The stop-motion scenes in the desert were mostly created using paper, even the Little Prince himself was made out of paper clay.
Olivier d'Agay, author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's grand nephew and spokesman for the Saint-Exupery estate, said in an email to the Los Angeles Times in January 2016: "The movie is extremely faithful to the book. The story of the little girl, her friendship with the aviator, and her conflict with her mother [illustrate] the place of children today in a tough world of competition and solitude. That's why the two stories are well-linked. This is the originality and the genius of that movie: to show that the magic and the power of the book is still operating today."
Mark Osborne revealed that the book deeply affected him on a personal level when it was given to him by his wife years ago, back when they were dating. The two were college students at the time and trying to keep their long-distance relationship alive. "The Little Prince brought us back together," he admits. "I paid very close attention to it. It means so much to me and to everyone who has read the book because it connects you to the significant relationships and friendships in your life." Osborne's wife is thanked in the credits.
The Little Prince became the most successful French animated film ever, grossing $97 million worldwide.
Mark Osborne said that he approached the movie as a riddle to be solved. The big question was how to make a cinematic experience that parallels or equals the profound emotional experience of reading the book. He tested the boundaries by pitching his ultimate dream scenario to a producer Dimitri Rassam over a lunch, which included the radical idea of mixing CG animation with stop-motion. His big idea was to explore the touching relationship between the eccentric older version of the aviator and the little girl who moves in next door. Osborne felt that, ultimately, it would need to be the story of the Little Girl learning to say goodbye to her friend, which would deeply parallel the book. The author's estate and the producers loved the director's passionate pitch.