Every year, Universal Studios Orlando puts on the Grinchmas Holiday Spectacular Show at Seuss Landing in Islands of Adventure. It turns out how they choose The Grinch's dog Max in a special way.
Speaking with People, Lora Sauls, the assistant director, Creative Development and Show Direction, and Entertainment Art and Design, opened up about how they select Max for the show.
"Max has always been an integral part because he is an integral part of the story of the Grinch," she says. "He is the Grinch's diehard friend, and it does not matter; he will be there for the Grinch no matter what."
For the show, the studio partnered with dog trainers to teach the dog.
Sauls says, "We knew we could really work with our partners that train our Maxes, and we could make Max a part of the show. Every time he makes his appearance on stage with the Grinch, you hear an audible 'oh' from the crowd. It's so amazing."
The Grinch's Dog Max
As far as the actual selecting process, the show picks rescue dogs to play Max for the show.
She explained, "Our partners who really do the training of all of our Maxes, they go out and find that perfect look. They go to many, many rescues. All of the dogs that play Max are rescues, but they go to rescues all over Central Florida and beyond, searching for that right look, and that right demeanor for our Max dogs."
She continued, "And so once they become Max in our show, they are cared for. They are loved by our trainers. They are loved by our cast. Typically our trainers actually adopt them. And some of our cast members adopt our Maxes."
"I have a dear friend many, many years ago that adopted a Max. The dog's name was Karma, when she got Karma, and Karma was just such a sweet dog," she continues. "So we really look to find forever homes once our Maxes retire from being on stage."
