Donkey Skin (1970) proved to be Jacques Demy's biggest success in France with a total of 2,198,576 admissions. In France, the film is considered a cult classic. 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 Beauty and the Beast (1946) by Jean Cocteau with Jean Marais as the beast. This is also the reason why Jacques Demy cast Jean Marais as the king in his fairy tale adaptation. Other similarities were the use of live actors to portray human statues in the castles and 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 film Orpheus (1950).
In the 1960's, Jacques Demy originally envisaged Brigitte Bardot and Anthony Perkins in the lead roles.
This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #718.