Universal Studios Hollywood really put on the dog for this year’s kick-off of its Grinchmas Wholidays celebration

Shelly Valladolid

11 years ago

Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff
Like bingle balls, and whofoo fluff
Trim up the town with goowho gums and bizilbix and wums

You gotta give the folks at Universal Studio Hollywood
credit. For — when it came to the kick-off of this year's Grinchmas Wholidays
celebration — they not only broke out their presents, their ribbons, their
wrappings, Universal even sprang for some snoof and some fuzzle, some tringlers
and trappings. They even persuaded a "lovely lady" from sitcoms
past — Florence Henderson AKA Carol Brady from "The Brady Bunch
" —
to come out and add some star power to these seasonal proceedings.

Mind you, for agreeing to officiate at the kick-off of the
2013 edition of Universal Studios Hollywood's Grinchmas Wholidays, Ms.
Henderson was then honored with a "Who-Manitarian
of the Year" award (All kidding aside: As the long-time ambassador for City of
Hope — which is a worldwide leader when it comes to compassionate patient
care, innovative medical science and translational research — Florence is
genuinely deserving of this sort of accolade. Thanks — in large part — to the
decades of charity work that Ms. Henderson has done quietly, out of the
spotlight).

And once Florence
was officially declared Who-Manitarian of the Year and silver streamers rained
down from above …

… it was then time to wander around this theme park's
all-new Universal Plaza
area and check out some of this year's Grinchmas offerings. Over by the
"Trim Up the Tree" Christmas lot …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

… children from L.A. Family Housing (who were Universal's invited guests for
this year's "Who-biliation") were trying their hand at coloring paper holiday
ornaments …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

… which featured the likenesses of Cindy Lou Who and Max.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

And speaking of the Mean One's Dog … Both the Grinch and
Max were on hand to meet with the press …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

… and talk up some of the other aspects of Universal
Studios Hollywood's family-friendly "Grinchmas" holiday celebration. Take —
for example — that lively performance which takes place several times daily on
the original Who-ville sets …

… which were built for that live-action version of Dr.
Seuss' classic holiday tale
which Universal Pictures released back in November
of 2000. Mind you, the only way that you'll ever going to get to see this live
performance is if you hop aboard a tram and then take Universal Studios
Hollywood's world-famous Studio Tour.

Meanwhile, back up at Universal
Plaza, people were trying their
hand at holiday cookie decorating …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

… in the Who-bilicious Treats area.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Or queuing up to have their holiday picture taken with the Grinch & Max. Or
— better yet — seeing how they'd look as a Dr. Seuss character by getting a
Who-caricature.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Yeah, a fine time was had by all who went out to this theme
park last Wednesday morning and saw what USH can be like when they really put
on the dog.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

If you'd like to come out to Universal Studios Hollywood and
see that spectacular, 60 foot-tall spiraling Christmas tree in person and/or
hang with the Whos …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

(And trust me on this one, folks. You're going to need to really get up-close
to these performers in order to appreciate some of the wittier touches that
Universal Hollywood's costume department has added to these Who outfits) …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

…just be aware that Grinchmas is presented only on
weekends now through December 15th. Then — starting on December 20th — the
Who-lidays are celebrated on a daily basis at Universal Studios Hollywood right
on through to December 31st, New Year's Eve.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Mind you, there's lots of holiday fun to be found outside of
this theme park. Universal CityWalk features all sorts of Xmas entertainment
this time of year. There are free concerts being presented in the "5
Towers" area as well as hourly snowfalls in Santa's Snow Zone. Which is
where CityWalk visitors can climb aboard Kris Kringle's sleigh and then get a
holiday picture taken with the big man himself.

And speaking of Santa, he'll be joining singer Tamar Braxton
onstage this Thursday night for the official lighting of the Universal CityWalk
Christmas tree. And once all 100,000 LED lights have been illuminated on this
towering tree, Ms. Braxton will favor the crowd with a few numbers from her hit
recording, "Love and War" as well as her new holiday album, "Winter
Loverland
."

After her outdoor concert wraps, Tamar will then be meeting
with fans as well as signing copies of her CDs at "5 Towers" (Please note that
this event is only pen to the first 200 guests that have purchased a Tamar
Braxton CD). Which would make a fine gift for the R & B fan on your holiday shopping list.

All in all, now through New Year's Eve is a great time to
Universal Studios Hollywood. Not just because you can then take advantage of
this theme park's "Buy A Day, Get 2014 Free!" promotion. But also
because you can then sneak a peek at how the construction of "Despicable
Me: Minion Mayhem" …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

… that much-anticipated, 3D Ultra-HD movie
motion-simulator adventure (which is due to open at this theme park in the
Spring of 2014) is going.

All this, plus the other holiday decorations that you can
find scattered around the Upper Lot …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

… makes a visit to Universal Studios Hollywood something
that you just have to do if you're out in Southern California
in the coming weeks. So don't be like The Mean One …

… and make plans to head out for Universal
City now through New Year's Eve. So
that you and yours can then experience a good old-fashioned Grinchmas.