Imagination Comes to Life in HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON

Published: August 2, 2024

Imagination Comes to Life in HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON

By Movieguide® Contributor

Director Carlos Saldanha sat down with Movieguide®’s Evy Carroll to share how creativity and learning go hand-in-hand in his new movie, HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON.

“I read the books to my kids when they were young,” Saldanha told Carroll. “And I loved the simplicity and the power of the message…if you draw your life to what you need…you can do something with it, you know? So I thought that that was a great superpower, you know, if I had a magic crayon kind of vibe.”

“And so then when we created this character, because the story, you know, the live-action version of it is a grown Harold, but a grown Harold in a world where he didn’t have to experience….the harsh realities of everyday life, you know, feelings that he’d never had,” Saldanha explained. “And I thought that that was a great message to see, like, how you can learn, how can you adapt and how you can, you know, deal with it. Even having a crayon, you don’t solve all your problems; you kind of have to solve yourself. In that lesson, I thought it was very important. And I wanted to carry [it] through in this movie.”

Saldanha has been creating his whole life. When he was little, he would draw things and imagine what it would be like if his creations were real. In a way, making HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON expresses his experience.

“Making my living, like, with animation, with creating movies and making movies…was always something that I felt was possible, and you do tend to lose a little bit of imagination when you grow older,” he said. “You tend to lose that side of it. And I tried to keep it alive all the time.”

He tries to hold onto his imagination because it helps to solve real-life problems.

“I think that it’s important to be able to imagine or to imagine scenarios, or to create scenarios that would help you find the path for solving your problems. I think that’s part of not only growing up but just keeping your balance in your life. And I think that that was always super important to me,” the director said.

Saldanha has worked as an animator, producer and director. He helped create all of the ICE AGE movies, RIO and RIO 2, FERDINAND and many other productions.

When he creates, he always keeps kids in mind.

“I started animating before I had children, but I always thought about them, you know, I always thought about myself to my inner child kind of like, who wishes to make it happen,” he told Movieguide®. “…then when I started to make my movies, I thought that…it’s a good thing to be able to create something that you can share with your family, you can share with your kids, you know. Like, so I thought that this would be a good thing for them to be a part of, and since then, they’ve been my greatest fans, you know, they’ve been always excited.”

In the movie, Harold is in search of his creator, which turns out to be a big adventure.

“I love the fact that he goes out on a mission,” Saldanha said. “You know, I mentioned that he doesn’t know much about it because it involves feelings that he had never had to deal with…The reward of the mission is not so much the destination like when he gets there, that’s like the harsh reality, but, but the process of going through it, you know, when he meets new people, he makes new friends, he goes through obstacles to solve some problems he gets, that is the learning.”

“Like that’s the journey — that he learned how to at the end, cope to what he just discovered, you know, when he looks for the person that he, you know, for him is the most important, he understands that…life could be finite, you know, that there is something there, but it’s what you make out of that life. [That’s] what matters,” he explained, “how you deal with everyday life is actually what matters.”

Saldanha is happy with his movie and pleased that he helped create a product that everyone, young and old, can enjoy together.

“It’s nice to have a family movie that’s just, you know, purely just fun and not too much, you know, hardships in it,” Carroll commented.

Saldhana agreed, saying, “We get a lot of that in real life. Alright, let’s draw this one differently.”

Zooey Deschanel, who plays a single mom named Terry in the movie, was also happy with its lightness and how the production turned out.

She said, “I was really pleased at how they took that story and stretched it out and made it into something really fun that’s more cinematic for the screen.”

Part of Movieguide®’s review of the movie reads:

HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON is a comical fantasy for all audiences. Harold lives in the pages of a book. He wonders where he came from as he grows older. The narrator tells Harold that he created him. The narrator says he lives in “the real world.” So, Harold uses his magical purple crayon to draw a door to the Real World. Harold and his friend, Moose, enter the real world and go on an adventure to find Harold’s creator. When they meet Terry and her son, Mel, they make fast friends. Terry and Mel decide to help Harold. Will Harold find the narrator?

HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON is fun and entertaining. It has silly, enjoyable, funny, and heartwarming moments. The movie has a strong moral worldview. Harold is a positive, loving character. He treats everyone with kindness. He’s also looking for his creator to help him with his identity and purpose. So, HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON has some nice biblical allusions. These biblical allusions offer parents a great chance to talk openly with their children about God and Jesus.

HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON just hit theaters today, Aug. 2.