Harold's Birthday Gift

## Stats

**Harold's Birthday Gift** is the seventh episode of the series *Harold and the Purple Crayon* that aired on February 9, 2002.

## Summary

It was Harold's birthday and he spent all day celebrating, but now it was his bedtime. However, Harold wasn't ready to go to sleep yet, because he didn't want his birthday to be over. He got up and began playing with his red airplane that he got as a gift until one of the wings break. Harold didn't want to wait another year until it was his birthday again, so he gets the idea to draw up another party while it was still his birthday to get another airplane.

He drew a decorated table outside and then a present. He actually remembers that because it was his party, he could draw as many presents as he wanted, and draws a few more. Eventually, after a self-centered birthday song, Harold has a whole mountain of presents, but he wasn't sure which contained the true gift he wanted. He remembered that a birthday party wasn't complete without guests, so he draws a ball and throws it to signal his lovable dog Lilac and he gives her an invitation, which she accepts.

Harold then draws up his previous animal pals: the two baby squirrels that he rescued on a rainy night, the porcupine who helped Harold pop bubbles, the hungry moose that ate all of Harold's leftover pies, and the purple dragon who guarded Harold's apple tree and gives them all invitations to the party. Now that Harold had guests he couldn't wait to open all the presents, but first, the squirrels were wanting to play a party game. Harold figured that he could wait, then decides to draw six musical chairs. He also draws a piano but realizes he can't play music and the game at the same time, so he draws a handle to crank up the piano and gets in the game. When the music stops once, Harold points out that there are two squirrels on the same chair, but there can only be one person in one seat. The squirrels weren't willing to separate, so Harold guesses that the rule can just slide. Harold himself loses when Lilac nibbles his chair the second time the music stopped, causing him to fall and her take his spot. Because she was a special guest Harold had no choice but to let her go as well.

Now there were four chairs around. After the music stops, the moose sits on the porcupine, poking him and making him jump, which causes him to land on the piano and break it. The moose felt sorry so Harold drew some instruments to cheer him up. All the party guests play the instruments, including the porcupine, who gets carried away by playing the maracas that he bumps into the balloons, briefly making him float up in the air with them until his spikes pop them. Harold gets upset, but he urges the porcupine to stay as he would be even more upset if he left. After that Harold tries to open his awaited presents, but now the purple dragon wanted a magic show. Harold sketches a magician outfit on himself as he knows a few tricks himself, although one of them ends up being that he makes his unopened present disappear for good. He thinks that it's time they better open the presents. They sit down at the table, but the large purple dragon ends up launching the squirrels into the sky. Luckily, Harold catches them with his magic hat and pulls them right out. A bunny comes out as well and runs all around the backyard while Lilac chases it. All this running around causes the purple dragon to lose his balance and fall on most of the presents, squishing them.

While the presents seemed squished, Harold figured that he could still get gifts out of them. He hears the hungry moose's stomach growl, so Harold draws a cake to share with everybody, but the moose eats the entire thing in one bite, and proceeds to eat the whole tablecloth and some of Harold's presents. This is the final straw for Harold and he leaves the party. Harold is sure he'd be better spending his birthday by himself, but he wasn't hungry for the cake he drew or wanting to open the present he also drew and felt lonely. Lilac came back to him and shows him back to the party, where his guests are sorry for ruining it and give him their own gifts. The dragon gives him an apple, the porcupine gives him bubble gum, the moose gives him chocolate mousse, the squirrels give them acorns they were saving, and Lilac gives him a bone. While they weren't toys that he wanted, Harold was still glad his friends brought him something. Finally, he decides to play one more game and draws a piñata. After trying to hit it, he gives the blindfold to the porcupine and he tears it up, letting the candy fall for the guests. Hosting a party was tiring work for Harold, and draws his bedroom around the moon in the sky, then drifts off to sleep thinking about the party he had. In a way, the birthday party he had was one big gift.

## Trivia

* The episode calls back to *Blame It on the Rain*, with the squirrels, and the rest of the characters from the first episode.