Review: Reimagined 'The Little Prince' Reminds Us That We Live in a World Where Anything is Possible

So many of us look at our lives in utter devastation, and we ask, "How can this be?" It's not like we are ever going to find the answer to why things didn't work out as planned, why our dreams never did come true, or why we have suffered disappointment and loss.

We comfort ourselves with truisms and the hope that somewhere in this life there is purpose, a divine design, and maybe, even a little bit of magic. Children find magic much better than adults, because children still expect the world to be fair. Perhaps this is why Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's fable "The Little Prince" remains perennial favorite.

This animated movie version, originally released in 2015, merely pays homage to the children's book, primarily filling its screen time with an entirely different narrative and alternative characters. But the story it tells is thoroughly charming and full of beautiful animation.

Saint-Exupéry, a French aristocrat and aviator, moved to America after his country's armistice with Germany during the Second World War, and wrote his book 1942. His narrator, also an aviator, has many similarities with the author. They both crash their plane in the Sahara Desert; they both survive this near death experience; and they are both shocked by the state of the world, asking themselves how it is that humanity has come to this place.

In fiction, the aviator meets a little boy who has been traveling through space. This Little Prince entertains the man with stories about the superficial people he has met along his journey. The lessons in this tale are clear-cut. It's full of satire, metaphor, magic and humor.

All this exists in the animated adaptation, but in a very different way. Directed by Mark Osborne ("Kung Fu Panda") and written by Irena Brignull and Bob Persichetti ("The Boxtrolls,") this version involves a Little Girl (Mackenzie Foy) and her over-the-top helicopter Mother (Rachel McAdams). The "life plan" this mother creates for her child doesn't go as planned when the Little Girl encounters a new neighbor (Jeff Bridges), because the neighbor, a former aviator, tells the Little Girl his story of The Little Prince.

With striking animation, plenty of humor and a heartfelt story, this re-imagining of the classic asks, "How can this be?" then tells us we live in a world where anything is possible.

"The Little Prince" arrives on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time January 9.