It can t be denied that the mid-1960s was the golden age of the animated TV Christmas special. You could deny it but you d be wrong. The stop-motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer premiered in 1964 and A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted twelve months later. The next year in 1966 How the Grinch Stole Christmas aired for the first time. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the animated Grinch here are quizzes and facts about the classic TV special and the people who made it through The Ultimate How The Grinch Stole Christmas Movie Quiz . Discoer now.