This Christmas, big screens in Korea will bring two animated films that will put a child-like spark back in the hearts of grown-ups -- “The Peanuts Movie” based on the classic comic strip by Charles M. Schulz and “The Little Prince,” an English-language French film based on the 1943 masterpiece by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. 

While remaining true to the classic works that inspired them, both films catapult the stories’ visuals into the 21st century. 

“The Peanuts Movie” brings Charlie Brown and his gang into the world of 3-D for the first time. Crafted by director Steve Martino at BlueSky Studios (“Ice Age,” “Rio”), the movie takes particular care to stay true to the pen lines of Schulz’s original comic, for example choosing wobbled lines rather than straight, digitally created ones. The animators also used a variety of visual tricks to maintain the integrity of Schulz’s character designs in 3-D. For example, in the comic strip the shape of Lucy’s hair shifts when she is seen from the front, side, and back. In “The Peanuts Movie” those transitions were made quickly so that Lucy could turn her head naturally and yet have her hair shift in the same way.

Meanwhile, Mark Osborne’s “The Little Prince” takes on a dual approach. The film tells the famous story of the Aviator meeting the Little Prince in the desert, but in a frame-in-frame structure; the narrative is relayed by the aged Aviator to the unnamed Little Girl living in modern suburbia. 

The original illustrations from Saint-Exupery’s book are recreated for the well-known storyline in a highly recognizable form through stop-motion animation that utilizes both colored paper and clay. The newly added modern plot with the Little Girl is visualized in sharp contrast using drab computer generated scenes that emphasize the world of grown-ups so deplored in “The Little Prince.” 

Despite the updated visual aspects, the two films maintain the calm and serene overtones of Schulz and Saint-Exupery’s works, making them probably a better choice for adults than for children. 

Other than select scenes that include action sequences similar to those found in animation films today -- in “The Peanuts Movie” Snoopy becomes an action hero in his imagination, while in “The Little Prince” the Little Girl goes on an adventure of her own in the Aviator’s plane -- the films move slowly and quietly. The moments that evoke laughter are often the result of references that can be better understood by the generation who grew up with the works, and their animation is often choppy and disjointed to keep the vintage vibe. 

“The Peanuts Movie” and “The Little Prince” are both sure to be new favorites for family movie outings this Christmas weekend. For children, they are good movies with strong themes and lovable characters, but it is the parents who will get more from the experience as they remember the stories of their childhood, and think about how time has flown by.

“The Little Prince” opens in local theaters on Wednesday.
“The Peanuts Movie” is set for release on Christmas Eve.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)