The Grinch has been a staple during the holiday season ever since Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was published in 1957. Nine years later, the TV special brought the Grinch and sweet Cindy-Lou Who to life with vivid animation and a catchy theme song. And, 25 years ago, the live-action version arrived with Jim Carrey starring as the Mean One.

Directed by Ron Howard, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas was released in theaters on November 17, 2000. Multiple comedic talents like Molly Shannon, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, and Clint Howard starred as the Christmas/commercialism obsessed residents of Whoville. The story is centered around Cindy-Lou (Taylor Momsen) who tries to find the true meaning of Christmas by convincing the grumpy Grinch to join the festivities. But the Grinch hates Whoville and after being embarrassed by the mayor, he decides to steal Christmas.

Carrey brought his signature kinetic energy to the role, enhanced by the complex makeup and cartoonish suit. Seven-time Academy Award winning make-up artist Rick Baker designed and created the prosthetic makeup for Carrey and the Whos. At first, the studio wanted Baker to create a simplistic look by just painting his face green, but after seeing test footage, they approved Baker’s more complex vision of the character.

It took makeup artist Kazu Hiro around three hours to put the makeup on each day. In addition to being a lengthy, complicated process, the makeup was also heavy and cumbersome. The makeup included yellow contact lenses that covered a larger portion of his eyes than normal lenses. Because of the pain he experienced with the lenses (the fake snow would stick to them), there are scenes in which his eyes were digitally altered in post-production to give him a break from wearing them. He also had to wear a spandex suit with thick yak hair sewn into it.

Carrey became frustrated and irritable with the painful, restrictive makeup and costume, periodically disappearing during the shoot and causing delays. Due to the tense situation, Hiro briefly left the production until Howard and Baker convinced Carrey to control his temper.

To help Carrey deal with the makeup, producer Brian Grazer hired a consultant who trained the actor on ways to cope with being tortured. Howard invited actor Don Knotts to visit the set because he knew that Carrey was a fan, and even put the Grinch suit on to bring some levity to the set.

In total Carrey spent over 90 days filming in the Grinch makeup, and eventually adapted to the process and discomfort of makeup. Baker won an Oscar for the makeup he designed.