The actual story of the Prince is presented in its entirety but this is surrounded by a brand new parallel narrative concerning a little girl (who is never named) who's mother is trying to enroll her into the prestigious Werth Academy. The little girl meets an old retired aviator (voiced by Jeff Bridges) who then regales her with the tales of The Little Prince. What is interesting about this film is the story of the little girl is animated with computer animation and the parts of the film about the Prince are animated with stop-motion. I found the stop-motion segments to be gorgeously done, as they have a paper-mâché aesthetic that is quaint. Though it isn't terrible, the CGI animation just looks bland and generic in comparison and I wish they had done the entire film with the stop-motion style.
While The Little Prince story segments are well done, the "bookend" narrative with the girl is less engaging and a little forced. It's apparent that it was added to make the film more interesting to modern children, but it ends up playing out like a Pixar-lite homage. It attempts to tie into the fantastical nature of the Prince's space adventures, but it never quite gels together. The tone of the original story is a little somber and surreal and that coupled with the different animation styles makes it seem like two different movies glued together. Making the protagonist a young girl does make it more relatable to both genders, but it's hampered by the slightly clumsy meshing of the two narratives. On a whole it isn't bad, however, and doesn't ruin the film.
Score
-Michelle Kisner