'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' Fan Theory Explains Why the Whos Didn't Hear the Grinch Taking Their Presents

Now that we're well into the holiday season, fans have had days to discuss their favorite Christmas-themed movies and television shows. While people are still busy debating whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie, an interesting fan theory has surfaced in regards to one classic Christmas tale.

According to one fan theory shared online, the Whos fail to hear the Grinch stealing their Christmas presents in the classic animated How The Grinch Stole Christmas for one reason — they're hard of hearing.

"The Whos play a wide variety of loud instruments and participate in raucous games," the theory reads. "The noise from these activities is so loud that The Grinch can hear it in his cave at the top of the mountain."

"As a result, the Whos all have hearing loss, which allows the Grinch to invade all their houses and steal everything without waking anyone other than Cindy Loui, who was so young that the damage hadn't fully set in yet."

No matter which way you look at it, the theory definitely seems possible. That, or the Whos were just getting some rest before the big day.

The ages-old story has appeared on-screen three different times. The classic cartoon How The Grinch Stole Christmas first aired on CBS on December 18th, 1966 as narrated by Boris Karloff. The cartoon was then adapted into the 2000 live-action film directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey.

A third Grinch-feature film debuted earlier this year from animation powerhouse Illumination. Starring Avengers: Infinity War star Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role, The Grinch has been relatively successful at the box office, earning $422 million worldwide. Over sixty percent of that — $253 million — was made at the domestic box office.

Other than Cumberbatch, The Grinch also stars Cameron Seely, Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Angela Lansbury, Brad O'Hare, Ramone Hamilton, Sam Lavagnino, Scarlett Estevez, and Pharrell Williams as the narrator. The film was directed by Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney on a script from Michael LeSieur and Tommy Swerdlow.

A new theme "You're A Mean One," based on the classic song, was developed by the film's composer Danny Elfman alongside hip-hop artist Tyler, the creator.

Dr. Seuss' The Grinch from Illumination is in theaters now.