Like a Pixar movie shorn of the cutesy and manipulative aspects that marred “Inside Out,” the animated remake of “The Little Prince,” hitting theaters and Netflix, is as fragile and beautiful as the beloved rose guarded by the wee fellow of the title.
Wrapping a completely new story around the 1943 French fable, this adaptation centers on an overscheduled, overstressed suburban girl (Mackenzie Foy) whose eccentric geezer neighbor (Jeff Bridges) is an ex-aviator with a broken-down biplane and an ungrounded imagination. He shows her pages from his tale of the Little Prince, an extraterrestrial wanderer dismayed by all things grown-up. As her mom (Rachel McAdams) burdens her with a bewildering array of “essential” tasks, the girl learns the value of the inessential. “The problem isn’t growing up,” the old man tells her, “it’s forgetting.”
Combining elements of Pixar’s “Up” and Tim Burton designs, Mark Osborne’s movie is delicately layered, dryly funny in that sparkling French way and full of surprises. If it is a little too slow-moving and thoughtful for little kids, for older kids and adults it’s . . . essential.