Peau d'âne

With a total of 2,198,576 admissions, the film proved to be Jacques Demy's greatest success in France. It is a cult classic in France, and this was the highest-grossing figure of Demy's entire body of work.

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Many elements of the film, such as its slow-motion scenes, were a tribute to Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast (1946), in which Jean Marais played the Beast; this is why Jacques Demy cast Marais as the king in his fairy-tale adaptation. Other similarities include the use of live actors to portray human statues in the castles, simple special effects such as slow motion and reverse shots, Marais's broad-shouldered costume with a wide collar resembling the Beast's, and certain set decorations, among them a live caryatid statue that is a barely visible visual flourish. The film also contains other surreal touches, such as the king's throne that resembles a giant cat, and courtiers and horses painted blue in the princess's kingdom and red in the prince's kingdom.

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In the 1960s, Jacques Demy initially envisioned Brigitte Bardot and Anthony Perkins in the lead roles.

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The princess's recipe book lists the following sweets: Apple Savarin, Rum Pastry, Walnut Delight, Royal Cream Puffs, Apricot Cobbler, Plum Soufflé, Strawberry Cookie, Pineapple Charlotte and Love Cake. She bakes the Love Cake, kneaded with the golden ring inside it, for the prince to find.

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The donkey skin worn by Catherine Deneuve was real; it was obtained from a slaughterhouse, thoroughly cleaned and covered with fabric.

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Jacques Demy, who had been influenced by Charles Perrault's fairy tales since childhood (as a child he staged puppet shows of all of Perrault's stories), was working on the film's screenplay as early as 1962. Catherine Deneuve's involvement helped secure financing for the production.

PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

Filming locations included the Château de Chambord (the princess's castle), the Château de Pierrefonds in Picardy (the finale), the Château du Plessis-Bourré in the Loire Valley (the blue king's castle) and Senlis (with its restored medieval streets, squares and buildings).

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The film is based on Charles Perrault's 1695 fairy tale Donkeyskin, about a king who wants to marry his own daughter.

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The film was restored by Cine Tamaris in 2003 and again by DIGimage in 2013.

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The helicopter is an Aerospatial Alouette II, model SA-318C, s/n 2038, registered F-BRHP. About 1,300 were produced between 1956 and 1975. The helicopter was owned by Heli-Union, a French helicopter services company founded in 1961.

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In 1972, Jacques Demy returned to the fairy-tale genre with the British-American co-production The Pied Piper (1972), starring pop star Donovan. Neither that film nor his subsequent films matched the popularity of this film.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

French director Jacques Demy, who achieved worldwide success with his third feature film, the enchanting musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), attracted Hollywood's interest. He and his wife, fellow director Agnès Varda, worked in Los Angeles for two years (1967-69), each making a film there. This film, a musical version of Charles Perrault's 1694 French fairy tale, was Demy's first film after returning to France.

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The film is part of spine number 718 of the Criterion Collection.

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It was the first feature film for Catherine Géniat (Une fille de cuisine), Sophie Nélisse (La Princess de Monthion), Vanina Michel (Une jeune fille dans la grange) and Annick Berger (Nicolette).

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It was the last film for Simone Guisin (Düşes Antoinette), Valérie Quincy (Düşes Girard) and Annie Maurel (Gül).

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Home-movie footage exists of Jim Morrison visiting the set at Chambord in June 1970.

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