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Harold and the Purple Crayon (film)

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Harold and the Purple Crayon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCarlos Saldanha
Screenplay by
  • David Guion
  • Michael Handelman
Based onHarold and the Purple Crayon
by Crockett Johnson
Produced byJohn Davis
Starring
Narrated byAlfred Molina
CinematographyGabriel Beristain
Edited by
Music byBatu Sener
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release dates
  • July 21, 2024 (2024-07-21) (Culver City)
  • August 2, 2024 (2024-08-02) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[2]
Box office$29.2 million[3][4]

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a 2024 American fantasy comedy film directed by Carlos Saldanha (in his live-action feature-length directorial debut) from a screenplay by David Guion and Michael Handelman, based on the 1955 children's book by Crockett Johnson. Combining live-action and animation, the film stars Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Benjamin Bottani, Jemaine Clement, Tanya Reynolds, Alfred Molina, and Zooey Deschanel. It serves as a sequel to the original book, with Harold growing up with his magical purple crayon. After he draws himself off the book's pages and into the physical world, Harold finds that he has a lot to learn about real life.

Produced by John Davis through Davis Entertainment in association with TSG Entertainment, the film premiered at Culver City in Los Angeles on July 21, 2024, and was released in the United States by Columbia Pictures through Sony Pictures Releasing on August 2. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed $29.2 million against a $40 million production budget.

Plot

[edit]

Harold, a young boy who lives inside of a book, can make anything come to life simply by drawing it with the help of a magic purple crayon, such as his two friends Moose and Porcupine.

When Harold grows up, the narrator, whom he refers to as "old man", mysteriously disappears one day. Harold decides to draw a door into the real world to go and look for him. Moose follows, with Porcupine getting left behind for a short while before being separated from the other two in the real world. Harold draws a bike that he and Moose, now a human, ride to look for the old man, who Harold believes is his father. Terri, the mother of an imaginative boy named Mel, accidentally hits Harold and Moose with her car. Terri finds a puncture in her right front tire, to which Harold draws a new one while she is not looking, much to her confusion. Mel convinces Terri to let Harold and Moose stay for the night in a room above her garage. That night, Mel secretly invites Harold downstairs and the two bond. Harold breaks off part of his crayon and gives it to Mel.

The next day, Terri informs Harold and Moose that they have to leave while Mel goes to school. When the two do leave, Mel secretly joins them to help look for Harold's father. The three go to a library where they meet Gary Natwick, a librarian who is struggling to pitch his idea for a fantasy novel and has a secret crush on Terri. The three ask Gary if he can locate Harold's father on a computer, but they find no results due to their information on him being too vague. When the three leave, Harold draws a plane and uses contrails to display Terri's phone number in the sky, asking "old man" to call the number. Gary sees Harold draw the plane and recognizes the book he came from. After Terri receives several calls at work from strangers, she then receives a call from the school that Mel was involved in a bullying incident and must return home immediately. Harold and Moose find Terri at work; the latter of whom assigns the duo with filling in for her by moving boxes in the storage room. The two quickly grow bored and enter the shopping area to help in other ways. They cause chaos, which results in Terri getting fired, though she soon gets over it due to hating the job.

Harold, Moose, Terri and Mel walk into the town square, where Harold draws a piano for Terri to play, as she is an aspiring pianist. Afterwards, Gary meets up with Harold and Moose and shows them the book they came from. Harold sees the author's name on the cover and realizes that the "old man" he was searching for is named Crockett Johnson. Soon after, Harold and Moose reunite with Porcupine, who is tackled by cops due to having previously broken into a house and stolen a leather jacket. The three are arrested, but quickly break out when Harold draws a wrecking ball to break the prison wall. Later on, Porcupine drives them on a motorcycle to Johnson's house, only to find that he has died. Harold is distraught and everything he drew begins to fade away, including Moose and Porcupine.

Alone, Harold soon meets up with Gary, who convinces Harold to give him the crayon. Gary uses the crayon to imprison Harold in his office and cosplay himself as a warrior from his fantasy novel. Mel arrives, but is quickly imprisoned too. He frees himself and Harold using the crayon piece Harold gave him, restoring everything Harold drew. They encounter Gary in the town square, who is using the crayon to create his fantasy world. Harold and Gary fight for the whole crayon, but Gary swallows Harold's crayon piece and absorbs its power, using his hands to transform the grass into molten lava. Mel uses his imaginary creature Carl, whom he drew earlier at school in a desperate situation, along with a spider-fly hybrid to help make Gary spit out the crayon. Everything returns to normal, and Harold draws Gary a door to the world from his novel so he can live out his fantasy. Gary enters before the door is burnt down by Carl.

Afterward, Harold, Moose, Porcupine, Terri and Mel visit a museum of Johnson's work. After Harold discovers why he was created in a note left by Johnson, he, Moose and Porcupine return to their world, with Mel handing Harold a pack of Crayola multi-colored crayons when saying goodbye.

Cast

[edit]
  • Zachary Levi as Harold, a man who has a purple crayon which makes whatever he draws come to life
  • Lil Rel Howery as Moose, a moose who is one of Harold's friends and becomes human in the real world
  • Benjamin Bottani as Mel, a boy who befriends Harold
  • Zooey Deschanel as Terri, Mel's widowed mother, who is skeptical of Harold's imagination
  • Jemaine Clement as Gary Natwick, a librarian who gets a hold of a piece of Harold's crayon in order to bring his misunderstood fantasy novel to life.
  • Tanya Reynolds as Porcupine, a porcupine who is one of Harold's friends and becomes human in the real world
  • Alfred Molina as the Narrator / Crockett Johnson, Harold's creator, whom Harold and his friends refer to as "the old man"
  • Ravi Patel as Prasad, the manager of an Ollie's where Terri works
  • Camille Guaty as Junior Detective Silva
  • Pete Gardner as Detective Love
  • Seth Robbins as Oscar
  • Elizabeth Becka as Ms. Barnaby, Crockett Johnson's former caretaker and widow

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]

In 1992, John B. Carls formed the family-film production company, Wild Things Productions, with Maurice Sendak, writer and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are. They acquired rights to other children's books, including Harold and the Purple Crayon, whose author, Crockett Johnson, was a mentor to Sendak. Sendak and Denise Di Novi were producers.[5] In 1994, Michael Tolkin was brought in to write the script and Henry Selick was attached to direct, but Selick moved on to James and the Giant Peach for Walt Disney Pictures. Carls picked Spike Jonze to develop the film, a combination of live action and animation. David O. Russell was brought in to help with rewrites.[6] Multiple screenplays, casting, storyboards, and animation work started, but Jonze had to abandon the project after more than a year of working on it when new management at TriStar Pictures stopped it, two months before principal photography was to begin.[7][8][9][10][11]

In February 2010, it was reported that Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment were developing an animated film adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon, to be produced by Smith and James Lassiter and written by Josh Klausner.[11][12] In December 2016, it was reported that the film would also be written by Dallas Clayton.[13]

Resurgence

[edit]

On February 1, 2021, it was reported that Zachary Levi would star in the film,[14] though it was initially not stated what role he would play at that time, except that the film would now be a combination of live-action and animation. It was also announced that Carlos Saldanha was attached to direct the new film and that David Guion and Michael Handelman replaced Klausner and Clayton as screenwriters, with John Davis producing through his Davis Entertainment banner. Lil Rel Howery was announced as part of the cast on January 11, 2022.[15] Zooey Deschanel and Ravi Patel were added in February 2022.[16][17] Camille Guaty was cast on March 1, 2022.[18] Tanya Reynolds and Pete Gardner joined in May 2022.[19][20] In January 2024, it was revealed that Jemaine Clement had joined the cast, reuniting with Saldanha after having previously voiced Nigel in Rio (2011) and its sequel, Rio 2 (2014),[21] while Alfred Molina was revealed to be the narrator.

Around the beginning of 2022, live-action filming took place in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.[22][23][24] Gabriel Beristain served as the cinematographer.[25]

Post-production

[edit]

Tia Nolan and Mark Helfrich serve as editors for the film.[26][27]

Visual effects

[edit]

The visual effects were provided by Rising Sun Pictures, Folks VFX, Framestore, Soho VFX, Opsis, Clear Angle Studio, Spin VFX, Nexodus and Mammal Studios, while the 2D animated sequences were provided by Bent Image Lab. The end credits animation was provided by Plucky.

Music

[edit]

In February 2023, Batu Sener, who previously provided additional music to films composed by Saldanha's frequent collaborator John Powell, was announced to be composing the film's score.[28] The full score was released on August 2, 2024, alongside an original single titled "Colors", performed by Boots Ottestad and Jordy Searcy, which plays during the film's closing credits.

Harold and the Purple Crayon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)[29]

Music by Batu Sener

  1. The Crayon Overture (3:44)
  2. The Real World (2:02)
  3. Our Old Man (1:39)
  4. Crash Biking (1:56)
  5. Help Each Other (2:34)
  6. Pursuits and Pies (2:27)
  7. Library Gary (1:58)
  8. Take to the Skies (1:55)
  9. Who's Your Daddy? (1:57)
  10. Ollie's Adventure (1:53)
  11. Hungarian Rhapsody (1:13)
  12. Pure Imagination (2:12)
  13. Escaping Bars (1:21)
  14. Closet of Whistles (1:20)
  15. No More Purple (5:07)
  16. Bottomless Pit (3:03)
  17. Believe in Yourself (2:25)
  18. Duel of the Crayons (8:52)
  19. More than Purple (3:38)
  20. Glaive of G'Garaur (0:59)
  21. The Crayon Suite (6:18)
  22. Harold's Theme (Solo Piano) [Bonus Track] (1:20)
  23. Crayon Tune (Solo Piano) [Bonus Track] (1:16)

Release

[edit]

Harold and the Purple Crayon was released in theaters on August 2, 2024.[30] It was originally scheduled to be released on January 27, 2023,[31] and June 30, 2023.[32]

Home media

[edit]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on digital download on August 27,[33] and on Blu-ray and DVD on October 8.[34]

In April 2021, Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window and included Harold and the Purple Crayon. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.[35]

The Netflix move would prove somewhat ironic in this film's case, as several news outlets, most notably Bloomberg News, reported in October 2024 that Sony had attempted to sell the film directly to the streamer, in a manner similar to such reports for Sony's Holmes and Watson when they had previously attempted to do so in 2018; it was reported that the offer was made out of concerns from Sony that the film would have their intended family audience usurped by rival releases Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 (which were admittedly justified, as both films ultimately far outgrossed Harold). Much like the Holmes attempt, Netflix refused, choosing to focus more on in-house projects and their distribution window deals at that time.[36][37]

Marketing

[edit]

The first teaser posters were released on March 13, 2024, confirming that Harold would be played by Levi and that the character, originally a child, would be portrayed as a grown man in the film.[38] A trailer for the film was released on March 20, 2024.[39] On June 25, 2024, Crayola partnered with Sony Pictures UK for a competition to find specially wrapped purple crayons hidden in packs of the 24-count crayons. The winner will be flown off on a family holiday to New York City and taken to the Crayola Experience as part of their prize.[40]

Reception

[edit]

Box office

[edit]

As of October 3, 2024, Harold and the Purple Crayon has grossed $17.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $11.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $29.2 million.[3][4] This ultimate meant the film failed to recover its reported $40 million budget, becoming a box office bomb. Deadline Hollywood writer Anthony D'Alessandro suggested the reasons for the film's failure, besides its competitors and poor reviews, was the intellectual property in general being too old for most moviegoers, as well as too young for most non-family audiences, leaving the film with a very small target audience; he further suggested it was also because the "low budget, zany-fantastical formula of old kids IP" that Sony Pictures had previously done with Peter Rabbit and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, in his opinion, was considered "old hat" by audiences by that time.

In the United States and Canada, Harold and the Purple Crayon was released alongside Trap, and was projected to gross $5–6 million from 3,325 theaters in its opening weekend. Its release date caused the film to face competition with Deadpool & Wolverine and Trap, the latter which was released the same day, as well as the aforementioned competition with Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4, which were released earlier in the summer.[41] The film made $2.4 million on its first day, going on to debut to $6 million, finishing sixth at the box office.[42]

Critical response

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 26% of 72 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "A high-concept treatment that misses out on the blissful simplicity of its source material, Harold and the Purple Crayon is a tribute to imagination that's content to only color inside the lines."[43] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 34 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[44] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 70%, with 46% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[42]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Harold and the Purple Crayon (PG)". BBFC. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  2. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 31, 2024). "Deadpool & Wolverine To Best Passion Of The Christ As Highest Grossing U.S. R-Rated Movie Ever; Trap To Lock $15M-$20M; Harold And The Purple Crayon Light – Box Office Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Harold and the Purple Crayon – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Harold and the Purple Crayon". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  5. ^ "The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 23, 1995 · Page 138". Newspapers.com. July 23, 1995. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  6. ^ Waxman, Sharon (February 19, 2013). Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-228750-2.
  7. ^ Premiere. [American Ed.] 1995-05: Vol 8 Iss 9. Hachette Filipacchi Magazines. May 1995.
  8. ^ Fleming, Charles (October 23, 2005). "A Wild Rumpus in the Hollywood Jungle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Knafo, Saki (September 2, 2009). "Bringing 'Where the Wild Things Are' to the Screen". New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  10. ^ "Spike Jonze's abandoned movie 'Harold & The Purple Crayon'". June 3, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Shrek the Third Screenwriter Adapting Harold and the Purple Crayon?". /Film. February 25, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  12. ^ Rowles, Dustin (February 25, 2010). "Exclusive: Harold and the Purple Crayon Headed to the Big Screen". Pajiba. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  13. ^ Emily J (December 7, 2016). "Dallas Clayton Tapped to Pen "Harold and the Purple Crayon" Adaptation (Exclusive)". The Tracking Board. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  14. ^ Pearson, Ben (February 2, 2021). "'Harold And The Purple Crayon' Movie Will Star Zachary Levi". /Film. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  15. ^ Kroll, Justin (January 11, 2022). "Lil Rel Howery Joins Zachary Levi In Sony's Adaptation Of 'Harold And The Purple Crayon'". Deadline. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  16. ^ Galuppo, Mia (February 9, 2022). "Zooey Deschanel Joins Sony's Live-Action 'Harold and the Purple Crayon' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  17. ^ Kroll, Justin (February 23, 2022). "Ravi Patel Joins Sony's Adaptation Of 'Harold And The Purple Crayon'". Deadline. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  18. ^ Grobar, Matt (March 1, 2022). "Louise Lombard Joins 'Oppenheimer'; 'Harold And The Purple Crayon' Adds Camille Guaty". Deadline. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  19. ^ Grobar, Matt (May 2, 2022). "Tanya Reynolds Joins 'Harold And The Purple Crayon'; 'The Throwback' Adds Gregg Sulkin". Deadline. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  20. ^ Grobar, Matt (May 9, 2022). "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's Pete Gardner Joins Harold and the Purple Crayon; Paramount+'s Finestkind Adds Charlie Thurston". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 18, 2024). "Kate McKinnon & Jemaine Clement Join Jason Momoa 'Minecraft' Gang At Warner Bros". Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  22. ^ Cho, Winston (March 16, 2022). "Hollywood Silent So Far on Georgia's "Don't Say Gay" Bill Proposal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  23. ^ "Amy Adams Gets Into Character While Filming in the U.K., Plus Camila Cabello, Jared Leto and More". PEOPLE. March 30, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  24. ^ Ho, Rodney. "What's filming in Georgia in January 2022?". Atlanta Journal-Constitutio. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  25. ^ Bentz, Adam (February 2, 2021). "Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)". Screen Rant. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  26. ^ "Tia Nolan, ACE" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  27. ^ "Harold and the Purple Crayon". Company3. 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  28. ^ "Batu Sener Scoring Carlos Saldanha's 'Harold and the Purple Crayon'". Film Music Reporter. February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  29. ^ "Harold and the Purple Crayon Soundtrack Album Details".
  30. ^ Grobar, Matt (May 16, 2023). "Sony Pushes 'Harold And The Purple Crayon' And 'They Listen' To 2024, Sets Dates For 'My Ex-Friend's Wedding,' 'Horrorscope' And 'Psycho-Pass: Providence'". Deadline. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  31. ^ Pedersen, Erik (September 10, 2021). "Sony Sets Dates For Whitney Houston & George Foreman Biopics, Two Others; 'Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile' On The Move". Deadline. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  32. ^ Grobar, Matt (October 20, 2022). "'Harold And The Purple Crayon' Release Date Pushed Back By Sony". Deadline. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  33. ^ @WhenToStream (August 26, 2024). "HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON (2024) Streaming: August 27, 2024 VOD/Digital (Apple, Amazon, Google, etc.)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  34. ^ @HighDefDiscNews (August 27, 2024). "HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON is coming to Blu-ray Disc on October 8 via @SonyPicsHomeEnt. It's now available for preorder on Amazon. #Bluray #PhysicalMedia #HaroldAndThePurpleCrayon" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  35. ^ Couch, Aaron (April 21, 2021). "Sony Films Will Move to Disney After Netflix Window Expires". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  36. ^ The New Netflix Strategy: Make Better Movies
  37. ^ Not Even Netflix Wanted to Buy This 2024 Box Office Bomb
  38. ^ Peralta, Diego (March 13, 2024). "Harold Is All Grown Up in the First Posters for 'Harold and the Purple Crayon'". Collider. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  39. ^ Hipes, Patrick (March 20, 2024). "'Harold And The Purple Crayon' Trailer: The Kid Doesn't Stay In The Picture In Movie Version Of Classic Children's Book". Deadline. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  40. ^ Tonks, Caroline (June 25, 2024). "Crayola teams up with Sony ahead of new movie release". Licensing.biz. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  41. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 31, 2024). "'Deadpool & Wolverine' To Best 'Passion Of The Christ' As Highest Grossing U.S. R-Rated Movie Ever; 'Trap' To Lock $15M-$20M; 'Harold And The Purple Crayon' Light – Box Office Preview". Deadline. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  42. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 4, 2024). "'Deadpool & Wolverine' Fierce $97M Second Weekend, 'Trap' Traps $15M+, 'Harold & The Purple Crayon' Erased – Sunday Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  43. ^ "Harold and the Purple Crayon". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 10, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  44. ^ "Harold and the Purple Crayon". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
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