The Little Prince by Mark Osborne
- Tommaso Carlo Mascolo
- 21 gen 2016
- Tempo di lettura: 2 min
With his rendition of The Little Prince, based on the tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Mark Osborne has created a perfect cohesion between old and new. The book, published in 1946, is considered a classic of literature; it inhabits our imagination as one of the most popular tales for children, loved by adults too. Now Osborne translates such a classic into the modern form of a digital animation movie.
The story does not begin with an aviator meeting the Little Prince, as in the book, but instead with a Little Girl of our times moving to a new place with her mother. The mother wants the Little Girl to enter an eminent academy and become a respectable and successful adult, so she plans every minute, every second of her life, leaving no time for the kid to play, or even to dream.
Mother and daughter in their planned lifestyle © 2015 Paramount Pictures Above: The Little Prince © 2015 Paramount Pictures
Their lifestyle dedicated to work and study is interrupted when the Little Girl meets her neighbour, an old aviator with an out of order airplane in his garden, thousands of souvenirs from every part of the world in his house and an absurd story to tell held in his memory.
This story, of course, is about the Little Prince, arrived from the Asteroid B 612, about his travels across the universe, and of his friendship with the aviator. The Little Girl's imagination begins to take off, bringing her into an adventurous journey, looking for the Little Prince and for everything this mysterious child represents.
The aviator's home © 2015 Paramount Pictures
Osborne guides us from the digital and monochrome image of the Little Girl's everyday life to a colourful, drawn-on-paper world, populated by narcissist roses looking for love and domesticated foxes who explain that "what is essential is invisible to the eye". The director makes this world real using the stop-motion technique, reproducing faithfully the look of an illustrated children book.
The Little Prince meets the Fox © 2015 Paramount Pictures
Osborne and the screenwriters Irena Birgnull and Bob Persichetti add also some extra-elements to the plot, but they do not betray the message of the tale.
The Little Prince is a touching movie that eventually displays with great sensitivity the theme of growth, and it has much to say to both children and adults: this is exactly the essential role of every typical fairy-tale.
Director: Mark Osborne.
Screenplay: Irena Brignull, Bob Persichetti (based on the novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry).
Cast (voice): Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Marion Cotillard, James Franco, Riley Osborne, Mackenzie Foy.
Year: 2015
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