{"id":96015,"date":"2025-12-26T04:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T04:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/96015\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T04:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T04:52:08","slug":"max-the-dog-casting-process-revealed-for-grinchmas-at-universal-orlando-resort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/96015\/","title":{"rendered":"Max The Dog Casting Process Revealed For Grinchmas at Universal Orlando Resort"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new interview with Lora Sauls, the Assistant Director for the Creative Development and Show Direction as well as Entertainment, Art and Design at Universal Orlando Resort, has explained some of the inner workings behind casting Max the Dog for Grinchmas.<\/p>\n<p>Max The Dog at Grinchmas<a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/max-at-grichmas-1.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Max The Dog at Grinchmas\" class=\"wp-image-1346108 lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/max-at-grichmas-1.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/max-at-grichmas-1.jpg\" alt=\"Max The Dog at Grinchmas\" class=\"wp-image-1346108\" data-eio=\"l\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In an interview by People Magazine, Lora Sauls revealed what goes on when a Max has to be cast. \u201cMax has always been an integral part because he is an integral part of the story of the Grinch,\u201d she says. \u201cHe is the Grinch\u2019s diehard friend, and it does not matter; he will be there for the Grinch no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several quotes from Lora emphasize the importance of casting Max for an indoor show. <\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_11-0\">\u201cwe knew we could really work with our partners that train our Maxes, and we could make Max a part of the show.\u201d \u201cEvery time he makes his appearance on stage with the Grinch, you hear an audible \u2018oh\u2019 from the crowd. It\u2019s so amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9858-1.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a photo from the Grinch Holiday Spectacular at Universal Orlando\" class=\"wp-image-1346112 lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9858-1.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9858-1.jpg\" alt=\"a photo from the Grinch Holiday Spectacular at Universal Orlando\" class=\"wp-image-1346112\" data-eio=\"l\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_11-0\">It is after these quotes in the interview that she reveals Max  has always been played by rescue dogs. <\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_11-0\">\u201cOur 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. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Further on, she also explains what happens after the dogs retire. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTypically 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\u2019s name was Karma, when she got Karma, and Karma was just such a sweet dog. So we really look to find forever homes once our Maxes retire from being on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She then explains what the dogs\u2019 training process looks like after being cast, namely spending several days with the cast of the Holiday Spectacular Show as well as the Grinch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat way they see their blocking, they know where they\u2019re going to go. They know all the tricks we\u2019re going to do. They learn how to give Grinch that high-five when he brings back Christmas. They know who to follow when they leave with the whole cast at the end of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9828-1.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a photo from the Grinch Holiday Spectacular at Universal Orlando\" class=\"wp-image-1346115 lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9828-1.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9828-1.jpg\" alt=\"a photo from the Grinch Holiday Spectacular at Universal Orlando\" class=\"wp-image-1346115\" data-eio=\"l\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Recently, Universal posted on their blog about celebrating <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2025\/12\/universal-looks-back-25-years-of-grinchmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">25 years of Grinchmas<\/a> at Islands of Adventure. Check out our post covering the <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2025\/11\/grinch-meet-greet-universal-islands-adventure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">2025 Grinch meet and greet at Suess Landing<\/a>. A <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2025\/12\/grinch-squishmallow-debuts-universals-islands-of-adventure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Grinch Squishmallow<\/a> was recently found inside the park, while <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2025\/11\/grinchmas-merch-drops-at-universal-orlando\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">other Grinchmas merchandise<\/a> is still available.<\/p>\n<p>Are you planning to meet Max as long as Grinchmas is offered through January 4? Let us know in the comments or on social media.<\/p>\n<p>For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UniNewsToday\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversalParksNewsToday\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uninewstoday\/\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>. For Disney Parks news, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/a.wdwnt.com\/category\/parks-resorts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WDWNT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/author\/bram-lybeert\/\" rel=\"author nofollow noopener\" title=\"Bram Lybeert\" class=\"author url fn\" target=\"_blank\">Bram Lybeert<\/a>                                                                                                                                                                                                <\/p>\n<p>                                            \t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new interview with Lora Sauls, the Assistant Director for the Creative Development and Show Direction as well&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1191,50901,5257,3436,50992,139,141,140],"class_list":["post-96015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-christmas","tag-grinch","tag-grinchmas","tag-islands-of-adventure","tag-max-the-dog","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}