The Little Prince: The Art of Growing Up
Article by Joana Kim
Many people have heard of the novel Le Petit Prince or The Little Prince, written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Currently, The Little Prince is one of the world’s best-selling and most translated books, having been translated into more than 300 languages. As is with quite a few classics, The Little Prince is no stranger to an adaptation on the big screen; it actually has two namesake movies based on the novel. Most recently is the 2015 stop-motion CG animation of the novel, The Little Prince, a family/adventure film directed by Mark Osborne.
In brief, the movie centers around the story of the Little Girl who is pressured to work hard in achieving success and meeting expectations set by grown-ups in a mundane and strict environment - with everything and everyone required to measure up to what is stated as “essential” or “essentiel” to society. A turning point in her life occurs when she meets the Aviator, who recounts to her stories of the Little Prince, with dialogue, lines, characters and pictures integrated from the real-life novel. The story of the film unfolds into what I personally found, a mixture of wide-eyed charm and subtleties that were rich in substance and meaning - a balance that somewhat also mirrored the novel. I watched The Little Prince vaguely remembering details from having viewed it once before in school, and therefore had expectations reliant on the gaps in my memory - in addition to any details I missed in the first viewing. The gaps ended up actually being a blessing in disguise because it gave me a fresh perspective and new appreciation for the movie.
Off the bat, starting apart from the visual designs and even plot, an honourable and essential mention is the film soundtrack as well as its score, the original music that was written to accompany the film. Much of the film score was composed by Richard Harvey and Hans Zimmer, who is noted for his work in movies including Interstellar, The Lion King, and The Pirates of the Caribbean - among many others. The soundtrack - in its 29 piece entirety - stands out from the background of the film, and as a result, various parts of pieces are able to spark easy visualization with its associated scenes in the movie. For example, when the character first encounters the pages of the Little Prince’s stories, Among the Coins provides a mysterious tune giving a sense of suspense for the audience alongside the character. Another song, Equation, pulls at the heartstrings in delving deeper into the thoughts and feelings of the Little Girl not directly spelled out in the movie with its lyrics:
Will I ever know
How white is the snow
Does it matter after all
Will I ever learn
How to fly like a birds
Maybe
In an hour
In a day
In a week
In a thousand weeks
In a year
In a million years
(Hans Zimmer, Camille) Equation
“Will I be a good grown-up?”
Here we have the Little Girl having doubts in regards to what she was taught to be and do in order to become a “good grown-up.” The theme of child vs. grown-up is present in the novel and is perhaps more familiarized in its famous lines: “Growing up is not the problem, forgetting is!” and “All grown-ups were once children...but only a few remember it.” When watching the movie, it was eye-opening to see the depth of a child’s perspective in a film, as it revolved around the lives of children - primarily the Little Girl, but also the Little Prince. While these lyrics convey the emotions and thoughts of the Little Girl, the words also strike a note for me today in the vulnerability of asking questions that may seem rhetorical but somewhat aren’t in the face of uncertainty and the unknown.
How the movie goes back and forth in reference to the stories in the novel never seems like an additional feature, but harmoniously relevant to the film’s story and the characters’ own lives. The Little Girl has only been taught what is clear to the eye, but when she meets the Aviator, it is as if she suddenly starts to see vivid colour in her life. Yet, despite all the exciting tales, drawings, and adventures that she hears about and experiences, there is still something missing that is projected further when faced with the possibility of losing and forgetting what is dear to her, particularly in the face of growing up. The story comes to end after the Little Girl embarks on an escapade to seek answers in her own life and in regards to the ending of The Little Prince itself, and she promises to never forget all that was seen and learned in knowing what is essential, yet not always clearly seen.
“Here is my secret. It is quite simple. One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” - The Little Prince
Although the audience is not able to witness the character growing to become an adult in the movie, they can surely witness the Little Girl growing up, which to me acts as the last act in conveying the film’s message.
With having met wide international success, the movie The Little Prince is definitely not a direct interpretation or copy of the novel. What it does do, however, is derive the symbolism and concepts from the book, and weave them into a narrative of its own, which perhaps is what real-life is more or less to reflect. Until the very last journey, The Little Prince showcases itself as a film I have never quite seen before, with its intricate layers of plot and character development. The production distributed a wholehearted and poignant retelling of a classic and the significance of remembering that which is essential to all, but often most clearly seen in the frame of child-like wonder.