I’ll be the first to admit it: When I read that Crockett Johnson’s 1955 book Harold and the Purple Crayon, a book I read growing up and read to my kids, was getting the movie treatment, I was… dubious. Not because I don’t love the story of the intrepid toddler in footy pajamas who colors entire worlds into existence with his purple crayon, but because the titular toddler in the new film would be played by an adult: Shazam star Zachary Levi.
And don’t get me wrong; I love Levi. But how was this going to work? What kind of time jump were we looking at here? So, I took the two toughest movie critics I know with me to see Harold and the Purple Crayon: my kids, Blue, 13, and Bowen, 11.
The movie starts by setting up the backstory. After all, Harold is now a fully grown adult, and fans need a little context for that evolution. The minute Harold and his 2D pals, Moose (Lil Rel Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds), cross over into the 3D world, though, the pace picks up considerably.
The gist: For his entire life, Harold has enjoyed conversing daily with The Narrator. But when that omniscient entity goes silent, Harold assumes he must be in the real world and draws himself off the book’s pages so he can go search for his father figure. A very wary Moose tags along, turning from 2D animated animal form into a human, and although Porcupine gets stuck at first, she makes it over, too.
Armed with his trusty magic crayon, Harold tackles the real world with the same seemingly unflappable optimism and creativity he’s known for… but he soon discovers he has a lot to learn. He gets help along the way from a young boy named Mel (Benjamin Bottani), who recently lost his dad, and Mel’s mom, Terry (Zooey Deschanel, who my Elf-obsessed kids were so excited to see).
As a mother, I loved the messages of the movie, like the beauty of imagination and the importance of kindness. My kids loved the characters (Porcupine was Blue’s favorite, while Bo liked Harold the most because “he could draw anything”) and 100% wish they had an imaginary-turned-real-life friend like the creature Carl.
They thought the movie was funny, “very cute,” happy, “also sad some,” and that “the effects were very good.” By the end, we had laughed, gotten emotional, and even audibly gasped a few times when something surprised us. My kids are already hoping for a follow-up because they want more backstory on Moose, Porcupine, and the 2D world.
So, yeah, consider my family fans. I think the audience sweet spot is probably tweens, and it was unexpectedly nice to go see a movie with my kids that was just fun and funny and wholesome. While I can see cynics having something to say about the movie, I’m much more of a “but did we like it?” moviegoer than a “what did the critics say?” type.
If you’re still on the fence about taking your crew to go see Harold and the Purple Crayon, let the super-charming cast help make the decision for you. Here are a few highlights from my delightfully off-the-rails interview with Deschanel and Howery.
Scary Mommy: If you had a magic crayon, do you think you’d use it totally for good, or would you maybe indulge a little in your darker side, like movie villain Gary?
Lil Rel Howery: I think we don’t like to say it, but you would want to do a selfish world, where whatever that world is, it’s just your world. So, if I did have a crayon, it would be drawing myself as a Jedi … I know that sounds very random.
Zooey Deschanel: I don’t think that’s to anyone else’s detriment. We are all gaining something. If you’re a Jedi, I’m in.
LRH: I think about being a Jedi way too much.
SM: You’ll get no judgment from me because I would draw myself a vault full of coins and Scrooge McDuck all day long.
ZD: Oh, yeah. I would love coins I could swim in.
LRH: It’s so dangerous, the real version of diving into tons of coins.
ZD: Did you watch DuckTales?
LRH: Yeah.
ZD: Well, that was my favorite show. I loved that show.
LRH: I had a grown thought one day. I was watching the intro — this is actually not too long ago — and I was like, ‘Wow, that looks so fun.’ But I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa… those are pounds and pounds of coins.’ It’s metal, right? There’s no way.
ZD: I’m jumping into it face first.
SM: In general, are you the type to color outside the lines or in?
LRH: I’m definitely outside the lines.
ZD: Outside, yeah … sometimes you have to add a little shade, something different. I don’t want to be controlled by the lines. It’s more fun.
LRH: Not when the teacher’s grading you.
ZD: Yeah, when the teacher’s grading you, you’re inside the lines. But I was laughing with my kids — they got these menus at a restaurant, and it was a picture of people eating at the restaurant and they turned everyone into vampires. They’re all monsters and these ones are vampires, and they’re eating blood. I was like, This is the way it should be.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
