The Little Prince –
This week we got an email from someone looking to rewatch The Little Prince but they were shocked to find it’s no longer available. Some regions are still streaming the animated movie but most are not any longer. Here’s what we know.
Premiering at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, The Little Prince was one of the first major pickups for Netflix in the animated feature film arena. For those unaware, the movie was originally due to get a full theatrical release by Paramount Pictures but due to several reasons, that was eventually scrapped and Netflix acquired the rights in the US and internationally.
Directed by Mark Osbourne, the movie is an adaptation of the French novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It featured the vocal talents of some huge names including Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, and Paul Rudd.
Indeed, the trailer for The Little Prince is still online complete with Netflix Original branding despite the fact it’s no longer available. If you sort the comments to the newest first, you’ll see many confused as to why it’s no longer available.
Why did The Little Prince leave Netflix?
Added back in August 2016, the movie went onto stream for just over 4 years on Netflix US (other regions vary) before first departing in November 2020. A year later, it was readded again on November 6th, 2020 before being removed again in May 2021.
So what is exactly going on? Well, as with a number of Netflix Originals, The Little Prince is not owned by Netflix. Although it exclusively released the movie, it doesn’t do so indefinitely. Paramount Pictures is still the ultimate owner of the movie and therefore, Netflix simply lost the license despite it carrying Netflix Original branding.
For those in the United States right now, you can stream the movie via Prime Video although we suspect the movie will eventually permanently reside on Paramount+ in the near future.
Netflix Canada lost the movie (although it wasn’t branded a Netflix Original there) in May 2021 having only been available for three years.
A follow-up Canadian documentary also was on Netflix. Directed by Charles Officer, the documentary looks at the impact of the book. Invisible Essence: The Little Prince arrived on Netflix US back in January 2019 before departing Netflix in July 2021.
Where is The Little Prince still streaming on Netflix?
Some regions still have access to the movie although for how long remains to be seen.
According to Unogs, at least 7 countries still have access to the movie including the United Kingdom, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Mexico, and others.
There you have it, sadly, we don’t think The Little Prince will be returning to Netflix but it was still an important addition to Netflix at the time.