I have vague recollections of reading books as a child, such as the works of Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, but I don’t recall Harold and the Purple Crayon.  I know of purple dinosaurs, Wiggles and Teletubbies… but not a crayon.  Perhaps it was an American thing?  The internet refers talks of a much-loved 1955 children’s picture book from American author Crockett Johnson.  It’s the tale of a 4-year-old boy who, powered by a magic purple crayon, can draw anything he wants and then make it come to life.

Director Carlos Saldanha has been a long-time fan of the material.  Firstly, he has children of his own and loves the theme of developing a strong imagination and using it to get yourself out of trouble.  Secondly, he has a successful career making animated feature films (Ice Age: The Meltdown, Rio, Ferdinand) and so he appreciates the importance of being able to draw at a young age.  When approached by the studio and asked to direct, it was an easy choice to sign up.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat and in this case, the writers have gone with a live-action interpretation.  Harold (Levi) resides within the confides of the book but, by drawing a door with his purple crayon, he transports himself into the real-life world that exists beyond its 64 pages.  He is accompanied by his two pet animals, a moose (Howery) and a porcupine (Reynolds), who are transformed into human form.

It’s a straight-forward narrative intended more for kids than adults.  During the first half, humour is derived from watching the naïve Harold adjust to a 3D world and its nuances.  He befriends a widowed mother (Deschanel) and her son (Bottani) who provide shelter and a short education.  To give Harold’s character arc more purpose, he goes in search of the book’s Jesus-like author to ask questions about his creation.

A villain is required, and he arrives in the form of Gary (Clement), a disgruntled librarian annoyed that publishers aren’t interested his own science-fiction manuscripts.  He wants to get his hands on the valuable purple crayon to transform the world in his own selfish ways.  What follows is a standard good versus evil tale which is kept simple and sanitised for the young children.

I know I’m not the target audience, but I expected more laughs and creativity.  The characters’ misadventures aren’t particularly interesting, and an opportunity has been missed given the source material.  There’s no standout amongst the cast with Zachary Levi portraying Harold as a silly goof (every emotion is overplayed) and the likes of Tanya Reynolds, as the porcupine-turned-human, relegated to a weird break-and-enter subplot. 

If looking to entertain the family over the upcoming school holidays, I’d go with the Australian-made Runt over this.