After he grows up and draws himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world, Harold finds he has a lot to learn about real life—and that his trusty purple crayon may set off more hilarious hijinks than he thought possible.

When the power of unlimited imagination falls into the wrong hands, it will take all of Harold and his friends’ creativity to save both the real world and his own. Harold and the Purple Crayon is the first film adaptation of the beloved children’s classic that has captivated young readers for decades.

Directed by Carlos Saldanha and produced by John Davis, the live-action hybrid family adventure/comedy stars Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Benjamin Bottani, Jemaine Clement, Tanya Reynolds with Alfred Molina and Zooey Deschanel. The film’s screenplay is written by David Guion & Michael Handelman, based on the book by Crockett Johnson.
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Inside of his book, adventurous Harold (Zachary Levi) can make anything come to life simply by drawing it.

After he grows up and draws himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world, Harold finds he has a lot to learn about real life—and that his trusty purple crayon may set off more hilarious hijinks than he thought possible. When the power of unlimited imagination falls into the wrong hands, it will take all of Harold and his friends’ creativity to save both the real world and his own.

Harold and the Purple Crayon is the first film adaptation of the beloved children’s classic that has captivated young readers for decades.

Directed by Carlos Saldanha and produced by John Davis, the live-action hybrid family adventure/comedy stars Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Benjamin Bottani, Jemaine Clement, Tanya Reynolds with Alfred Molina and Zooey Deschanel.

The film’s screenplay is written by David Guion & Michael Handelman, based on the book by Crockett Johnson.
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Arriving over two decades after Douglas McGrath’s 1996 starring vehicle for Gwyneth Paltrow, this version by director Autumn de Wilde attempts to reintroduce the story to a new generation. It revolves around the life of the young daughter Emma, played by Anya Taylor-Joy (Peaky Blinders and Glass).

She is rich, spoiled and likes to bend the people around her to her will, this includes her somewhat bumbling father played by Bill Nighy. As she experiences a slowly emerging attraction for her neighbour George Knightley (Johnny Flynn), she has to rearrange the people around her to accomplish these goals.

Wealth and entitlement play pretty much the same regardless of the age and Emma is quite an unappealing character at the start of the film. The speech patterns and reserved emotional resonance of the day are also obstacles that need to be overcome. As Emma discovers the depth of her feelings, the changes make her more relatable and the movie more enjoyable. By film’s end you realise you might have misjudged her.

Rob Hudson
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