Museu da Marioneta

In a city where nature has been forbidden,
a small crime by a simple man triggers
a chain of unexpected consequences…

The peculiar (and eco-friendly) Mr. Jay 

The tradition of puppet stop motion technique runs long in Portuguese animation. Fundamental works of our cinematography used this technique to tell stories, to inspire, to move and raise awareness.

“The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mr. Jay” is part of that group of works that warns us of what is wrong with the world, with human relations, with the environment, and that we should all be concerned because they are right here next to us, right in front of us.

After a dozen exhibitions that brought some of the major studios and artists to the Lisbon Puppet Museum, it is our great pleasure to share with everyone the backstages, the puppets and sets of such a multi-awarded and important film by a Portuguese director, Bruno Caetano.

Fernando Galrito
MONSTRA festival Artistic Director

This is the story of a simple man who finds a fair amount of courage, challenges what he believes is wrong and unwittingly puts the world back on the right track. He works in a parking lot, but he could have been (or he would love to have been) a gardener. Rather than make him angry, the plant extermination leaves him sad and disheartened instead. Head down, he goes to work every morning and comes home in the evening to finally dedicate himself to the one thing that still gives him some joy: building small automated sculptures of flowers and plants with the rubbish he finds on thecurb. But what he would really love was to have a real garden. He misses the scent of flowers, the sound of rustling leaves, the texture of grass, and the chirping of mating birds in springtime.

Bruno Isaac Grade Caetano was born in Portimão in 1979. Self-taught animator and builder, he later graduates from Lisbon’s Faculty of Fine Arts Multimedia Investigation and Studies Centre (CIEAM) with a specialisation in Stop Motion technique. Despite having a strong preference for this technique, his professional career led him to participate in several projects with various animation techniques as well as in other areas of artistic interest.
Has worked as an animator, producer and director in productions from various production companies, and is a founding member of COLA (Audiovisual Collective), an ever growing group of united artists, focused in producing, teaching and divulging animation in Portugal.

The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mr. Jay

DIRECTOR: Bruno Caetano
SCRIPT: Manuel Ruas Moreira e Bruno Caetano
BASED ON A SHORT STORY BY: Manuel Ruas Moreira
MUSIC: Filipe Raposo
NARRATOR: Sérgio Godinho
VOICES: Quimbé, Teresa Pousada e João Sousa
ANIMATION SUPERVISOR: Rita Sampaio
ANIMATION: Emanuel Nevado e Timon Dowdeswell
ADDITIONAL ANIMATION: Claudi Sorribas
ART DIRECTION: Ana Bossa
ADDITIONAL ART DIRECTION: Débora Gil da Costa
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Vitor Estudante
SETS AND PROPS SUPERVISOR: Ana Bossa e Débora Gil da Costa
SETS AND PROPS: Rita Almeida, Marta Viana, Janaina Drummond, Gonçalo Marques, Vitor Estudante
PUPPET SUPERVISOR: Paula Custódio
PUPPETS: Catarina Santiago, Guilherme Gamito
POST PRODUCTION: Simon Griesser, João Faria e Vitor Estudante
COLOUR CORRECTION: Andreia Bertini
SOUND DESIGN AND MIXING: Carlos Abreu e Miguel Gonçalves
PRODUCTION: Bruno Caetano (COLA – Colectivo Audiovisual)
CO-PRODUCTION: Michael Proença (Wildstream Media)
FINANCED BY: ICA – Instituto do Cinema e Audiovisual
SUPPORT: Oldskull FX, OMA, Xcut, Ingreme e Salon Alpin