Fans are only just noticing detail in Jim Carrey's The Grinch that's 'ruined the film forever'

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a holiday staple, but some fans are now claiming it’s ‘ruined’ forever after a TikTok user alerted them to an editing mistake.

In November 2000, director Ron Howard brought Dr. Seuss’ famous grumpy, green character, the Grinch, to life via live-action.

Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics at the time, How the Grinch Stole Christmas has remained a festive favorite for more than two decades and once earned actor Jim Carrey a prestigious Golden Globe nod.

The story, based on Dr. Seuss’ 1957 children’s book of the same name, chronicles the Grinch discovering the importance of kindness and learning that it’s never too late for redemption.

Starring Carrey in the titular role, How the Grinch Stole Christmas also serves as many fans’ first introduction to actress Taylor Momson.

The star, who is now 31, portrayed tritagonist Cindy Lou Who in the Christmas movie before going on to star in the Spy Kids franchise and Gossip Girl series.

Despite the festive flick standing the test of time, How the Grinch Stole Christmas fans are complaining the movie has been ‘ruined’ by a TikTok user known as @redcobweb.

In December 2022, they posted scene from the film, claiming they could no longer watch the holiday favorite as they used to after noticing a glaring continuity error.

“So every time I watch The Grinch I notice this one little mistake they made,” they began.

“They forget to either put [The Grinch’s] contacts in or forgot to edit them in afterwards.”

Fans of the 2000 comedy will already be aware that the titular character usually has greenish-yellow eyes with black irises.

But during one brief scene where Carrey’s iconic character is wearing lederhosen, his eyes are unmistakably brown.

“And so just Jim Carrey’s brown eyes are just there,” the TikToker explained.

“Those are his brown eyes and then in the next scene, they’re back[to green].”

The viral TikTok, which is seemingly doing the rounds again, has amassed more than 1700 comments over the years from fellow disgruntled fans.

One user commented: “Okay but why is his normal eyes so much ore unsettling than the contacts…? Just me.”

“The Grinch is my comfort movie I’ve watched it a million times, even last night, and I have NEVER noticed this,” typed someone else.

A third remarked: “I’m surprised this isn’t common knowledge at this point but Jim’s eyes got incredibly irritated with the contacts so they did have to edit it. But there are more scenes than just this one that show his normal eyes they only focused on the up close scenes.”

Another wrote: “You ruined it for me,” while a fifth echoed: “Somehow, it’s way more disturbing with Jim eyes.

Of course, it’s not unusual for small editing details to be missed during post-production.

A Starbucks cup accidentally made a cameo in the final season of Game of Thrones, with HBO later confirming the hot beverage had been digitally removed from the scene.

Home Alone fans also once believed there was a huge continuity error during the scene where Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) orders pizza.

He manages to place an order despite not being able to contact his parents due to the phone lines being down.

However, this major plot hole has since been explained by a Reddit user and a representative from the American telecommunications company AT&T.

“I always assumed the tree actually severed the main trunk line to the whole town, but local calls within the same exchange still worked,” commented the social media user.

In response, the AT&T rep told Huff Post: “Everything is changing now because of all this phone capability is moving into the cloud, but in 1990, that was absolutely a plausible scenario.”

Another mistake is that Kevin’s older cousin Heather (Kristin Minter) rushes up the stairs before being seen climbing the same steps again just a moment later.

What’s your favorite faux movie moment to point out to your friends?