice)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 122
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 4 | 17 |
| 4 to 6 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 to 12 | 4 | 25 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 to 18 | 8 | 8 |
| 19 to 21 | 3 | 17 |
| 22 to 24 | 3 | 3 |
| 25 to 27 | 15 | 27 |
| 28 to 30 | 1 | 5 |
| 31 to 33 | 2 | 12 |
| 34 to 36 | 6 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 5 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 6 | 8 |
| 43 to 45 | 3 | 14 |
| 46 to 48 | 4 | 8 |
| 49 to 51 | 5 | 8 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 4 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 11 | 13 |
| 61 to 63 | 2 | 14 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 1 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 6 |
| 70 to 72 | 4 | 6 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 1 |
| 76 to 78 | 5 | 27 |
| 79 to 81 | 1 | 6 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 9 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 1 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 2 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 10 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 14 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 2 |
| 103 to 105 | 4 | 19 |
| 106 to 108 | 3 | 3 |
| 109 to 111 | 2 | 3 |
| 112 to 114 | 4 | 14 |
| 115 to 117 | 1 | 6 |
| 118 to 120 | 11 | 24 |
| 121 to 122 | 11 | 19 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
JUNIE: I can’t believe they’re taking us up the mountain for the old “mistletoe . surprise.’ R CHRISTINA: Just r them. they’re kinda cute.
MISS RUE-WHO: Cinéy Lou-whe! We Go not discuss that sort of thing at school. CINDY LOU-WHO: What? All I said was Gr-- MISS RUE-WHO: Aah!
BETTY LOU-WHO: It’s all for the cause, dear. Cindy, want to help mommy rewire the fusebox? ~ , CINDY LOU-WHO No Yg going to go inside. CINDY LOU-WHO: Sure. Presents. I guess ‘that‘s ce what Christmas is ali about. Ee
CINDY LOU-WHO: Nad. I've peen thinking about the Who- Bilation, and I may do something drastic. _ _ LOU LOU-WHO Great dear, ask your mother. CINDY LOU-WHO: Where‘d she go? BETTY LOU-WHO: Sorry, I just found the cutest light for my Christmas display. BETTY LOU-WHO: Husty up, we're going to be late.
MAY-WEO: ANG ~fow...cut your who-nands together for ..your...Martna May Who-Vier! BETTY LOU-WHO: Well Martha, it looks like you beat me again... {suddenly energized) Except this old gal’s got a lot more lights left in her, Lady! ;
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 27 are women's.
136 lines from women, 373 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 26 men in the cast. 21 women and 31 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 14 of 585.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 39 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 23% of the words (1,701), men 77% (5,764). Women have 27% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
16
Two men
60
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ron Howard (man)
- Written by
- Peter S. Seaman (man), Jeffrey Price (man)
- Produced by
- Ron Howard (man), Brian Grazer (man), Suzanne Buirgy (woman)
- Shot by
- Donald Peterman (man)
- Edited by
- Mike Hill (man), Daniel P. Hanley (man)
- Music by
- James Horner (man)
- Production design by
- Michael Corenblith (man)
- Costumes by
- Rita Ryack (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
7 women, 12 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 6 men
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 4 men
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Taylor Momsen 7, Bryce Dallas Howard 19, Molly Shannon 36, Mindy Sterling 47, Christine Baranski 48
Men
Josh Ryan Evans 18, Jim Carrey 38, Clint Howard 41, Bill Irwin 50, Jeffrey Tambor 56
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $123 million
- Box office
- $346 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 122 scenes and 585 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
