HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, US, 2024. Starring Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Zooey Deschanel, Benjamin Bottani, Tanya Reynolds, Jemaine Clement, Alfred Molina. Directed by Carlos Saldanha. 90 minutes. Rated PG (Mild fantasy themes)
Eagerness to see Harold and the Purple Crayon will depend on whether audiences grew up with Crockett Johnson’s classic story and illustrations (and his nine other books in the series as well as the television episodes). Those who do not know Johnson’s books, Harold began life in 1955 as a four-year-old, inhabiting a fantasy world where, if he needed or wanted something, he simply drew it, and there it was. However, in later books, he was an adult.
In this version, Harold is living a happy life, solving every need simply by drawing it with his crayon. He is accompanied by his close friends, Moose and Porcupine. It is a pleasant opening, an introduction into Harold’s world, his conversations, his listening to the voice of his creator, whom he calls Old Man (voiced by Molina), but with a desire to go out into what he calls ‘The Real World’.
And, out he goes, in the form of Zachary Levi. Soon after Moose emerges but in human form, played by comedian Howery. But it takes rather a longer time for Porcupine (Reynolds) who discovers her friends missing, but does not emerge in the real world anywhere close to them and spends a long time in the search. The clues are always purple.
And the purple crayon! Whenever Harold draws, it is with his beloved purple crayon. And, when he emerges into the real world, he simply puts his old talent into practice, drawing a purple bike, replacing a flat tire was a purple one, painting of a house, purple no limits – even later, a plane which flies through the city.
Harassed mother Teri (Deschanel) driving with her son, Mel (a likeable Bottani), an intelligent boy who has a secret invisible mini-dragon friend, crashes into Harold and Moose on their bike. This leads to a whole lot of adventures, searching for The Old Man, all kinds of funny and dangerous escapades and situations, and some villainy in the form of Jemaine Clement, a librarian who they think will be able to find The Old Man but, frustrated with his Game of Thrones-like novel not being accepted, steals the purple crayon for dastardly purposes.
The film will appeal to boys of Mel’s age, 13 and down. As regards adult audiences, parents, the difficulty is the character of Harold, a child in an adult’s body, uttering childlike (and childish) comments (and, for this reviewer, difficult because actor Levi has played the central role in the least liked superhero films, the two Shazams).
But, within the limits it sets itself and the limits for the age audience and identifying with Harold, it can be quite a nice pastime.
Sony
Released 12 September