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If you love animation, you'll want to check out this list of animated features that will be released in 2015.

Today we look at the work of Rony Hotin, Cartoon Brew's Artist of the Day!

Onyx Films, the Paris-based producer of the fantasy film Upside Down and the low-budget animated sci-fi Renaissance, is currently working on an animated film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s 1943 novella The Little Prince.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film has now gained a voice cast comprised of James Franco, Rachel McAdams, Jeff Bridges, Benicio Del Toro and Paul Giamatti. More notably, the film is to be directed by Mark Osborne, co-director of Dreamworks’ 2008 hit action-comedy Kung Fu Panda.

Some may consider it unusual for the director of a successful animated film from a major American studio to move on to a project from a small foreign studio, however when you consider the diversity of Osborne’s previous work: live action sequences in Spongebob Squarepants, music video work for “Weird Al” Yankovic and a half-dozen live action and stop motion film projects, it seems like his experience may aid a project of any size.

#95 The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1943)

One of the most marvelous books in children’s literature. Period. – Hotspur Closser

And now the book that I simply could not believe didn’t make the poll the last time! Though I’m sure we all read it in in French class the book has suffered over the years from a kind of overexposure.  Recently, however, it has been all over the news.  One minute we hear that they’re attempting another major motion picture (possibly to blot out the memory of the 1974 version).  The next there’s a brand new graphic novel series of new Prince adventures coming out.  And don’t even talk to me about that new TV series they’re considering.

The plot as described by Anita Silvey reads, “The Little Prince from planet B-612 encounters a stranded aviator in the Sahara Desert.  While the pilot works to repair his engine, for he has a supply of water that will last him only eight days, the Prince shares his vision of Earth, the universe, relationships, and life.”

And who, you might ask, chose it as their favorite book in Anita Silvey’s Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children’s Book?  That would be Peter Sis, m’dears.  He writes, “The book that most influenced my life – perhaps even my entire career – is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, which I discovered sometime between the ages of twelve and fourteen… The Little Prince showed me that very individual and personal feelings could be communicated in a story.  But it also showed me that an artist could incorporate these feelings and emotions in the drawings.  It alerted me to the potential of art and guided me to a career as an illustrator.”

Many of us know that Saint-Exupery is one of the more tragic tales out there.  This was his sole work for children and in 1944 he died while flying a WWII mission.  At the time his body was never found.  Then, decades after his death, a fisherman managed to locate a piece of Saint-Exupery’s jewelry.  Using this, the French were able to find his plane beneath the sea and give it the attention it deserved.

Of course there was the small matter of Saint-Exupery’s will and the fact that his wife forged it.  But THAT little story will wait to be told in a book I am currently writing with Peter Sieruta and Jules Danielson.  For now, I shall say no more.

• Some folks are still clearly a little crazy about it.

• Read Anita Silvey’s entry on the book at The Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac.

While you’re at it, don’t forget that they turned it into a graphic novel:

Folks of a certain generation will recall this particular atrocity:

Personally, I have a strange affection for the movie.  I can’t bear to watch it, of course.  I just like the idea of it in theory.  Gene Wilder is always a good thing and Bob Fosse as a snake?  Dude.

I must say, I was more than impressed by the sheer wealth of great children’s poets weighing in on yesterday’s post about the conspicuous lack of an ALSC poetry award.  Today, we shall switch gears and instead start off the day with a fine little . . .

• New Blog Alert: I’ve decided that I want to work at the Eric Carle Museum.  This is a long-term plan.  I’m not in a particular rush.  If 50 years down the line they have an opening in their little library (I like their little library quite a lot) I’ll apply then.  Until that time I’ll just read their brand new blog instead. The blog in question is called Shop Talk and has all sorts of goodies in it.  Visits from illustrators like Lisbeth Zwerger (she’s so young!).  Communist interpretations of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Even a first sentence quiz that stumped me (is Madame Louise Bodot from Crictor?).  They tell me that they’ll be doing an endpaper quiz soon too.  Better add it to the old blogroll.

• New Italian Blog Alert: I don’t get to write that nearly as often as I’d like to.  In a perfect universe we Americans would be able to hear not just about the cool new children’s books from our own American blogs, but the cool new worldwide children’s books via blogs from other countries.  I know of a couple Aussie children’s literary bloggers.  At least one Brit.  A Canadian or two.  But where are the Welsh, the French, the Chinese, or the Indian children’s literary bloggers?  At least we’ve got a rep from Italy, eh?  The Tea Box recently came to my attention, and thanks to the wonders of translation you can read it in only mildly maligned English.  There are interviews and looks at new books.  And check out this image from this post on the picture book La Governante by Edouard Osmont.

Gorgeous!  I could spend all day exploring through the site’s blogroll too.  Bella bella!

• It’s pseudo Shakespeare week over at the resident husband’s blog Cockeyed Caravan.  I eschew plugging him too often, but I particularly liked his recent posts on Why Do Hamlet and Batman Delay? and the problems with remake fever (“Who stages Thomas Kyd’s 1589 version of Hamlet today?”) as well as a look at the much maligned and very funny 4 Comments on Fusenews: Prehistoric Security Guards = Instant Awe, last added: 7/31/2010