Crockett Johnson’s 1955 children’s picture book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, is a celebration of imagination, and Carlos Saldanha’s live-action adaptation somewhat misses the point. The film serves as a meta-sequel of sorts to the events of the iconic illustrated book, with Harold — the boy who could bring things to life by drawing with his magic crayon — as a grown-up man.

Harold and the Purple Crayon the film opens with an animated sequence that recaps Harold’s adventures in the book, narrated by Alfred Molina. This nod to Johnson’s literary work sets expectations high but quickly devolves into a chaotic narrative.

Following the animated prologue, the focus shifts to a grown-up Harold, played by Zachary Levi. Now residing in his animated world with friends Moose (Lil Rel Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds), Harold faces a new challenge: the voice of the narrator of the book has disappeared. The solution that Harold comes up with? Use his magical crayon to draw a portal to the real world and locate the missing narrator.

What follows is a muddled adventure in which a baffled Harold and his companions wander about in the real world before running into Terri (Zooey Deschanel) and her son Mel (Benjamin Bottani) who are struggling with the recent loss of Mel’s father.

The film’s attempt to blend Harold’s whimsical world with real-life issues runs out of steam. Despite her initial reservations, Terri allows Harold and Moose to stay at her home and Harold finds a kindred spirit in Mel, who, like Harold, has an imaginary pet — a bizarre amalgamation of an eagle, a lion and an alligator. This connection leads to a series of uninspired escapades, including flying in a makeshift plane and wreaking havoc on Ollie’s, a discount store that receives undue focus.

The story is further hindered by a subplot involving Gary (Jemaine Clement), a creepy librarian obsessed with Terri and the author of an unpublished fantasy novel. Gary’s discovery that Harold is a character from a book leads to a farcical quest to Harold and the Purple Crayon writer Crockett Johnson’s house, where the film’s convoluted plot meanders some more before eventually revealing that Gary is scheming to use Harold’s crayon to serve his own purposes.

Zachary Levi’s portrayal of Harold is over the top and undermines any genuine connection to the character’s innocent creativity. What was supposed to be a grown-up Harold’s whimsical charm ends up as an exhausting and disjointed performance. The supporting characters, including Lil Rel Howery’s Moose and Tanya Reynolds’ Porcupine, have little to do to salvage the film.

Also quite subpar is the film’s visual effects in creating the magic of Harold’s crayon-drawn world. What you have are garish visuals and noisy set pieces that take away from the wonder of the story.