Harold and the Purple Crayon: Explodes From Storybook to Silverscreen

Harold And The Purple Crayon Library Of Congress Clips And Conversation With Zachary Levi And Zooey Deschanel

In 1955, Harold and the Purple Crayon was put on bookstore shelves. 69 years later, Crockett Johnson’s classic children’s book is released to theaters. As of today, August 27, 2024, it is also available for streaming. Currently, it is strictly available to purchase for $9.99, but this is monumental for children’s book adaptations. It’s a unique take on a concise book for children. It plays on nostalgia and reminds people of their innate ingenuity.

The Book

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Harold and the Purple Crayon is a book from 1955 that follows the main character, Harold, as he begins wandering around while holding on to his purple crayon. But the world is a blank page, and he draws everything to go on a massive adventure. The primary point of the book is to highlight imagination and the power of ingenuity in the face of adversity. A simple reminder that there is always something that you can do.

Movie Adaptation

Based on the book, it would be rather difficult to turn it into a full-length feature film. It’s remarkably short, with a max of three sentences on a page. The art of the book is simple as well. It’s primarily a white page, with only Harold in color. The only other color is the purple crayon used for the rudimentary art stylings of a child in footie pajamas.

The film is more of a continuation of the story than a true adaptation, though. In the film, Harold has grown up in his book world. He comes up with the idea of going to explore the real world. So Harold draws a door to the Real World and jumps through, landing himself in the middle of a park with his two companions, Moose and Porcupine. Plus the magic purple crayon, of course.

Harold, played by Zachary Levi, and his animal-turned-human friends Moose, played by Lil Rel Howery, and Porcupine, played by Tanya Reynolds, meet Terry, played by Zooey Deschanel,  and realize there is a lot more to life than they thought. Harold and the Purple Crayon follow the group on their hilarious hi-jinks because of Harold’s magic purple crayon, which still brings his drawn creations to life while teaching important lessons along the way.

Released to Stream

Harold and the Purple Crayon has a run time of just an hour and a half, finally ending the myriad of massively long films that have been hitting the big screen lately. It was released to theaters on August 2 and can still be found at a select few. 

The bigger news, however, is that Harold and the Purple Crayon has officially been released to streaming as of today, August 27, 2024. Harold and the Purple Crayon is not currently available on any subscription services for free yet, but it is available on Apple TV+, YouTube TV, Fandango at Home, and Google Play Movies & TV for $9.99.

Final Thoughts

While Harold and the Purple Crayon hasn’t had the greatest of critic reviews, it’s a fun romp through a nostalgia-ridden film. It adapts the original story to a much more modern audience and presents a lived-in world well. Quite frankly, it’s just straight-up fun. Although it’s not “high-brow art,” so to speak, it’s a wonderful escapist children’s movie that does what it set out to do: entertain children. The success of Harold and the Purple Crayon could mean more adaptations like this in the future.

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