Star Wars Connections?

Questions to all who might be interested -

During the scenes where they're searching for the oasis, did anyone notice how exactly like the Tatooine scenes from the original Star Wars? The similarities are really, really odd, as this movie came out just two years before Star Wars, I think - Star Wars came out in 1976, I think? Part of the reason is that the scenes were shot in Tunisia, as were the Star Wars desert scenes (and we think, without checking first, that for other scenes they might have used the same English sound stages, but that will require more research!). As the Pilot and Prince walk through the desert, they pass a huge skeleton of a fish - that looks an awful lot like the giant skeleton R2-D2 and C3PO pass in early scenes in Star Wars. The two films even use the same horizontal wipe to move from scene to scene. I couldn't believe how identical the images were - there's a scene where the Pilot is carrying the Prince that looks exactly like Luke Skywalker carrying the bodies of his family (I think - or is it Obi-Wan carrying Luke? I have a strong visual memory of the same image coming up, with no specifics.)

Also, in another coincidence, it turns out that Clive Rivell, who plays the Business Man in Prince, is also the Voice of the Emperor...

Okay, as a childhood fan of Star Wars, as soon as they started out in the desert in the Little Prince, I jokingly turned to the people watching with me and said, "now, if they pass a giant skeleton in the sand, I'm going to be really freaked out," and there it was!

Anybody know of a formal reason why there would be so many connections?