Pathe Pictures has teamed up with French publishers, Gallimard, and the Saint-Exupery Estate to develop and produce an animated feature film based on Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince.

Written and illustrated by Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince has been printed in more than 150 different languages and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.

The Little Prince is the story of an airplane pilot who makes a crash-landing in the Sahara desert, where he meets a mysterious young boy, who claims to be a prince from a distant world. He dazzles the pilot with stories of his home planet, the people he has met and the lessons he has learnt during his interstellar travels.

Francois Ivernel, managing director of Pathe, said, 'The Little Prince's magical words and images are deeply rooted in the imagination of generations of children around the world. Fully respecting this heritage and based on our experience with Chicken Run and The Magic Roundabout, we intend to make a feature film that uses the very best animation techniques and talents.'