Harold & Kumar
Encyclopedia
Harold & Kumar is the common name for a series of stoner comedy
films starring John Cho
(Harold) and Kal Penn
(Kumar). The first film, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, was released on July 30, 2004 by New Line Cinema
and spawned a sequel
titled Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, released four years later. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the third installment of the series, opened nationwide in the U.S. on 4 November 2011.
The film series has become a critical and financial success. The two films, produced on a total budget of US$
21 million, grossed $73 million worldwide. In addition to its box office grosses, the first two films were extremely successful on home video. The series has been released on both Blu-ray
and DVD
.
burgers after seeing them advertised on TV. On their way they encounter many obstacles, including a gang of extreme sports punks, a raccoon with an attitude, a group of Asian nerds, a racist police department, a cheetah that has escaped from a zoo, and an out-of-control Neil Patrick Harris
.
, in Washington, D.C. sends them to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Just as they are "forced to suck Big Bob's fat dick" or perform fellatio
, they escape and enter the United States through Miami, Florida with the help of some Cuban refugees. They go to see a friend of theirs, Raza, who is hosting a bottomless party and he encourages them to travel to Texas in search of Colton, with hopes that he will be able to help them through his father, who is connected with several high political officials.
A new film entitled A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas was announced on May 7, 2009, for release on December 5, 2010 at the earliest and possibly deferred to the 2011 holiday season. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg returned to write the film while Todd Strauss-Schulson directed. Greg Shapiro returned as producer with Kal Penn and John Cho reprising their title roles. Penn left his job with the White House on June 1, 2010 to reprise his role as Kumar in the third Harold & Kumar installment. After filming was completed, Penn returned to the White House.
David Krumholtz, answering the last question of a Live Q&A Chat on TV.com that took place on March 12, 2010, mentioned that he and Eddie Kaye Thomas
would probably be in the third Harold & Kumar film.
Neil Patrick Harris also returned for the film (which he confirmed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
). He went as far as saying that he finished filming and that the movie will be released in 3D (filmed with 3D cameras). Patton Oswalt
has been confirmed to also star in the film. Amir Blumenfeld, of CollegeHumor
fame, has also confirmed that he has a role in the film.
investment banker
residing in New Jersey
. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz
and Hayden Schlossberg
, and is portrayed by John Cho
in all three films.
In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
, Harold is a hard-working stoner from the northern part of New Jersey
. Harold's lazy best friend and roommate, free spirit, Kumar Patel, is not afraid to let go of his inhibitions, making Harold the symbolic personification of the suppressed Asian-American employee and student in the United States. Harold, at times, lets go of his inhibitions, but only during moments of extreme duress, to the point where he amazes even the free-spirited Kumar. Harold is the yin to Kumar's yang, with the both of them being united through their enjoyment of cannabis smoking after a long day's work and or leisurely fun (such as aboard an airplane in the sequel, and an after work "Friday night special" in the first film).
Harold's romantic life centers around John Hughes-like fancies (as is evidenced by his infatuation with film classics such as Sixteen Candles
). Harold thinks that he'll wind up with a similarly repressed Korean-American young woman—Cindy Kim—who isn't as repressed as he thinks, ironically enough. The true object of Harold's desire, however, is Maria Perez (played by Paula Garces
), who lives down the hall from him in his building.
In Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, when embarking on their trip to Amsterdam they are arrested on the flight there because of Kumar testing out his "smokeless bong" in the airplane lavatory, followed up by being sent to Guantanamo Bay—only to be followed by another series of comedic events. In one of the flashbacks Kumar has, it is revealed that Harold used to be an emo kid back in college.
student residing in New Jersey
. His family includes his father and brother, Saikat Patel. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz
and Hayden Schlossberg
, and is portrayed by Kal Penn
in all three films.
In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
, Kumar Patel is a 22-year-old college graduate. He shares an apartment with fellow roommate and best friend, Harold Lee. Unlike Harold, Kumar is a free spirited and outgoing rebel, not afraid to do what he wants. Kumar is the yang to Harold's yin, with the both of them being united through their enjoyment of cannabis smoking after a long day's work and or leisurely fun (such as aboard an airplane in the sequel, and an after work "Friday night special" in the first film). Both his father and brother are successful doctors, and expect him to follow in their footsteps. Though not interested in school, Kumar is remarkably intelligent and knows how to perform complex surgical procedures, as shown in the film while looking for medicinal marijuana at the hospital.
In Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, it is revealed that he had a girlfriend Vanessa in college, who introduced him to marijuana and transformed him from an uptight geek into the laid-back stoner he is today. She is about to get married to sleazy, deceptive frat boy Colton Graham (who disapproves of her marijuana habit), but Kumar interrupts the wedding and wins her back by reciting "Square Root of 3," a math themed love poem that he was afraid to show her in college. Harold, Kumar and Vanessa then go to Amsterdam to find Harold's love interest, Maria.
playing a fictionalized version of himself. In the films, Harris is portrayed as a heavy drug user and womanizer, despite being openly gay in real life. In the third film, the fictional version of Harris is revealed to be pretending to be gay to draw attention away from his womanizing and appeared with his real-life partner David Burtka
.
In an interview with Ain't It Cool News
, Neil Patrick Harris revealed that the series' writers were discussing the possibility of a spin-off movie based on his fictional persona.
and David Krumholtz
. They live in the same apartment building as Harold and Kumar. In the third movie, Goldstein stated he had converted to Christianity after marrying his wife.
There has been discussion of them getting their own spin-off movie, which would follow the characters during the events of the original film (theoretically titled Rosenberg & Goldstein Go to Hot Dog Heaven). The duo is based on the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
from the Shakespeare
play, Hamlet
.
Stoner film
Stoner film is a subgenre of films that revolve around the use of marijuana. Typically, such movies show cannabis use in a comic and positive fashion...
films starring John Cho
John Cho
John Yohan Cho is an American actor and musician, best known for his roles in the American Pie films and the Harold & Kumar films . He also starred in the critically acclaimed hit film Better Luck Tomorrow...
(Harold) and Kal Penn
Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi , best known by his stage name Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, producer, and civil servant....
(Kumar). The first film, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, was released on July 30, 2004 by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
and spawned a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
titled Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, released four years later. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the third installment of the series, opened nationwide in the U.S. on 4 November 2011.
The film series has become a critical and financial success. The two films, produced on a total budget of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
21 million, grossed $73 million worldwide. In addition to its box office grosses, the first two films were extremely successful on home video. The series has been released on both Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are two American stoners who get the munchies and embark on a quest throughout New Jersey for White CastleWhite Castle (restaurant)
White Castle is an American regional fast food hamburger restaurant chain in the Midwestern United States and in the New York metropolitan area, and the first of its kind in the US. It is known for its small, square hamburgers. Sometimes referred to as "sliders", the burgers were priced at five...
burgers after seeing them advertised on TV. On their way they encounter many obstacles, including a gang of extreme sports punks, a raccoon with an attitude, a group of Asian nerds, a racist police department, a cheetah that has escaped from a zoo, and an out-of-control Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
.
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
Following the events of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold Lee and Kumar Patel fly to Amsterdam so Harold can pursue a budding romance with his vacationing neighbor. After arrival at the airport, Kumar creates trouble while going through security in order to get weed on the plane. The pair run into Vanessa, Kumar's ex-girlfriend, and her fiancé Colton, another old college buddy who helped Harold with getting a job at Brewster-Keagan, at the airport. Harold and Kumar board the plane, and mid-flight, an elderly woman sees Kumar lighting a smokeless bong. She thinks that it is a bomb, and screams "Terrorist!", causing the passengers to be alerted when Kumar is holding the bong. After a confusion of the words "bong" and "bomb", two undercover air marshals tackle Kumar; he drops the bong on the floor, which breaks and emits a pleasant-smelling, though visible, gas, causing another passenger to scream "Poison gas!". Air marshals tackle them and order the plane to return to the United States where Ron Fox, a neurotic Deputy Secretary of Homeland SecurityHomeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
, in Washington, D.C. sends them to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Just as they are "forced to suck Big Bob's fat dick" or perform fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
, they escape and enter the United States through Miami, Florida with the help of some Cuban refugees. They go to see a friend of theirs, Raza, who is hosting a bottomless party and he encourages them to travel to Texas in search of Colton, with hopes that he will be able to help them through his father, who is connected with several high political officials.
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)
In April 2009, Kal Penn accepted the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison in the Obama administration; when asked if his new job would mean no more Harold and Kumar films, he said, "That's probably true for now."A new film entitled A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas was announced on May 7, 2009, for release on December 5, 2010 at the earliest and possibly deferred to the 2011 holiday season. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg returned to write the film while Todd Strauss-Schulson directed. Greg Shapiro returned as producer with Kal Penn and John Cho reprising their title roles. Penn left his job with the White House on June 1, 2010 to reprise his role as Kumar in the third Harold & Kumar installment. After filming was completed, Penn returned to the White House.
David Krumholtz, answering the last question of a Live Q&A Chat on TV.com that took place on March 12, 2010, mentioned that he and Eddie Kaye Thomas
Eddie Kaye Thomas
Eddie Kaye Thomas is an American film, television, and stage actor who rose to prominence in 1999 as Paul Finch in the American Pie film series.-Early life:Thomas was born in Staten Island, NY...
would probably be in the third Harold & Kumar film.
Neil Patrick Harris also returned for the film (which he confirmed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
). He went as far as saying that he finished filming and that the movie will be released in 3D (filmed with 3D cameras). Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.-Early life:Oswalt was born...
has been confirmed to also star in the film. Amir Blumenfeld, of CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor is a comedy website owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's...
fame, has also confirmed that he has a role in the film.
Harold Lee
Harold Lee is a Korean AmericanKorean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...
investment banker
Investment banking
An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...
residing in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz
Jon Hurwitz
Jonathan Benjamin "Jon" Hurwitz is an American screenwriter. He grew up on James Rd. Randolph NJ, 07869. He attended Randolph High School, where he now has a glass cabinet of his own to show how happy he is of his high school education...
and Hayden Schlossberg
Hayden Schlossberg
Hayden Schlossberg is an American screenwriter/director/producer from Randolph, New Jersey who became well known for co-writing with Jon Hurwitz: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and for co-writing, co-directing, and co-producing with him "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."He is a...
, and is portrayed by John Cho
John Cho
John Yohan Cho is an American actor and musician, best known for his roles in the American Pie films and the Harold & Kumar films . He also starred in the critically acclaimed hit film Better Luck Tomorrow...
in all three films.
In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is a 2004 American stoner film and the first installment in the Harold & Kumar series...
, Harold is a hard-working stoner from the northern part of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Harold's lazy best friend and roommate, free spirit, Kumar Patel, is not afraid to let go of his inhibitions, making Harold the symbolic personification of the suppressed Asian-American employee and student in the United States. Harold, at times, lets go of his inhibitions, but only during moments of extreme duress, to the point where he amazes even the free-spirited Kumar. Harold is the yin to Kumar's yang, with the both of them being united through their enjoyment of cannabis smoking after a long day's work and or leisurely fun (such as aboard an airplane in the sequel, and an after work "Friday night special" in the first film).
Harold's romantic life centers around John Hughes-like fancies (as is evidenced by his infatuation with film classics such as Sixteen Candles
Sixteen Candles
Sixteen Candles is a 1984 American film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling and Anthony Michael Hall. It was written and directed by John Hughes.- Plot :...
). Harold thinks that he'll wind up with a similarly repressed Korean-American young woman—Cindy Kim—who isn't as repressed as he thinks, ironically enough. The true object of Harold's desire, however, is Maria Perez (played by Paula Garces
Paula Garcés
Paula Garcés is a Colombian American film and television actress, known for her appearance in films such as Clockstoppers and The Harold and Kumar Series, and on TV shows such as CSI: Miami, The Shield, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, The Sopranos, Oz and Warehouse 13.-Early life:Garcés was...
), who lives down the hall from him in his building.
In Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, when embarking on their trip to Amsterdam they are arrested on the flight there because of Kumar testing out his "smokeless bong" in the airplane lavatory, followed up by being sent to Guantanamo Bay—only to be followed by another series of comedic events. In one of the flashbacks Kumar has, it is revealed that Harold used to be an emo kid back in college.
Kumar Patel
Kumar Patel is an Indian AmericanIndian American
Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...
student residing in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. His family includes his father and brother, Saikat Patel. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz
Jon Hurwitz
Jonathan Benjamin "Jon" Hurwitz is an American screenwriter. He grew up on James Rd. Randolph NJ, 07869. He attended Randolph High School, where he now has a glass cabinet of his own to show how happy he is of his high school education...
and Hayden Schlossberg
Hayden Schlossberg
Hayden Schlossberg is an American screenwriter/director/producer from Randolph, New Jersey who became well known for co-writing with Jon Hurwitz: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and for co-writing, co-directing, and co-producing with him "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."He is a...
, and is portrayed by Kal Penn
Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi , best known by his stage name Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, producer, and civil servant....
in all three films.
In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is a 2004 American stoner film and the first installment in the Harold & Kumar series...
, Kumar Patel is a 22-year-old college graduate. He shares an apartment with fellow roommate and best friend, Harold Lee. Unlike Harold, Kumar is a free spirited and outgoing rebel, not afraid to do what he wants. Kumar is the yang to Harold's yin, with the both of them being united through their enjoyment of cannabis smoking after a long day's work and or leisurely fun (such as aboard an airplane in the sequel, and an after work "Friday night special" in the first film). Both his father and brother are successful doctors, and expect him to follow in their footsteps. Though not interested in school, Kumar is remarkably intelligent and knows how to perform complex surgical procedures, as shown in the film while looking for medicinal marijuana at the hospital.
In Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, it is revealed that he had a girlfriend Vanessa in college, who introduced him to marijuana and transformed him from an uptight geek into the laid-back stoner he is today. She is about to get married to sleazy, deceptive frat boy Colton Graham (who disapproves of her marijuana habit), but Kumar interrupts the wedding and wins her back by reciting "Square Root of 3," a math themed love poem that he was afraid to show her in college. Harold, Kumar and Vanessa then go to Amsterdam to find Harold's love interest, Maria.
Neil Patrick Harris
All three films feature Neil Patrick HarrisNeil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
playing a fictionalized version of himself. In the films, Harris is portrayed as a heavy drug user and womanizer, despite being openly gay in real life. In the third film, the fictional version of Harris is revealed to be pretending to be gay to draw attention away from his womanizing and appeared with his real-life partner David Burtka
David Burtka
-Background:Burtka was born in Dearborn, Michigan, grew up in Canton, Michigan, and graduated from Plymouth-Salem High School in 1993. He trained in acting at Interlochen Center for the Arts, obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan and had further training at the William...
.
In an interview with Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
, Neil Patrick Harris revealed that the series' writers were discussing the possibility of a spin-off movie based on his fictional persona.
Rosenberg and Goldstein
Rosenberg and Goldstein are two Jewish friends and counterparts of Harold and Kumar portrayed by Eddie Kaye ThomasEddie Kaye Thomas
Eddie Kaye Thomas is an American film, television, and stage actor who rose to prominence in 1999 as Paul Finch in the American Pie film series.-Early life:Thomas was born in Staten Island, NY...
and David Krumholtz
David Krumholtz
David Krumholtz is an American actor best known for playing Professor Charlie Eppes in the television series Numb3rs. He appeared as Seth Goldstein in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and its two sequels, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas...
. They live in the same apartment building as Harold and Kumar. In the third movie, Goldstein stated he had converted to Christianity after marrying his wife.
There has been discussion of them getting their own spin-off movie, which would follow the characters during the events of the original film (theoretically titled Rosenberg & Goldstein Go to Hot Dog Heaven). The duo is based on the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. They are courtiers who are set by the king to spy on Hamlet, using their claimed friendship with him to gain his confidence. The characters were revived in W. S...
from the Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
play, Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
.