Reviews

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  ★★★★½ review by A.J. on Letterboxd

  You're going to make a wonderful grown-up. 
  
  I turned 18 on June 30th. I have a job where I work about 30 hours a week. I'm not in college. I stress out about the future and the career that I want to have. 
  
  Along comes The Little Prince, a beautiful, uplifting film that reminded me to never forget. It's been such a big problem with my life lately. 
  
  As I sit here, crying because of the effect this movie had on me, I feel at peace. 
  
  I'll grow up. But I won't forget any of it.

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  ★★★★ review by brat pitt on Letterboxd

  i'm not a furry but this animated fox is nowhere near as hot as the one from zootopia

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  ★★★★ review by kyle97 on Letterboxd

  I didn’t cry like I thought I would. Maybe a bit teary-eyed.

  Mark Osborne takes such a risky route to tell this beloved story through two parallel narratives, one of which functions as a framing device for the actual Little Prince story. But Osborne pulls it off with flying colors and even elevates the already-excellent original material while remaining faithful to it. Whether you like the film or not, you can’t deny that Antoin de Saint-Exupery's book was adapted with love and respect. Osborne digs deep into the story's core themes of childhood and memory to deliver a soothing film that speaks to our formative years. The Little Prince might just be a film for adults after all.

  The movie is big in its heart and elegiac in its messages. Adults are the antagonists here. They lack one fundamental thing in life that helps all of us stay hopeful: imagination. And they try to take it away from our main character, The Little Girl. Her type-A sort of mom imposes strict life planning upon her, unaware that she’s accelerating the growing-up process of her daughter. But before she becomes another unimaginative adult, the Little Girl meets the Aviator, who introduces her to this magical story about the Little Prince and a world full of joy that make her feel alive and hopeful again.

  I can only assume that Osborne intentionally goes with the muted, washed-out color palettes for the computer-generated portions of the film to portray the contemporary world. They strongly convey the dullness that characterizes the corporate society populated by robotic working adults. But when the colorful stop-motion animation kicks in and the story of the Little Prince unfolds, the film suddenly becomes more magical.

  I can’t say that the movie is powerful, but it certainly accomplishes quite beautifully what it sets out to do. The Little Prince just wants to remind you how powerful made-up stories can be, how important your childhood days are, and what is “essential” in life. Don't grow up too fast.

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  ★★★★½ review by Travis Lytle on Letterboxd

  In adapting Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic work, "The Little Prince," Mark Osborne creates a sweet and exuberant animated adventure that captures the nostalgic intersection of youthful bliss and grownup responsibility. Recognizing the detriment of the former due to the pressures of the latter, the film, in artful and entertaining strokes, makes an argument for the undeniable importance of never leaving behind the whimsy and creative soulfulness of childhood.

  With a contemporary framing device about a daughter and her too-structured mother, the narrative follows the arcs set by de Saint-Exupéry that trace an aviator's journey through the cosmos and his interactions with a certain little prince. That aviator, now aged, tells his tale to the daughter, a friendship blooms, and the little girl is set on a new path.

  The story quickly and effortlessly enchants with its poetic beats, rich and recognizable themes, and character-based delights. The little girl, the prince, and the aviator all produce rich story currents lapping subtextual motifs of exploration, love, loss, growth, and holding tenaciously to the heartbeat of youth. It a lovely tale, robust with emotion, liveliness, and purity.

  Osborne and company weave three-dimensional animation, hand-drawn frames, and stop-motion for something that is as visually vibrant as the narrative is enchanting. Designs reflect the film's tone with a combination of fun and weight, and the entire affair is injected with a sophisticated look and energy that will please all audiences.

  Voice-talent is spot on. Rachel McAdams, Mackenzie Foy, Jeff Bridges, Paul Rudd, and more communicate the necessary emotional ballast called for by the film while adding unique personality to each of the characters. Joy and sorrow trip with equal aplomb from each actor's well-chosen voice.

  "The Little Prince" is a moving, inspiring, and completely involving animated fantasy-adventure. Quiet yet memorable, the film is a beautifully animated, potently put together, and engrossingly told piece of work. It is wise, warm, and fantastic; and it should not be missed.

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  ★★★★★ review by Arielrocks5 on Letterboxd

  If I haven't made it clear enough for you all, I love animation. No, I ADORE animation!

  Animation has and always will be my favorite medium of film, regardless of what type is used, and I'm always pumped to learn about new animated films in production, having new trailers dropped, and even some of my favorite filmmakers working on animated films (See the recent announcement of Edgar Wright directing one for Dreamworks), but this year, has been ruff on me in terms of that.

  I mean, don't get me wrong, we had some good animated films ("Shaun The Sheep Movie" was a pure delight and "Hotel Transylvania 2" was a ton of fun) but for the most part a good amount of them were ether overwhelmingly mediocre (See "Minions"), a complete bore (See "Inside Out" ((Sorry Pixar fanboys)) ), a disjointed nostalgia trip and nothing else (See "The Peanuts Movie"), a ear bleeding inducing mess (See "Strange Magic"), or a movie so god damn bad and insulting to its original source material that it made me want to gouged my eyes, ears, and brain due to how annoying, assine, and just plan freaking dumb it was (See "Home", actually, don't see that movie).

  And the same can be said for some of my opinions on the live action movies from this year (As mentioned in my "Vacation" review), so, never the less, I've been burnt to many times, that I was starting to worry that those would be the things I just remember for this year for the medium, which was sad because last year we had "Song Of The Sea", "The BoxTrolls", and "The Book Of Life", and this year we were left with....those.

  So......leave it to such a small, little movie that I think no one even heard off, nor even cares about aside from die hard animation fans, to come out of nowhere for me, and take me a journey, that made me feel like a little kid again watching some of my favorite animated movies growing up.

  The story follows a little girl in a grown up world, where everything is grey, white, and black, and over controlled, where everyone has every single day of their lives planed out for being the most essential they can be.

  But then one day, their next door neighbor (Played by The Dude Himself Jeff Bridges) tells her the story of a person known as 'The Little Prince', and his adventures.

  And what follows.......is unless "Anomalisa" is as good as I've heard it, the best god damn animated film of 2015 (I know its not coming to the US until early next year, but screw it! I don't care!).

  Everything about this movie from its beautiful blend of the three most popular styles of animation, Hand Drawn, CGI, and Stop Motion, all cope together to form what could be a living picture book come to life, especially when it comes to the stop motion segments which are simply MIND BLOWING! Seriously! How in the hell did they do these!?

  But then again, I've seen with great animation and still be let down by how they effect me when they do their best to tell a "Deep" and "Complex" story and have those "FEELS" moments (See "Inside Out" and "How To Train Your Dragon 2"), and it just ends up distracting me than engaging me.

  .....so its all the more surprising that this movie ended up making me cry as much as my current favorite movie of the year "The End Of The Tour" (Which is saying a lot since that movie made be cry like baby), and also moved me in a way I haven't been moved by an animated film in quite some time. I think the last time that happened was with Tom Moore's "Song Of The Sea".

  The cast they have here are all great for there relatively small roles (Small meaning that they don't have a lot to say during a good amount of their screentime, but they do make the most of it), and everyone's characters are well define, likable, and interesting.

  So all of that was fine and dandy, but then before I got into this, I read some reviews on this very site saying that the third act derails the movie in the same way I think "Tomorrowland" did to some (And to a certain extent the underrated "Meet The Robinsons"), but what put this movie's third act above that movie was actually how meaningful it was to the rest of the film (his isn't a spoiler btw), and that is, its okay to be a grown up, just make sure you don't forget what made you.....you. And in he way the movie presents this is almost very Terry Gilliam like if any of you understand what I'm saying. And when the movie wants to have a thrilling moment, thanks to Mark Osborne's incredible direction, it pays off with flying aces.

  I felt like I was watching something from the golden age of Pixar or Disney or Don Bluth, something for everyone, respects the beautiful and limitless boundaries of animation, and not just something for the kids to just be distracted by for an hour and half.

  And by god......the music.......oh sweet lord, the music!!!!

  I mean, I've always loved Hans Zimmer's scores, but GOD DAMN! This is some of his best work in YEARS, I'm talking up to par with some of his best works. Its grand, simple, enchanting, magical, and just, stunning for the ears..

  Again, unless I end up liking "Anomalisa" just a tad bit more, "The Little Prince" isn't just going to be my pick for the best animated film of the year, but one of the best movies of the year that needed it the most...

  Thank you, Mark Osborne..........thank you, so much for this incredible journey. :')

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