'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Harold and the Purple Crayon, the fantasy comedy film directed by Carlos Saldanha, was theatrically released in the United States on August 2, 2024. The screenplay of the film was written by David Guion and Michael Handelman, based on the 1955 children's book of the same name penned by Crockett Johnson.
The film combines live-action and animation to tell the story of the titular character and his magical purple crayon which can bring any drawn thing to life. Harold uses the crayon to leave his magical world and enter the real world. However, the real world is complicated and full of danger, just as the narrator had warned him it would be.
In the real world, Harold meets many people. Gary, a librarian and a failed fantasy writer is one of them. Towards the end of Harold and the Purple Crayon, Gary betrays Harold by using the latter’s crayon for selfish reasons. However, the protagonist, out of kindness, lets Gary enter the fantasy world he created in his books.
Trending
Read More: Harold and the Purple Crayon: Release date, cast, plot, and everything we know so far
Harold and the Purple Crayon ending: Gary turns into a villain but is forgiven
In Harold and the Purple Crayon, Harold and his friends, Moose and Porcupine, leave their magical world and enter the real world, transitioning from animation to live-action. They’re searching for the narrator, who has mysteriously vanished. Along the way, Harold befriends a young boy named Mel, who takes him and Moose to a library for help.
Gary is a librarian and a failed fantasy writer
In the library, Harold and the others come across Gary who is struggling to find publishers who would publish his long fantasy books with super-detailed world-building. They ask him if he knows anything about Harold’s creator. Initially, Gary is contemptuous of Harold.
However, Gary soon finds out about Harold’s magical power: he can draw anything with his purple crayon and that thing comes to life. After seeing this magic unfold with his own eyes, Gary tries to find ways to steal Harold’s crayon.
Read More: Harold and the Purple Crayon: Full list of cast
Gary pretends to help Harold
In order to get close to Harold, Gary shows him the book Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. Excited, the titular hero sets out to meet his maker, the narrator. However, upon arriving at his residence, he learns that Johnson passed away several days ago. That explains his disappearance from the magical world as well.
Dejected and suddenly devoid of any purpose, Harold is gripped by depression. Gary uses his despondent state to coax the crayon out of him. Then he goes on a rampage with the same.
Read More: Inside Out 2 officially becomes the highest-grossing animated movie of all time
Gary wants revenge
Gary uses the crayon to draw elements from his fantasy world in the real world itself. As a result, dangerous elements like volcanoes suddenly crop up in the real world and disrupt the lives of people. Gary sees this as revenge against people who have always ridiculed his works.
In the end, however, the combined force of Harold, Moose, Porcupine, and Carl, Mel’s pet, defeats Gary. Carl causes Gary to spit out the crayon that he had swallowed to fully get access to its powers. However, at the end of the film, Harold draws a gateway that leads Gary to his fantasy world.
Gary is grateful to Harold and, of course, and is elated to experience his life’s work. However, Carl destroys the gateway after Gary has entered it. Thus, the creator will forever be trapped inside his creation.
Read More: Top 10 Disney animated movies, ranked by Rotten Tomatoes scores
How does Harold and his friends change Mel and Terri’s lives?
Mel is a young boy who has been deeply saddened by his father’s demise. He is an imaginative child who likes to conjure up things in his mind to make up for the disappointments that life throws at him. For instance, he has an imaginative best friend called Carl.
In Harold and the Purple Crayon, Mel’s life changes when Harold gives him half of his crayon. With it, Mel brings his creations to life, including Carl, who plays a key role in the final battle against Gary. Meanwhile, Mel’s mother, Terri, initially skeptical, is inspired by Harold. He encourages her to leave her dull job and rediscover her passion for music, helping her see life differently.
What happens to Harold at the end of Harold and the Purple Crayon?
Towards the end of the film, Harold finds a letter from his creator, addressed to him. In the letter, Johnson says that Harold was created to teach children the power and magic of imagination, and he must inspire them to be creative and imaginative.
Reinvigorated with a new purpose, and finally having had a taste of the real world, Harold goes back to his magical world. But just as he changed the lives of those who came across in this world, his life has been changed as well.
Mel gives Harold a box full of crayons of different colors at the end of Harold and the Purple Crayon. Once he is in the magical world again, he now uses different colors to draw things in his world. Thus, whereas once his world was only purple, it is now adorned with a host of different hues and shades.
Harold and the Purple Crayon has a hilarious mid-credits scene in which Gary is seen chasing an animated version of Terri in his fantasy world. This is because he always had a crush on Terri. However, refusal haunts the writer in his own world as well since Terri chooses a version of Harold over him.
