VOTD: 'The Grinch' Debuts Tyler The Creator's New Rendition Of 'You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch'
When Illumination Entertainment's hit animated comedy Despicable Me arrived in theaters, it came with a theme song produced and performed by none other than chart-topping recording artist Pharrell. So of course they had to find another performer that all the kids would love to hear perform a new version of the classic holiday song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" for the new animated take on the classic Dr. Seuss holiday tale.
Tyler the Creator was tasked with writing the new song for The Grinch, and while it keeps the familiar lyrics of the original song performed by Thurl Ravenscroft (the voice of Tony the Tiger), the style is distinctly more modern and hip, almost like spoken jazz with Tyler the Creator's rap flair spicing it up. But that doesn't mean it's good. You can judge for yourself by listening to the new Grinch song below.
New Grinch Song
This may just be a case of nostalgia and me becoming that guy who doesn't want any kids on my lawn, but I despise this new take on "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." It feels like it's desperately trying to make the song cool when they would have been better off just making an entirely new song for The Grinch instead. Then again, I'm sure you'd have people complaining about that too, so it's really a no-win situation for Illumination Entertainment here.
Anyway, the movie doesn't look terrible, but this story has never felt like it could easily be stretched out to a 90-minute movie, and I think that's where it'll suffer. Sure, Benedict Cumberbatch doing an unexpected voice for The Grinch makes it amusing, but I don't think it can sustain itself. In general, I'm not a fan of Illumination Entertainment's brand of comedy, but I'm still willing to give this one a real shot before I pass full judgment.
The Grinch hits theaters on November 9, 2018.