Roughly two months ago, Mark Osborne’s animated adaptation of The Little Prince was successfully wrestled from the pits of Paramount Animation’s alleged woes by none other than a small digital streaming service known as Netflix. Now, we have more good news for the US crowds that have long waited for this film to hit our shore: you won’t have to wait much longer (and you may still have a chance to see it in theaters)!
As recently reported by Deadline, Netflix has settled on August 5th for a day-and-date launch. As expected, The Little Prince will be made available on the streaming service that day for all territories that carry/support Netflix. But for those who want to experience the film in theaters, Netflix (as a first for the company) will host a limited theatrical release, with the expectation that the film will only be shown in select theaters. It’s worth noting that the film will now be the first of three animated releases that will close out the summer season (the other two being Sony’s Sausage Party and LAIKA’s Kubo and the Two Strings).
It’s not yet known how wide a release the film will have. If history is any indication, then viewers might have more luck if they live in a metropolitan area. This is due to the fact that Netflix’s limited theater runs are typically for the purpose of qualifying the film for an Oscar.
To celebrate the occasion (and to demonstrate their serious deviation to indie animation), they released a new trailer, which can be seen here:
I don’t think it takes much to note the wild difference in this trailer’s tone when compared to trailers for most other animated movies. Here, the trailer emphasizes the emotion and gravitas over the humor. It’s a tad more somber and it earns my top marks for being more reflective of the book’s tone.
In recent time, Netflix has steadily gained a stronger foothold in animation. Their historic content deal with DreamWorks Animation made them one of the largest digital suppliers of TV animation in the New Media market. With that deal extended to include upcoming shows like Voltron: Legendary Defender and Guillermo del Toro’s Trollhunters, Netflix is seemingly setting its sights on a possible new venture as being a distributor for animated indie films. If this is its the intention, then The Little Prince isn’t a bad place to start.
What do you think? For those who haven’t seen The Little Prince, are you looking forward to finally seeing the film in the US?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes
