The animation genre is killing it at the moment. If they’re not critically acclaimed, then they’re thriving at the box office (The Angry Birds), while some have even managed to do both (Kung Fu Panda 3, Zootopia). Before the end of the year, we’ve still got Storks, The Secret Life Of Pets, Trolls, Sausage Party, Moana, Ice Age: Collision Course, and none other than Finding Dory to look forward to. But the latest trailer for The Little Prince suggests that the CGI/stop motion picture might usurp them all to be the best animated film of the year. You can check it out for yourself below.
Here’s the thing, though. U.S. audiences are a bit late to the party with The Little Prince because after premiering at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, it has already been released in France and across several other countries, too. After impressing around the globe, The Little Prince was originally touted for a March 2016, release in the USA after it was picked up by RealD3D. However, before it had a chance to hit cinemas, RealD3D dropped The Little Prince without any explanation, and it then looked as though it would never see the light of day.
However, like the distributor equivalent of Tarzan, Netflix soon swooped in to save The Little Prince and picked it up for release. It will now be available later this summer on Netflix and in theaters, and if you found the trailer half as charming as I did, then you’ll already be counting down the months, weeks, and days until it does so. A combination of CGI and stop-motion, The Little Prince looks as though it possesses a truly unique aesthetic and texture that should set it apart from its genre rivals. However, it also seems to have plenty of heart to captivate.
A borderline adaptation of Saint Exupery’s 1943 novel of the same name, the narrative of this book is woven into an original story about a young girl trying to deal with her overbearing mother who becomes friends with The Aviator (Jeff Bridges), who is the protagonist of Exupery’s piece.
The critical reaction to The Little Prince has already been impressive, as it currently holds a score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, while it also picked up the 2016 Cesar Award for Best Animated Feature Film. And with a stellar list of vocal talent at its core, it’s not surprising that Netflix decided to pick it up. I mean, just check out who is involved.
We’ll get to see if RealD3D’s loss is Netflix’s gain when The Little Prince is finally released theatrically and on Netflix on August 5.
