ILLUMINATION AND UNIVERSAL PICTURES PARTNER WITH NBC'S "TODAY" FOR NATIONWIDE "GRINCH FOR GOOD" CAMPAIGN, AHEAD OF RELEASE OF "DR. SEUSS' THE GRINCH"

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.

SOURCE Universal Pictures

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