NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, November 2, 2018, Illumination and
Universal Pictures, in collaboration with Dr. Seuss Enterprises,
will announce the launch of the nationwide Grinch For Good campaign
on NBC's Today, in advance of the release of Dr. Seuss'
The Grinch from Illumination.
Academy Award® nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who stars as the voice of
the Grinch, will announce the start of the campaign on NBC's
Today at 8:30 a.m. on Friday,
November 2, 2018, where he will also surprise one kind
person in the audience with tickets to the premiere of The
Grinch.
The Grinch tells the story of a cynical grump who goes on
a mission to steal Christmas, only to have his heart changed by a
young girl's generous holiday spirit. Funny, inspiring and
visually stunning, The Grinch, which opens in theaters
nationwide on November 9, 2018, tells
a universal story about the redemptive power of kindness and the
true spirit of Christmas.
In that spirit, the Grinch For Good campaign celebrates and
encourages acts of generosity and kindness in multiple ways.
First, GrinchForGood.com offers a platform during the holiday
season for people to donate to Feeding America, which helps provide
meals to families in need.
Second, Grinch For Good is partnering with schools nationwide
for an in-school initiative that will supply digital kits to
teachers to help inspire their students, their families and their
fellow educators to launch local food drives in their own
communities.
Third, GrinchForGood.com creates a place for fans to nominate
someone who, through her or his acts of kindness, has made the
hearts of others grow "three sizes." Fans can also inspire their
friends, family and social media followers toward acts of kindness
with the hashtag #GrinchForGood.
The most inspiring submissions will win spectacular big-ticket
prizes, including a car, a trip to the Universal Orlando Theme
Park, and a $10,000 Bloomingdale's gift card, and some winners may
be featured on Today. The contest will run as part of
a week-long effort to honor and celebrate the best in all of us,
beginning Nov. 2 and ending
Nov. 8, 2018.
As part of the campaign, Rockefeller Plaza®– the
nation's most iconic symbol of the holiday season –- will become
the site of The Grinch Gift Tree display.
The Grinch Gift Tree, which towers 30 feet high, and 15 feet by
15 feet wide, is constructed of exclusive Grinch-themed gift boxes
and features the Grinch scaling the mountain of presents. The base
of the tree will include seven boxes that reveal exclusive
surprises from the film, and Grinch For Good will stage exciting
activities around the tree each day.
Fans can take photos at a Growing Heart display just south of
the tree, and ask questions of The Grinch Brand Ambassadors,
who will be stationed at the tree each day between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. to help guide fans
through the experience and participate in Grinch For Good.
About Dr. Seuss' The Grinch
For their eighth
fully animated feature, Illumination and Universal Pictures present
The Grinch, based on Dr. Seuss' beloved holiday
classic. The Grinch tells the story of a cynical
grump who goes on a mission to steal Christmas, only to have his
heart changed by a young girl's generous holiday spirit.
Funny, inspiring and visually stunning, The Grinch tells a
universal story about the redemptive power of kindness and the true
spirit of Christmas.
Academy Award® nominee Benedict Cumberbatch lends his voice to the
infamous Grinch, who lives a solitary life inside a cave on Mt.
Crumpet with only his loyal dog, Max, for company. With a cave
rigged with inventions and contraptions for his day-to-day needs,
the Grinch only sees his neighbors in Whoville when he runs out of
food.
Each year at Christmas they disrupt his tranquil solitude with
their increasingly bigger, brighter and louder celebrations. When
the Whos declare they are going to make Christmas three times
bigger this year, the Grinch realizes there is only one way for him
to gain some peace and quiet: he must steal Christmas. To do
so, he decides he will pose as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, even
going so far as to trap a lackadaisical reindeer to pull his
sleigh.
Meanwhile, down in Whoville, Cindy-Lou Who—a young girl
overflowing with holiday cheer—plots with her gang of friends to
trap Santa Claus as he makes his Christmas Eve rounds so that she
can ask him for help for her overworked single mother. As Christmas
approaches, however, Cindy-Lou's altruistic plan threatens to
collide with the Grinch's more nefarious one. Will joy and optimism
win out over grumpiness and cynicism? Grinchmovie.com
About Feeding America
Feeding America® is
the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of 200
food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, we provide
meals to more than 46 million people each year. Feeding America
also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food
security among the people we serve; educates the public about the
problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects
people from going hungry.
About Illumination
Illumination, founded by Academy
Award® nominee Chris
Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry's
leading producers of event-animated films. The company's
franchises include three of the top-eight animated films of all
time, and its iconic, beloved brands—infused with memorable and
distinct characters, global appeal and cultural relevance—have
grossed more than $5.8 billion
worldwide.
Illumination was recently honored by Fast Company as one of the
world's most innovative companies.
Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution
partnership with Universal Pictures, has garnered an extraordinary
number of franchise successes for a studio just over a decade
old. As the creator of the hugely successful world of
Despicable Me, which was recently crowned the top-grossing
box-office animated franchise globally, Illumination has evolved
the Despicable Me series to include Minions, the
third-highest-grossing animated film of all time and the most
profitable film in Universal's history, as well as the Academy
Award®-nominated Despicable Me 2 and summer
2017's Despicable Me 3, which made more than $1 billion at the global box office.
Illumination recently launched two original properties that
captivated audiences worldwide: The Secret Life of Pets,
which achieved the best opening for an original movie, animated or
otherwise, in U.S. history, and the global smash, Sing.
Founded 11 years ago with the mission of putting a smile on the
face of every member of the audience, no matter their age,
Illumination continues to imagine both original stories, as well as
unexpected adaptations of beloved pre-existing works.
Illumination's upcoming films include Dr. Seuss' The
Grinch in November 2018, The
Secret Life of Pets 2 in June
2019, Minions 2 in July
2020, and Sing 2 in December
2020.
About Dr. Seuss
Theodor "Seuss" Geisel is quite simply
the most beloved children's book author of all time. Winner of the
Pulitzer Prize in 1984, three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards,
three Grammy Awards, and three Caldecott Honors, Geisel wrote and
illustrated 45 books for children. Hundreds of millions of copies
have found their way into homes and hearts around the world. While
Theodor Geisel died on September 24, 1991, Dr. Seuss lives on, inspiring
generations of children of all ages to explore the joys of reading.
For more information about Dr. Seuss and his works, visit
Seussville.com.
About Dr. Seuss Enterprises
The primary focus of Dr.
Seuss Enterprises, L.P. is to protect the integrity of the Dr.
Seuss books while expanding beyond books into ancillary areas. This
effort is a strategic part of the overall mission to nurture and
safeguard the relationship people have with Dr. Seuss characters.
Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
said he never wanted to license his characters to anyone who would
"round out the edges." That is one of the guiding philosophies of
Dr. Seuss Enterprises.
About Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures is a
division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com).
Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is
one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the
development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and
information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and
operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a
premier motion picture company, significant television production
operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned
theme parks. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast
Corporation.
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SOURCE Universal Pictures