5 January 2016

The Little Prince [SQ Inflight Entertainment]





The Little Prince was a charmingly sweet animation that combined both CGI and stop-motion technology to present a story within a story, with the original narrative mirroring that of the beloved (and well known) fable.
Directed by American Mark Osborne, this film was clearly targeted towards introducing a new generation to Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s children classic (although every time I read it, at different ages, I garner something new about it). It managed to introduce a wholly new narrative to bring the audience into the world of The Little Prince, however, non-book readers may initially be confused by how weirdly erratic the eponymous little prince could be – although Osborne did try to address that with a bit of meta-confusion.
The Third Act was a highlight. With a marvellous imagining that was a bit darker than the preceding two acts, although Osborne ultimately still held back from making it too morose/macabre/dark.
The 3D stop-motion was gorgeous and I could really watch the whole original Le Petit Prince in that although that may not appeal to as wide an audience as this current incarnation. However, the computer animation was fairly normal with nothing too spectacular or standing out as compared to the Pixar films.
Similarly, the voice work was not outstanding with Jeff Bridges (as the Aviator), Paul Rudd (as Mr Prince), Marion Cotillard (as The Rose) and James Franco (as The Fox) being more distinct and imbuing some sense of personality to their characters.
The Little Prince will definitely appeal to the older audience who grew up reading this marvellous novella however it was not strong enough to hold onto their attention fully until the final act. As for a younger audience, this film should be engaging enough through its 108 minutes although it still lacked many of the bells and whistles that most animations have these days with much of its strength lying on its narrative which does demands more attention from the young.



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