Aged-up picture book adaptation has peril, fight scenes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
Pratfalls and physical comedy gags as Harold, Moose, and Porcupine travel into the live-action world. They cause several mishaps and collisions. A woman and her son are in a car accident, but neither is hurt. Crayon use in a superstore causes lots of property destruction. Mel is bullied (pushed, mistreated). Using the crayon, Mel unleashes hybrid creatures on the kids who bully him. An administrator flees from the creatures. Gary's crayon-made creations include frightening, fire-breathing creatures that hurt Harold and his friends and threaten to seriously injure them. Prolonged fight between Gary and Harold. Terry is widowed, having lost her husband before the movie's action begins; her son, Mel, is still dealing with grief.
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A few suggestive comments that make it seem like Harold and Terry are dating (when they're actually completely platonic and Harold, who's somewhat a child at heart, doesn't express romantic inclinations). Gary expresses continued interest in Terry and tries to hug her and lure her back, but she doesn't reciprocate his feelings.
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Promotes creativity, courage, and teamwork. Recognizes the importance of strong friendships and honest parent-child relationships.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Terry is a loving, protective mother. Harold, Moose, and Porcupine are curious, brave, and kind. Mel is imaginative and loves his mother.
Diverse Representations
a little
Lead actors Zachary Levi, Zooey Deschanel, and Tanya Reynolds are White; co-star Lil Rel Howery is Black, and mixed-race actor Benjamin Bottani plays young Mel. The two supporting women characters have prominent roles and agency. The primary crew (director, screenwriters, producers, composer, cinematographer) consists mostly of men.
Parents need to know that Harold and the Purple Crayon is based on the popular same-named 1955 children's book. While the book version of Harold is a very young child, the movie transforms him into an animated, crayon-wielding adult (Zachary Levi), who uses his magic crayon to transport himself and his pals Moose (Lil Rel Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds) into the real world, where he meets a widowed mom (Zooey Deschanel) and her still-grieving son. Although the Harold books were appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers, this adaptation has a fair bit of action and some potentially frightening moments. A child is taunted and hurt by bullies, Harold's creations cause a fair bit of chaos and destruction, and there's a climactic fight sequence involving fire-breathing creatures. There are also a few jokey, suggestive comments that make it seem like Harold is romantically interested in another character, even though, in his innocent, child-like state, he has no romantic inclinations. The bullying scenes involve some harsh comments, but the movie also promotes creativity, courage, and teamwork. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
I took my five year old to see this one and she really enjoyed it. She laughed out loud often. There were a few off color jokes but they went over her head and they weren’t that bad. it was fun go see it!
What's the Story?
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON opens in full animation, with a narrator (Alfred Molina) explaining that Harold (Zachary Levi), the little boy of picture book fame, has grown into a man, alongside his faithful sidekicks, Moose (Lil Rel Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds). The narrator then tells Harold that there's life outside his story (where he can create anything with his titular crayon). When the narrator stops answering Harold's questions, Harold decides to draw a portal to the outside, which transports him and Moose to the real, live-action world. With Harold's trusty crayon in tow, Harold and Moose quickly try to adjust to humanity—but understandably wreak havoc. After helping Terry (Zooey Deschanel), widowed mom of Mel (Benjamin Bottani), Harold and Moose end up staying with the mother and son. But when Harold and Moose meet Terry's ex, librarian/aspiring writer Gary (Jemaine Clement), Gary discovers the truth and manipulates the guileless Harold, with dangerous consequences.
Despite the charming cast, beloved source material, and fantastical crayon creations, this adaptation can't quite secure its footing because of the aged-up main character. The comedic pratfalls and the conceit of the magical crayon remain appealing to younger viewers, but adults and teens may be put off by the entire notion of Harold as a grown-up man-child who could be perceived as the love interest for the widowed mother of a tween. There are some sweet moments between Harold and Mel—who's clearly still grieving his father's death and dealing with being bullied at school—and Deschanel is well cast as a mom struggling to help her son in the aftermath of her husband's death. Howery and Reynolds (who's somewhat underused, since Porcupine doesn't immediately follow Harold and Moose to the real world) are good comic relief, but neither they nor Clement's wacky evil librarian can fully save a movie that's unsure of its genre or target audience.
Although the movie's crayon creations are fun and imaginative, the premise of aging Harold ultimately doesn't work in a way that stays in keeping with the joy of the book, beyond the characters' curiosity and the magical crayon. Harold isn't quite a child stuck in a man's body, like in Big or Levi's own Shazam character. He's an animated adult version of a book character who's best known as a 4-year-old in pajamas. Kids may find Harold's Peter Pan-like nature amusing and will likely delight in Moose's physical humor, but the overall film is just OK.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Harold and the Purple Crayon's mix of animation and live action. Do you like this approach? Is it what you expected from a movie based on this story?
The movie was inspired by a series of children's picture books. Does watching it make you curious to read the books? If you've already read them, how does the movie compare?
What do you think of Harold being an adult? Does that change the story, which was originally about a little boy?
Do you consider Harold, Moose, and Porcupine role models? What character strengths do they display?
MPAA explanation:
mild action and thematic elements
Last updated:
August 27, 2024
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Sandie Angulo Chen
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
