Who Created the Grinch? Dr. Seuss, L. Frank Baum, or 2 Guys on a Drinking Binge?
“A Kidnapped Santa Claus” — the story that sounds intriguingly familiar
We all know the theory that there are only seven or so master plots in all of storytelling, and that means we’re likely to see themes and arcs appearing regularly as we read people’s writing. For example, West Side Story is akin to Romeo and Juliet, and Jane Eyre is Cinderella without the pumpkins and over an extended time period.
Now, consider what I think I accidentally discovered about How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. T. Seuss’s beloved 1957 classic.
I did some super-sleuthing
Some time ago, an editor asked me to do a story about L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz stories since the movie was playing at a local theater for the holidays — in Technicolor on a big screen. Anyway, my author research uncovered other works by Baum, including The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus from 1902. Wow, new to me.
Having always been a rabid fan of the fae, magic, and otherworldly stuff, I was pulled right into the realm of the Burzee Woods. That magical place, the Forest of Burzee, is hundreds and hundreds of years old. It’s dense and might seem creepy or dark compared to the Laughing Valley of Hohaho on the eastern edge, but looks are deceiving — the wood is a place of mystical delight. It’s peopled with fairies, gigans, knooks, light elves, rampsies, ryls, sleep fays, imps, and a few demons, among others.
Tumbling down a Google rabbit hole, I began reading about a beachfront resort in Coronado, CA.
Yes, it’s a clue in my unofficial, nonscientific deductions about our pal, Mr. Grinch. Notable American writers who often hobnobbed at the Hotel del Coronado included Henry James, Upton Sinclair, Tennessee Williams, L. Frank Baum, and Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). They hung out together and swapped yarns while bumping elbows with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, and W.C. Field.
See where I’m going? We writers know we get our inspiration from everywhere. Have a conversation with a fellow scribe, and we may come away with the bones of our next novel.
Over many years, Dr. Seuss and Frank Baum spent a whole lot of time at Del Coronado, according to many articles chronicling their lives. Apparently, they got along and had similar political bents. Let’s set their likely relationship aside for a moment and look at Baum’s Santa story and Seuss’s Grinch story.
For many days, I perused a 3,000-page website that contains everything anybody ever wanted to know about Frank Baum’s wonderful stories. You can explore the wiki if you’re so inclined.
Somewhere over the Rainbow, there’s an extraordinary place that’s made of Dreams, somewhere over the Rainbow, the Land…oz.fandom.com
And I discovered a Baum story called A Kidnapped Santa Claus. I read it several times and suddenly felt like I’d been there before. Aha!
The (highly condensed) story of Baum’s kidnapped Claus
Santa Claus lives and makes toys in his castle in the Laughing Valley. His live-in workers, ryls, knooks, pixies, and fairies, are always busy. I can hear the tink-tink of tiny hammers and the jingle of bells.
Everyone in the valley is happy and giddy. They live for Christmas.
Cue Whoville music:
Here’s the happy Whoville music
In Hohaho, Santa Baby is focused on making children happy, and he finds nothing but love all around him. He and the crew are getting ready for Christmas. But demons in the mountain caves hate the jolly old soul simply because he spreads so much dang joy. (You are sensing something vaguely familiar here, right?)
The only time the demons get visitors is when people are sad, depressed, and unhappy, but that is almost never the case. So they have a meeting and decide, after much discussion and strategizing, that the only smart thing to do is kidnap Kriss Kringle, make everyone miserable, and become the center of attention.
Long story short: the demons spend a few pages trying to influence Santa, steal his glee, and get him to cancel Christmas, but he isn’t having any and remains annoyingly pleasant and unshakable. So they hatch a plan to waylay the sleigh on Christmas Eve, and, guess what? Yep. Kidnap the rotund old guy. And so they do.
You can predict the outcome. Santa’s five best helpers were tucked in under the big seat of the sleigh, fast asleep. They wake up, chagrined to find Santa AWOL, and determined to fix the situation. It’s too late to go back, so they forge ahead, delivering the toys themselves with only a few SNAFUs.
The helpers consult the Snow Queen and find out what happened to their boss. Next morning,
“Marching over the snow was a vast army, made up of the most curious creatures imaginable. There were numberless knooks from the forest, as rough and crooked in appearance as the gnarled branches of the trees they ministered to. And there were dainty ryls from the fields, each one bearing the emblem of the flower or plant it guarded. Behind these were many ranks of pixies, gnomes and nymphs, and in the rear a thousand beautiful fairies floated along in gorgeous array.” — L. Frank Baum
The army rescues Santa, as you might expect, and it’s happily ever after for all.
I’ll grant you, the Whos could still have been busy in Whoville in a parallel universe working out their own holiday problems, but doesn’t that seem like a totally weird coincidence?
The last words
I’m not making any accusations. I have no idea if the two storytellers threw down a few too many pints one night at the Del Corona and got carried away bragging about their ideas for future stories. And frankly, I don’t much care. Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote more than 60 books, and you gotta get your inspiration somewhere.
We grew up with both stories, and they’re lovely, with each being characteristic of their author’s unique style. I love Ted’s skill with silly rhymes and adore Cindy-Loo Who is sweet enough to make your teeth ache. Frank Baum’s style is so straightforward and matter-of-fact that even when he’s talking about witches, wizards, and raquels, I happily believe every word.
You decide if you agree with me. Read the Santa story at East of the Web and give your opinion in the comments.
Short Stories: A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
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I will store this away to tell my grands next Christmas (Mimi has a thing about the Grinch). Big fan of Seuss, but I haven't read Baum since I was a kid. It might be time to rectify that!
Very interesting! I'd have to read the full Baum story to be able to form an opinion, but, like you, I don't much care. As you say, everything is a rehash of something, anyway, for the most part. If Shakespeare (or whoever!) hadn't written Romeo and Juliet, my first novel probably would never have been written, either.
Tell a good story, don't plagiarize, don't use AI (I'm pretty sure Dr. Seuss didn't), and I'm happy. :-)