.jpg) First edition, designed byCrockett Johnson | |
| Author | Crockett Johnson |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
Publication date | 1955 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 64 |
| OCLC | 22963112 |
| [E] 22 | |
| LC Class | MLCS 2006/43120 (P) |
Harold and the Purple Crayon is a 1955children's picture book written and illustrated byCrockett Johnson. Published byHarperCollins Publishers, it is Johnson's most popular book, and has led to a series of other related books, as well as many adaptations. The story is written in third-person point-of-view, and follows a toddler boy on an imaginative adventure through the night.[1]
Theprotagonist, Harold, is a curious four-year-old[2] boy who, with his magicpurplecrayon, has the power to create a world of his own simply by drawing it.
Harold wants to go for a walk in the moonlight, but there is no moon, so he draws one. He has nowhere to walk, so he draws a path. Using his purple crayon, he goes on many adventures including encountering adragon guarding an apple tree,boating through deep waters, eating a picnic consisting only of nine flavors ofpies, and flying in ahot-air balloon that saves him from a fall. Eventually Harold grows tired, and searches for his bedroom window in order to go to bed. He draws many windows, drawing an entire city, yet none are his. Finally, Harold remembers where his window is situated and constructs his own room and bed, and nods off to sleep.[1]
The original story was adapted byWeston Woods Studios andBrandon Films[3] into a seven-minute Animationshort film in 1959, directed by David Piel and narrated byNorman Rose.,[4][5]Gene Deitch directed additional two shortsA Picture for Harold's Room In 1971, andHarold's Fairy Tale in 1974. These shorts were also featured on the popularCBS children's television showCaptain Kangaroo, which ran for 29 years on the network. In 1993, these three educational shorts were packaged with a documentary, and sold as theHarold and the Purple Crayon and Other Harold Stories VHS set.[6]
| Harold and the Purple Crayon | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Developed by | Carin Greenberg Baker Jeff Kline |
| Voices of | Connor Matheus |
| Narrated by | Sharon Stone |
| Composers | Van Dyke Parks Kevin Kiner |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Jeff Kline Dolores Morris |
| Producer | Bob Hathcock |
| Editor | CK Horness |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production companies | Adelaide Productions Columbia TriStar Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO Family |
| Release | December 1, 2001 (2001-12-01) – March 23, 2002 (2002-03-23) |
In 2001, the stories were adapted byAdelaide Productions into a 13-episodeanimated television series forHBO narrated bySharon Stone and featuring Connor Matheus as the voice of Harold.[7] The series won aDaytime Emmy Award for "Main Title Design", and was nominated for anAnnie Award andHumanitas Prize.[8][9] The series aired onHBO Family from December 1, 2001 to March 23, 2002. The show was also released onVHS andDVD.
The series focuses on Harold using his purple crayon to explore a new world. Each episode has Harold focusing on life lessons throughout his journeys.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Harold and the Purple Crayon" | Tom Ellery | Carin Greenberg Baker | December 1, 2001 (2001-12-01) | |
Harold can't sleep and uses his purple crayon to create a fantastic world. | |||||
| 2 | "Blame It on the Rain" | Tom Ellery | Eric Weiner | January 5, 2002 (2002-01-05) | |
Harold wants to know where rain comes from. | |||||
| 3 | "Fly Away Home" | Sean Song | Don Gillies | January 12, 2002 (2002-01-12) | |
Harold learns that no matter how small he is, he can accomplish big things. | |||||
| 4 | "A Dog's Tale" | Andy Thom | Carin Greenberg Baker | January 19, 2002 (2002-01-19) | |
Harold's stuffed toy comes to life. | |||||
| 5 | "One Crayon Band" | Sean Song | Jan Strnad | January 26, 2002 (2002-01-26) | |
Harold learns about music. | |||||
| 6 | "I Remember Goldie" | Tom Ellery | Carin Greenberg Baker | February 2, 2002 (2002-02-02) | |
Harold's goldfish dies, so a mermaid helps him understand the meaning of death. | |||||
| 7 | "Harold's Birthday Gift" | Andy Thom | Melody Fox | February 9, 2002 (2002-02-09) | |
Harold celebrates his birthday and learns that the true birthday gift is friendship. | |||||
| 8 | "A Blast from the Past" | Tom Ellery | Don Gillies | February 16, 2002 (2002-02-16) | |
Harold uses his imagination to travel back to prehistoric times. | |||||
| 9 | "Harold the Artiste" | Chuck Drost | Stu Krieger | February 23, 2002 (2002-02-23) | |
Harold can't draw a perfect circle, so he uses his purple crayon to visit a museum and later learns to appreciate his drawings, no matter the perfection. | |||||
| 10 | "Harold's Walk on the Wild Side" | Tom Ellery | Don Gillies | March 2, 2002 (2002-03-02) | |
Harold imagines what would it be like to be an animal. | |||||
| 11 | "Harold in the Dark" | Andy Thom | Stu Krieger | March 9, 2002 (2002-03-09) | |
Harold wonders where the moon has gone. | |||||
| 12 | "Future Clock" | Sean Song | Thomas Hart | March 16, 2002 (2002-03-16) | |
Harold wonders what would it be like to be grown up. | |||||
| 13 | "Cowboy Harold" | Chap Yaep | Stu Krieger | March 23, 2002 (2002-03-23) | |
Harold refuses to eat squash and imagines being a cowboy. | |||||
In February 2010, it was reported thatColumbia Pictures was developing a live-action film adaptation ofHarold and the Purple Crayon, to be produced byWill Smith andJames Lassiter, and written byJosh Klausner, but it never came to fruition.[10] In December 2016, it was reported that the film would also be written byDallas Clayton.[11]
On February 1, 2021, it was reported thatZachary Levi would star in the film, later revealed to be portraying Harold as a grown man.[12] It was also announced that David Guion and Michael Handelman replaced Klausner and Clayton as screenwriters, withJohn Davis producing.[13] WhileZooey Deschanel was added in the cast, it was announced thatCarlos Saldanha was attached to direct the film.[14] The film was originally scheduled to be released on January 27, 2023,[15] but was pushed back to June 30, 2023,[16] and later August 2, 2024.[17]
There have also been few theater adaptations.2008, 2009-2011[18][19]
On March 11, 2022, aBroadway musical adaptation was announced. It will feature an original score by Jack and Ryan Met from the bandAJR and will focus on an adult version of Harold facing challenges in everyday life without his magical purple crayon.[20] As of 2024, there have been no updates on the musical.
Harold and the Purple Crayon has consistently been well regarded as a children's literature favorite and has been praised for its combination of themes of childhood imagination and reality. A series of nine titles followed. Remaining popular amongst children's teachers, it ranked in theNational Education Association's "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children," and ranked 16th amongSchool Library Journal's "Top 100 Picture Books" in its 2012 survey.[21]
The book has been used frequently in children's and art education lesson plans, as well as referenced in other children's literature.[22] One of the protagonists inCaptain Underpants, Harold Hutchins, is named after the protagonist in the book, with its author,Dav Pilkey, insisting on naming his main characters after his "childhood literary loves."[23] In the bookThis Thing Called Life: Prince's Odyssey, On and Off the Record by the authorNeal Karlen,Prince's mother, Mattie Shaw, confirmed that his favorite book as a child wasHarold and the Purple Crayon and was the reason for Prince's love of the color purple.[24]
The book inspired programmerPetri Purho to create the computer gameCrayon Physics Deluxe.[25][26]
In 2024, scholar of children's literature and Johnson biographerPhilip Nel wrote that Johnson may have originally intended Harold to be aBlack child. He based this on an analysis of the original art with Johnson's notes to the printer as to what percentage of what color inks should be used to represent Harold's skin, and compared this to howCaucasian skin tone was typically represented by theprinting technology of that era, concluding that Harold was deliberately portrayed as brown. Nel placed this in the context of Johnson's history of anti-racism, noting that this had brought him to the attention of theFBI, which perceived advocacy for racial equality ascommunist; he further observed that Johnson's wifeRuth Krauss had written an explicitly anti-racist children's book some years earlier which had been rejected by publishers. As such, Nel posited that Harold's skin tone may have been a "subtle political statement" intended to provide"cover" to Johnson and his publisher. Ultimately, Nel concluded that — prior to the 1998 reprint, where the publishers modified the cover art, changing Harold's skin tone from "originaltan to lightpeach" — Harold was "racially ambiguous", and emphasized that although he himself had (as a child) perceived Harold as white, others (includingChris Ware andBryan Collier) had not.[27]
This timeless classic by Crockett Johnson is about the world a curious four-year-old boy creates by simply drawing it with a purple crayon.
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