This film proved to be Jacques Demy's biggest success in France with a total of 2,198,576 admissions. The film is a cult classic in France. It was Demy's top box office hit of all his work.
Many film elements (e.g. the slow motion sequences) were an homage to La Belle et la Bête (1946) by Jean Cocteau with Jean Marais as the beast. This is also the reason why Jacques Demy cast Marais as the king in his fairy tale adaptation. Other similarities are the use of live actors to portray human statues in the castles, the use of simple special effects such as slow motion and reverse motion, Marais's wide-shouldered, large-collared costume, similar to the Beast's, and some of the set decoration, including a living caryatid, a statue that is a barely-glimpsed visual throw-away. There are other surreal touches in the film, such as the king's throne shaped like a giant cat, and the courtiers and horses that are painted blue in the princess's kingdom and red in prince's kingdom.
The "Poem from the Future" that Jean Marais quotes is about Orpheus. Jean Marais played Orpheus in Jean Cocteau's Orphée (1950).
In the 1960's, Jacques Demy originally envisaged Brigitte Bardot and Anthony Perkins in the lead roles.
The Princess's recipe book lists these desserts---Apple Savarin, Rum Pastry, Walnut Delight, Royal Cream Puffs, Apricot Cobbler, Plum Soufflee, Strawberry Shortcake, Pineapple Charlotte, and Love Cake. She bakes the Love Cake for the Prince to which she kneads in her gold ring for him to find.