Property Profile: The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince)

ORIGIN: The TV show is based on the classic children’s novel Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which has been translated into more than 220 languages and sold more than 135 million copies.

For several years, Olivier d’Agay, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s grandnephew and director of the Saint-Exupéry Estate, had been hoping to offer the children of today a new gateway into the Little Prince’s world. Animation seemed to be the best-suited path, but to accomplish this he needed to find the right partner, which he found with Aton Soumache, the president of Method Animation.

After three years of development, the project has taken shape in the form of a 52×30-minute series.

DISTRIBUTORS: PGS Entertainment handles the worldwide TV sales, excluding Asia, and video sales for North America. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is responsible for the TV sales in Asia and video sales for everywhere outside of North America.

CREATORS: The series was adapted for TV by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière, and directed by Pierre-Alain Chartier.

TV SHOW: The 52 half-hour episodes are done in HD CGI.

DESCRIPTION: Somewhere on the Asteroid B-612, the Little Prince lives in peace with his beloved Rose, and Fox, his faithful friend. Rose soon grows jealous of Fox, as he spends so much time with her sweet Little Prince. Hoping then to take advantage of her distress, the evil Snake plots to charm Rose. Furious and vindictive, more determined than ever to sink the whole universe into gloom and darkness, Snake dares the Little Prince to prevent him from turning every planet off. A wild chase across the galaxy begins, in which Little Prince keeps on braving Snake’s anger in spite of dreadful danger. With Fox’s help, he does intend to save the universe, no matter what.

PRODUCERS: The producers of the show are Method Animation and the Saint-Exupéry–D’agay Estate.

The series is in co-production with LPPTV, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, La Fabrique d’image, DQ Entertainment and ARD, in association with France Télévisions, WDR, Rai Fiction and TSR.

TV SALES: Pre-sales have been secured with broadcast partners such as France 3, WDR/ARD of Germany, Rai in Italy, TV2 in Denmark, TV2 in Norway, MTV3 in Finland, RTBF for French-speaking Belgium, VRT for Flemish-speaking Belgium, TSR of Switzerland, ABC in Australia, RTV Slo of Slovenia, TV5MONDE and more.

MAJOR TOY LICENSEES: Discussions are under way with major players from within the toy and games market. A master toy licensee will be announced in Q2 2011.

OTHER PRODUCTS: In France, and, more generally, in key European markets (Germany, Italy, Iberia and the U.K.), a limited number of product categories are considered as key drivers of the brand. The products are targeted at 6- to 11-year-olds. The first products are set to launch during Q3 and Q4 2011 online in France with the release of the weekly TV series, and during the first semester 2012 in the other key European markets.

The initial rollout will be based on video and publishing to build the brand through retailers. Progressively, the licensing program will be extended to other key categories, such as stationery and back-to-school items, toys and games, apparel and accessories and house linens. Both selective and mass-market products will then be released in all fields.

The “classic brand” based on the original property will continue to live on through its traditional channels (in select markets) to reach its core target (children 0 to 5 years, young women and adults).

STRATEGY FOR ROLLOUT: The product rollout will follow the TV series distribution as closely as possible in the different markets and will be coordinated with all events (4D attraction, publication launches, exhibition, etc.).

In France, Gallimard Jeunesse and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have already coordinated their program. During the Christmas holiday, the sneak-peek preview of the TV series on France 3 will go with a display of the first books published by Gallimard Jeunesse and the first DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in all specialized stores. The regular book and DVD issues planned over the next years will follow the same strategy. 

To watch a clip of The Little Prince, please click here.