Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)
Directed by: Carlos Saldanha
Premise: Inspired by the children’s book by Crockett Johnson. Harold (Zachary Levi) is a fictional character who wields a magic purple crayon. He travels from the book world to the real world to find his creator.
What Works: Harold and the Purple Crayon has an interesting approach as an adaptation. The source material is a picture book which does not lend itself to a feature film adaptation but Harold and the Purple Crayon is quite popular with parents and children and the filmmakers lean into what the book means to that audience. The film Harold and the Purple Crayon uses the book as a springboard. The title character lives in the book world where his days are literally filled with imagination and he crosses over to the real world in search of author Crockett Johnson. The film has an appropriately light and whimsical tone. Harold and the Purple Crayon is intended to be family entertainment and it’s unapologetic about that. To that end, the picture benefits from its cast who are game for the wacky tone. Zachary Levi previously starred as the child-in-a-man’s-body superhero in the Shazam! films and he replicates that energy here. Levi’s enthusiasm carries the film through its flimsy narrative. Lil Rel Howery and Tanya Reynolds play Harold’s companions Moose and Porcupine and Howery and especially Reynolds are a lot of fun to watch, throwing themselves into the conceit.
What Doesn’t: Harold and the Purple Crayon is as inspired by Crockett Johnson’s book as it is by the Christmas movie Elf and it borrows a lot of elements from the 2003 film. Both pictures are about a man-child who goes looking for his family and whose enthusiasm and earnestness are an antidote to cynicism; the cast even includes Zooey Deschanel playing a similar character. As inspirations go, Elf is a good one but the similarities are so baldfaced that Harold and the Purple Crayon comes awful close to plagiarism. That’s a problem for a movie claiming to be an ode to imagination and creativity. Where this film pales in comparison to Elf is its lack of focus or meaning. The story begins with Harold trying to find his creator but that motive gets lost. The character and the movie turn sullen for a bit when Harold discovers the truth about himself and the world but the movie doesn’t do anything with that revelation. That’s part of a fundamental shortcoming of Harold and the Purple Crayon. The moviemakers want to inspire the audience but there’s just nothing to it. Many of the best children’s stories carry an emotional wallop and convey something true about the world. Harold and the Purple Crayon plays as an adult distortedly remembering childhood through a sentimental lens. The filmmaker’s determination to be unrelentingly wholesome shaves off any meaning or gravitas.
Bottom Line: Harold and the Purple Crayon intends to be heartwarming and inspire its audience but that requires the filmmakers to say something meaningful. The filmmakers confuse childishness for earnestness and the movie is a somewhat entertaining diversion but nothing more than that.
Episode: #1009 (August 18, 2024)