PARIS (AFP).- "The Little Prince" has grown up a lot over the past 70 years. From an asteroid boy to a Cannes movie star, the emblematic hero has also become an international brand.

The watercolour image French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery sketched of the star-travelling prince and his tamed fox -- first appearing in his charming novella published in 1943 -- can be seen around the world.

It has become an iconic addition to all sorts of objects, including sheets, baby plates, watches and stationary.

Saint-Exupery's four nephews have for the past 25 years been in charge of licencing through an enterprise that manages his estate, the Company for the Works and Memory of Saint-Exupery. 

Worldwide, some 10,000 products have the blond prince stamped on them, generating revenue of 100 million euros ($110 million) a year in licencing fees, according to Thomas Riviere, the company's brand manager.

Despite the wide recognition and appeal of the "Little Prince" brand, the company says it does not want to commercialise the image as much as, say, a Disney property.

"Our job is to develop the licence while protecting the work," Riviere said. "Like the Little Prince, we have our values."

He said the company is very selective and maintains ethical standards. "We have refused a licence to a fast food company which wanted to offer Little Prince figurines to children," Riviere said.

Some 150 million copies of "The Little Prince" book have been sold since it first came out. 

That's less than the Harry Potter series, though Saint-Exupery's classic has been translated into a record-number of languages -- over 250 -- which is more than double that for Harry Potter.




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