Hans Conried was going to reprise his role as the Grinch from It's Grinch Night (1977), but died shortly before he was due to record his lines. As a result, Bob Holt was chosen to voice the Grinch.
During the psychoanalysis song, the Cat asks the Grinch if his shoes were too tight, paraphrasing a line from the original book and cartoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). In the same song, the Grinch uses the expression "absotively, posilutely", a line from the narration of The Cat in the Hat (1971) cartoon, but which was not in the book.
This was the only Grinch animated TV special to not take place in or near Whoville.
The Grinch's darkhouse is a reference to the flashdark, antithesis to the flashlight, from Dr. Seuss' trivia book "The Cat's Quizzer".
This is the last original Dr. Seuss special.