I never read the novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, tho a friend of mine loves it. All I had gleaned was the prince's appearance, his habitation of a tiny planetoid, and his sad parting from a talking fox. Further study confirms that it's quite solemn in spite of a whimsical, seemingly kid-friendly setup. But this animation isn't a direct adaptation; rather, it's a story about the story.
As in the novella, nobody has a stated name. The protagonist is an eight-year-old girl (Mackenzie Foy, who already starred in an animation connected to France) whose mother (Rachel McAdams), while affectionate, has way too strict a plan for her life. They move next door to an eccentric old pariah (Jeff Bridges) who turns out to be the novella's narrator and illustrator, eager to share his story with whoever will listen. The girl rebels against Mom's schedule to learn about the spacefaring boy (who doesn't seem to be a literal prince) whom the man claims to have met in a desert. What we get must be a highly capsulized version of the story -- leaving room for much more....
When the girl reaches the bittersweet ending, she hates it. A change of circumstance causes her to seek out a continuation, which makes up the third act. I'm not sure whether we're supposed to take these events literally or see them as her imagination running wild; I rather hope the latter, because otherwise she acts dangerously irresponsible. She borrows the old man's battered biplane, which even he isn't allowed to use, and goes looking for the prince, whom I would have presumed dead. Along for the ride is a plush fox with button eyes, who comes to life only during her adventure. They meet many characters from the novella in a new capacity, making the unpleasant discovery that...well, someone from my generation would recall the premise of Hook: "What if Peter Pan grew up?"
You might get the impression that the message tries too hard in opposing the preppy world that the girl finds herself thrust into. Fortunately, the old man repeatedly makes it clear: "Growing up isn't the problem; forgetting is." Obviously, I agree with the sentiment that we should hold onto our inner children, or I wouldn't have watched this.
There's quite an all-star voice cast here. In addition to the above, we have Paul Rudd, James Franco, Marion Cotillard, Paul Giamatti, Benicio Del Toro, Albert Brooks, and Ricky Gervais. I guess Paramount pulled its weight.
The narrated portions of the story use a stop-action style that reflects the illustrated pages. This makes it a little strange to see those characters in CG later. I can't say the CG's especially good by today's standards, either, but at least the character designs are interesting.
I have to say, what I've learned didn't make me want to check out the rest of the novella. The prince is a little annoying in his self-assurance, and despite bringing laughter to the old man's ears, he's pretty darn serious. It doesn't help that he evidently came from nowhere. How abstract does it get?
Fans of the novella may or may not be satisfied with this film's embellishment (and probable short shrift). It does satisfy me, but only just. I didn't mind killing 110 minutes with it on a whim.
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