'The Little Prince' has a tedious real-world framing device

Those behind the movie version of 'Prince' achieve some charming effects, and the list of voice artists are made up of A-list actors.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s 1943 fable “The Little Prince” has been revamped into one of the most expensive French animated movies ever made. Not so little is this prince anymore.

Director Mark Osborne (“Kung Fu Panda”), with screenwriters Irena Brignull and Bob Persichetti and a team of A-list voice artists including Jeff Bridges and Marion Cotillard, achieve some charming effects, especially with a couple of stop-motion sequences that capture the book’s enduring whimsicality. But the computer-animated portions that function as a real-world framing device are more tedious than fanciful. Grade: B- (Rated PG for mild thematic elements.)