The film stars the voices of Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Bud Cort, Marion Cotillard, Benicio del Toro, James Franco, Ricky Gervais, Paul Giamatti, Riley Osborne, Albert Brooks and Mackenzie Foy.

A young mother moves to a new neighborhood and imposes a coaching life plan for her daughter that leaves no time for playing or making friends, all for her to enroll at the prestigious Werth Academy.

The girl, however, becomes distracted by her elderly retired Aviator neighbor, who tells her the story of the "Little Prince", a boy he claims to have encountered after crash-landing in the Sahara.

On 14 October 2010, Kung Fu Panda co-director and More creator Mark Osborne was hired and set to direct The Little Prince based on the 1943 novel of the same name.

Irena Brignull (writer of The Boxtrolls) and Bob Persichetti wrote the script for the film based on a story conceived by Mark Osborne.

[11] Aton Soumache, Alexis Vonarb and Dimitri Rassam produced the film with the budget of $70‒80 million for release in 2015.

[6] The film features a framing device not present in the novel with a schoolgirl discovering The Little Prince through a reclusive elderly neighbour.

The team then moved to Montreal for the final phases of animation, lighting, colour and production to maximise the tax benefits offered to a French-Canadian project,[11] a co-venture between Onyx Entertainment in Paris, Mediaset and Lucky Red in Italy,[15] and Mikros Image Canada in Montreal.

[18] Osborne was pitching the film to actors, artists, and distributors all over the world using what he called a "magic suitcase" full of hand-made visual aids specifically created to communicate the tone and passion for the project.

A constellation of tiny planets and stars lit up on one side, a giant art book of illustrations filled the other.

From somewhere deep inside the case, Osborne pulled out two large white circles that held slides that when placed up to each eye displayed 3-D images of stop-motion puppets.

In no time, a one-way mirror slid away to reveal a hidden chamber holding a collection of yellowed pages below.

[11] On 5 June 2013, it was announced that James Franco, Marion Cotillard, Mackenzie Foy, Benicio del Toro, Paul Giamatti, Rachel McAdams and Jeff Bridges had joined the film.

[21] Thanks to Osborne's emotionally engaging pitch and the global popularity of Saint-Exupéry's book, a group of A-list actors were able to be recruited to lend their voices to the film's characters.

He was our first and only choice to play the Aviator, so after a great deal of time trying to get to him, I finally got the chance to go to his home in Santa Barbara to talk to him directly.

"[11] In the early stages of production, Mark Osborne's daughter Maddie and his son Riley, helped by providing the temporary scratch voices for the roles of the Little Girl and the Little Prince.

"I was so excited to be part of this movie, and I loved Kung Fu Panda, so I knew our director Mark [Osborne] was going to do a wonderful job with the adaptation.

"[11] The film's score was composed by Hans Zimmer (who had previously worked with Osborne on Kung Fu Panda) and Richard Harvey.

Yumi Matsutoya wrote the theme song for the Japanese release of the film, titled "Kidzukazu Sugita Hatsukoi.

[41] The film was released theatrically in France on 29 July 2015 by Paramount Pictures and in Italy on 1 January 2016 by Lucky Red.

[43][44][45] In the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, where the film was originally picked up by The Weinstein Company,[46] it was released on Netflix on 5 August 2016.

[2] The film was to be released theatrically by Paramount under its own animation division in the United States on 18 March 2016 in RealD 3D.

[49] According to Cartoon Brew, Paramount left because the French producers did not pay an additional, previously agreed $20 million for the North American prints and advertising budget, though they still retained the distribution rights in said region.

[33][51] Due to Netflix's expiring distribution license, the film was quietly removed from the service in the US in May 2021, and the rights reverted to Paramount Pictures.

[41][56] In its opening week in France, the film earned $3.3 million from 727 screens, debuting at number two at the French box office.

[68] The film has received positive reviews, earning praise for its style of animation and homage paid to the source material.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Beautifully animated and faithful to the spirit of its classic source material, The Little Prince is a family-friendly treat that anchors thrilling visuals with a satisfying story.

[70] Furthermore, The Sydney Morning Herald reinforces positive reviews on the film, stating "it is deeply personal and profoundly moving, a sensitive and affecting portrait of humanity".