The sweet, soulful trailer for The Little Prince should soothe the nerves of those wary of seeing yet another beloved childhood text adapted to the big screen. Antoine De Saint-Exupéry’s novella, published in 1943, is the most-translated book in the French language and can be enjoyed as both a philosophical musing and a simple children’s story; it’s as much a fable of how children’s imaginations’ diminish with age as it is a tale of a stranded pilot who meets a little boy fallen from a tiny asteroid. Increasing the stinging nostalgia factor is Lily Allen’s cover of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know,” a song that should feel trite at this point but continues to be the perfect accompaniment to childhood stories re-consumed in a new medium as adults (the song in this trailer had an effect on me similar to the one the Winnie The Pooh film trailer had on contributor Caroline Framke).
In place of a narrator asking readers what they see in a shape to test the imagination, the movie has a little girl who looks absolutely buried in math equations, her imagination likely crippled by focusing all her attention on the mundanity of homework and sitting at desks. The shot of her unfolding a page from The Little Prince book is totally magical, as is the papier-mâché animation style for the Prince’s storyline contrasted with a more Pixar-like approach for the little girl/old man storyline. (The film’s director also helmed Kung Fu Panda, a film that stood out in the milieu of animated films.)
For those of us who don’t speak French, Vulture helpfully translated the words:
Old man: Oh, oh! I’m here! Up here! [He waves.] Good evening!
Little girl: [Reading] Once upon a time, a little prince who needed a friend?
Old man: I’ve flown almost everywhere in the world, until something miraculous happened.
Little Prince: Please, draw me a sheep.
Old man: I’ve always wanted to find someone to share my story with, but I think this world has become too grown-up … It’s only the beginning of the
story!
And although an A-list cast, including Rachel McAdams, James Franco, Benicio Del Toro, and Ricky Gervais, will be voicing the English edition, the French in this trailer is really nice. The film will be released October 7, 2015 in French theaters; the release date in the U.S. is currently unknown.