How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

This 26-minute animated version of the children's story book is a seasonal classic on American TV, right up there with It's a Wonderful Life, variations on A Christmas Carol, and, I suppose, the Nativity. Chuck Jones keeps faith with the Dr Seuss visual style, and propels the slim storyline with dramatic panache (the Grinch takes his vengeance on the irritatingly cheerful Whos by stealing all their presents - but they celebrate anyway). It's less knowing than the Jim Carrey version, which sympathises more broadly with the mischievous monster. What's most striking about seeing this again is the shocking degree to which Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Xmas obviously, uh, 'borrowed' from it.