Film review: Harold and the Purple Crayon is a sweet-natured and charming coming-of-age movie that explores the Big Questions

Zachary Levi stars in Harold and the Purple Crayon. Picture: Sony Pictures

• Harold and the Purple Crayon 
• ★★★★☆
• Cinematic release

Astrophysicists might argue the case for black holes, but young Harold knows that imagination is the most powerful force in the universe.

Harold and the Purple Crayon (G) stars Zachary Levi as Harold, whom we first meet as an animated small boy armed with a magic crayon that allows him to create his own reality.

When Harold grows up, however, he discovers that the Old Man who narrates his adventures has grown silent. And so, with his friends Moose (Lil Rey Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds) in tow, Harold ventures out into the real world to track down his creator.

Zooey Deschanel, Zachary Levi, Benjamin Bottani, and Lil Rel Howery in Harold and the Purple Crayon

Employing Crockett Johnson’s classic children’s stories (the first was published in 1955) as a springboard, Carlos Saldanha’s movie is aimed at a young audience, although adults are also welcome to tap into Harold’s metaphysical quest for the Old Man who first conjured him to life.

On the surface a whimsical and mildly zany account of a man-child who can convert his ideas into reality with a flourish of his purple crayon, the story’s more profound subtext becomes clear when Harold encounters the fatherless Mel (Benjamin Bottani), who has invented an imaginary friend to cope with his loss, much to the despair of his long-suffering mother (Zooey Deschanel).

The result is a sweet-natured and charming coming-of-age movie that explores the Big Questions — ‘what are we?’ ‘where did we come from?’ ‘where do we go?’ — that will appeal to children with vivid imaginations and adults who still cherish their inner child.