Where can I watch this?
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Stanley Donen can do just about anything. Charade and The Little Prince (for example) are miles apart but near equal masterworks.
I love this film. This is a film I could gladly show to my children because it deals with responsibility.
When I first watched it, I thought that flower is kind of a bitch; she should have stayed with the Fox. (SPOILERS)
imagine killing yourself as a child over a passive agressive woman (usually you don’t do that til you are in your 20s).
But of course the death of the prince is the death of childhood. Giving up your imagination to grow up and go out into the world and be responsible and cultivate the love of a woman.
The pilot had his imagination taken away a bit too early as a young man, having parents that were a little too serious or literal but his mirage in the desert (that is how I saw it anyway) brought back those moments when a drawing could be anything.
Great movie
Hey guys
I happened upon your list a few days ago, and you’ve had a great lineup so far, so I decided to jump into your group this week.
I don’t know too much Donen, just Singing in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which are both great, and I love the book, so I looked forward to this one. The most impressive thing about this movie, I think, is how seamlessly it moves between tactical choices and still creates a coherent style. For example, the expansive Tunisian location shots mixed in with old fashioned painted stage sets. There is also a great deal of camera movement and tracking shots (eg. running through the desert, and my favorite scene, the gene wilder fox song) when, as far as i know, most earlier musicals, and especially kids movies tend to be more play-like, less motion. But in making that update, Donen doesnt lose his connection to the earlier style. I think, because of the way the story was written, he was able to hold a very consistent tone, and play around with everything else more than I really noticed while watching it at first.
I was not let down. Donen is now three for three in my book.
wonderful Kevin and very true about Donen and earlier style.
I cannot go wrong checking out his filmography
Hey Kevin, Good to have you on board.
I agree about the style.
“But of course the death of the prince is the death of childhood. Giving up your imagination to grow up and go out into the world and be responsible and cultivate the love of a woman.”
Great analysis, Den.
“Stanley Donen can do just about anything. Charade and The Little Prince (for example) are miles apart but near equal masterworks.”
Donen is a master director (and a fantastic choreographer), I have yet to see a film by him that I did not love, Charade is the perfect genre blender (never get tired of it) and Royal Wedding is my favourite Astaire movie. Has he officially retired or is he simply not getting work these days?
Not sure about Donen
his last big movie was Blame it on Rio almost 30 years ago and he is still alive and well, sad.
As a kid i went to a play Toad of Toad Hall, based on my favourite book The Wind in the Willows. It was a great disappointment; adult humans dressed up as animals! Much as i love Singin in the Rain, Charade and Funny Face, maybe only an animation can really do any justice to the magnificent book The Little Prince.
I’ve often done the sheep in the box trick on young kids, and got them to put their ear to my drawings to hear it bleating inside, which it invariably did. The chapter with the fox is among the most wonderful ever written. The book is so beloved by many of us that a musical with Gene Wilder not the fox of the book is a problem.
I think it’s a lovely film. I grew up on this story in the original French and also in English. The film brings the story to life and I enjoyed every minute of it.
is this based on the story that Andre Gregory goes on about in My Dinner With Andre?
@Johnny Yes :-) Andre goes to the desert with a Buddhist monk but doesn’t succeed in making the film he wanted and eat sand there. I just watched My Dinner with Andre recently, then watched The Little Prince, which was a neat coincidence (although the former may have very well lead to the latter.)
Salem Kapsaski
Stanley Donen’s “The Little Prince” based on the book of the same name by Antoine de Saint Exupéry (one of the first books I’ve ever read and still love today) has to be one of the sweetest musicals ever made.
A pilot (Richard Kiley) is forced to make an emergency landing in the Sahara desert where he encounters a tiny version of Ziggy Stardust. Over the days that follow he befriends the little boy who tells him all about his home Asteroid B-612 and his journey and strange encounters that lead him to planet Earth.
The kid that played The Little Prince is simply cute as a button, and you can tell that everybody who shares the screen with him loved the little fella.
Among the characters that he meets (and perhaps the highlight of the film) is Bob Fosse as the Ssssnake, his self-choreographed number ranks as one of my all time favourite dance scenes of all time (Michael Jackson clearly took notes, but never managed to do it this cool)
The irrepressible Gene Wilder brilliantly zips about as a hyperactive and most lovable fox who allows himself to be tamed at last by love.
Much has been written comparing The Little Prince’s relationship with his rose to the relationship between Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and his wife, but the rose can also be read as a symbol of universal love.
In literature, the rose has long served as a symbol of the beloved, and Saint-Exupéry takes that image in good stride, giving the prince’s flower human characteristics, both good and bad. Because of the rose, the prince learns that what is most essential is invisible, that time away from one’s beloved causes a person to better appreciate that love, and that love engenders responsibility.
Unfortunately, Donna McKechnie as the Rose is more than terrible. (And in my opinion was to old for the part)
Many fans of the book have expressed their dislike against the film; personally I believe that the film did a good job and stands on it’s own ground. The surreal sets and strange effects give the film a unique charm and provide pure Donen Magic. (5/5)
-Salem