How the Grinch Stole Christmas 4K Gets a Real Upgrade for Its 25th Anniversary

Let’s just get this out of the way right out of the gate: It doesn’t feel real to say that Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is 25 years old. The live-action adaptation from Ron Howard is a staple for so many, it’s hard to believe that the film has been around for a quarter of a century. Jim Carrey’s delightfully and perfectly unhinged portrayal of the iconic Dr. Seuss character is old enough to rent a car.

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Now that we all feel older than time itself, it’s time to talk about the newest release of this beloved Christmas classic. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Universal has released a new 4K edition of the film, available as a standard release as well as a limited edition SteelBook. Fortunately, this is more than just a repackaging for an anniversary, as this Grinch 4K has been given a boost to both the special features, as well as the 4K picture itself.

This is one of the many anniversary editions from Universal in 2025 to get a new release, following the likes of Jaws and Back to the Future. Like those, How the Grinch Stole Christmas came with a brand new reflective documentary about the making and legacy of the film. This new featurette includes interviews with Howard, producer Brian Grazer, make-up artist Rick Baker, and star Taylor Momsen (Cindy-Lou Who). That’s the only new feature on the disc, but it’s as solid an addition as you’ll see for a 25-year-old film, especially from a studio release.

The bigger selling point for many physical media collectors, however, will be the fact that this edition of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is actually an upgrade from the previous version. This edition has been once again remastered to include Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, which were missing from previous 4K versions.

The last big release of How the Grinch Stole Christmas came five years ago, on the film’s 20th anniversary, and had the usual SteelBook rollout. I have a copy of that release as well, which didn’t have Dolby Vision on the disc. While the differences from that disc to the 25th anniversary edition aren’t nearly as drastic as the ones from the Blu-ray to the first 4K, it still makes a difference (provided you have a Dolby Vision setup). For that reason alone this is a great pickup for dedicated fans of the film.

The one “complaint” I have with this release, if you can even call it that, is that the SteelBook design isn’t quite as good as the SteelBook that came with the 20th anniversary edition; at least in my opinion. There’s a lot going on with this cover, and it certainly captures the energy of the film itself, but the simplicity of the Grinch hand holding the ornament on the previous release was a great nod to the original teaser poster that I have always really appreciated. Like I said, it’s not really a complaint, and there will be plenty of fans who disagree with me on that.

Either way, this new edition of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of the rare 4K re-releases that actually justifies itself beyond just some new packaging. It’s a true upgrade and fans will be glad to add it to their collection.

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