Little Prince Museum in Hakone, Japan

Hakone, Japan is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, less than 100 kilometers from Tokyo. Famous for hot springs, outdoor activities, natural beauty and the view of nearby Mt. Fuji, Hakone is one of the most popular destinations among Japanese and international tourists looking for a break from Tokyo.

It is also the home of The Museum of the Little Prince.

A little while ago I wrote about a "Cultural Village" in South Korea devoted to the Little Prince. Apparently, St. Exupery is pretty big in East Asia. The museum has all the usual stuff: restaurant, gift shop, stroller parking, cafe, and a chapel. The chapel is a replica of the one St. Exupery visited as a child. Kudos for attention to detail. Here's a sample of the museum map:

Barbapapa Pants

Speechless. Via.

Dogmatix at Wundertime.com

Dogmatix just arrived in a large box of back-ordered items from our French agent. He is sooo cute. We only got two and one sold immediately. Find the remaining bank at Wundertime.com.

Asterix, Little Prince, and Moomin Tattoos

All of us at Wundertime and our other store ShopTintin, have a fascination with odd tattoos. In fact, a while ago, we posted about bizarre Tintin tattoos. It just occurred to us that there MUST be people who have tattooed themselves with other European characters. Surprisingly, when doing a search on Asterix tattoos, we did not see that many. But WOW were there a lot with the Little Prince - perhaps because of the combination of imagery and metaphor.

Obelix and Moomin Papercraft

Our first BIG snow landed here in western Massachusetts and my son's school is closed. What to do, what to do... But wait! Cute Obelix and Moomin papercraft to the rescue.



download the .pdf's for Obelix and Moomin.

Modern Little Prince Illustrations

A more modern take on the Little Prince. Images found at MackayDesign.

Barbapapa Bowling Set

Handmade felt Barbapapa bowling set. Wow! Someone has a lot of love to give...

Via.

Our Children's Gorilla Joins Wundertime

Just added some new product from our Scandinavian friends at Our Children's Gorilla. They specialize in designing and producing environmentally neutral and sensitive toys for children. Everything is made in Europe so we know it is made well and by people who are earning a living wage. Check out the product at Wundertime.com.

Barbapapa Birthday Cake

Someone's mom made their child very happy...

Asterix Coloring Pages for Free

Stumbled on this site offering free downloads of coloring pages of the Mighty Gaul.

Little Prince Korean Movie

The Little Prince story got modernized in this Korean film. My Korean is non-existent, but anyone can tell it's a tear-jerker.

Little Prince film threatened under family dispute

According to the Times Online, the widow of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry might have forged her inherited rights to The Little Prince and in doing so throws the entire future of the iconic French fictional character into question.

Little Prince in Korea

South Korea is chock-a-bloc full of "cultural villages." Every town you go has at least one. But these typically are about Korean culture. My family and I traveled through Korea this past June and must have seen at least four. Here's one we missed: "Petite France", a cultural village dedicated to the Little Prince.

According to the Official Korean Tourism Board:

After travelling 10 km along the lakeside road from Cheongpyeong Dam, in the direction of Namiseom Island, you will come across a cluster of white, exotic buildings on the left-hand hillside. From its outward appearance, it would appear to be a village that belongs on the Mediterranean coast or in a pastoral area of the Piedmont Alps. This is Petite France, a French cultural village set in the Korean countryside! Petite France serves as both a French cultural village and a youth training facility (Goseong Youth Training Center), and consists of 16 French-style buildings where visitors can lodge and experience French food, clothing, and household culture.

The concept of Petite France encapsulates ‘flowers, stars, and the Little Prince.’ The village contains a memorial hall dedicated to Saint-Exupery, the author of the celebrated French novel, Le Petit Prince (1943) and as such it is called the Little Prince theme park. It also has a gallery displaying sculptures and paintings of le coq gaulois (the Gallic rooster), the national symbol of France; Orgel House where a 200-year-old music box plays a sweet melody; a shop that sells herbal and aromatic products; a souvenir shop; and many other locales where you can experience French culture. The village can accommodate up to 200 visitors with 34 guest rooms that hold four to ten people each. Enjoy the marionette experience and hear percussion instruments from around the world, and also enjoy soap bubble experience.

Soap bubbles?

Celebrate Asterix's 50th Birthday

October 29 marks the 50th birthday of Astérix. We at Wündertime are going to celebrate with a one day sale of 15% off all Astérix merchandise. We are still working hard to get the site up and running in time. In case we don’t, the sale will occur at our parent site: ShopEssentials.net/Asterix.

More details to follow.

Seduction Tips from The Little Prince

Oprah.com has an article on love and seduction, and bizarrely uses a quote from The Little Prince as a springboard on how to "seduce your man."

One of my favorite quotes about love comes from the book The Little Prince: "It's only with the heart that one can see rightly; what's most important is invisible to the eye."

Nothing wrong so far. In fact, that is a great quote. But wait.

I love that the Little Prince recognized that the heart (another metaphysical word for soul) is the best lens for love—making this Little Prince a major Prince Charming.

OK. "lens for love" is a little cheesy, as is "prince charming". We love the Little Prince, but I don't think anyone would call that celestial little boy a "Prince Charming." In fact, he got a little weird from time to time.

All of this brings me to…seduction tips for your man.

Wait. What?

The use of the quotes got really creepy really fast. Oddly, the author never again refers to the Little Prince. Perhaps she realized that using an image of a child (albeit a fictional one) to discuss adult seduction was inappropriate?? YOW!

The Little Prince Goes CGI

According to online news sources, French distributor PGS Entertainment has licensed a series based on classic children's novel The Little Prince to broadcasters in Europe and Australia. No word yet on the American market.

The new series has been snapped up by broadcasters including France 3, WDR (Germany), Rai (Italy), TV2 (Denmark), TV2 (Norway), ABC (Australia), MTV3 (Finland) and TSR (Switzerland).

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's book has been translated into 220 languages and has sold 134 million copies worldwide. And now it is currently in production as a 52x30' high-definition CGI series in a collaboration between Method Animation, the Saint Exupéry estate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, La Fabrique d'Images, DQ Entertainment, ARD and Rai Fiction. PGS is handling worldwide distribution, excluding Asia (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) and the SAARC region (DQ Entertainment).

What does this mean for the US? Not sure yet, but we will keep our ears open and let you know as soon as we do.