This is the second time in a week in which I’ve seen a guy with the title of “Prince” without telling me what he’s Prince of. Oh, wait. Maybe “The Little Prince” is not a title, but a name … maybe he’s a dedicated follower of the recently deceased guitarist, adopted his name and will soon change it to a symbol and then say he’s the spaceman formerly known as Little Prince.
I’m sorry, but that makes equally as much sense as a kid who lives on a planet the size of a bean bag chair somehow being royalty. I’m getting away from the thesis – let me assure you this was a good film.
Overachieving single Mother (voice of Rachel McAdams) has programmed the entire summer for her Little Girl (Mackenzie Foy). Their new concrete box of a home seems ideal for the lack of fun the nine-year-old will have over the coming months. The background is Girl proved Werth-less in her interview for Werth Academy, so Mother made the desperate ploy of moving within the school district – this seems a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between public and private schools, but no matter – Mother has clearly taken a less-than-preferable living situation to accommodate her vision of Little Girl’s future. And while she’s at work, Little Girl is expected to adhere to a routine invented to transform her into Werth Academy material for the fall. The schedule has been scripted down to ten minute increments; Little Girl even has to hustle up eating that apple to get to the Analytic Geometry … all within their geometric cube of a home in their Pac-Man grid community aiming at a grey, faceless Brazil-like bureaucratic future.
And if you think the backstory was loaded with metaphor, you have no idea. None.
Next door to the box is a lonely, eccentric old man (Jeff Bridges) living in the only non-box in this universe. Imdb lists him as “Aviator,” an homage to his younger, less disheveled, and flight capable version. Little Girl discovers him when his propeller bashes its way into her kitchen. He senses she’s lonely, too, and, check it, he has a story to tell about a Little Prince from outer space he met years ago. This has Up written all over it – lonely
old dude, lonely kid, a wild tale, a reluctant friendship, and a craft that shouldn’t be able to fly. Add in a dose of The English Patient and you’re almost there.
The animation in The Little Prince is marvelous – it shifts from the “real world” which has a very Dreamworks feel to the tale-within-a-tale which has a much more traditional layered cut-out animation look – but very polished at that. I could recommend the film on the cinematography alone. And were it not for the endless series of metaphors, I might call genius. But every.single.scene seems to hide some deeper connotation with “what does he represent?” and “what is this planet supposed to mean?” The characters we meet are never named and all the supporting players are one-dimensional – hence a film that is begging to be parsed and analyzed the way The Rocky Horror Picture Show begs for audience commentary.
Frog don’t play dat. I liked your film, but you pushed it. End of story.
♪Old man, look at your life
Is this what you drew up?
Old man, look at your life
What a complete screw up
Old man, look, get a life
Only nine, comparatively fine
Live alone during the day
Don’t make me care about you
Time lost, what’s the cost?
Your road ain’t quite Robert Frost
Here’s a guy who won’t get bossed
Understanding you
(Dammit!)
Understanding you
Old man, did you have a wife?
Why are you so lonely?
I need someone to show me
A whole way new
Ah, one look at this mess
Rats. I guess that’s you♫
Rated PG, 108 Minutes
D: Mark Osborne
W: Irena Brignull, Bob Persichetti
Genre: Metaphorical metaphors of metaphoring
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Lonely people
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People who quote the “shampoo my crotch” line from As Good as It Gets
♪ Parody inspired by “Old Man”
