REVIEW: The Little Prince

The Little Prince is a project that those of us in North America wondered if we would ever see in our neck of the woods; originally released in France, the film was planned to debut in North America this past March until Paramount mysteriously dropped it a week from release. Luckily for us, this adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's iconic novella has found new life on Netflix, allowing everyone to enjoy director Mark Osborne's gorgeously animated tale of love, loss, and growing up.

Though I have never had the pleasure of reading the book on which the film is based (though I have a strong urge to now), it's clear that this is not strictly a direct adaptation of the source material. The actual story of the Little Prince is presented by way of a framing device involving a little girl (Mackenzie Foy) and her high-strung single mother (Rachel McAdams) attempting to find a place in the prestigious halls of Werth Academy. After moving to a new house in the heart of gray, homogenous suburbia, our unnamed protagonist meets her quirky neighbor, the Aviator (Jeff Bridges). The two become inseparable, as the Aviator tells the Little Girl of his adventures in the Sahara Desert with a young boy from outer space named the Little Prince (Riley Osborne). 

Though some die-hard fans of the book may not appreciate the way in which this story is presented, I found it to be a wholly unique and original way to adapt a relatively short children's story into a feature-length film. It would have been very easy to make the entire film focus exclusively on the tale of the Little Prince, perhaps with a few extended action sequences to fill the runtime (see literally any feature-length adaptation of a Dr Seuss story). However, by creating this new plot to frame the core story, the filmmakers found a way to expand upon the themes of the original book. The themes and lessons presented in the story of the Little Prince are wholly relevant to the life of the Little Girl; she, like every other character, goes unnamed throughout the entire film. Her struggle could be that of any modern child; she acts as a stand-in for the viewer, specifically younger viewers, when listening to the Aviator's story. While this may sound like it overly simplifies the themes and metaphors present in Saint-Exupéry's original work, it really just makes the whole thing more digestible and refined as a film. It's a gamble that requires careful craftsmanship to be effective (see 2012's The Lorax for an example of what could go wrong), but luckily The Little Prince is well-written enough that the entire story is made stronger for it. The core meaning of the film resonates so much deeper when we have a protagonist we can align ourselves with who is experiencing the deeper meaning of the story at the same time we are, and there are particular moments (such as when the Little Girl learns how the story ends) that feel ripped directly from anyone's real-life experiences.

The animation on display is quite impressive for such a small budget (less than half of what it cost to make Finding Dory), but the real visual artistry comes into play during the Aviator's story. The tale of the Little Prince is told via gorgeous stop-motion segments that make it look as though the watercolor illustrations from the original book have come to life. It's truly some stunning artistry at work; each model looks so delicate, yet moves with such fluidity. Films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Paranorman have stunning stop-motion animation, to be sure, but there's never truly a question as to how it was accomplished. We all know that Jack Skellington was clearly made of resilient, pliable plasticine with a hardy metal skeleton underneath. Characters like the Little Prince, the Conceited Man (Ricky Gervais), and the Fox (James Franco) present much more of a challenge, considering they take on the appearance of living tissue paper. It's truly some of the most gorgeous, imaginative animation I've ever seen, and it's a legitimate shame that it doesn't occupy more of the movie. That's not to say that the default art style is bad (on the contrary, there are a number of striking, memorable, well-thought-out designs in this movie), but it's all considerably more standard than what we see when the Aviator is telling his tale.

Though it isn't a film without flaw (the pacing drags somewhat and the action-packed third act feels tonally out of place with how reserved the rest of the film is), I still found The Little Prince to be a genuine triumph. This is a film that speaks to the child in all of us; it is a film that will make you feel young again as you watch it. It's somewhat ironic, considering how the film stresses the importance of retaining the magic of youth through adulthood, but this is one of the most mature children's films I've ever seen. It would have been so simple to ruin this property. I can easily see this as a major studio release, the trailers filled with slapstick and pop songs, the main plot replaced with a wacky adventure through space, the overall message replaced with the same obnoxious "ADULTS ARE LAME" diatribe we've seen in every 90's toy commercial. The Little Prince is a film that goes out of its way to be above all of that, and the payoff is plain to see. This is a movie with something for everyone, both kids and grown-ups alike. You'd be remiss not to check it out.