Inside of his book, adventurous Harold (Zachary Levi) can make anything come to life simply by drawing it. After he grows up and draws himself into the physical world, Harold finds he has a lot to learn about the real world. When the power of unlimited imagination falls into the wrong hands, it will take all of Harold and his friends’ creativity to save both the real world and his own.

For in-depth thoughts on Harold and the Purple Crayon, please see my colleague Will Bjarnar’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings Harold and the Purple Crayon to Blu-Ray with a top-notch 1080p video presentation that brings this world to life perfectly. The film offers some bold splashes of colors within the costumes, production design, and locales which never come up short. The image is crisp and clear with a resplendent color palette that saturates the frame. The skin tones appear to be natural with a pleasing amount of detail present in close-ups, especially when it comes to the texture of facial hair and makeup effects.

The mix of modern and fantastical production design along with the fabrics of clothing provide exceptional textural details. The presentation yields a significant amount of depth on display both in the interior shots and when exploring the world. Black levels are firm with no trace of digital noise or crush, and highlights are similarly firm with no blooming at play. This Blu-Ray maintains the quality you expect from Sony.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with a fantastic DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that executes every minor element without a hiccup. Once imagination begins to become reality, the low end of the track makes a splash when it needs to. Kinetic moments engage the surround speakers in a really exciting manner as the world at large feels completely immersive. There are plenty of examples of ambient details expanding and waking up the setting. Dialogue comes through effortlessly without being drowned out by any competing sounds. The soundtrack emanates from the speakers in a lush, well-balanced way. The audio track is a standout presentation for this feature in all respects. There are an array of optional subtitles provided including English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and more.

Special Features

How To Draw Harold, Porcupine & Moose: A six-minute tutorial with Head of Animation Pascal Campion who teaches you how to draw characters from the film.

“Colors” Sing Along: A minute-and-half-long sing-along music video for the song by Boots Ottestad feat. Jordy Searcy.

How Do You Spell Imagination?: A two-minute collection of “tips” to harness your imagination.

Deleted & Extended Scenes: There are seven scenes of unused material totaling seven minutes provided here.

Previews

Final Thoughts

Harold and the Purple Crayon takes a classic book for children and gives it a truly misguided makeover. The decision to eschew the traditional characterization of the titular figure in favor of an adult facade with a childlike wonder is not appealing to anyone. Zachary Levi has lost the thread as he continues to recycle his boyish enthusiasm to diminishing returns. We love Zooey Deschanel, but even she struggles to do anything with the flimsy material she is given. This is a movie about wonder and imagination, and you cannot help but feel no passion was put towards conjuring any magic on screen. There are fleeting moments that younger audiences may find amusing, but audiences of all ages deserve better. Sony Pictures has provided a Blu-Ray disc that sports a stellar A/V presentation and a light array of supplements

Harold and the Purple Crayon will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital on October 8, 2024.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.