‘The Little Prince’ brings childlike wonder into a grown-up world

Aside from being one of the most translated books in the world, "The Little Prince" is also perhaps one of the best-loved, even 72 years after it was first published. Written by French poet and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "The Little Prince" employs a fantastical style of storytelling that ties together events and characters that are believed to be based on Saint-Exupéry’s own experiences.

This new attempt at adapting the novella into a full-length film (the first one was in 1974) combines computer animation and 3D stop-motion techniques. Instead of being a direct adaptation, the film instead takes significant portions of the book and turns it into a story-within-a-story.

It is the book’s narrator, the aviator (now a very old man) who serves as the bridge between the framing story and the adapted book, as he befriends and shares his experiences with a little girl whose life was already planned out by an overbearing but well-meaning mother. As the aviator tells the little girl the story of how he once met the little prince, the girl begins her own journey – one that teaches her that there is more to life than simply going through the motions and growing up as quickly as possible.

The decision to go with a combination of CGI and stop-motion serves the dual purpose of making the film easier on the eyes and differentiating the framing story (CGI) from the sequences illustrating the aviator’s story (stop-motion). Due to its chosen format and source material, it is easy to dismiss "The Little Prince" as a children’s film. However, while its colorful visuals and cartoonish proportions will certainly appeal to younger audiences, the lessons it dishes out mostly revolve around valuing interpersonal relationships and remembering the things that truly matter most in life – concepts that jaded nine-to-fivers and people who enjoyed films like "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" are most likely to relate to.

Nearly all of the characters remain unnamed during the course of the film, known only by their roles in the story (the Aviator, the Mother, and so on); the one time a character does get an official “name,” it’s simply a minor but meaningful modification. It’s a clever touch in a film that fights the notion that there is nothing else to look forward to in life aside from growing up, taking one’s place in the workforce, and joining the daily grind.

"The Little Prince" is a sweet, thoughtful attempt to breathe new life into a timeless and well-loved classic. While the necessity of its existence is questionable and it occasionally comes close to stumbling into the trap of being buried under too many story threads, it is nevertheless a visually engaging reminder to stop and smell the roses every once in a while – a reminder that we could all use these days. — BM, GMA News

"The Little Prince" opens in theaters on December 2.