A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (previously titled A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) is a 2011 American buddy stoner comedy film directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson and written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The sequel to Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), it is the third installment Harold & Kumar franchise, and stars John Cho, Kal Penn, and Neil Patrick Harris. The film follows estranged friends Harold Lee (Cho) and Kumar Patel (Penn) as they reunite to hunt for a Christmas tree.

Preparations for the film began in May 2009, with Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Strauss-Schulson signing soon thereafter. Cho, Harris, and Penn returned by June 2010, with the latter departing his role in the U.S. Office of Public Liaison to reprise his role in A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. Principal photography began later that month and lasted until that August, with filming locations including Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City. Its marketing campaign used guerilla tactics led by Cho and Penn to promote the film s 3D and animated elements, a new for the franchise.

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas was theatrically released in the United States on November 4, 2011, by Warner Bros. The film received generally mixed critical reception, with praise for the Christmas theme and performances of Cho, Penn, and Harris, but criticism for some of its humor. It was a commercial success, grossing over $36 million worldwide. Although widely rumored and discussed by the filmmakers, a fourth installment is not in development.

Plot

Seven years after escaping from Guantanamo Bay detention camp, and two years after they have last spoken, best friends and roommates Harold Lee and Kumar Patel have gone their separate ways. Harold has given up smoking cannabis, become a successful businessman on Wall Street and married his Latina girlfriend Maria. Kumar, on the other hand, is poor and still lives in the messy apartment he once shared with Harold after getting kicked out of medical school due to failing a drug test. Kumar has recently been dumped again by his girlfriend Vanessa, who arrives at Kumar s apartment to inform him that she is pregnant with his child. Maria s father and Harold s father-in-law Mr. Perez decides to stay at Harold and Maria s house for Christmas. Mr. Perez, who does not like Harold, also brings over his prized Christmas tree that he has been growing for eight years, and gives Harold a short lecture about the tree s importance. Kumar receives a package with Harold s name on it at his apartment and decides to deliver it to Harold. At Harold s house, they discover the item inside to be a large marijuana joint.

Kumar lights it up, but Harold throws it out of the window, only for it to magically land in the tree and burn it down. Harold learns that Kumar s new friend Adrian is attending a party with a Fraser Fir Christmas tree, and promises to drive him to the party on the condition that he can have the tree. Harold, Kumar, Adrian, and Todd (Harold s new best friend) arrive at the party, where a girl named Mary attempts to seduce Harold. It turns out that Mary is the daughter of a Russian mob kingpin named Sergei Katsov, who sends two of his men to kill Harold and Kumar, believing that they were trying to rape his daughter. The duo make it out of the building without the Christmas tree and run into their friends, Rosenberg and Goldstein, for the first time in years. Harold and Kumar plan to steal a tree from a church, but end up participating in a Christmas show featuring Neil Patrick Harris, who they thought had died after being shot outside a Texas whorehouse seven years ago. Harris reveals that he did die, but Jesus Christ kicked him out of Heaven. Revealing that he is now telepathic, Harris hooks the pair up with a Christmas tree and a Wafflebot before sending them off.

The two make their way to Harold s house to put up the tree, but end up being kidnapped by two of Katsov s men, and are saved by Wafflebot. After Harold accidentally shoots Santa Claus in the head, Kumar gives him emergency surgery. In exchange for saving his life, Santa agrees to fly them back home in his sleigh, and reveals that he sent the package to reunite the friends. Harold arrives home to encounter Mr. Perez, who is angered when he discovers his Christmas tree is gone. Harold finally stands up to him, explaining that he may not be the perfect son-in-law, but he is the perfect guy for Maria. Mr. Perez says that he always knew Harold was a nice guy, he just wanted to make sure that he had cojones before accepting him into his family. Harold and Kumar rekindle their friendship, Kumar and Vanessa rekindle their romance, and Kumar tells Vanessa that he will re-take the exams to become a doctor and give up weed for the sake of their child, however, Vanessa advises him to break the latter, promising to give him her urine for another drug test. Maria discovers that she is pregnant on Christmas morning and that Santa has left a replacement tree in their lounge. Harold decides to smoke weed again, and he and Kumar share a joint for the first time in years. Santa flies overhead, smoking a bong, wishing everyone a merry Christmas.

Cast

• John Cho as Harold Lee
• Kal Penn as Kumar Patel
• Neil Patrick Harris as a fictionalized version of himself
• Danny Trejo as Carlos Perez, Maria s father
• Danneel Harris as Vanessa Fanning
• Elias Koteas as Sergei Katsov
• Paula Garcés as Maria Perez-Lee
• Thomas Lennon as Todd
• Patton Oswalt as Larry Juston / Mall Santa
• Eddie Kaye Thomas as Andy Rosenberg
• David Krumholtz as Seth Goldstein
• Amir Blumenfeld as Adrian
• Richard Riehle as Santa Claus
• Jordan Hinson as Mary Katsov
• John Hoogenakker as Gustav
• Jake Johnson as Jesus
• Bobby Lee as Kenneth Park
• Yasen Peyankov as Yuri
• Melissa Ordway as Gracie
• RZA as Lamar
• Da Vone McDonald as Latrell
• Brett Gelman as T.V. Director
• Dana DeLorenzo as Becca
• David Burtka as a fictionalized version of himself
• Dan Levy as Reporter

Production

In April 2009, Kal Penn accepted a position in the Obama administration as associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. When asked if his new job would mean no more Harold and Kumar films, he said, That s probably true for now. However, A Very Harold & 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 and Greg Shapiro returned as producer. Penn left his job with the White House on June 1, 2010, to reprise his role as Kumar in the third Harold & Kumar installment.

Filming took place in Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City from June to August 2010, with the use of Panavision Genesis HD and Element Technica 3D Rig. The film was released in RealD 3D on November 4, 2011. Animators from Laika created the clay animation scene.

After filming was completed, Penn returned to the White House. Cho and Penn went on a tour to promote the film in different college towns. At each stop they had a bus hand out munchies .

Reception

Box office

During its first weekend, the film opened at third place behind Puss in Boots and Tower Heist, grossing $13 million, below its prediction of $18 million. At the end of its box office run, the film earned a total of $35.4 million, against a budget of $19 million.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 68%, based on 131 reviews, with a rating average of 6.15/10. The site s critical consensus reads, Still raunchy, still irreverent, and still hit-and-miss, this Harold & Kumar outing also has a Christmas miracle: The audience gets to see the sweeter side of the duo. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews . CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a B on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying It s not that I was particularly offended; it s that I didn t laugh very much. Justin Chang of Variety wrote: This vulgar romp is a generally harmless, heartwarming affair, a cinematic Christmas cookie almost sweet and flaky enough to cover the fact that it s laced with hash, cocaine and assorted bodily fluids, blood included. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter called it A mildly diverting naughty comedy, lacking the pure comic nastiness of Bad Santa or the sheer audacity of Up in Smoke.

Home media

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 7, 2012. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in two versions: firstly, Single-Disc Blu-ray and DVD combo and secondly, Movie-Only Edition. As of February 3, 2015, the film has sold 607,330 video discs, including 447,288 DVDs and 160,042 Blu-ray Discs, giving a gross of $6,649,425 and $4,855,462 respectively, for a total gross of $11,504,887 in North America.

Year	2011
ReleaseDate	2011-11-04
RuntimeMins	90
RuntimeStr	1h 30min
Plot	Six years after their Guantanamo Bay adventure, stoner buds Harold Lee and Kumar Patel cause a holiday fracas by inadvertently burning down Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree.
Awards	Awards, 1 nomination
Directors	Todd Strauss-Schulson
Writers	Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Stars	Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris
Produced by	Richard Brener,Nicole Brown,Samuel J. Brown,Michael Disco,Jon Hurwitz,Nathan Kahane,Kelli Konop,Jonathan McCoy,Hayden Schlossberg,Greg Shapiro,Regina Taufen
Music by	William Ross
Cinematography by	Michael Barrett
Film Editing by	Eric Kissack
Casting By	Nicole Abellera,Jeanne McCarthy,Mickie Paskal,Jennifer Rudnicke
Production Design by	Rusty Smith
Art Direction by	Ramsey Avery,Guy Barnes
Set Decoration by	Selina van den Brink
Costume Design by	Mary Claire Hannan
Makeup Department	Howard Berger,Kymber Blake,Catherine Childers,Clifton Chippewa,Elizabeth Cortez,Elisabeth Dietrich-Fry,Dawn Mattocks,Greg Nicotero,Leslie Ann Paterra,Gary Pawlowski,Richard Redlefsen,Katherine Rees,Jon Shroyer,Sarah Strong
Production Management	Jonathan McCoy,Frank Murray,Graham Stumpf,Christina Varotsis
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Benjamin T. Brammeier,Greg Brautigan,Patrick D. Gibbons,Danny Giles,Todd Havern,David C. Huet,John McKeown,Chris O Hara,Steven Ritzi,John Silvestri
Art Department	Donovan Allen,Jason Baker,Robert Barry,Rory Blanchard,David H. Bollman,Jeff Bowers,David Boyd,Charles W. Brandt,Doug Brode,Steve Broussard,Felecia Hatcher Brown,Shana McKay Burns,Matthew Butler,Michele Campbell,Steve Catherman,Alec Chambers,Brent Cragin,Curtis Crowe,Pete Dancy,Erick Donaldson,Dan Duran,Jason C. Endres,Franco Esile,Kim A. Fay,Mary Gillespie,Amy Graham,Kemper Harris,Matthew R. Haskin,Jennifer Haybach,Jason Helton,Laura Hinojosa,Jerome Joyce,Casey Kaufman,Greg Kesselring,Chelsey Raegen Knapp,Kate J. Kogelman,Doug Kolbicz,Charles T. Kovalik,Travis LaGuire-Quinn,Richard Lattuca,Greg Lester,Sedrick Livingston,Jordan Kenneth Messing,Gina Monastiere,Rishi Moudgil,Justin Mutschler,Aferdita Redmond,Brittin Richter,Raleigh Richter,Sharon Roggio,Kathryn Ruff,Victoria Ruskin,Abe Sanders,Nikki Sass,Mark Sejnowski,Jil Szewski,Dave Tell,Marcia Thorpe,Kim Thrasher,John Valkevich,Kevin Vanderhoff,Jeremy Wabiszczewicz,J.B. Waskul,Jameson Williams,Amie McCarthy Winn,Jeff Wolka,Jinnah Ali
Sound Department	Ron Ayers,Wade Barnett,Curt Cash,Ryan Collins,Lara Dale,Chris David,Pam DeMetruis-Thomas,Mark DeSimone,Brian Dunlop,David Esparza,Christopher Flowers,Marshall Garlington,Eric Gotthelf,Mark Gougeon,Ellen Heuer,Burr Huntington,Robert Jackson,Jason Johnston,Sang Jun Kim,Tim Limer,Travis MacKay,Joe Origlieri,Joe Powers,A. Josh Reinhardt,Alex Riordan,Michael Santopolo,Scott D. Smith,Callie Thurman,Matt Vowles,Eric Walendzinski
Special Effects by	Craig Gubert,Shane Lambert,Lino Stavole,Jacob Stros,Dieter Sturm,Dean Tyrrell,Robert Tyrrell,Russell Tyrrell
Visual Effects by	Erika Abrams,Kyle Andal,Brian Barnes,Kris Cabrera,Curtis Cardwell,Erin M. Cullen,Nicholas Daniels,John Daro,Lucas De La Torre,Beth Dewey,Scott Dougherty,Geoff DuQuette,Ryan English,Christian Gonzales,Ray Hannisian,Macklenan Hasham,Benjamin Hawkins,Matthew Frederick Johnson,Ben Kilgore,David Lebensfeld,Michael Lebensfeld,David Lingenfelser,John Martini,Landon Medeiros,Grant Miller,James P. Noon,Grant Okita,Matthew Poliquin,Shawn Schminke,Chris Serenil,Bryan Shepperd,Mark Shoaf,Tiffany Smith Llorens,Nicholas Sorenson,Joseph A. Spano III,Tracy Takahashi,Paul Taylor,Xye,Martin Pelham
Stunts	Robert Alonzo,Ele Bardha,Trent Brya,Brian Connelly,Zach Gowen,Craig Gubert,Cody Bo Kruger,Dan Lemieux,Nikolay Livshiz,Tom Lowell,Daniel Maldonado,Carl Anthony Nespoli,Ho-Sung Pak,Scott Philyaw,Tryette Puentes,Steven Ritzi,Mike Rufino,Eric Stratemeier,Banzai Vitale
Camera and Electrical Department	Dave Alber,Kevin L. Anderson,Jacob Baas,Kirk Bloom,Mike Brake,James Frank Brown,Jim Buford,Matthew Bulleri,Tiffany Burns,Gregory Cahill,Bennett Cain,Jake Capistron,Chul Hee Cho,Joe Collins,Nicole Cosgrove,Shawn Cragin,Nick Cutway,Tommy Daguanno,Daniel Dorowsky,Frank Dorowsky,Stephen Drinon,Scott Eagle,Allen D. Easton,Ryan Faulkner,Jeff Fisher,Joseph P. Gilluly,Mike Hampton,Brian Heller,Regan Hudecek,Dan Huffman,Gary Isaacs,Dan Jarrell,Gary Kangrga,Mark Karavite,Brian Paul Kelly,Scott C. Keys,Shannon Kinsora,Stuart Kirschner,Ronald R. Koch Jr.,Joe Layson,Anthony T. Marra II,Bradley Martin,Brent Mata,Chris McLeod,Darren Michaels,Joe Miller,Richard Moriarty,Jeff Murrell,Jeff Niggemeyer,David Noble,Cory O Dea,Patrick O Dea,Tim O Dea,Rick Page,Harrison Palmer,Scott Peck,Clay Platner,Lance Rieck,Chris Ritter,Don Ritter,James Salyer,Todd SanSone,David Satin,Rick Secosky,Matthew Selkirk,James Shuryan,Stephen Smith,Amy Snell,Andre Sobczak,Sean Souza,Kenneth Stanley,Chris Steele,Paul Taylor,Mike Thomas,Patrick Tobin,John Young
Animation Department	Robin Ator,Colin Batty,Elecia Beebe,Kyle Bell,Rebecca Bowen,Barry Bruce,Jon David Buffam,Chris Cannavo,Rex Carter,Nicholas Childs,Clay Connally,Michael Corrigan,Julianna Cox,Dave Drusky,Ans Ellis,Travis Ezell,Colleen Flanigan,Scott Foster,Wendy Fuller,Kameron Gates,Jesse Geisheker,Claud Gilbert,Todd Gilchrist,A.J. Gillespie,Dave Gulick,Mark Gustafson,Sarah Hall,Lourri Hammack,Paul Harrod,Sarah Hulin,Belle Iskowitz,Ted Jackson,Erica Johnson,Adam Jones,Jenny Kincade,Larry King,Yvonne Kowsun,Lars C. Larsen,Gary Logue,John Logue,Hazel Malone,Matt McKenna,Robert Melchior,Katie Mello,Tony Merrithew,Margaret Meyer,Victoria Rose Most,Sara Neiman,Michael Nicholas,John Nolan,Chris Ohlgren,Leif Peterson,Bartek Prusiewicz,Chris Purdin,Meghan Saunders,Joe Schmidt,Anthony Scott,Evan Smith,Charles Starr,Rebecca Stillman,Molly Tinling,Melissa Tvetan,Patrick Van Pelt,Jessica Weitzel,Holly Werner
Casting Department	Jolanda Anthony,Joanne Bloom,Josh Breit,Ryan Hill,Kathy Mooney,Aaron Moskal,Janet Pound,Melissa Pryor,Jamie Stires,Sara Wosik,Jessica Munks
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Kate Abraham,Jacqueline Aronson,Wendy M. Craig,Brittany Dier,Jody Felz,Suzanne Hanna,Kimberly Leitz
Editorial Department	Philip Beckner,Gilbert Carreras,Gus Comegys,Libby Cuenin,John Daro,David Egan,Jeff Halsey,Greg Hollander,Christy House,Paul Lavoie,Jason Pelham,Bill Schultz,Eugene Yi
Location Management	Alec Bates,Todd F. Campbell,Chris-Teena Constas,George Constas,Robert Foulkes,Trish Gray,Chelsey Raegen Knapp,Ronnie Kupferwasser,Tim McClure,Kenneth Mercier,Caitlin Ringness,Steven Schlick
Music Department	Kim Baum,Mark Berrow,John Bissell,Richard Bissill,John Bradbury,Christopher Brooks,Jo Buckley,Jessica Dolinger,Terry Edwards,Geoff Foster,Joanna Forbes L Estrange,Jerome Leroy,London Voices,Stephen Lotwis,Steve Mair,Emir Merzeci,Shawn Murphy,Ben Parry,Tom Pigott Smith,William Ross,Tina Tamura,Axel Tenner,Thanh Tran,Jeremy Underwood,Allen Walley,Bruce White,Ed Woolley,Warren Zielinski,Rachel Bolt
Script and Continuity Department	Rick Cranford,Jan McWilliams
Transportation Department	Rob Bailey,James A Brandon,Calvin Chin,David Conelli,Tracy Craytor,Jennifer Gonzalez,Patrick Hogan,David Labutte,Raymond Landino Jr.,Thaddeus E. Larkowski,Lynette Scherzer,Timothy Schewee
Additional Crew	Camrin Agin,Joseph Amaral,Mike Arrigo,Samuel Barill,Dan Bisaro,Erika Bogner,Zoe Bower Robert,Dennis Budziszewski,Al Cerullo,Danielle Champe,Lisa Chau,Hailey Cho,Katie Christian,Steven Clark,Sarah Clifford,Erin Colby,Claire Connelly,Patty Connolly,David Crabtree,Jamie Leigh Dake,Tana David,Yvette De Marco,Joshua P. Dease,Bryant Donohue,Brian Durling,C. Kyle Eckles,James Ferrera,Enrico Fin,P.J. Fishwick,Shellie Gillespie,Christopher Hagan,Amber Harley,Moe Hindi,Christy House,David C. Huet,Dawn Jeffory,Jossara Jinaro,Adam Kristopher Johnson,Joshua R. Jones,Michael Jordan,Emily Kacere,Chris Knauer,Gaby Kuhn,Mark Kurzweil,Nito Larioza,Nicholas Lazarus,Nicholas Leone,Darcy Leutzinger,Danielle Liebowitz,Gabriella Ludlow,Christie Mattull,Rob McEntegart,Courtney McFadden,Mark McGrath,Jordan Kenneth Messing,Ryan Miles,Courtney Miller,SuAnn Mitchell,Carlos Moreno Jr.,Alan Murphy,Bryan Oh,Ivan J Puentes,Andy Rathburg,Shanae Rivers,Kristian Rockwell,Ulises Rodriguez,Rebecca Rogers,M. Ross-Michaels,Sarah Scher,Jack Schmier,Natasha Shumny,Sophie Sikora,Peter Skorupskas,Dereck Sly,Jonathan Stahl,Adam M. Stone,Cat Stone,Tiffany Stone,Mark Sussman,Regina Taufen,James Thomas,Elizabeth Tompkins,Heather Tyler,Randy Vanwormer,Joseph Victor,Lana Waddell,Geoff Wehner,Lydia Whitlock,James Wittenberg,Brian Wooten,Brett Young-Fountain,Pat Duke,Sabrina Dungan,Francis Smith,Jennie Terranova
Thanks	Bruce Reith
Genres	Adventure, Comedy
Companies	New Line Cinema, Mandate Pictures, Kingsgate Films
Countries	USA
Languages	English, Spanish
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	6.2
ImDbRatingVotes	69843
MetacriticRating	61
Keywords	sex scene,unwed pregnancy,lingerie,white castle,female frontal nudity