The first ever animated feature film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s famous children’s book The Little Prince will be hitting theaters this year. It will first make a stop at the Cannes Film Festival – the perfect venue to showcase the story’s French origins and its wide-reaching international impact, according to producer Dimitri Rassam.
A high-profile voice cast fills the book’s roles, which includes Jeff Bridges (Tron), Rachel McAdams (The Notebook), James Franco (Palo Alto), Ricky Gervais (The Invention of Lying), Benicio Del Toro (Snatch), Marion Cotillard (Inception), Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Paul Rudd (Our Idiot Brother), Mackenzie Foy (Interstellar), in addition to newcomer Riley Osborne as The Little Prince himself.
Adapted for the screen by The Boxtrolls scribe Irena Brignull, the film is also directed, co-written, and produced by Mark Osborne of Kung Fu Panda and SpongeBob SquarePants.
The film’s story centers on The Little Girl (Foy) who lives with her practical work-oriented mother (McAdams). Her eccentric neighbor The Aviator (Bridges) initiates her into The Little Prince’s fantastical world where anything is possible.
The trailer demonstrates how the film will utilize Pixar-like 3D animation techniques during the scenes in the “read world.” When the story transitions to the magical world, however, the animation changes to paper mache-esque stop motion.
A theatrical U.S. release has not yet been set for The Little Prince, although audiences can expect it sometime within the year. Check out the trailer below.