This movie is based on a children’s book by Crockett Johnson from 1955. I had not heard of this book before, though the person who can draw things into existence is not a concept that I had not seen before.

This version starred Zachary Levi as Harold, who lived in a world of fiction, with his friends Moose (Lil Rey Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds). A narrator (Alfred Molina) told the story of Harold and his adventures with the magic crayon.

Then, one day, the narrator no longer spoke and Harold and his friends did not know what to do. So Harold decided to use the crayon to go to the “real world” and find the “old man” once and for all. Moose and porcupine decide to follow him.

Of course, once they are there, there is the obligatory fish-out-of-water story for the characters, though it seemed as if sometimes they understood the world’s items or culture when needed.

Zachary Levi played Harold in much the same way he played Shazam, with a childlike wonder, only with the volume turned way up. At first, he seemed charming, but it did wear thin after a while.

The first part of this film was fun and did have some cute moments. I found my attention wavering as the film went on. It was just an hour and a half length of the film, but it did feel longer than that. There were plenty of things that happened that were pretty difficult to accept. I do not just mean the magical crayon thing, but some of the other things that happened.

Without giving any spoilers, I really disliked the finale of the movie as it seemed to take the story and amped it up in a manner in which the film was not taking it. The action battle at the end just did not feel as if it fit in this movie.

Still, there were some sweet moments and I liked the pairing of Zachary Levi and the little kid who played Mel, named Benjamin Bottani. Again, I think this is more of a little kid movie than for me, and in that manner, it works.

2.8 stars