The Little Prince narrated by Kenneth Branagh

Six years prior to the telling, the narrator crash-lands his plane in the Sahara Desert, isolated and with limited water. He is awakened by a mysterious young boy, the Little Prince, who asks him to draw a sheep. The narrator's attempts to draw sheep are repeatedly rejected until he draws a crate, which the Little Prince accepts, imagining the sheep inside. This marks the beginning of their extraordinary friendship.

The narrator recounts his childhood experience of drawing a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. Grown-ups mistook it for a hat, leading him to abandon art and pursue piloting. He observes that adults often lack imagination and understanding, focusing on practical matters like geography, history, and arithmetic, rather than deeper meanings. He continues to test grown-ups with his drawing, always receiving the same pragmatic response, which reinforces his disillusionment with their perspective.

The pilot slowly learns about the Little Prince's home, an asteroid named B612, which is barely larger than a house. The Prince explains the danger of baobab trees, whose seeds can overrun and destroy small planets if not uprooted diligently. This serves as a metaphor for dealing with problems early on. The narrator emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing issues before they become catastrophic, a lesson adults often overlook.

The Little Prince reveals that his primary joy on his tiny planet used to be watching sunsets, which he could do repeatedly simply by moving his chair a few steps. He once watched 44 sunsets in a single day, indicating a deep sense of sadness and a longing for comfort. This highlights his introspective and sensitive nature, contrasting with the superficial concerns of adults.

The Little Prince describes a unique and beautiful, yet vain and demanding, rose that grew on his planet. Her capricious nature and insecurity, masked by pride, caused him distress. Despite her flaws, he loved her deeply but was too young to understand true affection. Feeling misunderstood and unhappy, he decides to leave his planet, setting off on a journey through the stars.

The Little Prince visits several asteroids, encountering different types of grown-ups: a king who believes he rules everything, a vain man who seeks constant admiration, a drunkard who drinks to forget his shame, a businessman who obsessively counts stars he claims to own, and a lamplighter who faithfully lights and extinguishes a single lamp every minute. Each encounter reveals the absurdity and narrow-mindedness of adult preoccupations.

On the sixth planet, the Little Prince meets a geographer who specializes in recording permanent features but doesn't explore himself. The geographer dismisses flowers as 'ephemeral,' which deeply troubles the Prince, reminding him of his beloved rose and her vulnerability. The geographer advises him to visit Earth, which has a good reputation.

The Little Prince lands in the Sahara Desert on Earth and is surprised to find no people. He encounters a snake, who speaks in riddles and hints at its power to send him back to where he came from. The snake tells him that it's lonely even with people, an observation that resonates with the Prince's own feelings.

The Little Prince discovers a garden full of roses, which deeply saddens him as he realizes his own flower is not unique. He then meets a fox, who asks to be tamed. The fox explains that 'taming' means creating bonds and becoming unique to one another. He teaches the Prince that 'anything essential is invisible to the eyes' and that the time one spends on something makes it important.

The Little Prince observes a railway switchman and questions why people rush frantically without knowing what they seek, concluding that only children truly know what they're looking for. He also meets a salesclerk selling thirst-quenching pills, leading him to reflect on the importance of simple joys like walking slowly to a water fountain rather than saving time through artificial means.

The narrator and the Little Prince, parched in the desert, search for a well. They find one, and the water tastes exceptionally sweet to them, not just for its physical properties but because of their shared effort and the beauty of the experience. The Prince reiterates the fox's lesson: 'what makes them beautiful is invisible,' emphasizing that true value lies beyond what is seen. The narrator also makes the Prince a muzzle for his sheep.

The Little Prince reveals that he will return to his planet on the anniversary of his arrival by letting the snake bite him. The narrator is deeply distressed, clinging to the Prince and trying to prevent his departure. The Prince explains that his body is too heavy to take back and that it will simply be an 'old abandoned shell.' He promises the narrator that he will hear his laugh in the stars, which will be his gift.

The Little Prince falls gently after the snake bite, leaving no trace. Six years later, the narrator recounts the story, still saddened but consoled by the thought of the Prince on his planet. He worries whether the sheep he drew, without a fastening strap for the muzzle, might have eaten the Prince's flower. This uncertainty highlights the profound impact of the Prince's story and the enduring questions about what truly matters.