proud_luddite In a French suburb, a girl of maybe nine has a hyper-ambitious mother who has over-scheduled the girl's life. Naturally, the girl connects with their eccentric, ostracized neighbour: a former pilot who tells her stories of the title character, taken from the novella by Antoine de St-Expury. This review is for the film's English-language version.The greatest delights in this film are the ways it mocks our modern world. It begins by focusing on a child whose childhood is being ripped away and compares her to an elderly man who refused to let his childhood spirit die. They are surrounded by drone people living in cloned modern homes. Brief scenes mocking office clones and uppity schools are a joy.With so much going for the film, there's almost a feeling of anti-climax by the end. There is certainly nothing wrong with it but the main story has less bite than the occasional satire that rightly criticizes the worst of modern times. But the overall message is worth it: despite the insane demands of our modern world, we can get through it if we stay connected to our childhood spirit and imagination.

sergelamarche I watched the french version of course. Super excellent for the animations, the story inside the story and the way the director depicts that the film is only one way of interpreting the sourced book. It is funny to see that the french company making the film is owned by an English company. This is about true of the narrative, the french book is owned by the English story telling it or about it. There is quite a bit of ironies. The school in the film wants to make essential adults, while the main point of the book is to make us realise that the essential is invisible. It is a sort of recuperation by the English. As to what is the essential, it is wisely left to our own ideas. The book is all very slow and ponderous. Very philosophical. This film is more grounded and adventurous although some of it is imaginary.

info-12388 Three stars only for the sequences that actually came from the book, as the stop motion work is quite beautiful and well executed.But the framing story, which seems to think we need the message pounded on us with a twenty- pound sledge hammer, was totally unnecessary and — as I"m afraid it might be — put in a sop as part of the "empower little girls!" campaign currently running through almost all media. (Let me add, I have no problem with empowerment, but it doesn't need to be slathered over *everything*.)The Little Prince isn't about empowerment. It really isn't about the power of imagination, although the marketing might like you to believe that. Rather, it's a meditation on life and death, on love and loss — and the filmmakers here completely missed the point in their rush to create this mangled view of a book whose message comes from a more delicate and thoughtful place. I applaud the art, to be sure — the CG work is nice... just not for this particular story. It needs its own story to tell, not tailgating on the back of something else.

Matt Bonner A great take on a classic book. I thought that the transitions between the main characters (the little girl and her mother) and the telling of the Little Prince by the old man would be choppy but it fit in almost perfectly. Deep messages of what matters most, simplifying life, etc. are found throughout making it a truly worthwhile experience. The sophistication and maturity of dialogue between the Prince and the other characters creates a touching atmosphere without the "cheesiness" of your typical feel good film. Although slow moving at parts, it is captivating enough to never really be boring. Excellently inspiring, overall.