Director: Mark Osborne
Writer: Irene Brignull & Bob Persichettie (based on “Le Petit Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
Release Date: 2015
Foxfire Category: Snack Food
MPAA Rating: PG
One-line Review: An apologetic for a childlike worldview
The Little Prince tells the story of a young girl whose life plan gets wrecked by the propeller from her neighbor’s airplane. If you are wondering why an elementary age girl has a life plan and why her next door neighbor has an airplane, then join the club and take a seat for a delighful tale. The movie was adapted from the equally delighful children’s book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery called The Little Prince —a book about grownups who have forgotten the truest parts of childhood.
The movie starts with the girl failing an entrance exam to the illustrious Werth Academy. Her mother executes “Plan B” by buying a house in Werth Academy’s school district. The mother is so intent on determining her daughter’s success that she creates a life plan: the biggest day planner in the history of day planning. The girl’s entire summer has been planned to the minute, all to prepare her for the first day of school.
Unfortunately for this micromanaging mother, their new neighbor, a charming old aviator with an antique plane, is going to do his best to see that this girl gets a real summer vacation. When the girl meets the aviator for the first time, she is not impressed. As something of an apology, he gives her the gift of a story. That story is the story of The Little Prince, adapted pretty accurately (though not completely) from Saint-Expurey’s book. If you would like to watch that portion of the film by itself, someone has edited the film to oblige.
I will let you discover the rest of the film from here. It plays like a Studio Ghibli film, meandering from moment to moment, living through the eyes and logic of a child. Some moments in this film zap me back to childhood and I smile like the kid on the front row of a magic show. Others pry open the hard shell of adulthood and prod at the soft underbelly of childlike fear and insecurity. Mark Osborne and all the other artsist who contributed to this film created something fantastic.
Although I love the film, I must confess that the last half of the movie is terribly confusing to me. It feels like a different story altogether. The themes resonate across the two halves wonderfully, but the plot makes a cosmic leap that left me working to catch up. Perhaps the leap works for some people, but I found myself lost and with too many questions to suspend disbelief. Soon enough though, I tossed those questions to the wind and just enjoyed the final half of the movie. Perhaps in some other essay on the film I will explain the details of my issues and what I think the filmmaker’s intended and how they could have pulled it off, but not today. For now, go forth and watch.