Product Description

A wandering child from a faraway place comes upon a pilot who crashlanded in the Sahara.
Genre: Feature Film Family
Rating: G
Release Date: 6-APR-2004
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5868 in DVD
• Brand: FOSSE,BOB
• Released on: 2004-04-06
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.com
A pilot crash-lands in the Sahara desert, and is surprised to meet a tiny prince with a sword... but who doesn't know the story of the beloved book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry? The slim philosophical classic has delighted millions, and the 1974 musical of the book has its own charms. Scored by the estimable team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and directed by Stanley Donen, this is a tuneful piece of whimsy that's better in moments than it is overall. Two guest appearances energize the second half: Gene Wilder as a lonely fox, and the superbly slinky Bob Fosse as a salacious snake (Fosse choreographed his own number, a welcome touch of Cabaret amidst the whimsy). Some of the book's slight observations don't translate well to the literalness of the screen, but that won't matter to kids, who should be hooked from the very first "Draw me a sheep." --Robert Horton

From the Back Cover
From Asteriod B-612...into our hearts. Antoine de Saint-Exupery's slender, beloved classic of innocence and discovery comes to the screen with its feet firmly on the Saharan sand, its eyes titled to the stars and its spirit brightly soaring to the songs of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe ("My Fair Lady," "Camelot"). "The score of 'The Little Prince' is a sheer delight," says Vincent Canby of "The New York Times." Delightful, too, is the magical storyline about a desert-stranded pilot (Richard Kiley) and a wandering child from a faraway place. Together, the two share encounters that amuse, charm and touch the heart. Have you ever acquired wisdom from a fox (Gene Wilder)? Cared for a rose that was special beyond all other roses? Visited a far-off, far-out king? Witnessed the wily dance of a snake (Bob Fosse)? The universe--no, life--is an enchanting place, even more so when it's shared with "The Little Prince."

Customer Reviews

The Spirit of the Little Prince
This movie captures the spirit of the book, The Little Prince. It is utterly captivating and charming. The music is outstanding, of course, Frederick Loewe. Richard Kiley is excellent as the Pilot. The direction is worthy of Broadway by Stanley Donen. Bob Fosse is amazing as the Snake. Gene Wilder sitting in the wheat field is heart-wrenching; and his dance scene with the Prince is delightful. The slightly surreal atmosphere only adds to the magic and truth of the story. The Little Prince himself is truly this little boy. What a great job everyone does! Kids will enjoy this movie, but I think it's the adults that will get the most out of it. Who has not had a childhood vision crushed by grown-ups? This movie will restore your vision and dreams.

This charming and faithful film thoroughly "tamed" me.
I cannot too highly praise this 1974 film of "The Little Prince" produced and directed by Stanley Donen. The presentation is rather that of an American musical or a "Singspiel": spoken dialogue interspersed with musical numbers. The lyrics and music of Lerner and Loewe do not terribly impress me but they are suitable and essentially effective. To my surprise and delight, everything else works: Richard Kiley is absolutely convincing as The Pilot. His acting is first rate, he sings very well indeed, and his handsome, expressive face and athletic body present a Pilot who is at the same time very strong and very gentle. I think of the exuberance of the scene in which he and the Little Prince playfully splash about in the water of the oasis or of the final moments when his sense of loss and sorrow comes across so powerfully as he carries the Little Prince in his arms after the snake has given its gift of transformation and the essence of the child is no longer in his body. Stephen Warner somehow speaks to me as The Little Prince, Saint-Exupery's Little Prince himself, incarnate in his every word and movement, and in the costuming as well.

The irrepressible Gene Wilder brilliantly zips about as a hyper-active and most loveable fox who allows himself (indeed desires)
to be tamed at last by love. The great choreographer Bob Fosse, at the height of his career, dances a shifty, jazzy snake, even if the length of the dance is a bit self-indulgent. The visual movement back and forth between animals and human actors is very effective. The ballet of the roses is delightfuly reminiscent of a production number in a 1930s Busby Berkley musical.

I should mention, in light of an earlier review, that since very ancient times the desert viper has been seen as a creature that both takes and gives life. The snake is an agent of transformation. Two snakes entwined on the staff of Hermes (Mercury) still signify the art of the physician and the science of medicine. The Little Prince does not, in effect, commit suicide; instead, with the help of the snake he ascends to a higher plane; he returns to his beloved planet with its rose and three volcanos. I have always found that children intuitively understand this, perhaps more easily than many of us adults who have been trained to fear snakes as harbingers of evil rather than as the wonderfully beautiful, lithe and complex creatures that they are.

All in all, I find this film a source of great joy and personally prefer it to the more recent operatic version of "The Little Prince" also available on DVD.

ENCHANTING!
This is one of my favorite films. I had read the book, and bought the video to share with my French classes since we do not have time to read the book. Not knowing anything about the film, I was shocked at the faithfulness of the film to the book. The little boy is stunning--he IS the Little Prince! I loved Gene Wilder as the fox, but I could have done without the LONG presentation of the snake--BLAH! My three children (7,5,2) have each been mesmerized by it several times. WARNING-Pass on the cartoon version!