''Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart'' is a 2013 French 3D

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

based on the

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

by the French rock band

Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

, and on the

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

'' La Mécanique du cœur'' written by the band's lead singer Mathias Malzieu. The music of the film was entirely composed by Dionysos. The original

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

version, ''Jack et la mécanique du cœur'', which translates literally as ''Jack and the Mechanic of the Heart'', was released in October 2013, with English, German, Finnish, and Spanish-language versions following in 2014.

Summary

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland 1874, Jack is born on the coldest day ever. Due to the extreme cold, he is born with a frozen heart that will not beat. The attendant

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

Madeleine saves his life by replacing his heart with a fragile but working cuckoo clock. She then advises him of three rules to prevent his untimely death: he must never play with the hands of the clock, lose his temper, or fall in love. Jack's mother, for reasons known only to her, quickly decides her child would be better raised by Madeleine and departs, leaving Jack. Madeleine, incapable of bearing children of her own, raises and loves him as her own. On Jack's tenth birthday, Madeleine repeats the three rules before taking him into town for the first time. He meets a girl in town named Miss Acacia and becomes infatuated with her. After starting school shortly afterward, he also meets Joe, a bully who is in love with Miss Acacia as well. Jealous, the older boy and his gang of students torment Jack for the next four years. During an assault from Joe, the cuckoo of Jack's clock heart gouges Joe's eye, and Jack runs home believing he had murdered Joe. Madeleine, believing Jack to be a fugitive, helps him to escape. Jack only wants to see Miss Acacia again and eventually meets up with

Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès was well known for the use of ...

, a magician attempting to operate an early film camera. Georges helps repair his heart and agrees to join Jack in the search for Miss Acacia. They proceed to

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in search of her. After a long journey, they arrive at a circus in Andalusia. Jack finds Miss Acacia but Georges advises him against revealing his identity to her. He proceeds to befriend her and foolishly avoids sharing his feelings. She hints that her heart belongs to someone from her past. It turns out that Jack was that person from her past. Jack eventually finds a way to reveal himself and gives a key to Miss Acacia which can be used to wind his heart. Before Jack and Miss Acacia could run away together, Joe, the bully from Jack's past, shows up. He had been looking for an opportunity to further punish Jack and explains to her the three rules of Jack's cuckoo clock heart in an attempt to sabotage them. Miss Acacia, after talking with Joe, decides she doesn't want to risk being the cause of death of Jack by allowing him to fall in love. She rejects him and leaves with Joe. Jack, after being rejected, tears at the screws of his heart. In the carriage with Miss Acacia and Joe, he tells her that soon after Jack escaped with Madeleine's help, Madeleine was sent to prison. There, she died soon afterward. Rumors said that she died of a broken heart. Miss Acacia eventually realizes she holds the key to Jack's survival and returns to search for him. She finds out quickly Jack had departed for home in Edinburgh and follows behind him. She knows she has only a short time to reach him. When he reaches home, he is told what happened to Madeleine. They also tell Jack that he gave her the joy of being a mother and she worried at the thought of how he will grow up. Miss Acacia finds Jack in front of Madeleine's grave, shivering in the cold. She tries to use the key to turn his clock but he throws away the key, choosing to die from not using the key. Then they finally kiss. When Jack breaks the kiss, the time has stopped for him. A song plays in the background about climbing to Heaven while using the frozen snowflakes as a ladder, ascending into the sky as the film fades to black and ends the movie.

Cast

* Mathias Malzieu and Orlando Seale (English version) as Jack *

Olivia Ruiz Olivia Blanc (born 1 January 1980), known as Olivia Ruiz, is a French pop singer of partial Spanish descent belonging to the nouvelle chanson genre.

(French version) and

Samantha Barks Samantha Jane Barks (born 2 October 1990) is a Manx people, Manx actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series ''I'd Do Anything (BBC TV series), I'd Do Anything'' in 2008. She has rele ...

(English version) as Miss Acacia *

Grand Corps Malade Fabien Marsaud (born 31 July 1977), known professionally as Grand Corps Malade (GCM), is a French slam poet and lyricist. He has released seven studio albums so far, all of them reaching top-five status on the French SNEP chart. GCM started wr ...

and Harry Sadeghi (English version) as Joe
Marie Vincent
and

Emily Loizeau Emily Loizeau (born 7 February 1975) is a French author, composer, and singer. Her debut album, released in 2006, was titled ''L'autre bout du monde'' (The Other Side of the World). Biography Loizeau was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, ...

and Barbara Scaff (English version) as Madeleine *

Jean Rochefort Jean Raoul Robert Rochefort (; 29 April 1930 – 9 October 2017) was a French actor. He received many accolades during his career, including an Honorary César in 1999. Life and career Rochefort was born on 29 April 1930 in Paris, France, to ...

and

Stéphane Cornicard Stéphane Cornicard is a multilingual actor and director (French, English, German, Spanish and Italian), who trained in France with François David, French director and writer, at Colby College, United States, U.S. and at Goldsmiths, University ...

(English version) as

Rossy de Palma Rosa Elena García Echave (born 16 September 1964), known professionally as Rossy de Palma, is a Spanish actress and model. She is well known for her roles in films by Pedro Almodóvar such as ''Law of Desire'', ''Women on the Verge of a Nervou ...

and

Jessie Buckley Jessie Buckley (born 28 December 1989) is an Irish actress and singer. The recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards, she was listed at number 38 on ''The Irish Times'' list of ...

(English version) as Luna *

Arthur H Arthur Higelin (born 27 March 1966), better known under his stage name Arthur H (), is a French pianist, songwriter and singer. He is best known in France for his live performances—four of his albums were recorded live. Life and career He is ...

and

Richard Ridings Richard Ridings (born 19 September 1958) is an English actor. He portrayed Alan Ashburn in the ITV television drama ''Fat Friends'', Bernard Green in the BBC One comedy-drama '' Common as Muck'', and is the voice of Daddy Pig in ''Peppa Pig''. He ...

(English version) as Arthur * Dani and

Michelle Fairley Michelle Fairley (born 1964–1965) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Catelyn Stark in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013). She has since appeared in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2013), the Fo ...

(English version) as Brigette Heim *

Alain Bashung Alain Bashung (, born Alain Claude Baschung; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded in his home country a ...

and Howard Samuels (English version) as

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

and Steve Nicholson (English version) as The crying man

Production

The directors are Stéphane Berla (the director of the band's previous

video clip Video clips refer to mostly short videos, most of the time called memes, which are short videos of silly jokes and funny clips, most of the time coming from movies or any entertainment videos such as YouTube. The term is also used more loosely to ...

s) and Mathias Malzieu. The film was originally set to be released on 17 October 2012 in France but was delayed until October 2013 by unrevealed causes. It was later revealed that the bankruptcy of the French animation studio Duran Duboi (from Quinta group) led to the delay.

Recognitions and Award Nominations

The film received much recognition in the animation industry: * It was chosen as the opening film for the 25th anniversary of the CineMagic film festival. * It was one of three films nominated for the 2014

European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film has been awarded annually since 2009 by the European Film Academy. Winners and nominees 2009 2010s 2020s Notes * ± Oscar nominee * ≠ Annie Award winner * ° Annie Award nominee Directors ...

, but lost to

The Art of Happiness (film) ''The Art of Happiness'' ( it, L'arte della felicità) is a 2013 Italian animated drama film written and directed by Alessandro Rak, at his directorial debut. It opened the International Critics' Week at the 70th Venice International Film Festival ...

. * It was one of three films nominated for the 2015

César Award for Best Animated Film The César Award for Best Animated Film is awarded annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma since 2011. Winners and nominees 2010s 2020s Multiple wins/nominations Wins * Benjamin Renner-2 Nominations *Benjamin Renner-3 * ...

, but lost to Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants. * It was one of twenty films submitted to the

87th Academy Awards The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2014 in film, films of 2014 and took place on February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, ...

for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category, but was not chosen.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart 2010s romantic fantasy films French animated fantasy films 2010s French animated films French independent films French animated feature films 2013 animated films 2013 films Films set in Edinburgh Films set in Scotland Films set in Spain Films set in the 19th century Films produced by Luc Besson Belgian animated fantasy films Films based on multiple works Films based on French novels Cultural depictions of Georges Méliès EuropaCorp films