Harold and the Purple Crayon – REVIEW

As a child growing up in the ’60s, I vividly remember the magic and wonder of Harold and the Purple Crayon. The book was a staple in my elementary school library, and I would often find myself lost in the world that young Harold created with his simple tool. So, imagine my excitement when I heard about the live-action adaptation!

In the United States, one of the beloved children’s books among young readers is Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. This story revolves around a boy who can bring anything into existence merely by drawing it with his magical purple crayon. The concept is intriguing and is initially presented in an engagingly animated prologue, narrated by an old man, accompanied by Harold’s animal companions, Moose and Porcupine. As he grows older, Harold creates a doorway using his crayon, stepping through it to explore the real world.

In the real world, Zachery Levi plays Harold as an innocently bewildered young man, marveling at a reality where his magical crayon continues to function. Initially meeting skepticism from the public, given that he’s a wide-eyed stranger carrying a purple crayon in a park, it’s not surprising if he ends up detained by police. Accompanying him through a hand-drawn gateway is Moose, now transformed into Lil Tel Howery. They narrowly escape being run over by Terry (Zooey Deschanel), a single mother of Mel (Benjamin Bottani). Moved by their search for an old man, Mel and his mother offer them shelter in their spare room for the night.

In a cartoonish universe, a porcupine named Tanya Reynolds (formerly unidentified) emerges from her animated existence, joining Harold and Moose in the real world. Transformed into a human, she’s baffled by her lack of opposable thumbs, much like Brooklyn Beckham might be, as she embarks on a spree of chaos to find her friends. However, her actions also catch the attention of the police. The movie could have been more engaging if it hadn’t separated Tanya from Harold and Moose. Instead, the plot gains traction with the entry of Jemaine Clement as Gary, a librarian with literary aspirations. He’s authored an unpublished young adult novel with an unwieldy title that becomes pivotal to the storyline. Gary is smitten by Terry, who shows no interest in him. Frustrated by publishers rejecting his manuscript, he discovers Harold’s magical purple crayon and devises a plan to steal it, intending to create his own fantasy world with Terry by his side.

A live action / animation hybrid would seem ideally suited to a feature film for such source material and there are several moments that work well most notably a kind of ‘draw-off’ battle between Harold and Gary creating weapons and devices to use against each other and had the potential to be something really great along the lines of Looney Tunes road runner cartoons buts its over too quickly. Zachery Levi would seem to be too old for the role of what starts off as an animated teen and Porcupine and Moose are largely superfluous to the whole story. Zooey Deschanel whose quirky on screen charm has never really been successfully capitalized on and she’s now of an age where mum roles are her future. It’s Jemaine Clement as the villain of the piece who is best but again another actor whose rarely had his talents fully utilized as they were in the comedy series ‘Flight of the Conchords’.

“The story of ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon’ becomes self-referential when Harold visits Crocket Johnson’s museum, but it becomes problematic when the movie seems more like an advertisement for books, which feels inappropriate for a children’s film. If there’s a sequel, the producers should reconsider their approach.”

Here’s the Harold and the Purple Crayon trailer……

2024-08-01 02:23

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