Harold and the Purple Crayon

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Harold and the Purple Crayon
• a review of Harold and the Purple Crayon completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 10 September 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Harold (Zachary Levi) is an adventurous character inside a storybook who can create anything he likes, simply by imagining it and drawing it with his purple crayon. When he draws himself into the real world, taking with him his two close friends Moose (Lil Rel Howery), who turns into a man, and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds) who turns into a woman, Harold sets out on an adventure he couldn’t have imagined. Harold is determined to find his ‘old man’ who created him.

While riding along on a tandem bicycle, Harold and Moose are hit by a car driven by Terry (Zooey Deschanel). Terry’s son Mel (Benjamin Bottani) is a passenger and insists on taking Harold and Moose in until they can find their ‘old man’. This proves to be a much more difficult task than Harold had realised. They ask for help from a librarian called Gary (Jemaine Clement) who is a would-be fantasy writer and is in love with Terry. When Gary realises the power of the purple crayon, he is determined to get his dastardly hands on it and use it for selfish reasons.

Fantasy; Power of imagination; Good versus Evil.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• An old man hits Harold with his walking stick.
• Harold rides his bicycle amongst the traffic, causing an accident resulting in Harold and Moose falling off the bicycle.
• Mel draws a spider with the crayon, which is rather aggressive and eats a butterfly.
• Another old man throws Harold over his shoulders.
• Some bullies threaten Mel, who hits back causing one of the boys to have a bloody nose.
• Mayhem breaks out in a store, with items on shelves knocked off and a puma appears to be attacking something in its paws. A fire eventually starts and the store has to be evacuated.
• Porcupine runs amok in a café and is trapped by two of the staff. She runs away and is knocked down by a police woman.
• The bullies threaten Mel again, steal his whistle and lock him in a store cupboard.
• Carl, a small flying dragon, knocks down the school principal.
• Porcupine drives a four seated motorbike all over the road, nearly causing Gary to crash his car.
• Gary chains Harold and Mel to a wall. Gary then draws a large circle on the ground, causing it to disintegrate. Gary takes off on a horse drawn carriage but gets knocked off the horse by ropes. He then draws an axe and throws it at Harold who stops its momentum with a log. Gary and Harold then throw a huge rock at each other, which knocks Gary out.
• Gary makes a huge spear which he thrusts into the ground, turning it purple and then into fire.
• Carl burns Gary by breathing on him. Gary then throws a chain at Carl, knocking him to the ground.
• Moose, as a moose, smashes into Gary.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• The spider is quite a scary-looking creature, which can fly.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Moose changes from a man to a moose a few times when he’s frightened.
• Mel’s dad has recently died and he’s worried about his mum who’s always stressed. He just wants her to be happy.
• The spider frightens Terry on one occasion.
• Harold flies a plane with Moose and Mel in it. He nearly crashes into a mountain and they all have to eject from the plane. They land wrapped up in a parachute.
• A woman is seen being wheeled out on a stretcher with a neck brace on.
• Harold stops believing in magic and everything he created goes back to normal. Moose and Porcupine disappear.
• Gary swallows the crayon and his body starts to glow. His hands turn purple and contain the magic of the crayon – he creates a huge cloud of purple smoke. He laughs manically.
• Gary’s world is full of fire and molten embers.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

• Harold is really sad when he learns that Crockett Johnson, his ‘old man’, is dead. Mel tells him it’s just like his dad.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Coca Cola
• Twisters.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Reference to ‘masculine nipples’.
• Harold tells Gary he stayed the night at Terry’s house.
• Gary suggestively says he’ll be Harold’s old man if Terry will be his old lady.

Nudity and sexual activity

• None noted.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Oh my God
• Pooped my pants
• Name calling, such as, morons and dumb.

In a nutshell

Harold and the Purple Crayon is based on the classic book of the same name by Crockett Johnson. The film is a fantasy adventure story with lots of good messages, however, some of the scenes are quite scary, which makes it unsuitable for under 7’s and parental guidance is recommended for 7 to 8-year-olds.

The main messages from this movie are to believe in yourself; and that with a little imagination you can make your life whatever you want it to be.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Courage
• Curiosity
• Loyalty
• Teamwork
• Friendship
• Empathy
• Kindness to strangers.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• The difference between real life and fantasy. Imagination is important but this has to be balanced with possibility.