THE STORY
INSPIRED BY THE COMMUNITY
The film was written by Klick Health and was inspired by inspired by the real story of a Café Joyeux employee with Down syndrome who didn’t get his first job until he was 47.
ROBERT
Rejected by others as a child, our character embarks on a personal journey symbolized by a sailboat. Along the way, he faces challenges that represent different life stages. In these scenarios, he recognizes that the world simply isn’t ready to recognize his greatness and continues his odyssey.
Finally, at age 47, he finds acceptance and purpose at Café Joyeux, a place where the world embraces his extraordinary abilities.
THE CRAFT
CHARACTER DESIGN
To bring the perspective of the Down syndrome community into the character design, our hero Robert was designed by artist Bruno Jacob and his daughter Luna, a young girl with Down syndrome.
MUSIC
The music composition and sound design were created by Canja Audio Culture in collaboration with individuals with Down syndrome. We leveraged an acoustic version of the song “Carry On” by Grammy-award-winning rock band FUN as our soundtrack, using the lead singer Nate Ruess’ powerful vocal delivery. We re-recorded the track with Sujeet Desai, an accomplished musician born with Down syndrome. He plays piano on the track and is responsible for the music arrangements. José Omar Davila, a talented orchestra conductor born with Down syndrome, creates all of the sound design and effects for the film.
ART DIRECTION
The film was developed as hand-crafted stop-motion, which brings an endearing quality to the scenes and characters. The art direction played with proportion to emphasize how we are seeing the world through Robert’s eyes. Colors play a significant role in the story, with the yellow scarf symbolizing both Café Joyeux’s brand color and Robert’s mother’s words of encouragement, which guide him through his journey. The entire odyssey uses a mix of warm and cold tones that reflect Robert’s resilience — he approaches the challenges of colder, solitary moments with a positive and warm mindset. ‘47’ was animated by Zombie Studio, the OSCAR® award-winning animators of ‘PINOCCHIO’, ‘ISLE OF THE DOGS’ and Tim Burton’s ‘FRANKENWEENIE.’
