The Little PrinceThe Little Prince
Year: 2015
Rating: PG
Length: 108 minutes / 1.80 hours

I understand there are limitations when it comes to adapting picture books into feature-length movies. The amount of content present in these books isn’t even enough to cover a few minutes just reading it aloud, so extending it out over 100 minutes requires a bit of framing and exposition. While movies like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) took the approach of explaining why there was giant food falling from the sky, The Little Prince (2015) framed its iconic story with your standard “overbearing parent wants their child to succeed at the detriment of said child’s childhood” sub-plot.

When I was growing up, I never encountered The Little Prince in all the picture books I read. Even without this prior knowledge, I could get a sense that the entirety of the book’s content was contained in the stop-motion sections of this movie. I felt there was a missed opportunity to do the whole film in this style. Animated films seem to rely so heavily on CGI animation these days, that something which had a different visual aesthetic would have been a welcome change to the monotony. Granted, in splitting the animation styles, it allowed both stories to progress with little hindrance in understanding which plot was being followed.

And while I understand the importance of children being allowed to play and have fun, the adult in me finds these anti-corporate/anti-job plots a bit tiring. Yes, we should all pursue our fun and creative passions, but how many of them pay enough to make a living? An individual’s level of comfort will inherently dictate their compliance with the corporate structure. Sure, there are plenty of people who make a living on a meager artist’s wage, but it’s honestly not for everyone. Demonizing jobs and work does no good for children who will eventually have to grow up and provide for themselves.

Some interesting visuals with a worn-out anti-job message, I give The Little Prince 3.0 stars out of 5.

255px-Five-pointed_star_svg 255px-Five-pointed_star_svg 255px-Five-pointed_star_svg

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *