Jack and the Cuckoo-clock Heart

Feature film I co-directed with Mathias Malzieu.

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart is a French animated fantasy film based on the concept album by the French rock band Dionysos, and on the illustrated novel La Mécanique du cœur written by the band's lead singer Mathias Malzieu. The music of the film was entirely composed by Dionysos.

Edinburgh, late 19th century. Little Jack is born on a day so cold that his heart remains frozen. Madeleine the midwife saves his life by inserting a cuckoo-clock in place of his defective heart. It will work, she warns him, as long as Jack observes three golden rules. First of all, he must never touch the hands of the clock. Secondly, he must control his anger. And last, but certainly not least, he must never, ever fall in love. The moment Jack sets eyes on a young girl singing on a street corner, the hands of his clock-heart begin to race. Desperate to find her again, Jack launches himself into a romantic quest that will lead him from the lochs of Scotland, to the city of Paris, and all the way to Andalusia…

Directed by Stéphane Berla & Mathias Malzieu
Story & screenplay : Mathias Malzieu
Produced by : Virginie & Luc Besson
Production : Europacorp
Character design : Nicoletta Ceccoli
Additionnal design : Sam Malhone - Stephane Martinez - Robert Cepo
Storyboard : Antoine Audagiori, Eric Gandois, Hervé Barbereau, Nicolas Gallet
Color script : Frederic Perrin
Animation studio : Walking the Dog - Duran Duboi
Music : Dionysos
Sound Design : Mike Ponton & Guillaume Bouchateau
Montage : Soline Guyonneau
Line producer : Jean-Baptiste Lère
Grading : Charlotte Mazzinghi

Orlando Seale : Jack
Samantha Barks: Miss Acacia
Barbara Scaff : Madeleine
Harry Sadeghi : Joe
Stephane Cornicard : Georges Méliès
Jessie Buckley : Luna
Sophia Mackie Ellis : Anna
Richard Ridings Arthur
Michelle Fairley : Brigitte Helm
Howard Samuels : Jack the Ripper
Janet Dibley : Young Mother
Charlie Hayes : Blond Girl
Steve Nicolson : Crying Man
Emily Dormer : Two headed woman