El principito

I usually love the French animations, because unlike American, the stories, musics, characters that influences the thousands of year cultural history. Definitely not comparable to the Hollywood standards, but it had its own technical brilliance. All I wondered was why this film was in English language.

It deserves to be on the upcoming's big occasion (2016 February), if it is eligible for the American Academy Awards. From the director of 'Kung Fu Panda' original movie, which was partially based on the children's novel. The book adaptation is the stop-motion animation and the remaining story's the regular 3D animation.

Just remember the movies like 'What Dreams May Come' and 'The Lovely Bones', those magical worlds and breathtaking landscapes. Usually animations are associated with comedy genre, especially when a child character attached to it. This film was not even a comedy, more like those two titles I mentioned.

The screenplay wise it was a very 'Neverwas' type, except this one was an animation. But appropriate for people of all ages. The kids can realise the importance of their childhood and the older people can become kids again. The film compressed the gap and erected a bridge between the two hoods, the childhood and the adulthood.

"What is essential is invisible to the eye."

I did not know what to expect from it, but I highly satisfied with the final product. The film characters had no names, but called, the Little Girl, Mother, Fox, Rose, Snake, King et cetera as what their role is and species. Barely there are only 3-4 characters where the story was focused. Obviously it had a villain, but very unusual existence time and in a crucial part of the story.

I don't remember how the 100 minutes went so fast like a ray of the light beam flashed away. The pace of narration was not a rushy, except the opening part. But once the old man character, the Aviator, voiced by Jeff Bridge was introduced, the movie turned into completely different and awesome. Yes, Jeff Bridge's voice was so good for the background narration.

This story is about an old man who refused to grow up mentally and believes the existence of the magical stars and planets. The whole neighborhood stayed away from him and his troubles, until a new girl arrives at the next door. The little girl befriends him and falls for all his stories discarding her daily routines, but later it complicates their relationship after her mother finds out what they're up to. What happens to them and how the story concludes is the remaining part.

"She was not a common rose. She was the only one of her kind in the whole universe."

This story was finely fused between the reality and fantasy. Most essential storyline for the present world. In the name of education how the children were enforced by their parents to mechanical life with less time to play out and make their own friends. Especially as they were lacking the creativity to make up their own fictional worlds with their toys like the kids from a century ago were.

It might psychologically affect their characters while becoming an adult like the Aviator in this film, but as one of lines from the movie say 'Growing up is not the problem. Forgetting is', the children are losing their innocence over the adult's reality world. Who knows, someday those kids may become the greatest writer inspired by their childhood days.

If you ask me, I strongly recommend it for all. It is very encouraging film for the parents how not to raise their children and for the grown ups how not to get lost is the adult world. Most elegant flick of the year, along with a very few others.

You don't have to ignore it because you have read the book, like I said it was not completely borrowed from the original material. Instead, two-third of the film was freshly established out of the same name masterpiece. I'm not familiar with the book, so I've no thoughts that differentiate between these two formats. But definitely the film deserved all the appreciation from critics and movie

9½/10

It was so long ago that this furred creature talked of life and other miraculous things hoisted up by far fetched maturity and sensibility presumably alien for a being draped in fur, but it resonates louder and makes even more sense now, when after all this years I re-read the novella that was first published in 1943 after the outbreak of second WW, by French writer and artist Antoine De- Saint Exupery, The Little Prince. It makes me wonder if it ever were a children's tale, but again to decode such an honest, sincerely beautiful written work of art, a child's innocence and naivety is the only play. Such stories don't need working out you feel the characters as they evolve through the pages and identify with you. 2015 is about to see in a re-imagined spirit the animated adaptation of Exupery's invention, from Kung- Fu Panda director Mark Osborne of the same name. It is majorly awaited. The trailer was irresistibly delicious instilling a magic like atmosphere with the equally enchanting background score by Richard Harvey and Hans Zimmer. This movie got an amazing cast from Bridges to Cottilard, it will be dream on screen. The little girl's imagination of the Prince and the fox is done by stop motion animation resembling and staying true to those old painted images. Remember the dewy water color illustrations by Exupery depicting the Prince on the asteroid, the magical rose that grew on it…with flaxen hair and a scarf he just looked like a cherry boy who lost his way. Walking through the sands, if you please I would draw you a sheep.

The movie opened today - 29 July 2015 - here in France, and I saw the second show here where I live, the small town of Paimpol. There were perhaps 30 people altogether in attendance. I could hear that the few children among them were bored. So, first comment: 1) This is not a movie for small children. It won't interest them.

2) If you are expecting a video reproduction of St Exupéry's story, you will be very disappointed. It's in this movie, but it only comprises a small part of it. Most of the movie is a frame for that tale, the story of a small girl who meets an elderly aviator who tells her, in bits and pieces, the story of his encounter, many years before, with the Little Prince. If you go expecting just what you know from St Exupéry's story, most of this movie will therefore be an annoyance to you.

It took me awhile to accept the frame story. It's fairly banal, fairly Hollywood. Nowhere near the originality of St. Exupéry's remarkable tale. But if you let yourself go with it, it has an appeal over time.

The part devoted to St. Exupéry's original tale is the best, as far as I'm concerned.

We also see the prince as an adult, very changed. That came as a shock at first to me, but again, I let myself go with it, and it had a certain fairly obvious interest.

This is not a great movie. "Ernest and Célestine" is a thousand times better. But it's worth seeing.

Again, however, this is NOT a movie for little children. They will be bored.

Before diving in.... FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Title´s Content and Context:

Expectations you have going into a film have a tremendous influence, as you no doubt have experienced, on your take away after viewing!

Other than a couple general comments, only God knows their origin, that The Little Prince was really "worth it", I did not have much in the way of any well-defined expectations. Lucky Me! RESULT: A Nine *Star* experience!

Although my wife, Carmen, was the only person accompanying me, soon after initiating viewing, I imagined our grandchildren and daughters in the room, sharing the experience with us! My granddaughter, as is the case with most eight year old girls, loves anything involving a princess! If you have grandkids, you must watch this with them. If thousands of kilometers separate you...Use your imagination, as I did!

The LITTLE PRINCE seems tailor made for Grandparents/Grandkids viewing... a la "UP" ?

There are a few comments that need to be made regarding Little Prince "Purists"...But let's first focus on analysis.

This 2015 French version has European Production written all over it...But in the best sense. It is artistic, tells a touching and delicate story, has a number of songs in French that manage to be uplifting and, yet, simultaneously haunting, and, perhaps most importantly, interweaves the Classic 1950's Original storyline with a cautionary helicopter parent tale that both compliments and underscores said original!

Obviously, one of the great ironies of this 2015 version is that the old man/pilot takes it upon himself to help the Little Girl learn just what it is to be a kid! At the heart of both storylines is that one of the most important things in life is keeping that spark of being a kid alive within us... even if we live to be 100!

Earlier, I mentioned Little Prince purists...Well, whenever a movie brings a classic literary work to the screen, there are always viewers who want to see the original literary work brought to the screen with absolutely no changes, whatsoever to dialogue or storyline! Forget that we are dealing with the now one century old, two different medium conundrum! Needless to say, many PURISTS simply could not get past this point. Obviously, this was absolutely no problem at all for me! To the contrary, it seemed quite a plus!

PLEASE Don't Miss THE LITTLE PRINCE! And make it a family affair! (However, kids under 7 or 8 might find Prince a bit "Slow", or might not "Get It"!)

Any comments or questions, in ENGLISH o en ESPAÑOL, are most welcome!

ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

In an age that is so saturated with social media and entertainment, I often forget when the last time was that I saw such a wholesome film as this. My heart is often overwhelmed at how quickly innocence and childhood is sucked away in our culture. I personally felt when I was young that innocence was to be looked down upon. As most encounter, the years couldn't go by fast enough for my young self, constantly wishing to be older and wiser. Now is the time I look back. I deeply appreciate this film because it cherishes the beauty of a child's imagination. The animation leaves me awestruck at its beautiful simplistic style of stop motion. I cannot help but by transported back into my ever too short childhood along with the little girl and the Prince. I hope more teenagers and adults will stumble upon this piece of art because it is such a good reminder to cherish our imaginations amidst our mundane every day life.