By: Serena Zhang
Beautifully animated and a wonderful movie adaptation of the Little Prince, the 2015 movie, directed by Mark Osborne, brings Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s beloved classic to life with a fresh and modern twist.
Adapted from the book, The Little Prince, written by the award-winning author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the film brings nostalgia to readers that love the novella.
The movie brings life to another character and tells the original story in another way. New characters are introduced, and so are the main characters from the book.
The plot of the movie follows a little girl being trained by her mother, trying to get into a prestigious academy. Her mother has her whole summer planned out on a board, with what to do exactly every single minute. This poor girl is set for a lot of time studying and little playtime, until she meets her neighbor. Her neighbor is a wacky old man living in a wacky old house that stands out from the rest of the boring white modern houses in the neighborhood. The old man, an aviator who serves as the narrator in the novella, shares his drawings and stories of his extraordinary encounter with the wonder-filled little prince with the girl. The little girl becomes close friends with the aviator and both characters learn many values from each other.
In my opinion, The Little Prince is a movie full of wonder and perspective. Both the book and movie teaches valuable philosophical observations such as, “Growing up is not the problem, forgetting is,” and “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.” Teaching readers and viewers lessons of human nature and wisdom.
The ‘Little Prince’ movie brings life to the classic novella with its unique blend of CGI and stop motion, telling the girl’s story in CGI and the little prince’s experience in stop motion. It’s a visually stunning and powerful film that captures the charm of Saint-Exupéry’s work. It reminds people not only of the value of imagination and the importance of human connections, but also seeing the world through the eyes of a child.